The Greene Murder Case

"Who was guilty of one of the most baffling crimes ever committed?"

1929 1h 9m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 14

Mystery

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Philo Vance investigates when a murderer preys upon members of a wealthy family on New York's Upper East Side.

“Who was guilty of one of the most baffling crimes ever committed?”

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Cast

William Powell
Philo Vance
Florence Eldridge
Sibella Greene
Ullrich Haupt
Dr. Von Blon
Jean Arthur
Ada Greene
Eugene Pallette
Sergeant Heath
E.H. Calvert
John F. X. Markham
Gertrude Norman
Mrs. Tobias Greene
Lowell Drew
Chester Greene

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Frank Tuttle
Writers: Louise Long
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

97 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Philo Vance Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Frank Tuttle, shot by Henry W. Gerrard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Karl Hajos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Verna Willis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

William Powell and Florence Eldridge and Ullrich Haupt carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Who was guilty of one of the most baffling crimes ever committed?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Frank Tuttle directs. Henry W. Gerrard behind the camera. Karl Hajos scores. Verna Willis cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 69-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
297 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Philo Vance Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Frank Tuttle, shot by Henry W. Gerrard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Karl Hajos. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Verna Willis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7William Powell and Florence Eldridge and Ullrich Haupt carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Who was guilty of one of the most baffling crimes ever committed?".
9IMDB entry: tt0019949 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 14 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
11Classified under 18 themes, including "paraplegic", "gunshot wound", "snow", "mansion".

The technical file

Cinematography: Henry W. Gerrard
Original score: Karl Hajos
Editing: Verna Willis
Costume design: Travis Banton
Runtime: 69 min · 1h 9m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Greene Murder Case (1929)

Part of

Philo Vance Collection

The movie adaptions of the S. S. Van Dine novels featuring the detective Philo Vance, starring various actors in the lead role.

Also by

Frank Tuttle

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-06-02
★ 6/10
This all starts with a sort of roll-call where a lawyer checks the presence of the "Greene" family at the bedside of their mother. A condition of their late father's will is if they don't all live together for fifteen years after his demise, then they don't get a sou. Not surprisingly, they don't exactly see eye to eye so when one of them is shot, it's hardly a shock. The police - the instantly recognisable Eugene Palette as "Sgt. Heath" - duly arrive and enlist the help of detective "Philo Vance" (William Powell) who quickly discovers that any one of them could have done it. Thing is, the killer isn't content with just the one - and when the family start to drop like flies, the investigators must get a move on in case it is just them who are actually left at the end! It's very stage-bound, this, but the pace is break-neck and there are a few characters - not least the bed-ridden and grumpy mother (Gertrude Norman), to keep the investigation moving along until it's slightly unexpected conclusion. It's a bit of an hybrid of other "Dark House" style stories, but Powell and Pallette deliver simply and quite well here.

Production companies