The Bishop Murder Case (film): Difference between revisions
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
→Plot summary: Write one. Tags: large plot addition references removed |
||
| Line 30: | Line 30: | ||
==Plot summary== |
==Plot summary== |
||
{{Expand section|date=December 2012}} |
|||
Looking out from his private balcony, elderly Prof. Dillard and his servant see the body of family friend Joseph Robin with an arrow in his chest. Dillard calls [[district attorney]] Markham, who brings in private detective Philo Vance and lazy police detective Heath. Vance quickly deduces that the arrow scene was staged (Robin was actually bludgeoned inside the house), but there is no obvious suspect. |
|||
"The Bishop" plots his killings in the systematic manner of a chess game, and tips off each of his crimes by sending the police cryptic messages in the form of [[Mother Goose]] rhymes.<ref>''[http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-bishop-murder-case-v85130 The Bishop Murder Case]'' at allmovie.com</ref> |
|||
Vance and the others repeatedly interview Dillard and his friends and neighbors. Living with Dillard is his niece Belle; Dillard's adopted son, Sigurd Arnesson, who is also Belle's boyfriend, returns from college on hearing of the crime. In the next house are the Drukkers, a brother and sister: she feels responsible for a serious injury he still suffers from, and is now very frail and [[agoraphobia|agoraphobic]]. She says she saw nothing of the crime; her brother says he heard her screaming in her room, which she denies. He also admits to being in Dillard's house before the murder. Another neighbor is John Pardee, a chess enthusiast, who seems to be overly interested in the case. |
|||
A taunting typewritten note is found, signed "The Bishop". It alludes to the nursery rhyme "[[Cock Robin]]": Robin was nicknamed Cock Robin, and another visitor at the house that day was named Sperling—German for "Sparrow". However, Sperling eventually proves to have a solid alibi. Dillard has no typewriter in the house, and neither Drukker's nor Bishop's matches the note. |
|||
Later a friend of Arnesson's, named John, is found murdered. He was shot in the top of the head, apparently in allusion to Jack's injury in the rhyme "[[Jack and Jill (nursery rhyme)|Jack and Jill]]". Then Drukker, sitting on a low wall in a park at night, is pulled off the wall and murdered. "The Bishop" continues sending notes about each crime, connecting the last one to "[[Humpty Dumpty]]". Drukker's sister is found dead also, perhaps from fright, and a valuable notebook about his research work is missing from their home. A chess bishop has been left in her hand. |
|||
Heath and Markham become suspicious of Pardee and go to arrest him, but find him dead. Next to his body, obviously built after he died, is a [[house of cards]] with a chess bishop on top: it is "[[This Is the House That Jack Built]]". Later, Dillard expresses some misgivings about Arnesson, and mentions the [[Henrik Ibsen]] play ''[[The Pretenders (play)|The Pretenders]]'', which Arnesson is fond of. |
|||
That night, after Belle says goodnight to Arnesson, she makes her way into the attic and finds the typewriter that "The Bishop" used for his notes. At this point she is jumped from behind. |
|||
Mulling over Dillard's words later that night, Vance suddenly realizes that one of the characters in ''The Pretenders'' is a bishop—named Arnesson. He rushes back to Dillard's house together with Markham, Heath, and more police. Arnesson's window is open and neither he nor Belle is in their room. Dillard joins the group to search the house, breaking down the locked door to the attic. There they find the typewriter, but not Belle, who is lying bound and gagged in a nearby cupola. |
|||
Downstairs, they are talking to Dillard when Arnesson returns. When Vance accuses him, he acts guilty. Meanwhile Dillard surreptitiously pours some powder from a compartment in his ring into a wine glass. As things calm down and Arnesson is about to be arrested, Dillard offers him a glass, then pours more wine for himself; but Vance announces that he has switched the glasses. |
|||
Dillard is the murderer, and was trying to fake Arnesson's suicide. He wanted to be Belle's only friend. He originally only intended to kill Robin and frame Arnesson, but developed the more elaborate scheme when he realized Miss Drukker must have witnessed his actions. Vance had tipped Arnesson to act guilty, and had Heath search the cupola after Dillard left the attic; Belle is fine. |
|||
Arnesson and Belle embrace, and Vance stops Heath from carelessly drinking the poison. |
|||
==Cast== |
==Cast== |
||
Revision as of 10:37, 6 May 2018
| The Bishop Murder Case | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | David Burton Nick Grinde |
| Written by | S.S. Van Dine |
| Screenplay by | Lenore J. Coffee |
| Starring | Basil Rathbone Leila Hyams Roland Young |
| Cinematography | Roy F. Overbaugh |
| Edited by | William LeVanway |
| Music by | William Axt |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date | January 3, 1930 |
Running time | 88 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Bishop Murder Case is a 1930 mystery film directed by Nick Grinde, starring Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams and Roland Young. Nine years before his role as Sherlock Holmes, Basil Rathbone essayed the character of S.S. Van Dyne's detective Philo Vance. S.S. Van Dyne's novel, The Benson Murder Case in 1926 success spawned 11 subsequent Vance novels. It is also the first MGM film in the 1930s'.[1]
Plot summary
Looking out from his private balcony, elderly Prof. Dillard and his servant see the body of family friend Joseph Robin with an arrow in his chest. Dillard calls district attorney Markham, who brings in private detective Philo Vance and lazy police detective Heath. Vance quickly deduces that the arrow scene was staged (Robin was actually bludgeoned inside the house), but there is no obvious suspect.
