The Greene Murder Case (1929)

The Greene family is abiding by a strange will that required them to stay in their mansion. The problem is that SOMEONE there is a maniac and is killing people! Can Philo Vance (William Powell) get to the bottom of this and prevent more killings?"The Greene Murder Case" played a lot better back in 1929 than it does today. Today, it seems very dull and much of this can be attributed to the way they made movies back in 1929. Like most films of the day, this one lacked incidental music and was very low energy--probably because actors were stuck standing near hidden microphones. Additionally, all too often, our hero, Philo Vance makes insane guesses and makes them seem true when he's really just pulling it out of thin air!.

1929's "The Greene Murder Case" was the second of three early talkie Paramounts starring William Powell as Philo Vance, coming six months after the first, "The Canary Murder Case," eight months before the third, "The Benson Murder Case." Storywise, it's perhaps the best of all three, while technically it's a huge improvement on its predecessor, the pacing agreeable, the acting more natural, and Powell again joined by District Attorney Markham (E. H. Calvert) and Sgt. Ernest Heath (Eugene Palette). Also returning as a different character is young Jean Arthur, in a far more substantial role than her cameo in "The Canary Murder Case." The Greene household, consisting of bedridden matriarch and four offspring, are beholden to the will of the late patriarch Tobias Greene, requiring everyone to remain under the same roof for 15 years before the estate can be divided evenly between them. One dark midnight, both Chester (Lowell Drew) and Ada (Jean Arthur) end up shot (Chester fatally), but the robbery motive piques the curiosity of Philo Vance, particularly as the two shots were fired minutes apart. Always intrigued by the psychological aspects of each case, Vance has his hands full under this roof, where Tobias kept an extensive library on the history of crime. He may wind up solving this one by having only one suspect left! Florence Eldridge (Mrs. Fredric March) is an assured scene stealer, but her doctor boyfriend is played by dull as dishwater Ullrich Haupt (hard to believe that two women would be interested in him). Powell is far more involved here, and his amusing rapport with Eugene Palette never goes over the top. Struggling in a role few actresses could credibly pull off, beautiful Jean Arthur was still an unknown quality at the time, but remained one of Powell's favorite leading ladies (later seen to best advantage in "The Ex-Mrs. Bradford").

This is a film that has two extreme performances: Great for William Powell, awful when it comes to Jean Arthur. Lets start with the bad: Gladys Georgianna Greene, is not only the last name of a character from the film "The Greene Murder Case" (Ada Greene), but the real name of Jean Arthur (No wonder it was changed. It does not fit hyperactive image of Jean Arthur classic film fans know). I do not know where to start complaining about her character, but here are a few basic complaints with her in the film. Her voice does not fit the character, she is skinny, ugly, and got under my skin, every time she popped up. This was shocking, because you can pick about a dozen films that are bona-fide classics that she was in (Included in this list is "The Ex-Mrs Bradford" also with Powell), but the good Jean Arthur, will not show up for another 6 years ("The Whole Town's Talking" with Edward G. Robinson). The reason to watch is Powell. His Philo Vance is very much like Nick Charles in training: Classy, sophisticated and brilliant, but not perfect. For example: Although he gets things right: Spoilers (Like when he questions Gertrude about her illegitimate daughter (A key point in uncovering the identity of the killer)), and when he shows Sgt. Heath (Eugene Palette) how the crime was committed). He also makes a major mistake in letting the murderer alone with an intended victim, in a place where Vance or the police cannot save that person in time (The victim is lucky and survives while the killer dies, but not because of Vance or the police). It goes without saying, Nick Charles would not make that kind of mistake. I actually preferred him as Vance in this film to "The Kennel Murder Case" (Which all around is a better film, because it did not have Jean Arthur (That is how bad she was)). What is interesting is that he already has the Nick Charles persona down pat (A full five years before he shows up in the "Thin Man"). This is a film that should be remastered and put in a DVD Box Set of William Powell Detective Films (Warners has all of MGM "The Thin Man" films, plus "Bradford" (RKO), maybe, Universal should sell the rights to this film, "Canary Murder Case" & "The Benson Murder Case" to Warners so we might see that. My grade? 8/10. 10 for Powell -2 for Arthur.

The Greene Murder Case was William Powell's second of four ventures in the role of society detective Philo Vance. In this film, he's called in as a whole family named Greene, rich society folks like Vance himself keeps getting knocked off one at a time. As Eugene Palette as Sergeant Heath says, they'd have to be crazy to keep committing the crimes while Vance and he are actually in the house investigating. Insanity is a key element in The Greene Murder Case.The house itself holds a few clues as to the identity. And it plays a part in the crimes as they unfold because as we learn right at the beginning of the film, the terms of the late Mr. Greene has that the whole family has to live together, if not happily under the same roof for fifteen years before they can inherit. Only in these old murder mysteries do they come up with wills like that.The Greene family is an interesting lot in and of themselves. Mother Gertrude Norman is bedridden, but keeps a tyrannical reign over her kids who consist of flapper Florence Eldridge, doormat Jean Arthur, and a pair of worthless trust fund baby sons in Morgan Farley and Lowell Drew. The Greene Murder Case is probably the weakest of the four William Powell Philo Vance cases. It relies on some really way out solutions for Powell to identify the culprit. And if you're any kind of fan of these films you will know about a third of the way through who the murderer was. Let's say the culprit has what looks to be an airtight alibi for all the murders, especially the second of the three.Powell of course is as debonair and smooth as always. As I did in seeing The Canary and Benson Murder Cases, I do marvel at the way Powell was able to immediately adapt almost by instinct to the requirements of talking pictures. Definitely a film if you are a fan of his.