Category Archives: The Casino Murder Case

Trouble for Two (1936)

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

Adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson short story “Suicide Club,” Trouble for Two is the first time MGM paired Rosalind Russell with Robert Montgomery. Although she had a very small role in Montgomery’s film Forsaking All Others two years earlier, it can hardly count as a co-starring venture. This 1936 film is rather bizarre and it certainly is neither Rosalind’s nor Robert’s best film. That said, it is still an entertaining little gem (and I mean little because it is very short, only 74 minutes long).

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

Rosalind Russell once said in a 1943 Photoplay interview that this film was her worst (so far), but I am sure she was completely disregarding the fact that she had already made The Casino Murder Case. After all, she wrote in her book that she liked to pretend Casino didn’t even exist (Life is a Banquet, 65). As with several movies before this, one of the advantages was the wardrobe. The film takes place in the 19th century, so she wore many lovely period costumes with some beautiful jewelry.

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

A simple star necklace is my favorite piece in the movie. Robert Montgomery had curly hair in this film, a far cry from his usually straight brown hair. He also sported a mustache, which I found took some getting used to. Roz wore her hair in cute little ringlets, which gave her a unique look.

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

Montgomery plays a crowned prince of the fictional Corovia. His name is Florizel and his father is the king, played by E. E. Clive. Colonel Geraldine (Frank Morgan at his usual comic best) is called upon to always keep an eye on Florizel because he sometimes thinks he can do whatever he pleases and needs to stay out of trouble.

rosalind russell frank morgan trouble for two
Rosalind Russell and Frank Morgan in Trouble for Two (1936)

When Florizel first makes his appearance, he is causing a ruckus in the palace with a group of friends while he stands on stilts in the middle of the room. Geraldine fetches him and brings him to his father, where they have a meeting about Florizel’s upcoming arranged nuptials to Princess Brenda of Irania.

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

Florizel is not keen on the idea and is amused when he discovers Princess Brenda feels the same way. She says of Florizel, “I will never buy a pig in the poke,” and has no intention of marrying him.

After the embarrassment this has caused for the royal family, the king sends his son off to London for a while (incognito, of course) with his chaperon, Geraldine. Florizel and Geraldine endure a dull boat ride to London under assumed names (Mr. Godall and Major Hammersmith, respectively).

frank morgan robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Frank Morgan, Robert Montgomery, and Rosalind Russell on the set of Trouble for Two (1936)

It is there that he meets a mysterious woman with dark eyes (Rosalind Russell) who would like him to help her (“a damsel in distress”) by taking possession of some papers that she says someone wants badly from her. He keeps them and when they dock in London, he intends to return them to her but cannot find a sign of her, and what’s more—the papers are completely blank. But she has captured his attention.

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

The next evening, the mysterious woman finds out where Florizel is dining and follows him there. Florizel meets a man at the café who is offering an enormous amount of cream tarts to everyone he meets. Florizel asks him what it is all about and he finds out that the man intends to end his life and he is having a last bit of fun before that happens. The man’s name is Mr. Barnley and he speaks of a secret “suicide club” in town, where you “choose to die, but not at your own hands.” In this morbid “game” of sorts, once you pay an admission to the club, each member draws a card from a deck. The person who draws the ace of spades is the one who is to die, and the person who draws the ace of clubs is the executioner.

rosalind russell trouble for two
Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

The three of them decide to go to this suicide club out of curiosity. Mystery Woman follows them there and it is revealed her name is Miss Vandeleur. She is the only woman in the club and becomes the “executioner” her first time there. She does not appear frightened about it and in fact always stares emotionless, which makes her even more of a mystery.

rosalind russell robert montgomery trouble for two
Rosalind Russell and Robert Montgomery in Trouble for Two (1936)

Mr. Barnley is the one to die and they disappear. The next morning, they find the death notice of Mr. Barnley in the paper and Florizel cannot believe she could do something like this.

Still curious, Florizel goes to the suicide club again and finds Miss Vandeleur there. This time, Florizel draws the ace of spades and once again, Miss Vandeleur draws the ace of clubs. They take a carriage ride into the woods and Florizel keeps asking her questions about herself and about what will take place.

rosalind russell trouble for two
Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

She simply stares ahead, not allowing him to see any trace of emotion. In fact, when she informs him that he will be “torn to pieces” by lions, she says it with so much conviction and so apathetically that I find it difficult not to laugh. I’m just trying to imagine someone actually saying something so gruesome without even a line of worry in their face.

robert montgomery rosalind russell trouble for two
Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

She is about to unlock the lion enclosure at the Malden Zoo when we suddenly see that she has feelings after all. She can’t do it and runs off crying. They suddenly find they are being followed by the president of the suicide club and flee to a local inn.

rosalind russell trouble for two
Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

Florizel soon finds out Miss Vandeleur is in fact Princess Brenda when she says to him, “I refuse to buy a pig in a poke!” They laugh, but they know they are in trouble because they didn’t carry out the suicide club’s task. Florizel discovers he has been accused of treason by another Corovian, Dr. Noel.

rosalind russell trouble for two
Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

It turns out that Dr. Noel is the president of the suicide club (Reginald Owen) and has been plotting to assassinate Florizel. Princess Brenda, who has now completed her mission of finding out if Florizel is a brave man, helps Florizel and Geraldine carry out a plan to trap Dr. Noel into a duel.

rosalind russell trouble for two
Rosalind Russell in Trouble for Two (1936)

There is a magnificent fencing duel between the two, which ends in Dr. Noel falling backwards, defeated.

