The Casino Murder Case

Philo Vance has been played by a number of actors over the years, everyone from Wilfred Hyde-White to William Powell, who portrayed the detective the most. In "The Casino Murder Case," it's Paul Lukas' turn to have a go at it. This is a light mystery concerning some murders within a family. Rosalind Russell is the young woman here, and she does a fine job.

I'm not familiar with Philo Vance in the books so I can't comment on Lukas' portrayal in comparison. However, I suspect that normally, the role is approached with a lighter touch. Lukas is a wonderful and very likable actor, but I think that in the hands of someone like William Powell, the humor would have been mined a little bit more. Lukas isn't heavy-handed in any way, it's just that this type of role isn't a perfect fit for him. All in all, entertaining.

As good an actor as Paul Lukas is, his accent destroys the illusion that he's the great American detective, Philo Vance, and I was conscious of that throughout. The murder mystery gets off to a good start, but then falters when Vance speculates that perhaps it was "heavy water" that was used as the poison, since it was not known if that substance was poisonous. That idea was pulled out of thin air in an effort to explain why people drinking water would be poisoned. I disliked this development, sensing it was just a plot device to keep the movie rolling, and I was right. He mentions deuterium, Harold Urey's experiments, and the fact a quart of the substance would be worth $100,000, but I'm sure 99% of the 1935 audience didn't know what he was talking about anyway. It would have been much better if he came across Kinkaid's laboratory isolating heavy water by accident and then thought about the possibility of its use as a poison.

But I did enjoy some of the comic relief. William Demarest plays an auctioneer trying to convince people that an ugly statue of cupid was made for Louis XIV, even after his assistant announces it says "made in Japan" on the bottom. In a running gag, Louise Fazenda plays the maid who is caught a dozen times listening at a keyhole and sheepishly says "Did you call, sir," each time. And Charles Sellon is the coroner always complaining about the inconsiderate murder victims getting bumped off just when he's trying to sleep. And there's more comedy too.

With a traditional murder-mystery detective plot, clearly written as a pulp novel before being transferred to the screen, this film abounds with idiosyncratic characters and overly dramatic actors. The framing of this mass-consumption plot occasionally leads to heaps of interesting shots, with the traditional benefits of black and white. Intensely-orchestrated scenes of overdone surprise and intruding butlers and maids make the film enjoyable from one moment to the next. Not to mention a delectable performance by Rosalind Russell.

The factors all come together for this film, and if you take it for its backdated surface value, you won't be wasting your time. The trees of this film, so to speak, make a great forest.

This is the eighth Philo Vance mystery film, and the only one starring Paul Lukas as Vance. Under the influence of the first 'Thin Man' film, which came out the year before, the Philo Vance series here has undergone a drastic image 'makeover', to try to emulate the new William Powell series and compete with it. Suddenly everybody has a butler and there are lots of servants running around, grand surroundings, and an air of opulence previously entirely lacking from this series. The producers realized that William Powell's new series enjoyed popularity partially because of these factors, which provided audiences with an enjoyable fantasy of affluence in the wake of the horrible Great Depression. The producers obviously had not previously considered this factor, and were forced to raise their budget to accommodate better sets. This Vance film suffers from the replacement of Didier Girardot as the coroner with a truly irritating grumpy old man (Charles Sellon), so that the comic elements of the character of the coroner are entirely lost. Another ill-advised replacement was eliminating fog-horn-voiced Eugene Palette as Sergeant Heath and replacing him with an oafish actor (Ted Healy) who makes that character also lose his effectiveness by becoming completely ridiculous, and the whole thing is entirely misjudged as far as those two regular characters are concerned. Clearly, the 'freshening up' exercise and its 'new broom' were entirely destructive there. Paul Lukas is always a very congenial and watchable actor, and it is good to have a Vance film with him in it. He is very sophisticated and his slight Hungarian accent, which goes unexplained in the story of course, adds that touch of cosmopolitanism which always benefits characters such as Philo Vance. Lukas is a much warmer Vance than Powell, Rathbone, or William were, but less mischievous than Powell and less humorous than William. The plot of this film is immensely complex, with numerous red herrings. People keep getting killed, but how and why? The poison cannot be detected in the internal organs in autopsies, and yet people are being poisoned. This is eventually explained by the poison being mandragora administered in eye drops. Beat that! However one victim is not poisoned. Is it suicide or murder? The plot thickens, and thickens, and thickens, until it ends up as clotted cream. The film is very stylish and amusing, has a challenging plot, and is a successful Vance film. It is a pity that Lukas vanishes in the next one. All these Vances, who can keep up with them? This film is greatly lightened-up by the sparkling appearance of Rosalind Russell as the female lead. She always added that something extra to any film she was in. She and Lukas go for each other in a big way, and this is a conscious production decision to inject some romance into the series. Alison Skipworth swings her great bulk about with great authority as a domineering matriarch in this film, and is most amusing, though one wouldn't want to be related to her. When she turns around, it is like an ocean liner being pulled by tugboats. Leo G. Carroll appears as a rather silent and dour butler, whom one is meant to suspect as one of the many potential villains in the story. He retains an impeccable air of ambiguity to facilitate this false lead. This film perhaps marks a slight ad-Vance.

The Philo Vance series of mysteries made in the 20s, 30s, and 40s were of widely varying quality. The first four starred William Powell and were excellent as Powell fit the Philo Vance character like a glove. But then Powell left Warner Brothers for MGM and the Philo Vance franchise (largely) moved there too, but oddly enough MGM never put Powell back into the Philo Vance role. Were they afraid he'd leave there too if he had to play Vance again? At any rate, over the years, Basil Rathbone, Warren William, Edmund Lowe, James Stephenson, and - in this case - Paul Lukas played Philo Vance at Warner Brothers, MGM, and Paramount.

Lukas does a good enough job here, and he gets the urbane and sophisticated style of Vance down well enough, but I'm just not buying the European accent on a cinematic Vance. The plot has Vance receiving an anonymous note saying that if socialite Lynn Llewelyn goes to the casino that night he will be in danger. He does so anyways and is poisoned but survives. His wife is also poisoned - at home - but dies. Vance investigates with the help of Llewelyn household servant Doris Reed (Rosalind Russell).

MGM put star power and production value effort into this, but forgot the plot and pacing, and as a result it is as boring as watching paint dry. I will say, though, that the end does an interesting and unique end run around the production code. Also, this is when MGM was still trying to push Ted Healy, and thus they completely miscast him as police Sergeant Heath, who spends most of his time admiring himself and his tuxedo in a mirror. Why I have no idea. The best actor to play Heath was Eugene Pallette who played it likeable and professional, even if deferential to Vance. Healy couldn't be likeable if you gave him detailed instructions and diagrams.

Apparently Rosalind Russell really hated this film - It was when she was first starting out, had not yet become established, and as a contract player had to do what she was told. I wouldn't say this was the worst role I've ever seen her in, but it just might be the worst film. I'd avoid this one unless you are a Philo Vance completist.