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The Greene Murder Case (film)

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The Greene Murder Case
Directed byFrank Tuttle
Written byLouise Long (screenplay)
Richard H. Digges Jr. (intertitles,silent version)
Based onThe Greene Murder Case
1928 novel
by S.S. Dine
Produced byB. P. Schulberg
StarringWilliam Powell
Florence Eldridge
Jean Arthur
CinematographyHenry Gerrard
Edited byVerna Willis
Music byKarl Hajos
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • August 11, 1929 (1929-08-11)
Running time
69 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Greene Murder Case is a 1929 talking film produced and released by Paramount Pictures and based on the novel The Greene Murder Case, by S.S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright). The novel had been published a year before this film was made. It stars William Powell in his second Philo Vance outing. Florence Eldridge and Jean Arthur costar.

In 1937, the film was remade as Night of Mystery.

Plot

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The Greene Murder Case is a murder mystery centred around the wealthy and dysfunctional Greene family, who are forced to gather annually to fulfil the stipulations of the late patriarch's will. The family is ruled by the resentful and ailing Mrs Tobias Greene (Gertrude Norman), who holds little affection for her children, Rex (Morgan Farley), Chester (Lowell Drew), and daughter Sibella (Florence Eldridge). The children despise each other, while adopted daughter Ada (Jean Arthur) is excluded from the inheritance due to her non-blood relation. The tension within the household is palpable, with suspicions surrounding Sibella's indiscreet affair with the family's doctor, Arthur Von Blon (Ullrich Haupt Sr), and rumours that Mrs Greene's infirmity may not be as severe as it seems. The Greene family's servants, including butler Sproot (Brandon Hurst), housekeeper Gertrude Mannheim (Augusta Burmeister), and devout Hemming (Marcia Harris), also harbour their own doubts. When members of the family start being murdered, District Attorney John Markham (EH Calvert) enlists the help of amateur detective Philo Vance (William Powell), who, alongside Sergeant Ernest Heath (Eugene Pallette), must sift through the animosity and hidden motives to unmask the killer.

Cast

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See also

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References

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