Movie 1: The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Directed by Michael Curtiz
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL
Plot:
A rich, but hated, man has apparently committed suicide. But all is not as it appears. Hilarity ensues.
Reaction:
Before we watched the film we had some discussion as to whether it counts as a noir -- or maybe a proto-noir. The thing is, Ethan was the only one in the room who had aseen the film before. So Keith (and the rest of us) could only guess on the basis of reputation.
My thinking -- and I think the others agree -- is that it's not a proto-noir. It's easy to see how this influenced film noir, and it does have lots of elements of noir. But it doesn't have the same use of shadow or quick dialogue. And the tension isn't ratcheted up the same way as in a good noir. It is, however, a good whodunit.
One of things I found really interesting is the way, early on, we have several vignettes to establish why and how everyone hates Archer Coe (the victim). It's sort of a parade of suspects. Almost enough to make you think everyone ganged up on the victim to do him in together.
On the other hand, I was kind of put off by the way Phil Vance (the detective), at the end, walks us through the murder and subsequent events. He neatly ties up all the loose ends, but it leaves me scratching my head in disbelief. It's all really too much for him to put together.
As a father, I was really proud that Ethan chose this movie. A big reason that we first met Keith was that I was bothered by Ethan's interest in modern ultra-violent and ultra-gory horror movies, to the exclusion of other films. I was hoping we could get him a different perspective. The fact that he chose this just means that, well, Mission Accomplished!
Ratings:
Me: 9
Dave: 10
Joe: 10
Keith: 10
Sean: 2 out of 4
We succeeded big time!
ReplyDeleteBe proud of Ethan... and of yourself!
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