The Dragon Murder Case (1934)

Cast: Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Eugene Pallette, Helen Lowell

Director: H. Bruce Humberstone

Rating: NR

Running Time: 68 min.

Synopsis: Warren William delivers a curiously subdued performance as dilettante sleuth Philo Vance in The Dragon Murder Case. The plot centers around a mysterious "dragon pool" on the Stamm estate, which figures prominently in the deaths of several unsympathetic society types. As usual, Inspector Markham (Robert McWade) and Sergeant Heath (Eugene Pallette) are all for snapping the cuffs on the most obvious suspect, but Philo Vance knows full well that appearances are deceiving. The all-suspect cast includes Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Helen Lowell, Dorothy Tree, Robert Barrat and George Meeker, many of whom thoughtfully remove themselves from suspicion by getting killed themselves. Not a particularly mysterious mystery, The Dragon Murder Case works better on a melodramatic level, with some genuinely spooky camerawork courtesy of the ever-reliable Tony Gaudio.