The Dragon Murder Case (1934)

The setup is intriguing (a man dives into a pool and never comes up again; when they drain the pool he's nowhere to be found! I've seen a lot of mysteries and I don't remember ever seeing anything like this before), the mystery is challenging (of course you know that the killer is not really a dragon, but that does not help you much), the spacious sets are great, and the underwater camera shots are impressive for a 1934 film. However, Warren William is a little too dry in the role of Philo Vance (he is more relaxed in his second Vance appearance, in the semi-spoof "The Gracie Allen Murder Case"), and the film is not quite as much fun as it could have been. I would still recommend it to fans of early whodunits. **1/2 out of 4.

Hollywood never found a real Philo Vance. In the books he was an effete, superior pedantic individual and really not very likable. Maybe no one wanted to play him that way. Warren William made a barely passable Vance. I've always been a big William Powell fan, and whether he was Vance, Charles or Dal, he was always the pleasant urbane same William Powell. That being said, I'll move on to The Dragon Murder Case. There is a plot I call the Scooby-Doo plot. All Scooby-Doo episodes share one plot: There appear to be frightening mysterious and perhaps supernatural events going on, when in the end it turns out to be just another baddie with a baddie agenda. The Dragon Murder Case is one of these. A group of guests go for a nocturnal swim. A man disappears after diving into a naturally formed swimming pool. After draining the pool, there is no sign of the missing man. Eventually his broken body is found some distance away in what they call a "pothole". Word on the street is that the dragon that supposedly inhabits the pool, killed the man and dragged his body away to the pothole for future nutrition. When the film came out, audiences weren't as blasé as they are today, and many were probably amazed at what happened and at Mr. Vance's acumen. Today however, most viewers will spot the murderer the moment he appears on the screen. For its time, the film is pretty good with spooky lighting, aquariums with lizards and fighting fish; sea monster lore. The dammed up pool looks pretty good with its rugged edges. But the denouement is downright lame. It worked better in the book because of the description of the pool and the reader's imagination. In the film it seems impossible for the murder to have been carried out without one or more of the four people present having seen something. The biggest "plothole" in the story is however, that the entire operation (which began sometime before we entered the movie), depended completely upon the victim (both in the book and on the screen), suggesting that everyone go for a swim. Okay, maybe he liked to swim, but what if he hadn't made the suggestion? The killer would have wasted a great deal of effort and bad acting for nothing. How many times would he have to go through this to get his victim where he wanted him? And really, why bother to hide the body? Just to add to the mystery? If I plotted to murder someone, my concern would be not to get caught, to hell with offering up a great mystery for the world to ponder. I liked The Kennel Murder Case a lot better.

Despite the many unfavorable reviews, the first 15 minutes of this programmer are exotic and memorable. Take a look at the impressive outdoor set that places the nightmarish swimming pool in front of the majestic stairway leading up to the mansion's front door. All are full-size components of a single sound stage creation (listen for the echo), unusual for a movie of this type. Now, it's hard for me to believe that First National (Warner Bros.) would go to the trouble and expense for a series B- picture like this. But however that may be, the result is unusually atmospheric, particularly the eerie pool where any kind of mutant creature might be growing amid the ugly murk.Then there are the stylishly dressed party guests, a good look at high fashion, circa 1934. How the guest-suspects react to the fighting fish battling to the death in the mansion's many aquariums is how we get to know them. It's an offbeat idea that also shows how the mansion's inside is as strange as its outside. And when one of the guests mysteriously vanishes in the haunted pool, thanks to the weird build-up, I was ready to believe that the legendary dragon had gotten him.At that point, however, the screenplay collapses into a routine who-dun-it, and a not very coherent one, at that. Note how little interaction there is among the suspects after the murder. In fact, the comely Margaret Lindsey almost disappears until the end. Most of the dialogue goes to humorous throw-away lines from the froggish Sergeant Heath (Palette) and the raspy Dr. Doremus (Girardot). Nor, for that matter, does director Humberstone show any imagination in developing the characters or the initial atmosphere. Even the usually forceful Warren William seems uninterestingly subdued. Too bad a more stylish director and less pedestrian screenwriter didn't get hold of the material first. That way maybe we would have gotten more than just a promising start.

In the 1930s and 40s, there were a long series of detective films such as THE SAINT, CHARLIE CHAN, BOSTON BLACKIE and many others. One of the lesser series that never really seemed to hit its stride was the Philo Vance series. Much of the reason the series never really caught on was perhaps because several different actors played Vance (such as William Powell, Paul Lukas, Basil Rathbone and several no-name actors). In this early Philo Vance film, Warren William plays the sleuth. As a result, it seems very much like one of the Lone Wolf films--another detective series that starred William just a few years later. As a B-movie, its budget was relatively small and the film has very modest pretensions. Unlike some of these style films, Vance had no sidekick but there was, of course, a stupid detective--this time in the form of the wonderful character actor Eugene Palette--who was wonderful as the befuddled and slightly daffy cop. In addition, Robert Warwick played a cute small part as a coroner with some of the best lines in the movie!As for the mystery, it's not one of the better ones in the genre because I figured out who the murderer was before it even occurred. This is NOT a good sign for a detective film! By the way, I didn't figure it out because I am some genius (my kids remind me all the time that I am not), but because it just was too easy to figure out at the onset.Still, despite there not being a lot of mystery, the film moves at a brisk pace and is a decent and watchable film of the genre. If you're a fan of this style of film, then this is a must-see--otherwise, there is better entertainment out there if you look!