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The Canary Murder Case (1929)
Rate:
10
Viewed:
6/25, 6/25
6/25:
The Canary Murder Case is best watched twice.
The first time, I didn't think much of the film for a while. When William Powell got into his Philo Vance routine,
I started to take it more seriously. There's deep intellect involved with the writing being to the point. After
the case was fully solved, I decided to have another go.
During the second viewing, I found the beginning to be well done in spite of thinking some scenes static the
last time. Apparently, the last person the Canary was with was Charles Spottswoode. But that's not
everything...it's rather how Philo Vance had arrived at his conclusions in a clever manner. I even rolled by
eyes when he suggested a game of poker, thinking of past failures such as
The Cincinnati Kid and Rounders.
William Powell in 1930 said the following of his character: "The opportunities of a detective on the screen are
too limited. What is his main function? To solve the crime. And how does he do it? By thinking. So we have him
standing up and thinking, sitting down and thinking, lying down and thinking, ad nauseam. He is practically the
only member of the cast without a chance for dramatic action or outstanding characterization. The interest
revolves about him, true enough—but he is like a rock in the center of a whirlpool. He doesn't have a chance
to act!"
Well, that's an unfair assessment. Consider this: The Canary Murder Case came out in 1929 and tons of movies
had been produced since then. I've never seen a pensive character played so well like William Powell's Philo
Vance. He takes his time to think on screen and measures his words carefully before speaking, becoming credible
in the long run. Others would've made it boring. That's why William Powell was a bona fide star, an impressive
feat when Hollywood was in the middle of its transition from silent to talkie.
Elsewhere, I was surprised to see Jean Arthur's name in the opening credits, but her performance is bland
and she later admitted to being a "very poor actress...inexperienced so far as genuine training was concerned."
You are correct to surmise the lines didn't match what Louise Brooks, who's famous for the iconic 20's flapper
look, said or that wasn't really her in several scenes; she got dubbed while acting as if it's a silent movie
and was sometimes substituted by Margaret Livingston in the flesh. On the other hand, I recognized the guy
who played Jimmie Spottswoode, and it's James Hall as one of the two brothers in
Hell's Angels.
All in all, thanks to the success of The Canary Murder Case, I'm looking forward to the next two Philo
Vance films featuring William Powell.