At the end of each year, the extremely wealthy but odious Greene family gets together at the spooky old family castle to establish terms of a will, though they despise each other. This year,... Read allAt the end of each year, the extremely wealthy but odious Greene family gets together at the spooky old family castle to establish terms of a will, though they despise each other. This year, they start being mysteriously murdered one by one, and the police use Philo Vance to exam... Read allAt the end of each year, the extremely wealthy but odious Greene family gets together at the spooky old family castle to establish terms of a will, though they despise each other. This year, they start being mysteriously murdered one by one, and the police use Philo Vance to examine the clues and suspects.
- Dist. Atty. John F.X. Markham
- (as Captain E.H.Calvert)
- Mrs. Gertrude Mannheim
- (as Augusta Burmester)
- Hemming
- (as Marcia Hariss)
- Nurse
- (uncredited)
- Medical Examiner
- (uncredited)
- Lawyer Canon
- (uncredited)
- Miss O'Brien - Police Nurse
- (uncredited)
- Barton
- (uncredited)
- Cop in House
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of the earliest of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by MCA ever since. Because of its age, and its primitive sound recording techniques, which 1950s sponsors considered a viewing deterrent, it was only rarely taken off the shelf, but interest in the author of the original story and the still relevant members of the cast gave a few viewers, who chose to stay up for the Late, Late Show, an opportunity to take a look at it. In Lowell, Massachusetts it was aired 16 April 1960 on WBZ (Channel 4), in St. Louis 14 November 1960 on KMOX (Channel 4), in Los Angeles 3 March 1961 on KNXT (Channel 2), in Chicago 10 July 1961 on WBBM (Channel 2), in New York City 21 August 191 on WCBS (Channel 2), and in Wheeling, West Virginia, 15 November 1961 on WTRF (Channel 7).
- GoofsIn "The Greene Murder Case" (about 29 minutes in) someone mentions reading about "The Canary Murder Case". But, in "The Canary Murder Case" (about 21 minutes in) someone mentions that he hasn't seen Vance since "The Greene Murder Case". The studio may not have been sure which order the movies would be released when the dialog was written.
- ConnectionsFollowed by The Bishop Murder Case (1929)
The intricate plot finds gentleman detective Philo Vance assisting his old friends District Attorney Markham and Sergeant Heath in a case of multiple and attempted murders at the Greene Mansion in New York's Upper East Side. It seems that someone is killing members of the Greene family, ostensibly for a stake in the large inheritance left by the long dead patriarch, Tobias Greene, whose fortune was accumulated (we come to suspect) by less than honorable means.
I'll admit that, although anxious to finally see this film after reading about it for years, I wasn't expecting much. I had heard that the film was talky, creaky, and static, as many early sound productions seem to modern sensibilities. Perhaps it was because of these lowered expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the great stuff found here. The film abounds with wonderfully creepy atmosphere and a real sense of menace, and the climax, set in the rooftop garden of the formidable Greene mansion (a fantastic set, by the way), is thrillingly shot, with trick photography and a last minute-in the nick time-rescue.
The screenplay is a faithful simplification of the Van Dine novel (the book's first two murder victims, for example, are compressed into one and the character of Julia Greene is jettisoned) and Powell's Philo Vance is much more likable than his literary counterpart. The identity of the murderer, while possibly surprising to the relatively innocent audiences of 1929, is fairly easy to spot by the more jaded modern viewer raised on scores of mysteries and taught to always suspect the least likely. This does not detract from the fun.
Playing the part of Philo Vance was a huge boost to Powell's career, and allowed him to move from villainous heels to debonair man-about-town roles. After a parody appearance as the detective in 1930's PARAMOUNT ON PARADE, Powell played Vance twice more [in Paramount's THE BENSON MURDER CASE (1930) and Warner Bros. THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (1933)] before moving to MGM and forever being associated with the role of Nick Charles in THE THIN MAN series (an even BIGGER boost to his career!)
Yes, the film is invariably hampered by the limitations of the early sound era, but once the modern viewer accepts these limitations, there's a lot to enjoy here.
- wrk6539
- Mar 4, 2002
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Greene-mysteriet
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 9 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.20 : 1