THE BENSON MURDER CASE

US, 1930, 63 minutes, Black-and-white.
William Powell, William "Stage" Boyd, Eugene Pallette, Paul Lukas, Natalie Morehead, Richard Tucker.
Directed by Frank Tuttle.

This was the third appearance by William Powell as amateur detective, Philo Vance. He had appeared in Interference as well as The Canary Murder Case and The Greene Murder Case and was to be Vance one more time in The Kennel Murder Case. He had been starring in silent films, had emerged in The Last Laugh and was to have a career into the 1950s, generally the suave gentleman – and including the series of films as The Thin Man with Myrna Loy.

While the opening of this film is quite striking, the Wall Street collapse of 1929 with slick editing, multiscreen images, it soon moves into a rather static drama, generally confined to an office in Wall Street and to a country mansion where a murder takes place.

There are quite a range of suspects, the victim being a rather crooked stockbroker who has cut them loose at the time of the collapse. The suspects include the society woman with a secret, problems with jewellery, a dowager who lives in Paris and her gigolo friend, played of all people by Paul Lukas, another businessman played by William ‘Stage’ Boyd, as well as a butler played by Mischa Auer.

Philo Vance arrives as a guest of the country house, is present at the time of the murder, investigates, finds alibis for most of the suspects, is able to deduce, along with finding evidence, how the rival businessman committed the murder.

Eugene Pallette is along as the sometimes rather slow police officer but this time is very supportive of Philo Vance.

Direction is by Frank Tuttle who started work in the silent era and continued to the late 50s.

For fans of murder mysteries and of Philo Vance and William Powell.