The last of William Powell's four Philo Vance movies to hit youtube, I hope this is not infringing on any copyrights. Let me know and I'll remove it. True movie magic.
What a lot of people don't know is that Powell had a long career in stage, and then silents before he ever hit the talkies. He truly honed his craft and it shows. By the time he hit "talking pictures" he well understood how to dominate the screen. He had charisma and presence to spare. Whenever he is in front of the camera you can see how he understands body control - he just takes over the screen, like a dancer - and you can see how he acts with so much more than just dialogue. I think he's my very favorite. This is an earlier picture, but every picture he gets better and better. The Thin Mans are just remarkable.
William Powell was the epitome of style and elegance! Unbeknownst to Mr. Powell, he taught me about dress; and how to charm the ladies. My wife of nearly forty four years, approves of this statement! Thank you for this vintage movie.
This was released in April 1930 by which time the stock market had rebounded significantly from the crash; not many expected a "Great Depression" yet. There was a second crash, in slow motion, so to speak, between May & August 1930 that really launched the depression..
Yet another great mystery crime thriller from that sleuth, Mr. Vance. These films are able to constantly leave you on the edge of your seat, wondering, until the very end. In their day they must have brought considerable enjoyment at the cinema for only a nickel. Thanks for allowing us to enjoy them still nearly ninety years later.
Aside from William Powell playing Philo Vance, co-star Richard Tucker was one of the founding members of the Screen Actors' Guild's Board of Directors, as well as being the first official member of SAG. His film career spanned 1911-1940. He died in 1942 of a heart attack at only 58 years old. He's shown sitting at the desk at the beginning of the film.
Powell had a very distinct voice and knew how to use it. Love Powell and Loy together. They were great friends and it showed with their antics. What a pair.
Mary Lawson, I know people dressed up to go uptown in the fifties, I dressed to shop in the sixties but by the seventies it was go as I was, I bet you no longer dress up to shop uptown either.
My favorite of the William Powell Philip Vance movies! I have watched them all again and again but I keep coming back to this one. Such great characters and acting!
Hey Robert- I betcha you could still get a suit like that. All you'd have to do is pony up some big bucks to a tailor and tell him what you want. Then you'd just need to figure out where it could be worn. ;-) I know what you mean though. Unlike nowadays, folks took pride in their appearance back then.
Nothing stops anyone from dressing the way they want, regardless of how anyone else around is dressing. And anyone can have hand tailored clothes. All you have to do is have the means to pay for it, which generally means having a career that will provide those means.
Robert Jones. As another commenter pointed out, you can get suits like that if you have the money. You'd also need either a tailor or adviser to see that the suits are properly cut & constructed--not easy, especially with styles of this period with bias-cut & fine detailing being prominent. It takes a very good tailor to make any fine suit, & the tailor must know not only the details (breast pockets, button-holes, etc.) but also the fabric weight & weave that determine how the fabric will hang. Even with more expensive brands of clothing today, you seldom find a finely tailored suit that compares to standard suits prior to WWII. Still, if you frequent second-hand clothing shops, you can occasionally find well made suits from the '30s & '40s as well as contemporary bespoke suits. Of course you'd also need the proper shirts, ties, etc, as well as hats, to make the outfit look right. The more expensive clothing from the '30s & '40s was made to last a lifetime. You might sometimes find such clothing at estate sales.
My mom always watched old movies so I fell in love with a few, one of mine was William Powel. I planned to marry him when I grew up. Oh well....he died long before we watched the movies.
When I heard that he had been war sounded with a limp? And chose a career in Hollywood anyway? Not only elegant and talented? But courageous and determined
I became a fan of the Philo Vance character when I saw William Powell in the "Kennel Murder Case," in 1997. I enjoyed all the Vance portrayals I found during my cable days, particularly Basil Rathbone and Warren William. I knew of the other william Powell episodes, but didn't locate them until today. I am overjoyed and thankful for Utube and the tablet my children gave me last Christmas.
If you enjoy the films, there were three different radio series featuring the character back in the day, which should be floating around various Old Time Radio audio library sites/channels. Also an even dozen novels (one of which was the basis of this film) which are decent reads, although they might not be to everyone's tastes. Vance was a rather divisive character even in his heyday, for ex Raymond Chandler absolutely hated the character and mocked him in several of the Marlowe stories.
