The Greene Murder Case

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").

...and how far his film persona has traveled since 1928's Forgotten Faces! In the silent era, Powell had played a heavy. But that distinguished sounding voice may not have been what the audience expected, but it was what they wanted once they heard it. So parts arrived for him that matched that distinguished voice.

This film opens with the dysfunctional Greene family going over the terms of the late Mr. Greene's will that says the family must live in the estate for 15 years before anything more than living expenses is awarded to any of the heirs. All share equally, and if any die or decide to live somewhere else, their share is distributed to the others. They are 10 years into the 15 years, so New Year's Eve 1934 gives them all their money and their freedom. And none of them likes the other. Mrs. Tobias Greene is bedridden because she cannot walk. Ada (Jean Arthur) dotes on her, and Ada is always being taunted by Sibella Greene (Florence Eldridge) as an outsider since she is adopted. Sibella has some secret between herself and her mother's doctor.

Then, one by one the members of the Green family begin turning up dead. The police call in Philo Vance to help, and lest the audience think it strange that a civilian is helping in police matters, several references are made to "The Canary Murder Case" in which Vance solved the crime. Vance keeps emphasizing that these things usually boil down to psychology, and that is his focus throughout the film - the psychology of the members of the Greene family, both the dead and the living. Did I mention that the servants share some in the will too and there are some very strange household servants? Eugene Palette plays Sgt. Ernest Heath of the police, and does the most interfacing with Vance. Paramount paired Powell and Palette quite a bit in the early years of sound and their contrast seemed to be very synergistic, both of them with trademark voices of a very different kind from one another.

I'll let you watch and see how this all turns out. There are quite a few surprises in the plot. I'd recommend it.

The wealthy and dysfunctional Greene family are forced to gather annually to fulfil the stipulations of the late patriarch's will - the family is ruled by the resentful and ailing Mrs Tobias Greene (Gertrude Norman), who holds little affection for her children, Rex (Morgan Farley), Chester (Lowell Drew), and daughter Sibella (Florence Eldridge). The children despise each other, while adopted daughter Ada (Jean Arthur) is excluded from the inheritance due to her non-blood relation.

The tension within the household becomes palpable, with suspicions surrounding Sibella's indiscreet affair with the family's doctor, Arthur Von Blon (Ullrich Haupt Sr), and rumours that Mrs Greene's infirmity may not be as severe as it seems. The Greene family's servants, including butler Sproot (Brandon Hurst), housekeeper Gertrude Mannheim (Augusta Burmeister), and devout Hemming (Marcia Harris), also harbour their own doubts.

When members of the family start being murdered, District Attorney John Markham (EH Calvert) enlists the help of amateur detective Philo Vance (William Powell), who, alongside Sergeant Ernest Heath (Eugene Pallette), must sift through the animosity and hidden motives to unmask the killer.

Green Murder Case sees Philo Vance tackle another difficult case where two Greenes get shot, one dies and one gets injured- three minutes apart. Seen as a burglary, Vance thinks otherwise. William Powell is at the top of his game, his Vance is analytical and observant.

It's a decent mystery, the sound is primitive, but the tale is much sharper, and engaging and less stilted than the Benson Murder Case. The finale is very good - there's a nice view of the rooftops as another murder is about to take place.

William Powell returns as Philo Vance, this time under the direction of Frank Tuttle. The Greene family -- matriarch Gertrude Norman, daughters Florence Eldrege and Jean Arthur, sons Lowell Drew and Morgan Farley, are required to meet every year to satisfy the will of Miss Norman's late husband; after seven years, any survivor inherits, and the library goes to the New York Police Department. But following the latest get-together, they are murdered one by one. Sergeant Eugene Pallette calls in Powell to help him investigate.

Unlike the earlier entry in the series, this was planned as a talkie from the beginning. Because of the still-primitive sound equipment, it is a visually dull movie. Like most mysteries so constrained, it is very talky. The cast, composed of former stage actors, offer restrained performances under Tuttle. While the mystery is a good one, there are too many clues offered after Powell has made his conclusion. Its principal interest is in the performers themselves, several of whom would become important stars in sound films.

The reviews printed here are all over the place subject-wise. It's unfortunate that some of these were written by contemporary viewers with apparently little or no appreciation for the age of a motion picture, the date of its making, or the public's taste at the time. Myself, I usually find early-talkies of much interest, having been produced when sound was new (as opposed to film shows with live musicians providing the score), and revealing the maker's lack of creativity, or, conversely, creativity of a high order, still impressive today. "The Greene Murder Case" (Paramount; 1929) is rather an amalgam of both. Mysteries at the time were often very atmospheric; this seemed to be part and parcel of the attempts at sound recording. And Frank Tuttle, who directed this effort, was a fine craftsman who went on to direct motion pictures now regarded as classics. Some shots were done silently so as to free up the camera (a scene where it quickly ascends a staircase comes to mind), but most impressively, a cable was strung well over the exterior of the Greene mansion, itself a full-scale set, so that the attached camera could (unexpectedly) be hoisted, revealing the intimidating height of its roof garden, this serving to intensify the film's climax wherein the murderer plummets from it to certain death. In the 1928 S. S. Van Dine novel, the climactic car chase - one of the most exciting things I've ever read - was probably considered too difficult to film effectively; hence the top of the mansion serving as a similarly-exciting substitute. The sequence, as related by Van Dine, was, in effect, effectively achieved by director John Cromwell's car-chase finale to "The Mighty", a George Bancroft crime opus also made at Paramount in 1929, wherein he, Cromwell, took his mobile camera out into busy Los Angeles streets! An irony is that he had been a successful Broadway director, brought, with others, to Hollywood because they knew how to deal with dialogue, and here he was, refusing to have his motion pictures restricted by "talkie" requirements. "The Greene Murder Case", incidentally, is one of Van Dine's finest murder-mysteries (popular author John Dickson Carr, no less, selected it in the Forties as being one of the very finest of all such fare!); but, unfortunately, moviemakers of the day could not have done cinematic justice to its elaborate, yet brilliantly subtle, writing.

• Ray Cabana, Jr.