An early talkie and one of the earliest Philo Vance films, in this film he is played by Basil Rathbone.
After a young man is found dead with an arrow in him, the police and Philo Vance are called in. Vance quickly sees that the arrow scene was staged, really the man was bludgeoned to death. The young man was found dead at the home of Professor Dillard (Alec B Francis), with a number of mysterious acting neighbours and relatives. A note by someone who calls themselves The Bishop is found alluding to the murder...
An interesting entry in the Philo Vance series, Rathbone plays the part well. Though it is amusing, in hindsight, that he gets accused of being Sherlock Holmes as he played the role many times just a few years later! The film suffers a little from being a bit static, as with many early talkies but it does not ruin the film too much. Some good character actors play the various suspects and there are the required number of red herrings and mysterious clues.
