ThiefHott Too much of everything

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

bbmtwist Well, this is the first of four Philo Vance detective stories and it plays like a photographed stage play, excruciatingly slow and turgid. One has to "know" poker to understand Philo's technique of unmasking the murderer and the lengths the true murderer goes to to commit the crime are completely implausible, and impossible to achieve as explained here.All the actors speak and move in slow motion, as was the standard in early talkies, yet Powell is assured and urbane throughout, rightfully making him the star of the film.Louise Brooks had a further peg in her coffin as a Hollywood star by refusing to re-film her scenes, once the talkie version went into production. She appears only in the first 14 minutes. She is seen only in non-dialogue close ups and mid shots, derived from the silent version. To cover we have a stand-in in shadow or back-to, with her lines spoken by another actress, or her entirely out of the shot with the editor staying on her fellow actor while her dubber's lines are spoken.Well-done, but obvious. Again, I must say I just don't comprehend the fascination with Brooks. Any actress want-to-be off the Hollywood streets could have played this role and as well. No talent here at all.

kidboots In "Paramount on Parade" William Powell essayed a spot on parody of Philo Vance, an intellectual man-about-town amateur detective, and when he was shot Inspector Heath (Eugene Palette) happily congratulated Fu Manchu. S.S. Van Dine had written his first Vance book in 1926 - "The Benson Murder Case", and it was a huge success. Philo Vance was independently wealthy and was always called into the cases by Heath when the police had given up - of course he always solved the crime!! In 1929 Paramount acquired the film rights to the first three Van Dine books and the first to roll out was "The Canary Murder Case". William Powell who had excelled in villainous roles was a brilliant choice for Vance. He played up the suavity and intellectualism but eliminated the stuffiness and pretentiousness that was quickly turning a lot of readers off!!Louise Brooks in feathers was enough to make this movie memorable, even though you didn't hear her distinctive throbby voice. She played "The Canary", a beautiful blackmailing showgirl who has set her sights on marrying into society and has her claws into Jimmy (James Hall) who in turn has patched things up with fellow show- girl Alice (for all Jean Arthur's top billing she has two small scenes).Definitely not as interesting as "The Greene Murder Case", once Brooks departed (she was the victim) after 15 minutes, there were no more ladies to brighten up proceedings. The plot was then propelled by a group of suspects - most of them older men whom the Canary was blackmailing. The climax came with a poker game, staged by the insufferable Mr. Vance, in an effort to use psychology to flush out the murderer. Until then chief suspect is young Jimmy but in a twist the murderer is killed and Philo Vance then takes centre stage to explain just how the murder had been done. Most interesting character is good old Ned Sparks as, believe it or not, Louise's husband back from "up the river" and eager to get his hands on some of her ill gotten loot!!The film was caught in the middle of the talkie change over. Initially filmed as a silent in 1928 it was extensively re-shot to make it a 1929 all talkie, which explains Louise Brook's reluctance to return for dialogue dubbing. The studio got their revenge by substituting the "dese, dems and dose" voice of Margaret Livingston - you just couldn't imagine that voice issuing from Louise's fair lips.

dbborroughs Philo Vance (William Powell) aids the police in running down the killer of the Canary (Louise Brooks, looking good but obviously dubbed) a show girl who was planning on blackmailing the son of a rich banker into marrying her. There are an odd assortment of suspects, including a young Jean Arthur (who's not very good) but only one real choice. This was always held out by people I've known to be the best of the Philo Vances, edging out the Kennel Murder Case. I don't think anyone who's said that had seen the film in years because I don't know when the last time this was run on TV. Actually its a slow (you could trim about 15 minutes out of this), dated (there is no music and many scenes were shot silent and sound added later) but still enjoyable little thriller. Its an okay mystery that actually becomes more a how was it done rather than who done it. Is it the best of the Vances? No. Kennel is really good and probably better, and probably some of the others as well, but that doesn't mean you won't have a good time watching it.

JohnHowardReid When Paramount decided to re-make their unreleased silent, "The Canary Murder Case" as a talkie, they faced two problems. The first was that the title star, Louise Brooks, had accepted an offer to work in Germany and refused to return. The second was that director Mal St Clair had no knowledge of sound technique. And perhaps it's true too that he supported Miss Brooks' stand. She and Paramount had parted on bad terms because the studio refused to honor her contract. In any event, Frank Tuttle was engaged to direct the talkie. In order to get around the Brooks problem, the studio wheeled in a double, Margaret Livingston. Not only did Miss Livingston dub the Canary's voice (in an atrocious Brooklyn accent yet!) but also substituted visually in back-to-the-camera long shots.So what we have is a movie in which all the Brooks close-ups (in fact all the shots which show her face), plus at least one short clip in a hotel corridor and maybe the long shot of the dancing chorus in the theater (and perhaps the location snip of the speeding car), were directed by Mal St Clair, whereas the rest of the action was directed by Frank Tuttle. A major headache for the editor indeed, and he is to be commended for a sterling job of work under extremely difficult circumstances. The pace is odd, the cutting unrhythmical and even jarringly abrupt at times, but at least the narrative still makes sense. Aside from Miss Livingston, the players do wonders with the not very convincing dialogue supplied by novelist S.S. Van Dine himself. Oddly, Eugene Palette copes best, giving a typically hearty impersonation of Sergeant Heath. On the other hand, Powell seems a little unsure of his character at this stage and is often content merely to rattle off his lines. The rest of the players are competent enough, if a little too theatrical at times, though comedian Ned Sparks seems miscast as a ruthless thug and Jean Arthur's fans are in for a considerable shock not only by the paucity of her part but by the most unattractive way she is presented and photographed.All the same, the film comes across as more than a mere curiosity. It not only bolsters the Brooks legend, but, if nothing else, it also presents a murder mystery that is not only reasonably intriguing but ingeniously solved.P.S. The actor who plays Sergeant Heath spells his name "Pallette", but IMDb's automatic spelling correcter refuses to acknowledge this.