The Bishop Murder Case

'Zelda Sears' (qv) is credited on-screen as playing "Mrs.

Otto Drukker," but throughout the film she is called Miss Drucker and is referred to as the sister of Adolph Drukker, with no other Drukker in evidence (in particular, there is no Otto).

This does, however, duplicate the name given in the "Cast of Characters" of the original book by S.

Van Dine.

(Although, in the book, she is listed as Adolph Drukker's mother.

) When Vance and fellow detectives investigate the body of Robin, who has been shot with an arrow, the angle of the arrow changes.

Sometimes it's straight up out of the body, other times it's at almost a 45 degree angle.

"The Bishop Murder Case" may seem antiquated to modern audiences, but it's worth sitting through for some very effective camera shots (examples: the second and the fourth murder), a twist-and-trick-filled ending, as well as Basil Rathbone's terrific performance as Philo Vance taller than everyone else in the cast, he is authoritative, suave and convincingly intellectual. Some of the other actors still have the tendency to do grimaces and gestures more befitting of silent films (which is understandable, it was 1930 after all), but others (Philo's two sidekicks, for example) are more modern.

Philo Vance (Basil Rathbone) is on the case of a killer who is leaving clues related to Mother Goose nursery rhymes. The first victim is named Robin but his friends call him Cock Robin.

"The Bishop Murder Case" is an early sound film from MGM featuring detective Philo Vance, this time in the personage of none other than Sherlock...er Basil Rathbone.

This was the third Philo Vance detective film, and the only one to star Basil Rathbone. William Powell played Vance in the two previous films (1929 and 1930) and the two succeeding ones (1930 and 1933).

Basil Rathbone stars as gentleman detective Philo Vance, by 1929 an immensely popular fictional sleuth and aesthete. The story begins with the discovery of the body of a young man, "Cock Robin," apparently shot through the heart by an arrow.

This film is important for a couple of reasons.First, it is an early talkie, and if you are a student of film, it is essential to watch the transition from silent films to talkies.

Bishop Murder Case, The (1930) ** (out of 4) A man named Robin is killed by an arrow so Philo Vance (Basil Rathbone) is called in and he soon determines that a killer is using nursery rhymes as his motive. Like so many other early talkies, this one here suffers from non-stop-talking syndrome, which really kills the film.

I recently learned that Willard Huntington Wright aka S.S.

Ordinarily, a "B" movie of this quality should be given a lower rating but considering this film was made in 1930, we have an ultra-ordinary hidden gem. The plot is relatively simplistic yet provides the viewer with interesting plot twists, gives insight to Rathbone's future portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, and delights with a spot on effort from the supporting cast.