The Kennel Murder Case (film)

The Kennel Murder Case
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Directed by Michael Curtiz
Produced by Robert Presnell
Written by Robert Presnell (adaptation)[1]
Screenplay by Robert N. Lee
Peter Milne
Based on The Kennel Murder Case (1933 novel) by
S.S. Van Dine
Starring William Powell
Mary Astor
Cinematography William Rees
Edited by Harold McLernon
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date
  • October 28, 1933 (1933-10-28)
Running time
 73 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted from the 1933 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. It stars William Powell as Philo Vance – reprising the role for Warner Bros. after appearing as Vance in three films for Paramount – and co-stars Mary Astor.

Plot

When Philo Vance's dog does not make it into the final of the Long Island Kennel Club's dog show, fellow competitor Archer Coe (Robert Barrat) is disappointed, having hoped to savor a victory over Vance. The next morning Coe is found dead, locked inside his bedroom. District Attorney Markham (Robert McWade) and Police Sergeant Heath (Eugene Pallette) assume it was suicide, because Coe was shot through the head and was found holding a pistol. Vance is not convinced. He soon finds evidence that Coe was murdered. Coroner Dr. Doremus (Etienne Girardot) determines the victim had bled to death internally from a stab wound.

There is no shortage of suspects; Coe was very much disliked. His niece Hilda Lake (Mary Astor) resented her uncle's tight control of her finances and jealousy of any men who showed interest in her. Her boyfriend, Sir Thomas MacDonald (Paul Cavanagh), suspected Coe of killing his dog to ensure winning the competition. Raymond Wrede (Ralph Morgan), the dead man's secretary, was in love with Miss Lake, but had been laughed at when he sought Coe's support. Coe's next-door neighbor and lover Doris Delafield (Helen Vinson) had been cheating on him with Eduardo Grassi (Jack La Rue). When Coe found out, he cancelled a contract to sell his collection of Chinese artworks to the Milan museum for which Grassi worked. Liang (James Lee), the cook, had worked long, hard, and illegally to help Coe amass his collection. He warned his employer against the proposed sale and was fired as a result. Even Coe's own brother Brisbane (Frank Conroy) despised Coe. Finally, Gamble (Arthur Hohl), the head servant, had concealed his criminal past.

Brisbane Coe becomes Vance's prime suspect. His alibi of taking a train at the time of the murder is disproved. When Brisbane is found dead in a closet, Vance is both puzzled and enlightened. Among Brisbane's effects, Vance finds a book titled Unsolved Murders; a bookmarked page details a method of using string to lock a door through the keyhole without leaving a trace. Part of the mystery is solved.

Later, an attempt is made on the life of Sir Thomas using the same dagger used to kill Coe. Finally, a Doberman Pinscher belonging to Miss Delafield is found seriously injured, apparently struck with a fireside poker. From these and other clues, Vance finally solves the crime.

It turns out that two men sought Coe's life that night. The successful murderer struggled with Coe and stabbed him, leaving him for dead. Coe awakened soon after. Too dazed to recall the fight or realize that he was mortally wounded, he went upstairs to his bedroom and opened his window before dying. Brisbane entered the chamber; seeing his brother apparently asleep in his chair, he shot the corpse and arranged the scene to look like a suicide. Downstairs, he ran into the actual killer, who had seen through a window that Archer Coe was still alive and come back to finish the job. In the darkness, the killer mistook Brisbane for Archer and killed the wrong man. Delafield's dog then wandered in, attracted by the commotion, and attacked the murderer.

While sure of the killer's identity, Vance has no proof. He therefore arranges for Sir Thomas and Wrede to quarrel over Hilda Lake. When Wrede instinctively reaches for the poker to strike his rival, the Doberman recognizes its attacker and leaps on him. Wrede confesses he became enraged when Coe refused to assist his courtship of Miss Lake, precipitating the stabbing.

Cast

Cast notes

  • The records of Warner Bros. indicate that original casting included Hugh Herbert as Dr. Doremus, George Blackwood as Bruce MacDonald and Claire Dodd as Doris Delafield. Ralph Bellamy was reported to have been signed to perform n the film, but he does not appear in the film as released.[1]

Production

The Kennel Murder Case was the first adaptation of one of S. S. Van Dine's Philo Vance novel to be filmed by Warner Bros. Early Vance films had been made by Paramount Pictures, and later ones would be made by Warners, Paramount and MGM. Vance would be played by Warren William, Paul Lukas, Edmund Lowe, and James Stephenson.[2]

Director Michael Curtiz covered the talkiness of the film, endemic to whodunnits of this sort, by using a mobile camera in some scenes, and kept up the pace of the film with dissolves and wipes.[2]

Reception

Film historian William K. Everson, who pronounced the film a "masterpiece" in the August 1984 issue of Films in Review, considers The Kennel Murder Case to be one of the greatest screen adaptations of a Golden Age mystery novel; Everson ranks it with the 1946 film Green for Danger.

The film made a profit of almost $400,000.[2]

Remake

Warners remade The Kennel Murder Case in 1940 as Calling Philo Vance, with James Stephenson playing Vance.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 The Kennel Murder Case at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. 1 2 3 4 Miller, Frank (ndg) "The Kennel Murder Case (1933)" TCM.com
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