Supelice Dreadfully Boring

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

gridoon2018 All the Philo Vance films I've seen so far contain the element of clever misdirection, and "The Garden Murder Case" is no exception; although the "how" of two out of the three murders is not that hard to spot (even if you haven't read Leonard Maltin's review, which unfortunately gives the secret away!), the "who" and the "why" are more difficult to answer. This mystery is like a well-put-together puzzle. And this being an MGM production, it's considerably slicker and more expensive-looking than most of the other Vance films I've seen - lavish sets, incredible amount of extras, etc. It's also very well-cast in all parts, big and small; the one cast member I would like to single out is Virginia Bruce, who combines old-style beauty with a quite modern and individual acting style. And Frieda Inescort, in one scene, appears in a nightgown that shows just enough to make me wish the film was made a couple of years earlier, before the Code! **1/2 out of 4.

sol **SPOILERS** Overly boring Philo Vance mystery movie with Edmund Lowe playing the famous suave and dapper detective.In this film Philo gets involved with the accidental death of jockey Flyod Garden, Douglas Walton, who in a state to total oblivion, acting as if his brain was detached from his body, ends up falling off from his mount in a steeplechase race breaking his neck. This was exactly what,the what looked like mind controlled, Garden predicted will happened to him just before the race started!Philo soon suspects that Garden's death wasn't an accident but murder. This has multi-millionaire horse owner, whom Garden was riding for, Edger Lowe Hammle, Gene Lockhart, get a bit hot under the collar in that he becomes the prime suspect in Garden's death or as Philo thinks murder! Things get even worse for the beleaguered Hammle when Floyd's distraught dad Dr. Garden, Henry B. Waithall, accuses him of his son's murder after he recovered, when confronting Hammle, from a major fainting spell at the Hammle estate.As things soon turn out Hammle himself ends up getting murdered which not only keeps him from standing trial in Garden's murder but exonerates him, as if that would bring him back to life, of his death altogether. It's obvious to everyone, but Philo Vance, now that the person who murdered Hammle was the same one who murdered GardenAs Philo starts to put all the pieces together he sets off an number of evens that end up with the elegant and globe trotting, as well as good friend of Hammle, Major Fenwick-Ralston, H.B Warner, wife Madge, Frida Inescort, herself getting killed! Madge like, Floyd Garden, seemed to have lost her mind and decided to go out and, as she told her shocked maid, get herself killed! this Medge did by jumping off a double decker bus and getting herself run over in the heavy traffic below!Puzzled by all these weird happenings Philo soon gets to the bottom of all this by simply watching-at the local zoo- together with the late Edger Hammle's niece Zalia Graem, Virginia Bruce, a deadly reticulated python having his lunch a live, he wouldn't touch it if was dead, rabbit! It's not what the big snake ate but how he got his victim to be eaten by him that helped him solve the baffling murder case: With the pythons use of total mind control over his confused rodent victim!Decent Philo Vance flick with newcomer, as Philo, Edmound Lowe in the title role. There's also Jessie Ralph as the loud mouth and bed-ridden pill popping Momma of Edger Hammle who has it in for her nurse Gladys Beeton, Benita Hume, whom she feels is falling down on the job. As it turned out Nurse Beeton was blackmailing Momma Hammle's son in revealing an affair he was having with a married woman friend of his. There's also Net Pendlton as police Sergeant Ernest Heath who despite being given charge of solving the case screws everything up to the point where he almost has the actual killer get away Scot-free. Pendelton will later become immortalized in the Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie series as the not so bright and bumbling Blair General Hospital, he seemed to be the only one in the entire sprawling medical facility, ambulance driver Joe Wayman.

whpratt1 Edmund Lowe plays the role as Philo Vance a detective who tries to solve a series of murders in the Hammle Family who live in a 22 room apartment in NYC. The first member of the family is murdered, Edgar Lowe Hammle,(Gene Lockhart) and then Zalia Graem, (Virginia Bruce) appears on the scene and is accused of being a murderer when a woman falls to her death from a double decker bus. Zalia Graem and Philo Vance gave an outstanding performance together and there is a spark of romance between the two of them as Philo tries to help prove her innocence in the murder case. This is a low budget B film from 1936 but has a great story with even hypnoses being utilized. Enjoy.

blanche-2 Now it's Edmund Lowe as Philo Vance as he tackles "The Garden Murder Case." It's a neat story concerning murder by hypnosis - which, as other posters point out, is a fairly obvious one, although the murder is not. The denouement makes for an exciting last minutes of the movie. Virginia Bruce costars and serves as a love interest for Vance.Lowe is certainly very attractive and extremely likable as Philo. It's a good fit, and to me, better than either Paul Lukas or Basil Rathbone. I haven't read the books, so I am just going by the films and the fact that the definitive Philo seems to have been William Powell. "The Bishop Murder Case" features a good performance by Rathbone, but it is an early talkie and the actors are still making the transition, so the film is rather awkward. Lukas was enjoyable and certainly embraced his character but his accent got in the way.This is an enjoyable entry in the exploits of a character who certainly served Hollywood well.