Watch The Casino Murder Case For Free

A Masterpiece!

A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

With a traditional murder-mystery detective plot, clearly written as a pulp novel before being transferred to the screen, this film abounds with idiosyncratic characters and overly dramatic actors. The framing of this mass-consumption plot occasionally leads to heaps of interesting shots, with the traditional benefits of black and white. Intensely-orchestrated scenes of overdone surprise and intruding butlers and maids make the film enjoyable from one moment to the next. Not to mention a delectable performance by Rosalind Russell.The factors all come together for this film, and if you take it for its backdated surface value, you won't be wasting your time. The trees of this film, so to speak, make a great forest.

PAUL LUKAS stars as Philo Vance in this trifle designed to entertain audiences with an intriguing murder mystery laced with comedy. The comedy is just so-so and the mystery is weighed down by some heavy-handed explanations involving "heavy water", a most curious plot device and one that Agatha Christie mercifully never thought of as a poison.ALISON SKIPWORTH is a wealthy eccentric woman whose murder prompts the arrival of Philo Vance on the scene. ISABEL JEWELL overacts in her usual style as the woman's daughter, while ROSALIND RUSSELL does considerably better as another household relative. LEO G. CARROLL handles his butler role efficiently and LOUISE FAZENDA is just slightly annoying as an eaves-dropping maid assigned most of the comedy relief.The mystery elements are handled in okay fashion but the use of "heavy water" as a plot device seems totally far-fetched. PAUL LUKAS does rather nicely as Philo Vance but it takes awhile to get used to him in the role often played by more debonair types.Nothing special, but passes the time pleasantly.

Philo Vance has been played by a number of actors over the years, everyone from Wilfred Hyde-White to William Powell, who portrayed the detective the most. In "The Casino Murder Case," it's Paul Lukas' turn to have a go at it. This is a light mystery concerning some murders within a family. Rosalind Russell is the young woman here, and she does a fine job.I'm not familiar with Philo Vance in the books so I can't comment on Lukas' portrayal in comparison. However, I suspect that normally, the role is approached with a lighter touch. Lukas is a wonderful and very likable actor, but I think that in the hands of someone like William Powell, the humor would have been mined a little bit more. Lukas isn't heavy-handed in any way, it's just that this type of role isn't a perfect fit for him. All in all, entertaining.

In the wake of the success of The Thin Man, the studios began to churn out scads of little mystery movies that are really more like screwball comedies than problems in deduction or thrillers. This is a pretty good sample of the type, with Rosalind Russell showing a flair for the genre that would be exploited in His Girl Friday. It even takes about 15 minutes or so before anyone gets murdered.Paul Luckas is fine as the sleuth in the picture. Any resemblance between him and the Philo Vance depicted in the series of novels by S.S. Van Dine is a coincidence. This Philo is charming, polite, and doesn't mind when Roz complains that his mystery stories are wordy and complicated. And shouldn't come as a surprise that this Philo is more seems more interested in Roz than the mystery at hand. The actual crime is mildly intriguing, but the solution is mildly ridiculous.Treat this as a pleasant way to spend a little more than an hour, and look at cool 30s cars, clothes and decor. Don't look for great art here.