The Bishop Murder Case

Dir. David Burton & Nick Grinde

88 Minutes

USA

1929

Starring: Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, Roland Young, Alec B. Francis, George F Marion

**/*****

Dry and routine mystery narrative that is overlong and feels full of fat. Basil Rathbone played detective Philo Vance who is investigating the murder of "Cock Robin" who is found with an arrow in the heart on an archery range along with a chess bishop. A note is found with the body with a nursery rhyme and a signature by a mysterious "Bishop". Vance much discover who the killer is as bodies continue to pile up.

The film is very much "no-nonsense" and the narrative is purely focused on the elements of deduction and finding out who is behind the killings, but it is also a 65 minute film that is stretched to nearly 90. It is awkwardly put together with the early advent of the sound technology, and Rathbone feels like he is struggling with finding a "sound persona" for his acting style (which he would thankfully eventually find). Directors David Burton and Nick Grinde keep things a little bit interesting in their efforts to make this interesting visually, and are a bit creative and perhaps a little influenced by Expressionism especially in the ways that they stage the murders. And the picture ends when the mystery does, with order being returned where there was chaos. Perhaps interesting for those into this sort of simple genre fare, but not much to look at beyond that.

August 26th, 2019