Wednesday, May 2, 2018

The Benson Murder Case (1930)

Another delightful Philo Vance murder mystery. A stockbroker (Richard Tucker) who seems to have more enemies than toupees (and he has a lot of them) is murdered in his lodge on a wet and windy night. His house filled with a motley crew of criminals, fast women and gigolos - all of whom had reason to kill him.

William Powell's Philo Vance, the dashing amateur detective, is actually on hand when the stockbroker is murdered. But who committed the crime? All the ingredients therefore for a great Golden Age murder mystery.

The film maybe takes a while to get going but once Vance is on the investigation the film flies - maybe flies a little too much the film is a bit breakneck at times. The final reveal is very ingenious and elevates this murder mystery into something very good indeed.