Guest Author - Vannie
Philo Vance is a debonair detective (William Powell) who runs with the rich and elite. His love of dogs and his own dog has brought him to a show at a prestigious kennel club in Long Island. This leads him to investigating the deaths of two brothers Archer (Robert Barrat) and Brisbane Coe (Frank Conroy) who belonged to the kennel club.
Archer is found dead in a bedroom that is locked from the inside. What appears to be a definite suicide to the police seems suspicious to Philo Vance. The Coroner proves he is correct. All evidence leads straight to brother Brisbane, but the brother is soon found stabbed to death. It's up to Vance to find out who killed the brothers Coe. His efforts are hindered by an inept Sergeant played wonderfully by actor Eugene Pallet. One of my favorite characters is 'houseboy' Liang played by James Lee. Lee plays the 1930's typical Asian houseboy who fractures the English language when he speaks, but he doesn't fool Philo. Liang is a scholar and has a specific reason for working in the Coe household. Actress Mary Astor is also in this movie, Astor fans will recall that she was the beautiful and conniving Brigid O'Shaughnessy in 1941 movie The Maltese Falcon.
In addition to The Kennel Murder Murder, you will find William Powell and Eugene Pallet in other Philo Vance Detective movies, The Canary Murder Case(1929); The Greene Murder Case(1929) and The Benson Murder Case(1930). They also appear in Paramount on Parade(1930 a musical with a series of vignettes including one titled 'Murder Will Out' where Powell and Pallet reprise their respective roles. William Powell was not the only actor to play Philo Vance, there were at least eleven others, including Basil Rathbone in The Bishop Murder Case (1930)and Wilfrid Hyde-White in The Scarab Murder Case (1936)
You will see Powell and Pallette together again in the delightful comedy My Man Godfrey. In MMG Pallette is a man of wealth with a twittering wife and two spoiled daughters; Powell is a down in spirit rich man who hides his identity to become a butler in Pallette's home.