His filmography starts in 1922, and this was actually his 3rd Philo Vance film. They even reference the second one when he's talking to the ME - the Greene Murder Case. Unusual bit of cross-film continuity for the era, even for a series.
I used to have the first six Philo Vance novels, hard-cover first editions, that I bought at an estate sale. The first novel was kind of weak (The Kennel Murder Case), and then they turned into bang-up, first-rate murder mysteries. He must have gotten a good editor.
Great early talkie . And a nice plot to the murder . They were getting the hang of stylish dialogue by 1930 . Give me one of these well crafted movies over a new "Hollywood Blockbuster" any day .
+Steve Rhodes HERE HERE my friend....here here. they REALLY knew how to pull off the whodunit capers back then....hell, classic films period, but The Thin Man was my passage into the world of TCM & murder mysteries. it would be villainy if they stopped. William Powell, Warren Williams & Basil Rathbone are my fav P.I's from this period.
I 1st heard of Filo Vance was in book form. I was very happy to see that my favorite actor, William Powell. This was before Nick and Nora and The Thin Man movies. This was when movies were great, not special effects and stunts. I have watched 500-1,000 of 1930s films on You Tube
Thanks so much for posting this. William Powell will always be Nick Charles and Philo Vance to me. Memories of my Dad and I watching old murder mysteries and listening to the old radio detective shows on road trips. You made me think of such happy times. Thanks for that - Cheers
I just re-watched "THE THIN MAN" last week. Terrific film, well-made, and the current prints are in excellent shape. But I find I prefer Powell as Philo Vance. Maybe it's the lack of non-stop intoxication... (LOL)
Great "closed circle" type mystery and lots of fun. Who among the guests killed the scoundrel? Everyone appears to have a motive. Good thing Philo Vance is on the case!
I was lucky to find this pre-code detective movie while searching for films starring Natalie Moorhead! 💕 William Powell started his film career mostly as a “Heavy” in silent films of the 1920’s before he would become the distinguished gentleman on screen with the likes of Myrna Loy 💕 and Kay Francis 💕.
Interesting how the cinematography is so much better in this film compared to the earlier Philo Vance films of 1929, just a year prior. This film shows the devastation of the Stock Market Crash. William Powell is always great.
William Powell was an Actors actor! He made whatever movie he was in come alive! He was Philo Vance....he was Nick Charles ... and the list goes on! Comedy, Drama, Mystery ....if it's a William Powell movie you'll be entertained!🦂
Well, we are talking about the beginning of the depression. This is a movie, and focuses on mainly a narrow group of people who were privileged. Most of the country was still agricultural and heels and furs weren’t a part of their lives. I have no objection to sneakers, just wish people still dressed better for special occasions. And as a woman who was required to wear heels to work in the 60’s, I can only say they helped ruin my feet and I haven’t been able to walk in them at all for about 30 years.
@@tonibauer2949 My, my, aren't you just the perfect little snowflake!! Your complaining about wearing spike heels when you could have said No is as credible as a Hollywood actress complaining that she has to strip naked in order to have a career. She has a choice, and so do you. But, tell the truth now: everything is really the fault of men, isn't it? Isn't every problem you've ever had in your life the fault of someone else?
I live these old movies. This is a time when actors were real actors without all the modern technology which glosses over bad acting which we see a lot of today.
Seems like a play because the cameras were so limited. They made a virtue of necessity. Soon, though, cameras would be far more agile and the movies far more realistic and the limitations of the sound technology no longer required certain ways of speaking so the equipment could make it understandable. No long pauses with no sound, either.
I've looked for this and the other Philo Vance movie for years, having only seen the Kennel Murder Case. I was so happy to find this and the other P.V. movies. Love William Powell and Eugene Pallette. Thank you, tolvis77
OnesMedia has a PHILO VANCE box set with 13 films + an unsold TV pilot! The quality varies; the first 3 Paramounts are in really bad shape, but the 1st MGM (with Rathbone) is a STUNNING, clear print! I'm working my way thru the set 1 film per week. At the moment, they're only missing 3: the Spanish-language version of "Benson", the only one made in England ("Scarab") and the 1937 remake of "Greene", "Night Of Mystery". The English fim is considered "LOST", but "Night Of Mystery" is known to be in the hands of private collectors-- just NOT in circulation. I only learned of the Spanish film TODAY. Carlos Villarias, who starred in the 1931 Spanish "DRACULA", plays D.A. Markham in that one.
