In the film, dog show competitor and fine china collector, Archer Coe, is found murdered within his own bedroom. There is a long list of suspects, since the victim had antagonized members of his family, his lover, and his employees. The corpse of the victim's brother is soon found, hidden in a coat closet. One of the other suspects survives a surprise knife attack, and the dog of Coe's neighbor is found to be seriously injured in his own house. Vance has to deduce the motives behind the attacks in order to figure out who killed Coe.
Plot
When Philo Vance's dog does not make it into the final of the Long Island Kennel Club's dog show, fellow competitor Archer Coe (Robert Barrat) is disappointed, having hoped to savor a victory over Vance. The next morning Coe is found dead, locked inside his bedroom. District Attorney Markham (Robert McWade) and Police Sergeant Heath (Eugene Pallette) assume it was suicide, because Coe was shot through the head and was found holding a pistol. Vance is not convinced. He soon finds evidence that Coe was murdered. Coroner Dr. Doremus (Etienne Girardot) later determines the victim had bled to death internally from a stab wound.
There is no shortage of suspects; Coe was very much disliked. His niece Hilda Lake (Mary Astor) resented her uncle's tight control of her finances and jealousy of any men who showed interest in her. Her boyfriend, Sir Thomas MacDonald (Paul Cavanagh), suspected Coe of killing his dog to ensure winning the competition. Raymond Wrede (Ralph Morgan), the dead man's secretary, was in love with Miss Lake, but had been laughed at when he sought Coe's support, and heartbroken when Miss Lake informed him of her to engagement to Sir Thomas. Coe's next-door neighbor and lover Doris Delafield (Helen Vinson) had been cheating on him with Eduardo Grassi (Jack La Rue). When Coe found out, he cancelled a contract to sell his vast collection of Chinese artworks to the Milan museum for which Grassi worked. Liang (James Lee), the cook, had worked long, hard, and illegally to help Coe amass his collection. He warned his employer against the proposed sale, but was angrily dismissed for eavesdropping. Even Coe's own brother, Brisbane (Frank Conroy), despised Coe for reasons unknown. Finally, Gamble (Arthur Hohl), the head servant, had concealed his criminal past.
Brisbane Coe becomes Vance's prime suspect, as his alibi of taking a train at the time of the murder is disproved. However, when Brisbane is found dead in a coat closet, Vance is both puzzled and enlightened. Among Brisbane's effects, Vance finds a book titled Unsolved Murders; wherein a bookmarked page details a method of using string and fishing tackle to lock a door through the keyhole without leaving a trace. Vance demonstrates this method to Markham and Heath, and theorizes that two men sought to kill Coe.
Later, an attempt is made on the life of Sir Thomas in his own bedroom; the attacker using the same dagger used to kill Coe. Finally, a Doberman Pinscher belonging to Miss Delafield is found seriously injured in the Coe library; apparently struck with a fireside poker. After obtaining an alibi from Wrede alleging that he sought to end his employment with Coe the night of his murder, Vance narrows down the killer's identity.
It turns out that two men indeed sought to end Coe's life that night. The successful murderer struggled with Coe and stabbed him, leaving him for dead. Coe awakened soon after. Too dazed to recall the fight or realize that he was mortally wounded, he went upstairs to his bedroom, opened his window, and began changing into his pajamas before dying. A gloved Brisbane later entered the chamber; seeing his brother apparently asleep in his chair, he shot the corpse and arranged the scene to look like a suicide. Downstairs, he ran into the actual killer, who had seen through a next-door window that Archer Coe was still alive and come back to finish the job. In the darkness, the killer mistook Brisbane for Archer and killed the wrong man. Delafield's dog then wandered in, attracted by the commotion, and attacked the murderer.
While sure of the killer's identity, Vance has no proof. He therefore arranges for Sir Thomas and Wrede to quarrel over Hilda Lake at the Coe residence. Wrede antagonizes the couple's resolve to get married and moves to grab Sir Thomas, who sucker punches him. When Wrede instinctively reaches for the poker to strike his rival, the Doberman recognizes its attacker and leaps on him. After Vance pulls the dog from his throat, Wrede confesses that Coe struck him after refusing to assist in his courtship of Miss Lake; precipitating the struggle and subsequent stabbing. However, Wrede dubs Brisbane's murder a mistake, yet insists to Vance that he still would kill Sir Thomas if he could.
The records of Warner Bros. indicate that original casting included Hugh Herbert as Dr. Doremus, George Blackwood as Bruce MacDonald and Claire Dodd as Doris Delafield. Ralph Bellamy was reported to have been signed to perform in the film, but he does not appear in the film as released.[1]
Director Michael Curtiz covered the talkiness of the film, endemic to whodunnits of this sort, by using a mobile camera in some scenes, and kept up the pace of the film with dissolves and wipes.[3]
Reception
Film historian William K. Everson, who pronounced the film a "masterpiece" in the August 1984 issue of Films in Review, considers The Kennel Murder Case to be one of the greatest screen adaptations of a Golden Age mystery novel; Everson ranks it with the 1946 film Green for Danger.
The film made a profit of almost $400,000.[3] According to Warner Bros records the film earned $441,000 domestically and $241,000 internationally.[2]
Remake
Warners remade The Kennel Murder Case in 1940 as Calling Philo Vance, with James Stephenson playing Vance.[3]
1 2 3 Warner Bros financial information in The William Schaefer Ledger. See Appendix 1, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, (1995) 15:sup1, 1-31 p 15 DOI: 10.1080/01439689508604551
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