THE GREENE MURDER CASE (1929)

As a gentle snow falls on New Year's Eve, the rather dysfunctional Greene family meets with the family lawyer for their annual check-up on how well the provisions of the patriarch's will are being kept. All family members must continue to live together in the Greene mansion for another five years, at which point everyone who has remained will split the estate. Widow Greene is a cranky old woman mostly confined to a wheelchair, though there is some thinking that she's exaggerating her illness. The children, Chester, Rex and Sibella, are mostly unlikable and don't like each other much, and Sibella is a total bitch to the adopted daughter Ada who is a passive little thing. After the lawyer's visit, Chester is shot to death in his room, and Ada is shot at from outside her room but is only wounded. Rex (the only one in the house who owns a revolver) seems to suspect Dr. Von Blon who is Sibella's lover, and who might be hiding information about the widow's health. Philo Vance and Sgt. Heath investigate, and suspicious behavior abounds, with a butler skulking about and a maid calling out everyone as wicked and warning of Biblical destruction in store for all. A missing pair of galoshes, some poisons from the doctor's bag, a library full of criminology books, and the theory of inherited insanity all figure in the search as the body count rises. You'll probably figure out whodunit early on, but the exciting climax is worth sticking around for. This early talkie, based on a novel by S.S. Van Dine, is the second Philo Vance film. It's rather stagy, though as it's basically an old dark house mystery, the lack of settings and camera movement doesn't really hurt it. There's not much to talk about concerning directorial style, though the climax, on the snowy roof of the urban mansion, is striking. William Powell, in the second of his four Vance portrayals, is quite good, like he's practicing for playing Nick Charles in The Thin Man a few years later. Eugene Pallette (Heath) is almost as good. Jean Arthur, in her pre-star days, is OK, but gets upstaged by Florence Eldridge as Sibella who gets some sexy posturing in. The inherited insanity idea feels a bit old-fashioned but it's a common plot point in classic-era movies. At around 70 minutes, the film is well paced, but I would only recommend it to folks already comfortable with early talkie style. Pictured are Pallette and Powell. [YouTube]