Florizel and Brenda get married as planned, but it is not quite the traditional arranged marriage. They have indeed fallen in love with each other and wink at each other, keeping the secret to themselves.

IMDb page for Trouble for Two

TCM overview for the film

Trailer of the film:

The Casino Murder Case (1935)

rosalind russell paul lukas casino murder case on the set
Rosalind Russell and Paul Lukas filming a scene for The Casino Murder Case (1935)

“It was so bad, and I was so bad in it, that it gave my maid Hazel ammunition for seasons to come,” writes Rosalind Russell about the 1935 film The Casino Murder Case and her role in it. “’If you don’t behave,’ she’d say, ‘I’m going to tell people about that Casino Murder Case.’” This film was Russell’s first chance at a romantic lead, but it was forced upon her. She didn’t feel ready for leads, but she had to do it.

rosalind russell casino murder case
Rosalind Russell in The Casino Murder Case (1935)

The film stars Paul Lukas, who has a heavy Hungarian accent, and plays Philo Vance, previously played with great success by William Powell and once by Basil Rathbone. There were many film adaptations of the “murder cases” of Philo Vance, but it is difficult to say why they would cast someone like Paul Lukas in the role in 1935. He did not have the grace and charm that William Powell had, and because the character of Philo Vance was a New York city crime buster, it seems odd they would cast someone from Hungary.

The film revolves around an eccentric, dysfunctional family and the strange things that keep happening to them. We first see the matriarch of the family at an auction, bidding on worthless junk with the aid of her secretary/companion Doris (Rosalind Russell).

rosalind russell casino murder case
Rosalind Russell in The Casino Murder Case (1935)

Mrs. Llewellyn (Alison Skipworth) is outbid by Philo on an awful statue of Cupid, which he proceeds to break into pieces right outside the auction house. He had earlier received a letter that said in part that Lynn Llewellyn, Mrs. Llewellyn’s son, would experience an “awful tragedy” if he doesn’t act quickly. He is immediately intrigued by Doris and even offers to carry the purchases for her, but she tells him she doesn’t trust him (after seeing him break the Cupid) and leaves. Philo shows up at the Llewellyn house and this is when we first meet the rest of the family. First, there is Virginia (Louise Henry), who is married to Lynn (Donald Cook), but wants to leave the stuffy old house and go back to show business, which the elder Mrs. Llewellyn forbids. Next we have Amelia (Isabel Jewell), who is a sad young woman who feels she’ll never leave the big house, although she is engaged to a doctor who also lives there; she usually has a drink in her hand and drinks her sorrows and troubles away. Also there is Mr. Kinkaid (Arthur Byron), Mrs. Llewellyn’s brother who is completely uninterested in the goings-on most of the time. Besides a few other servants, there is Becky (Louise Fazenda), a funny, snooping maid who seems to have an opinion about everything.

After Philo Vance leaves the house after meeting everyone, Doris is leaving for some errands and he offers to give her a lift.

rosalind russell louise fazenda casino murder case
Rosalind Russell and Louise Fazenda in The Casino Murder Case (1935)

As they cheerfully drive down the road, Doris informs him that she knows he isn’t taking her to the library like she asked. He tells her it’s true, that he wants to take her back to his apartment to meet the district attorney about some trouble involving the Llewellyn family. One important thing to note about this scene is the wacky and wonderful way Rosalind opens her eyes wide, looks at him out of the corner of her eye, or rolls her eyes in reaction to something he has said. It is clear that even at this early point in her career, she was destined for comedy. She was already a master of funny facial expressions.

 paul lukas rosalind russell casino murder case
Paul Lukas and Rosalind Russell in The Casino Murder Case (1935)

In a later scene, Doris accompanies Philo to the casino, and Lynn asks her to please go back to the house to quiet things between Virginia and his mother, as they were usually bickering. When she goes back to the house, it is looming with creepy shadows and while she gets Philo on the phone, something extraordinary happens. Virginia has been poisoned there at the house, and at the same time, so has her husband back at the casino. Although Lynn survives the murder attempt, Virginia does not.  Later, Mrs. Llewellyn is found dead by a gunshot wound with a note by her side, admitting that she killed her daughter-in-law, Virginia. It is at this point that I glimpse a bit of bad acting on Rosalind’s part. She stands at the top of the stairs, puts her hand dramatically to her head, and screams out hysterically before fainting.

paul lukas rosalind russell casino murder case
Paul Lukas and Rosalind Russell in The Casino Murder Case (1935)

Although that is technically a dramatic part of the story, I laugh because it is ridiculous the way she does it. But it is likely Rosalind would not defend herself on this point because she thought she was rather bad in the movie.

Rosalind Russell provides a rather youthful female partner for Paul Lukas, who, at almost 44 years old, was 16 years older than her. Truthfully, I do not see the two as a plausible couple and do not see the chemistry radiating off of them in any of the (few) romantic scenes. And on another truthful note, it is revealed that the murder attempts on the Llewellyn family had something to do with something called “heavy water” and it appears Mr. Kinkaid is behind it. If heavy water, which has a larger than normal amount of the hydrogen isotope “deuterium”, is consumed in large quantities, it can result in death. Mostly, this film’s story is rather boring. Without the charm and charisma of a William Powell-type actor, the main character comes off bland, and the chemistry between the two romantic leads is almost nonexistent, which doesn’t help matters. I do not highly recommend this film. I would rather recommend one of the earlier film adaptations of the Philo Vance cases, especially the William Powell versions. However, if you are as big a fan of Rosalind Russell as I am and you must see it, then definitely do so!

casino murder case poster
Poster for The Casino Murder Case (1935)