The Greene Murder Case

This film begins with an old and extremely ill widow by the name of "Mrs. Tobias Greene" (Gertrude Norman) lying in bed waiting for the family lawyer to discuss her late husband's will with the rest of the family. As it so happens, none of the adult children like one another and, as a result, whenever they get together there is quite a bit of acrimony amongst them. This is especially true with an adopted daughter by the name of "Ada Greene" (Jean Arthur) being especially disliked by both Mrs. Tobias Greene and her biological daughter "Sibella Greene" (Florence Eldridge). Further contributing to this mutual disdain among each of them is the fact that the will specifies that all of the money will be divided equally among all five members of the family. Things change, however, when on the very night they all meet at the family mansion, one of the adult sons named "Chester Greene" (Lowell Drew) is shot and killed in what everybody believes to be a botched burglary attempt. Everyone, that is, except for the detective in charge of the case by the name of "Philo Vance" (William Powell) who suspects that one of the members of the family is involved--and his suspicions increase as the death count within the family rises. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this turned out to be an okay mystery film which benefited by several twists and turns along the way. Admittedly, there were a couple of scenes which were a bit too unrealistic, but even so the film managed to pass the time fairly well and I have rated it accordingly. Average.