The Dragon Murder Case (film)
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director H. Bruce Humberstone Story by S. S. Van Dine Duration Country United States | 6.2/10 IMDb Genre Mystery Cinematography Tony Gaudio Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Writer F. Hugh Herbert , Robert N. Lee , Rian James Release date August 25, 1934 (1934-08-25) Based on the novel The Dragon Murder Case
by S. S. Van Dine Cast Warren William (Philo Vance), Margaret Lindsay (Bernice Stamm), Lyle Talbot (Gale Leland), Eugene Pallette (Sgt. Ernest Heath), Helen Lowell (Mrs. Stamm), Robert McWade (Markham)Similar movies Philo Vance Returns , The Canary Murder Case , The Bishop Murder Case , The Benson Murder Case , The Gracie Allen Murder Case , Calling Philo Vance | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detective Philo Vance (Warren William) investigates the mysterious murder of Monty Montague (George Meeker) at the family home of his fiancee, Bernice Stamm (Margaret Lindsay). After diving into a murky swimming pool with Bernices brother, Rudolph (Robert Barrat), Monty failed to surface, but his body was not found when the pool was drained. Following odd markings on the pool bottom, Vance locates the body in a sink hole, but the coroner finds that there is no water in the victims lungs.
Contents
The Dragon Murder Case is a 1934 mystery film adaptation of the novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine, starring Warren William as private detective Philo Vance.
Wonderful idea to give a party with people who dislike each other. Late at night, everyone decides to go into the pool, except Stamm, who is drunk. Montague dives in as does Greeff and Leland, but only Greeff and Leland come out. Montague is no where to be found so Leland suspects foul play and calls the cops. Luckily, Philo is with the D.A. and comes along, but they do not find Montague. When they drain the pool the next day, they find nothing except what looks like dragon prints. Philo has his suspicions and tries to piece the clues together to find out what has happened.
Plot
The movie features a large dragon illustration behind the opening and closing credits. Montague disappears after diving into a natural pool of water on an estate. Several people dive in, but there is no trace of him. Philo Vance and the District Attorney come to investigate and decide to drain the pool. They are told that there were craters in the pool, and sure enough Montagues body is found at the bottom of a very deep one. His body has claw marks on it, consistent with the superstition that a dragon inhabits the pool.
Cast
Reception
In his The New York Times review, Mordaunt Hall found that the "denouement is scarcely satisfactory, for it is not quite clear how Mr. Vance reaches his conclusions." Also, in his opinion, "Mr. William, while he does fair work, is not as easy and smooth in the role as was Mr. [William] Powell."
References
The Dragon Murder Case (film) WikipediaThe Dragon Murder Case (film) IMDb The Dragon Murder Case (film) themoviedb.org