The Kennel Murder Case

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Jithin K A very interesting whodunnit, especially for the time of its release. There is certainly stuff that is conveniently placed and easy to see now. But the number of suspects for the murder, with good reasoning for all of them, was handled very well. There are also a few direction choices with the way the camera moves, editing, etc, which were notable for that time period. The intentional choice to include certain suspects' motives, the way the cops decide to pursue the case at some points, and the last reveal, all very subtly play at so many biases and prejudices of that time, without particularly judging anyone. It's not anything great, but it's pretty solid considering when it came out. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/19/25 Full Review Ted B 3.0 stars; The last of the Philo Vance movies with Dick Powell, and probably the best of the bunch. I guess it served as a good, warm-up series for him for the upcoming "The Thin Man" series, which is a classic. This was a true mystery and kept you guessing until the end. I thought the plot was very complicated and a little hard to follow. There were probably too many suspects with interactions between them. In the end however, it was all explained very well. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/01/24 Full Review Frances H An interesting case, but one misses the Witt re[artere between nick and Nora Charles of Powell's Thin Man movies! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/24 Full Review Steve D Solid mystery with not enough Astor. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/07/23 Full Review Taylor L The Kennel Murder Case seems like a pretty decent introduction to American pre-Code mystery films, and particularly the sleuth of choice of the era, Philo Vance, played by William Powell. Forget relatable or slightly quirky investigators with a chip on their shoulder and the mud of the streets on their shoes, Vance seems like the kind of character to get his white collars bleached every other day; we're introduced to him at a dog show swapping barbs with a series of vaguely aristocratic people, and all of a sudden we've got our relatable mystery protagonist. This is the classic era of murder-mysteries, but S. S. Van Dine (the author of the original novel) doesn't really seem to have as many graces as Agatha Christie. The film is never dull, but that's almost by virtue of being overstuffed at a 73-minute runtime which sees at least half a dozen potential suspects identified, cleared, and then re-identified. At the same time, it's all very crisp and gentlemanly by the nature of the era, even where murder is supposedly concerned. Still, it's got plenty of period flourishes and classic detective tropes to give the period piece fans a good time, even if its pristine morality may keep modern viewers less than interested. I love that at one point in the film, Vance just begins showing the possible explanations for the murder with a perfect model recreation of the entire city block that he just happens to have. I'm not sure if it's funnier if he happened to have that model lying around, or if there was a cut scene where he spent a week making it. (2.5/5) Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/25/22 Full Review deke p 1933 ! Highly acclaimed book & movie! WILLIAM POWELL as the Detective. MARY ASTOR! Odd title. Never heardo bfo saw on TV Jan 26, 2022 Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Kennel Murder Case

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