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GREENE_MURDER_FILM

                                              Dec 10, 2012

Concerning the film made from
the S.S van Dyne novel,                 GREENE_MURDER
"The Greene Murder Case",
one of a series with William         The Philo Vance of the
Powell playing a character           films is less colorful
named Philo Vance.                   than the one of the novels,
                                     but also much less annoying.


      The comic acting by Eugene Debs helps
      put over the stupidity of the police--
      bumbling cop jokes invoke a less serious
      mode of story, it lowers the bar they
      need to get over.
                                                  Ice floes in
                                                  the river made
      They throw in some climatic scenes          special effects
      that make use of the setting                easier, by
      better, climbing around the outside         hiding the
      of the mansion, over the river.             grain of waves
                                                  in the water.








     They made a number of adjustments that
     tone down *some* of the dumber things...
                                                      SPOILERS
     One of the later murders actually seems mildly
     clever in the film: a gun trap where the
     murderer can direct the victim into the trap,
     then lie to the police about where the victim
     was directed.  The "secret panel" the murderer
     and victim (siblings who grew up together)
     both knew about can become an actual secret
     after one is dead, and it conceals the
     location of the gun.

     You could do trial runs with an unloaded gun
     to make sure your mechanism would trip the
     trigger: it requires a sharp pull by the
     victim though, and it requires a known
     stance... leaning from the side could defeat
     it.  Location of crumpled body could easily be
     a tip-off too.


                           These traps is tricky.


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