Friday, February 17, 2023

The Bishop Murder Case (1930)

IMDb plot summary: When the body of a man nicknamed "Cock Robin" is found with an arrow in the heart on an archery range along with a chess bishop as a clue, Philo Vance investigates.
Directed by David Burton and Nick Grinde. Starring Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams, and Roland Young.

The Bishop Murder Case stars Basil Rathbone as detective Philo Vance, who is in competition with the police to solve a serious of murders. Each one has a note left behind referencing a nursery rhyme, and Vance and the police are racing to solve the puzzles before the next murder takes place. The digital transfer I watched of this film was, unfortunately, pretty rough, and had a near-constant loud buzzing over all the dialogue. This made it really hard to get into the movie, and as the murder got more complicated and more characters were introduced, I ended up losing track and then losing interest. When the murderer and their grand plan is finally revealed, it was a character I could barely remember, let alone recall their possible motivations for the murder. I can't blame that all on the shoddy quality -- the film was definitely burdened with too many characters and not enough fleshing out of any of them -- but it certainly didn't help. A disappointing watch, despite a fun lead actor.

How it entered my Flickchart:
The Bishop Murder Case < Dazed and Confused
The Bishop Murder Case > Kicking & Screaming (2005)
The Bishop Murder Case < Liz & Dick
The Bishop Murder Case < The Witches of Eastwick
The Bishop Murder Case < Red Cliff
The Bishop Murder Case < Kill List
The Bishop Murder Case > Ulysses
The Bishop Murder Case > I Am Number Four
The Bishop Murder Case > American Sniper
The Bishop Murder Case < VeggieTales: Are You My Neighbor?
The Bishop Murder Case < Last of the Red Hot Lovers
The Bishop Murder Case > Margaret
Final spot: #2772 out of 3766, or 26%.

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