The Dragon Murder Case (1934) + The Casino Murder Case (1935)

The dilettante detective stylishly sleuths his way through some of his most famous cases in this 2-Disc, 6-Film Collection. And a veritable rogue’s gallery of golden age “gentlemen actors” all take a crack at Philo, including William Powell, Warren William and Basil Rathbone.
This is the second part of Philo Vance Murder Case collection.



The Dragon Murder Case
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone
Cast: Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Eugene Pallette, Helen Lowell, Robert McWade, Robert Barrat, Dorothy Tree, George E. Stone, Etienne Girardot, George Meeker, Robert Warwick, William B. Davidson, Arthur Aylesworth, Charles C. Wilson, Milton Kibbee, Wilfred Lucas, Sam McDaniel, Bruce Mitchell, Henry Otho, Hedwiga Reicher, Cliff Saum, Eddie Shubert, Eric Wilton





SYNOPSIS:

The Dragon Murder Case At the Stamm family house, everyone waits for the arrival of Monty Montague, who is engaged to Bernice. Despite the fact that she and Dale Leland are in love, and that none of the other party guests, including Greeff, Tatum and her brother Rudolph have much affection for Monty, Bernice intends to marry him. Rudolph is intent on getting thoroughly drunk, so Leland offers to pick Monty up at the gas station where his car is stalled. He is about to leave when Monty and Ruby, another guest, arrive at the door. Bernice suggests that they all go for a swim. Monty and Leland dive into the dark pool, but Monty does not surface afterward. Frantic, Bernice has lights brought in, but a search fails to find him. The police are called and Sergeant Heath arrives, bringing District Attorney Markham and his friend, detective Philo Vance. Vance notices that Rudolph is a specialist in tropical fish. He questions old Mrs. Stamm, a harmless lunatic, who insists that a water monster killed Monty. The next day they drain the pool but do not find a body. Vance spots three-toed tracks in the mud at the bottom and later finds the body in a pot hole. Dr. Doremus, the coroner, remarks that there is no water in the corpse's lungs and notes strange marks on its throat and chest. Then Trainor, the butler, is knocked unconscious with a blunt instrument and Greeff disappears. Vance again questions Mrs. Stamm, believing that she is not as crazy as she appears. He discovers that the key to the family burial vault is missing, and after a search, it is found in Tatum's bed. Tatum, however, denies any knowledge of the key. Vance gathers everyone at the pool to reenact the events of the murder. Rudolph plays the part of Monty and after his dive, fails to surface. Vance tells everyone that Monty was murdered by someone wearing a diving suit, which is what made the strange marks. They search for diving equipment in the vault and discover Greeff's body in one of the coffins and the missing equipment in another. Vance explains that Rudolph was only pretending to be drunk the night of the murder. He owed Monty money and Monty was using the debt to force Bernice to marry him. Greeff was killed because he knew too much. Now Leland and Bernice are free to marry

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The Casino Murder Case
Director: Edwin L. Marin
Cast: Paul Lukas, Alison Skipworth, Donald Cook, Rosalind Russell, Arthur Byron, Ted Healy, Eric Blore, Isabel Jewell, Louise Fazenda, Purnell Pratt, Leslie Fenton, Louise Henry, Leo G. Carroll, Charles Sellon, Ernie Adams, Brooks Benedict, Edna Bennett, Sidney Bracey, Wallis Clark, William Demarest, Jay Eaton, Lillian Elliott, Pat Flaherty, Eddie Hart, Grace Hayle, Tom Herbert, Milton Kibbee, Keye Luke, Alphonse Martell, Bert Moorhouse





SYNOPSIS:

The Casino Murder Case Gentleman detective Philo Vance begins an investigation when he receives an anonymous letter stating that society man Lynn Llewellyn will be in danger when he appears at the casino owned by his uncle, Kinkaid. Vance visits the Llewellyn estate, which is run by Mrs. Priscilla Kinkaid-Llewellyn, the matriarch of the household, and stumbles into one of the family's many quarrels. At the end of the bitter quarrel, which involves Mrs. Llewellyn's son Lynn and his wife Virginia, Virginia announces that she has decided to leave the house and go to Chicago. During the tiff, Vance and Doris, Mrs. Llewellyn's secretary, are introduced to each other and Doris immediately takes a liking to Vance. Vance takes Doris to his home, where he and District Attorney Markham show her the mysterious letter. Doris immediately recognizes the return address as being that of the Llewellyn's townhouse in Closter and notices that the letter was typed on her typewriter. Vance assigns Sergeant Heath to help stake out the casino that night, but their presence does not prevent Lynn from suddenly collapsing at the card table. At the same time, Doris informs Vance that Virginia has died at the Llewellyn house. Markham begins his investigation of the murder by questioning Mrs. Llewellyn, who recalls having quarrelled with Virginia before she was poisoned, and Amelia, Mrs. Llewellyn's daughter, who admits that she too had a spat with Virginia. Meanwhile, Doris finds Mrs. Llewellyn's recently altered will, in which she disinherited Kinkaid, making it apparent that Lynn and Amelia would be the only ones who would benefit from Mrs. Llewellyn's death. Other clues begin to surface, including Kinkaid's unusual collection of books on chemistry and poisons, and a loaded gun found in Virginia's bedroom. Soon after Lynn's recovery, Mrs. Llewellyn is found dead of an apparent suicide with a note, bearing her signature, in which she confesses to Virginia's murder. Not convinced that the mystery has been solved, Vance pursues his theory that Mrs. Llewellyn may have been poisoned by heavy water, which leads him to Kinkaid's secret laboratory, where he and Doris are being held at gunpoint by Kinkaid. Vance and Doris escape, but Vance does not believe that Kinkaid is the murderer, thinking instead that he is merely one of many decoys set up by the real killer to lead the investigation astray. The real killer turns out to be Lynn, who has lured Vance and Doris to the Closter townhouse to kill them. But before Lynn completes his "perfect crime," Vance reads from a letter he wrote earlier in which he detailed his theory about the killings. In it, Vance names Lynn as the murderer, calling him a rich, egomaniacal weakling, who, being tired of his wife, poisoned her and threw the blame on his uncle, whom he despised. After hearing Vance's summary of the murder plot, Lynn tells his captors that he has arranged to pin Vance and Doris' forthcoming murder on Kinkaid. However, when Lynn shoots Vance, Heath and others emerge from behind a door where they have been recording Lynn's confession and arrest him. After thanking Becky, Mrs. Llewellyn's maid, for loading Lynn's gun with blanks, Vance resumes his romance with Doris

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