The Benson Murder Case (1930)

I have no doubt that "The Benson Murder Case" must have wowed audiences when it came out in 1930; the main plot gimmick is ingenious. However, since then this gimmick (or others close to it) has been used so many times (even by Agatha Christie herself!) that it has lost some of its luster. The pacing can also be torturously slow at times. But, on the positive side, there are a couple of startling moments, like the bullet that suddenly breaks through a car window and wounds a man, or what is possibly one of the first flashbacks ever put on film. Personally I preferred Basil Rathbone as Philo Vance ("The Bishop Murder Case"), but William Powell is adequate as well. Eugene Palette provides some welcome comic relief (his best line, after a reporter asks who-done-it: "The four Marx Brothers!"), and Natalie Moorhead, playing a very pre-code character, wears a sexy backless dress in several scenes. **1/2 out of 4.

"The Benson Murder Case" would have been another unexceptional, run-of-the-mill murder film. Worth watching but largely stagebound and with a primitive sound system (the players' voices fade in and out as they get closer or further from the mike). The deus-ex-machina is outrageously contrived to the point of unfairness, like some of Agatha Christies' stories. It starts off on a dark and stormy night, all suspects at the country estate of a hated stock broker, and, guess what? He gets bumped off. So far, pretty routine.Enter William Powell as Philo Vance and the picture immediately goes from a rating of 4 up to a 6. Dapper and sophisticated and with his inimitable off-handed cocksuredness, Powell rescues the film just by coming in the front door. This was his milieu and in these circumstances he was the best ever.Also on hand is Eugene Palette as the dense Police Lieutenant. and Richard Tucker as the corpse-to-be. Mischa Auer appears as a suspicious manservant and Paul Lukas as a mendacious gigolo. If it comes on it is worth a watch as a whodunit (you won't guess) and as a very early example of a new sound film.

William Powell plays Philo Vance for the third time in the story of the murder of a scheming stock broker in a room full of people. Vance is one of the people and he insists its so simple that anyone could solve it. Unfortunately it turns out that only Vance can. This is an early sound film that is curiously set bound. Its the sort of early sound film where there a large number of people gathered around close so as to show off the relatively new sound medium. Painfully formal at times the film seems more like a stage play then a movie. It comes off as the sort of mystery film that was sent up in countless spoofs from the same period. I find the films technical limitations odd since the earlier Canary Murder Case actually seemed to get out and about not to mention less confined by the limitations of microphones. Its not a bad film, but it's not a particularly exciting one. I kept wanting to yell "get on with it" at the screen.

Being an avid William Powell and Philo Vance devotee, I was pleased to find that all four of Powell's forays as the effete detective are available on DVD. But beware if you are not a fan of either of the above or of early sound films since you might find this a little too static for your tastes. If you are a fan, then read on.Powell made four Vance films which got better as they progressed. This one, made in 1930, is still a bit on the stagy side although the acting was improving as the players were becoming more adept at "talkies". It's basically a one set film, taking place in a hunting lodge where a murder takes place and all the suspects are gathered. Powell, as usual, is very debonair and unruffled and Eugene Palette returns in the role of Sergeant Heath. I miss Eteinne Girardot, who played Dr. Doremus, in the later "Kennel Murder Case". He added humor to the story which was less heavy-handed than that of Palette. Watch for Mischa Auer, a mainstay of films in the 30s and 40s, as the butler.Since this was before the Code, Natalie Moorehead doesn't make a secret of her "profession" but is let off easy in the end by a sympathetic Vance.This film makes a good addition to the William Powell/Philo Vance series and is certainly worth the watch for the fan. I will not comment on any Vance films made without Powell (except those with Basil Rathbone) as they are not worthy of comment.