michael curtiz direct this 1930 very stylish whodunit from a script by robert presnell sr. and robert n. lee and peter mine . the original novel they adapt be the kennel murder case and perhaps from a writer standpoint the best of the philo vance mystery by the strange s. s. van dine . vance be a long worded and superior detective genius and and his character be assign to william powell probably mean the executive at warner brother be aware of the possibility that in less engaging hand this detective might alienate viewer . fortunately they assign suave william powell first to the character . while later he be play by basil rathbone and warren william and and paul lukas before be consign to b picture status . the other question a always with warner brother executive be why they choose vance a a character while their penchant be to choose men who operate outside the law and with no apparent discrimination between a vicious murderer and a champion of individual right against all comer . this film have a despicable villain who get murder and and a claustrophobically challenging locale inside an apartment complex . the character be unarguably unusually well realize and the direction rather good and unusually swift pace while and except for a darkish b or w look and the film avoid the comedic aside and superfluous character and irrelevant dialogue characteristic of many early detective entry . jack okey do the good art direction . the music by berhard kaun be serviceable while orry kelly do the costume . william reese provide the mostly indoor cinematography . in the interesting cast and powell be the philo vance of his time and mostly sober mind with just a hint of sardonic humor here and there . eugene palette be good than usual play very straight a an admiring police partner to vance and with his very professional timing . the other actor who come off best be handsome paul cavangh and very effective a always in what be write a a red herring part . mary astor be attractive but at this point in her career she talk a bit too fast to be as effective a she later prove . also in the cast be helen vinson a the villain woman and jack la rue and ralph morgan ( best know a frank morgan brother ) and robert barrat a the villain everyone have cause to kill and archer coe and and frank conroy a his likable brother with robert mcwade a the d. a. while quirky and funny etiienne girardot have a delightfully witty part a the funny little forensics doctor who come onto the crime scene . james lee a the abused chinese servant be excellent and intelligent . the story break into four part . first there be shad doings at a dog show and where vance and coe and cavanagh be all show west highland terrier . cavanagh dog be kill and by coe and to prevent him win the title over his own entry . the second portion of the scene involve a leave take while someone be confuse enough by who have go where and after coe part from his girl friend and vinson and to murder his nice brother by mistake . enter vance and to find out who do in archer coe in a locked room and how and with the help of palette while the romantic difficulty be straighten out and the chinese servant be exonerate and we find out who break the expensive vase and who will marry whom and how archer coe be do in and why the butler do not do it but someone else with a good excuse do . this be a more than good little mystery and which skilled hungarian born director curtiz take quite seriously . he use wipe and swift cut and change of camera angle and alternation between straightforward and dare camera work to achieve variety and interest and a sustained pace . many writer and critic and expert and myself include and consider this to be the best of the vance project and although others be estimable a well .