Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Skunkyrate Gripping story with well-crafted characters

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

dougdoepke Routine whodunit of the time. Despite presence of Powell, he's given no chance to demonstrate his special personality skills-- that would come later with Nick and Nora Charles. Too bad, because the narrative could use more character color, aside from a droll Palette as police inspector. As a murder mystery, the film's nothing special. There's the old brain-teaser of murder in a locked room, but that's cleared up too soon. Too bad the collection of suspects are all men with only two women in the cast. Then too, headliner Mary Astor gets little screen time and is largely wasted. From that gender standpoint, the movie remains something of an oddity. Nonetheless, the storyline is smoothly directed by the canny Mike Curtiz. At the same time, I like the use of flashbacks to clear up the convoluted murders, which otherwise are pretty much beyond viewer solution. Anyway, it's good to know that Powell would soon take Asta and go on to the Thin Man series, which is more entertaining than this mediocre effort.

vincentlynch-moonoi The first thing I liked about this mystery movie is that the early minutes of it are packed tightly with lots of storyline. And this is a somewhat complex story, particularly for a time (1933) when such movies tended to be rather light. Pay attention here or be lost! It's also nice to have a different setting...a kennel club (at least early on in the film)! Novel! Philo Vance (played wonderfully by William Powell) isn't as smooth and sophisticated as Nick Charles, and there's not the witty banter between man and wife you find in the Thin Man series, but this is a good character. And, you'll see lots of character actors you'll recognize (although probably not by name). Of particular note is the gravel-voiced Eugene Palette (and if you want to read an interesting bio, Google him). Also look for Ralph Morgan, lesser-known brother of actor Frank Morgan; you'll see the resemblance.I won't recount the plot. It's almost too complex to do so, but I'll just repeat that this is a sophisticated mystery for 1933! Recommended!

secondtake The Kennel Murder Case (1933)A precursor to the Thin Man series, starring William Powell as a detective (but without the very supplementary Myrna Loy). And this is directed by none other than Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca" and "Mildred Pierce"), and you can often tell, scenes characteristically complex with lots of people and foreground/background. As a whole the movie races along, to the point that the huge cast (all introduced with visual vignettes at the start) is confusing. But hang in there. because a third of the way through Powell kicks in full time.There are few actors like William Powell in the history of American film. He is peculiar in charming ways, and makes no bones about it. He lacks any sense of what we might think of as cool or hardness--there's no Bogart in him, no Cary Grant of course, nothing but what a character actor might have. And he made it a virtue, visible even here. The rest of the cast is good or very good, with a few other recognizable faces, and it gels increasingly as you go until a series of dramatic whodunnit style conclusions wraps it all up.Powell's detective, Philo Vance, was a snobby socialite, and the plots have a quality of private detective vs. police (which gets used in a lot of these kinds of series, of course). There are four movies with Powell playing the part (and many others with other actors in the role. This is the fourth, and best of them, the first going back to the dawn of sound, 1929. It's not as slick or warm (or sophisticated) as "The Thin Man" series, which is a high water mark of the effete detective, but it's terrific in its own way, and really well constructed. I'd not miss it.

whpratt1 Enjoyed viewing this film on TCM and watching a very young William Powell, (Philo Vance) playing detective just like he did with Myrna Loy in the "Thin Man Series". Back in the 1930's William Powell played in the Philo Vance Series and in this picture, the famous veteran actress Mary Astor, (Hilda Lake) becomes one of the suspects in a murder/suicide case where a man named, Archer Coe, (Robert Barrot) is found dead and Archer was in a room that was bolted from the inside. Ralph Morgan, (Raymond Wrede/Archer's Secretary) gave a great supporting role and was the brother to Frank Morgan who appeared "In the Wizard of Oz" 1939. Eugene Palette, (Detective Sgt. Heath) appeared in quite a few of these Philo Vance films and also gave a great performance in "Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn. Always remember, the least likely actor could very well be the killer. Enjoy a great Classic from the past.