Thanks for this. Great to see so many great actors that would play a part in Powell's later films. Eugene Pallette and Misha Auer from 1936's "My Man Godfrey". Natalie Moorhead from "The Thin Man" 1934. A real treat to see an early film appearance by William Boyd, the future Hop A Long Cassidy iconic western star.
This is a different William Boyd who was a star of many silent movies. This one was known as William 'Stage' Boyd. This one's bad behavior and many scandals caused Hoppy much trouble as his pictures were splashed on the front pages of the newspapers during the time. Stage had many arrests for alcohol possession and drug possession. This Boyd died in 1935 from his alcoholism. The other Boyd was just starting to become famous as Hoppy..along with Windy...later Gabby Hayes.
@@DiosprometheusDiosprometheus Thanks for clearing up the confusion. I saw William Boyd and thought it was 'Hoppy.' Also, it might explain why actors can't use the same name... There was Henry Morgan, who I remember being on the TV show, 'I've Got a Secret'... So, Col Potter had to take the name Harry Morgan, when he began his acting career so many years before MASH
Typical class types of the time: English and wealthy eastern usa accents for the upper class women, prep school accents for the upper class good guys,an attempted lower class accent for the gatsby-like hood, a nasal mid-west? working class for the police,the weak gigilo with a continental european accent (hungarian in this case),
This movie is so-on-point with what has happened in the World in the last 10 years! You could re-make this movie, nearly verbatim; excepting to change things to Enron, and Goldman Sachs. The 'Rich and Super-Rich', sucking the juice out of the 'Grapes of Wealth' and when it comes time to pay the 'grocer-banker'; they 'CRY LIKE SPINELESS-WIMPS', and get the Govt. to bail them out, on the backs of the working-poor. A times tale. And yes, the clothes on the Men is Tops.
The characters in this movie were not the rich and super rich. The rich and super rich do not miss a beat when the market turns, only the pseudo rich do.
Paul Lukas -- Adolph Mohler here -- not only went on to portray Philo Vance in "The Casino Murder Case" but won an Academy Award over the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Gary Cooper for his work in "Watch On The Rhine".
I believe Lukas was in another Philo Vance film in which Powell played Vance...was it The Kennel Club Murder? I can't say for sure, off the top of my head.
@@Mimi-ex6jo yes, I do! And I am not one of those who prefers all old films to more modern ones, but so much is lost when those are “colorized.” It ruins the camera work and often the director’s intent.
Ever watch a sequel to a good film They seldom if ever measure up Why any one would want a copy or a clon is far too hard for me to understand. Thanks to people who post old films with great stars we can still enjoy both the experience and the thrill that tens of thousands have experience in the days past TY Tolvis 77
NOT YET, apparently, but we can always hope someone will tackle the project eventually. At least the first 3 Paramounts (all with Powell) are in serious need of restoration jobs. "Benson" seems in the WORST shape right now (of the ones I've seen so far).
When I read the credits at the films beginning and saw the name William Boyd famous as Hopalong Cassidy, I thought it can't be. This guy playing Harry was William " Stage " Boyd later arrested for illicit drinking and drugs offences.
'Stage' Boyd was featured in only one film that I can think of where he played a cop. The rest of his career was as the bad guy or at least as someone 'not all that nice'. He fried his liver with drugs and booze and died in 1935 at age 45. Must have ruined his whole day.
In a matter of a few minutes, the home of Anthony Benson (Richard Tucker) filled up the way, five years later, Driftwood's (Groucho’s) tiny cabin would in the classic stateroom scene in “A Night at the Opera.” I wonder if it was from this story that the Marx Brothers & company got the idea for that now classic "Stateroom Scene," in which 15 people crowded into. Crazier yet, at 34:20 reporter, a reporter asks "Who did this, to which Eugene Pallette, as Sgt. Ernest Heath answers, “The four Marx Brothers.”
Circa 1930 - well, it was the beginning of talkies. Stiff acting, stiff story, stiff everybody and everything. Thankfully, Powell found Myrna Loy and they became the great Thin Man couple.
All films then we're a little stiff, films were still relatively new, talkies were brand new, and most if the actors were either very new to film or were readjusting from silent acting style to talkies. I don't care, I LOVE them.