Vance and the others repeatedly interview Dillard and his friends and neighbors. Living with Dillard is his niece Belle; Dillard's adopted son, Sigurd Arnesson, who is also Belle's boyfriend, returns from college on hearing of the crime. In the next house are the Drukkers, a brother and sister: she feels responsible for a serious injury he still suffers from, and is now very frail and agoraphobic. She says she saw nothing of the crime; her brother says he heard her screaming in her room, which she denies. He also admits to being in Dillard's house before the murder. Another neighbor is John Pardee, a chess enthusiast, who seems to be overly interested in the case.
A taunting typewritten note is found, signed "The Bishop". It alludes to the nursery rhyme "Cock Robin": Robin was nicknamed Cock Robin, and another visitor at the house that day was named Sperling—German for "Sparrow". However, Sperling eventually proves to have a solid alibi. Dillard has no typewriter in the house, and neither Drukker's nor Bishop's matches the note.
Later a friend of Arnesson's, named John, is found murdered. He was shot in the top of the head, apparently in allusion to Jack's injury in the rhyme "Jack and Jill". Then Drukker, sitting on a low wall in a park at night, is pulled off the wall and murdered. "The Bishop" continues sending notes about each crime, connecting the last one to "Humpty Dumpty". Drukker's sister is found dead also, perhaps from fright, and a valuable notebook about his research work is missing from their home. A chess bishop has been left in her hand.
Heath and Markham become suspicious of Pardee and go to arrest him, but find him dead. Next to his body, obviously built after he died, is a house of cards with a chess bishop on top: it is "This Is the House That Jack Built". Later, Dillard expresses some misgivings about Arnesson, and mentions the Henrik Ibsen play The Pretenders, which Arnesson is fond of.
That night, after Belle says goodnight to Arnesson, she makes her way into the attic and finds the typewriter that "The Bishop" used for his notes. At this point she is jumped from behind.
Mulling over Dillard's words later that night, Vance suddenly realizes that one of the characters in The Pretenders is a bishop—named Arnesson. He rushes back to Dillard's house together with Markham, Heath, and more police. Arnesson's window is open and neither he nor Belle is in their room. Dillard joins the group to search the house, breaking down the locked door to the attic. There they find the typewriter, but not Belle, who is lying bound and gagged in a nearby cupola.
Downstairs, they are talking to Dillard when Arnesson returns. When Vance accuses him, he acts guilty. Meanwhile Dillard surreptitiously pours some powder from a compartment in his ring into a wine glass. As things calm down and Arnesson is about to be arrested, Dillard offers him a glass, then pours more wine for himself; but Vance announces that he has switched the glasses.
Dillard is the murderer, and was trying to fake Arnesson's suicide. He wanted to be Belle's only friend. He originally only intended to kill Robin and frame Arnesson, but developed the more elaborate scheme when he realized Miss Drukker must have witnessed his actions. Vance had tipped Arnesson to act guilty, and had Heath search the cupola after Dillard left the attic; Belle is fine.
Arnesson and Belle embrace, and Vance stops Heath from carelessly drinking the poison.
Cast
- Basil Rathbone as Philo Vance
- Leila Hyams as Belle Dillard
- Roland Young as Sigurd Arnesson
- Alec B. Francis as Professor Bertrand Dillard
- George F. Marion as Adolph Drukker
- Zelda Sears as Mrs. Otto Drukker
- Bodil Rosing as Grete Menzel
- Carroll Nye as John E. Sprigg
- Charles Quatermaine as John Pardee
- James Donlan as Ernest Heath
- Sidney Bracey as Robin Pyne
- Clarence Geldart as John F.-X. Markham
- Delmer Daves as Raymond Sperling
- Nellie Bly Baker as Beedle
Trivia
Roland Young jokingly refers to Basil Rathbone's character as Sherlock Holmes, nine years before Rathbone would first play the famous detective.
References
- ^ The Bishop Murder Case at tcm.com
External links
 | This article about a mystery film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |