The Benson Murder Case

This is a fast-paced, standard mystery from the Philo Vance catalog. I just picked up the first three with William Powell and this was probably just slightly the best of that original trio. 'The Canary Murder Case was mostly of interest due to the presence of Louise Brooks, who was so poorly dubbed, one can only treasure some nice shots of her beautiful face. The Greene Murder Case was nearly as static, but had more atmosphere than Canary or even this one. The problem with those two more than their innate stiffness, is that the mysteries are so poor and immediately predictable that they may be the worst mysteries I have seen from early Hollywood.

The Benson Murder Case has similar faults, but by 1930 the sound technology had improved enough that it moves much better than the previous two. The mystery is more of a challenge for Philo Vance and he proves that he is not only up to the challenge, but he hammers it all home in a satisfying finale. Frank Tuttle, a veteran of the previous two, directed this one and does a competent, but unremarkable job. It has less atmosphere than Greene, but thankfully is a more interesting mystery. Also, Distict Attorney Markham is strangely very angry for most of this film. Eugene Palette is his usual, boisterous self as Sergeant Heath.

Paramount stopped making Vance movies after this one, but had prepared S.S. Van Dine's "The Scarab Murder Case" for William Powell. They even created an advance poster for this film that was sadly not made. Had Powell not made another Vance film after this, his legacy as a great screen detective would remain intact, but he came back one more time to play Vance in Warner's The Kennel Murder Case in 1933, which would easily trump all his previous efforts, and ultimately be the best Philo Vance film. But, if you crave William Powell as a screen detective, add this rarity to your list - It's a solid, workman-like picture, lacking in style, but ample in entertainment for the classic mystery fan.

Philo Vance (William Powell) is back for a third time solving murders of his choosing. This time he had to be involved because the murder occurred while he was present at the scene of the crime.

The victim, Tony Benson (Richard Tucker), was a broker who owned a brokerage firm. When the stock market crashed in 1929 he had to "sell out" many of his clients. Undoubtedly, after such a huge crash, many people would be furious with their stock brokers. In other words, many people had a motive to kill Tony. In this case, only a handful of people with motives had the second element of a murder: opportunity.

At Tony Benson's property, uninvited, were Fanny Del Roy (Natalie Moorhead), Mrs. Paula Banning (May Beatty), Adolph Mohler (Paul Lukas), and Albert Brecker (Mischa Auer). The only one there by invitation was Harry Gray (William 'Stage' Boyd). Dropping by also were District Attorney Markham (E. H. Calvert) and Philo Vance.

Fanny wanted a pearl case in Tony's possession. Adolph had to settle a debt with Benson. Paula was chasing down her husband Adolph, trying her best to keep him though she was now broke. And Adolph Brecker came by to bring a bag to Harry Gray.

Tony Benson was murdered in a full house. A shot was heard then he toppled downstairs. Downstairs at the time were Philo Vance, Harry Gray, and Markham. So, then, who was the murderer?

"The Benson Murder Case" was a bit more elaborate than I would've liked. All good murder mysteries have a little bit of misdirection and multiple suspects. "The Benson Murder Case" was no different, it's just that once we found our answer and how it was done, I wasn't too enthused.

Still, I like William Powell as a part time detective rather than a "Ladies Man" and "Man of the World."

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Amateur Detective Philo Vance investigates the murder of a heartless financier. William Powell's third outing as Vance is a fast-paced mystery full of the usual red herrings and false confessions. The identity of the murderer is rarely in doubt but the brisk 65 minute running time means it maintains its impetus until Vance can gather all the suspects together for the big reveal. The method of murder - or rather the attempt by the killer to deflect suspicion from himself - is about as elaborate as you're likely to see in a movie from any era.

Stockbroker Richard Tucker is the victim in The Benson Murder Case. In 1930 a lot of people would like to have murdered their stockbrokers. But in the Great Depression, Tucker is living high on the hog even after the Stock Market Crash.

The Benson Murder Case is not a whodunit as much as it plays like a Columbo mystery. In this film, the perpetrator is practically daring William Powell to solve this one correctly. But you do really enjoy the film when Powell actually does.

The film is a typical closed ring of suspects murder mystery as many people who would dearly like to have seen Tucker done in for calling in their stock margins before they were given a chance to make good. They all show up at Tucker's Westchester county estate, but unfortunately the District Attorney E.H. Calvert has the place next door and he's invited Philo Vance for the weekend.

The Benson Murder Case keeps up the high standard of Vance film that Powell did. S.S. Van Dine and later his estate sold the various Vance novels to many studios one at a time which is why there were so many Philo Vances out there. Powell's next Vance film would be for Warner Brothers while he had a brief sojourn there before moving to MGM and The Thin Man.

The Benson Murder Case was the last Philo Vance film that Powell did for Paramount and it was a good one.

"The Benson Murder Case" would have been another unexceptional, run-of-the-mill murder film. Worth watching but largely stagebound and with a primitive sound system (the players' voices fade in and out as they get closer or further from the mike). The deus-ex-machina is outrageously contrived to the point of unfairness, like some of Agatha Christies' stories. It starts off on a dark and stormy night, all suspects at the country estate of a hated stock broker, and, guess what? He gets bumped off. So far, pretty routine.

Enter William Powell as Philo Vance and the picture immediately goes from a rating of 4 up to a 6. Dapper and sophisticated and with his inimitable off-handed cocksuredness, Powell rescues the film just by coming in the front door. This was his milieu and in these circumstances he was the best ever.

Also on hand is Eugene Palette as the dense Police Lieutenant. and Richard Tucker as the corpse-to-be. Mischa Auer appears as a suspicious manservant and Paul Lukas as a mendacious gigolo. If it comes on it is worth a watch as a whodunit (you won't guess) and as a very early example of a new sound film.