The Garden Murder Case

Depressed race jockey Floyd Garden falls off his horse. His dying words are, "I've got to fall... I've got to break my..." Gentleman detective Philo Vance (Edmund Lowe) investigates the apparent suicide. A shot rings out and Edgar Lowe Hammle is found dead. It's another assumed suicide.

It is a lot talking in an old fashion whodunit mystery. Edmund Lowe is a playing classy older gentleman. He has little flourishes, but it is mostly a gentlemanly front. He and Zalia Graem are a fine coupling, but not anything great. I don't think that I'm following every detail, but the general idea is fine. There are so many characters. This is fine.

When Philo Vance (Edmund Lowe) is standing precariously on the edge of a balcony high above the city, apparently hypnotized and just about to step to his death,it immediately reminded me of a nearly identical scene in another film made nine years later, "The Woman in Green" in which Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone)is similarly about to hurl himself into space while being hypnotized.

Happily, both Philo Vance and Sherlock Holmes survive these attempts at murder by unscrupulous criminals. Exciting cinematic suspense in both these scenes. When will they learn you can't cloud the minds of great fictional detectives ?

EDMUND LOWE (who reminds me somewhat of Warren William), heads the nice cast of an interesting little mystery that moves at a brisk pace and runs just a little over an hour.

Douglas Walton plays the unlucky jockey who appears to be intent on his own demise (hypnotism, anyone?), and the suspects include a good number of the supporting cast--everyone from Virginia Bruce, Kent Smith, Frieda Inescourt, Gene Lockhart, Jessie Ralph, Benita Hume, Rosalind Ivan and H.B. Warner. As an added bonus, there's Nat Pendleton as a dimwit detective--and furthermore, get a load of that art deco set decoration for the fancy interiors of a wealthy home. Must have been a set that was used in many a subsequent film.

On the plus side, the mystery is not so complicated that anyone can follow the plot with reasonable assurance of not being too baffled. It's all suddenly clear to detective Philo Vance--and then he has a final confrontation with the murderer that gives the film a nifty five minutes of unmitigated suspense.

Nicely done and passes the time in an entertaining manner.

While there were not that many filmed Philo Vance mysteries, THE GARDEN MURDER CASE is a standout in the series and, perhaps, a close second to the KENNEL MURDER CASE starring William Powell.

This is an elaborate murder mystery with dapper Edmond Lowe doing the honors as the master detective. The only debit; Lowe did not continue the series, which needed a debonair gent, and he definitely fit the bill. Beautiful Virginia Bruce plays the lady in distress, naturally suspected of murder and the object of Lowe's affection. They make a sleek couple.

This screenplay is extremely clever, dealing with hypnotism, and is similar to THE WOMAN IN GREEN, a Sherlock Holmes entry, starring Basil Rathbone (and yes, he too played Philo Vance!). Makes us armchair detectives wonder if the writers at Universal may have "borrowed" a few ideas from this screenplay to keep their famous detective in business? Bertram Millhauser wrote both stories, known for his work with Cecil B. DeMille.

Another interesting footnote, Nat Pendleton was cast as the long arm of the law, quite the same type of role he played in the original THIN MAN. Those casting directors were a smart bunch.

Whatever the case, this fine whodunit will keep your attention through and through, campy at times, and guessing the murderer is worth the wait.

Virginia Bruce would next co-star in THE GREAT ZIEGFELD.

Always on dvd and thanks to TCM for running this golden oldie.

S.S. Van Dine must have been a shrewd businessman in dealing with Hollywood. Most of the film series' from the studio days were usually confined to one or two studios. But apparently Van Dine must have sold his rights to each book about Philo Vance one at a time. Note that Paramount, MGM, Warner Brothers, and more all released Philo Vance films. Only Tarzan seemed to get around Hollywood more.

MGM produced the Garden Murder Case and starred Edmund Lowe as the fashionable detective. Of course MGM had the screen's original Philo under contract at the time, but Bill Powell was busy doing The Thin Man at the time and I guess Louis B. Mayer decided to concentrate him there.

Edmund Lowe is a pretty acceptable Philo Vance. Lowe had started out pretty big at the tail end of the silent era with What Price Glory and then with a string of films with Victor McLaglen with their Flagg and Quirt characters. But after McLaglen got his Oscar for The Informer, Lowe seemed to fade into the B picture market.

The Garden Murder Case involves three separate victims, Douglas Walton, Gene Lockhart, and Frieda Inescourt. The sinister atmosphere around the perpetrator kind of gives it away, the mystery is really how all the killings are connected and how they are accomplished.

I will say this though. Vance takes a very big chance in exposing the villain and the last 15 minutes are worthy of Hitchcock.