Tag Archives: Arthur Byron

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)

The President Vanishes (1934)

Rosalind Russell’s second film is not a great one. It has a stuffy, uninteresting script and is sometimes confused by the large mass of characters in the film. You never feel like you get to know many of them and it makes it much more confusing. Russell is billed 12th in this movie, her name lost in a sea of character actors during the credits. She is in three short scenes. This is interesting because she was in about 3 scenes in her previous film, Evelyn Prentice, but billed fourth. However, despite her billing status, she has a great deal more lines in this film and does very well.

Rosalind Russell The President Vanishes
Rosalind Russell in The President Vanishes (1934)

She is impressive as a Washington lobbyist’s wife, especially in her second scene, in which she takes full command of the scene and the six other actors in it, stealing the scene from them all.
“The President Vanishes” is about a president who wants to stay out of the war, but with Europe at war, so much of the country (and politicians in Washington) want to get in on it. The president is played by Arthur Byron and at times, I would forget he was actually the president because there are so many characters in the movie. However, this was also due to the fact that this movie is rather rare and so my copy of it has good quality in neither picture nor sound.

rosalind russell the president vanishes
Rosalind Russell in The President Vanishes (1934)

A Washington lobbyist is against the idea of war, along with the president, and his wife, Sally (Rosalind Russell) feels the same way. When we first see Roz, she is applying her lipstick in the mirror and making sure she looks “perfect.” When her husband comes into the room, she says to him, “In two minutes, these perfect lips would have been sealed. Where I draw the line, no man comes through.” However, he kisses her anyway and informs her that they will be giving a dinner party that night for five men who “are going to arrange to get America into the war.” When she hears this, her eyes widen and she stops what she’s doing, her face changing from surprise to anger. When she gives the dinner party for the five men, she does most of the talking as she sits at the head of the table like a queen.

rosalind rusell the president vanishes
Rosalind Russell in The President Vanishes (1934)

In talking to the five men, she charms the pants off of them, talking about their best qualities and talents, although there is poison apparent in her tone. Addressing each of them, she says (always with a smile), ““I live with my husband, Washington’s greatest lobbyist. He brings to my poor table the charm and brains of America—Edward Cullen, who knows more about steel than Midas knew about gold; Barton Drew, our greatest banker, whose bolting vaults would put poor old creases to shame; and dear Roger Grant, who binds 10 million readers with his chain of newspapers; Judge Cochran, defender of the Constitution, lover of liberty, friend of the people… especially the right people.” With that, she says to them, “So you see, gentlemen, why shouldn’t I be wise in the midst of these five greatest of great men?” Before she leaves the room early, she implies that they are eagles circling the sky above Washington. The men start arguing about going to war after she leaves and as the scene dissolves, a cutaway shows a group of six eagles attacking each other.
In order to keep the public’s mind off war, the president stages his own kidnapping, implying it was the fascist group “The Gray Shirts” that are the culprits. A large Washington meeting is the last scene in which we see Roz.

rosalind russell the president vanishes
Rosalind Russell in The President Vanishes (1934)

She comes into the room late and sits next to her husband. She tells him there was a mob outside and it was hard to get in. She remarks, ““I feel as if I were sitting on the edge of a volcano,” to which her husband replies, “You are.” It is then announced that the president has vanished and it is almost certain he has been kidnapped. Roz gasps, putting her hand over her mouth, as the president’s wife faints in shock. The scene closes and that’s the last we see of Miss Russell. The rest of the film is not really worth seeing, especially in such bad quality. However, Rosalind Russell is a very interesting part of the cast and worth seeing, if at least for the dinner party scene.

paul kelly arthur byron the president vanishes
Paul Kelly and Arthur Byron
peggy conklin paul kelly the president vanishes
Peggy Conklin and Paul Kelly

 

The President Vanishes (1934) on IMDB

Wikipedia page for The President Vanishes (1934)

A review of The President Vanishes (1934)