The Bishop Murder Case (1929)

A man is found dead with an arrow in his chest in the yard of an elderly professor (Alec B. Francis). The district attorney (Clarence Geldart) calls in private detective Philo Vance (Basil Rathbone) for assistance in solving the murder. Based on the novel by S.S. Van Dine and directed by David Burton and Nick Grinde. Some ten years before playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of films, Basil Rathbone plays detective Philo Vance for one time only. The Philo Vance series would continue but with different actors taking over the role of Vance. This entry is an early talking film so it's quite static and stage bound and the acting is often very crude though not by Rathbone or Roland Young as one of the murder suspects. In spite of it being stagnant, I'm a pushover for murder mysteries so I enjoyed it although others may not be so charitable. With Leila Hyams, George F. Marion, Zelda Sears and Delmer Daves (who did this and one other film as an actor before turning to writing and directing such films as 3:10 TO YUMA and A SUMMER PLACE).