The Greene Murder Case

The Greene Murder Case

11/8/1929 1h 9m 5.8/10

Overview

Philo Vance investigates when a murderer preys upon members of a wealthy family on New York's Upper East Side.

Director

Frank Tuttle

Top Billed Cast

William Powell

William Powell

Philo Vance

Eugene Pallette

Eugene Pallette

Sergeant Heath

Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur

Ada Greene

E.H. Calvert

E.H. Calvert

John F. X. Markham

Florence Eldridge

Florence Eldridge

Sibella Greene

Ullrich Haupt

Ullrich Haupt

Dr. Von Blon

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

6/2/2024

6/10

This all starts with a sort of roll-call where a lawyer checks the presence of the "Greene" family at the bedside of their mother. A condition of their late father's will is if they don't all live together for fifteen years after his demise, then they don't get a sou. Not surprisingly, they don't exactly see eye to eye so when one of them is shot, it's hardly a shock. The police - the instantly recognisable Eugene Palette as "Sgt. Heath" - duly arrive and enlist the help of detective "Philo Vance" (William Powell) who quickly discovers that any one of them could have done it. Thing is, the killer isn't content with just the one - and when the family start to drop like flies, the investigators must get a move on in case it is just them who are actually left at the end! It's very stage-bound, this, but the pace is break-neck and there are a few characters - not least the bed-ridden and grumpy mother (Gertrude Norman), to keep the investigation moving along until it's slightly unexpected conclusion. It's a bit of an hybrid of other "Dark House" style stories, but Powell and Pallette deliver simply and quite well here.

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