The Kennel Murder Case (1933)

Directed by

Michael Curtiz

Genre

mystery film, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 13m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.1 of 10 from 58 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wealthy dog show competitor and collector is found dead in his bedroom. The suspect list includes relatives, employees, and a lover he had upset, and more violence follows. The amateur sleuth Philo Vance investigates the attacks and motives to solve the murder.

lightheartedcleverpacedwittysuspensefulold-fashionedintricate

What happens

The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film adapted from the 1933 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. Directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Bros. Pictures, it stars William Powell and Mary Astor. Powell's role as Philo Vance is not the actor's first performance as the aristocratic sleuth. For Paramount, he also portrays the character in three films: The Canary Murder Case (1929), The Greene Murder Case (1929), The Benson Murder Case (1930). In the film, dog show competitor and fine china collector, Archer Coe, is found murdered within his own bedroom. There is a long list of suspects, since the victim had antagonized members of his family, his lover, and his employees. The corpse of the victim's brother is soon found, hidden in a coat closet. One of the other suspects survives a surprise knife attack, and the dog of Coe's neighbor is found to be seriously injured in his own house. Vance has to deduce the motives behind the attacks in order to figure out who killed Coe. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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