February 18, 2021
The Kennel Murder Case (1933) ** 1/2
TCM
Free
Wildcard
“What do you think of the suicide theory now, sergeant?”
“Well, it’s slightly complicated, since the man shot, slugged, and stabbed himself, especially in the back.”
Archer Coe is a rich jerk and many many people have excellent reasons to bump him off, but he is found dead in a locked room, a victim of an apparent suicide.
William Powell is Philo Vance, amateur detective, and he even has a charming dog, but not Myrna Loy, so this cannot be as good as the Thin Man movies. Philo Vance is sure that Archer Coe did not kill himself, locked room of no, and then it turns out that, apparently, he was not only shot, but also hit on the head and stabbed in the back, so he makes it his duty to work out which of the myriad of suspects is the real killer.
I have heard many episodes of the old time radio show over the years, and he is always the perfect Boy Scout who gets his man and makes no errors, and is a little dull. William Powell plays him with enough of a twinkle that the character is way more interesting.
Powell played Philo Vance in five films for Paramount, this one being the last, until, sick of these detective mysteries, he signed with MGM who immediately put him in…a detective mystery. But it was The Thin Man, which turned out to be just the ticket.
365 Films in 365 Days 