Movie Review: The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) directed by Alan Crosland
Millionaire Arthur Cartwright (Gordon Westcott) is being put on edge by the howling of his equally rich neighbor Clinton Foley’s (Russell Hicks) dog Prince (Lightning). According to Cartwright, the dog’s been howling for the last forty-eight hours straight, an omen of death. Mr. Cartwright’s housekeeper, Elizabeth Walker (Helen Lowell) is severely hard of hearing, and hasn’t noticed. And for reasons that will soon become obvious, he and Mr. Foley are not on speaking terms. Time to engage the best lawyer in California, Perry Mason (Warren William)!
Perry’s personal secretary Della Street (Helen Trenholme) realizes that Mr. Cartwright’s case is interesting enough to be worth the individual attention of her boss. In addition to the dog complaint, Mr. Cartwright has some odd questions about his will. He’s also willing to give Mr. Mason a $10,000 retainer. And whatever his other tendencies, whenever Perry Mason agrees to take a case, he looks out for the best interest of his client!
The next day, Mr. Cartwright’s will arrives at Perry’s office, but naming a beneficiary that wasn’t expected. The real Mrs. Foley (Mary Astor)! Mr. Cartwright and the woman purported to be Mrs. Foley, actually Mrs. Cartwright, have vanished. The dog has stopped howling (or never was), and bitten Mr. Foley’s attractive housekeeper, Lucy Benton (Dorothy Tree).
Things get more complicated when Mr. Foley and Prince are shot dead, with the most likely suspect being Mrs. Foley. Perry Mason must unravel this baffling case to save his client from District Attorney Claude Drumm (Grant Mitchell) and police detective Sgt. Holcomb (Allen Jenkins).
The 1934 film is the first Perry Mason movie based on the fourth book in the long-running series by Erle Stanley Gardner. It’s different from the television series starring Raymond Burr in several ways. This Mason is more debonair and slimmer, and rather than being a solo act, he has at least two law partners to handle lesser cases, a flock of secretaries, and a psychiatrist on call to do quick evaluations of clients’ mental states. He also carries over from the books the habit of playing fast and loose with evidence and potential witnesses, being in danger of being called up before the bar association for unethical practices. His relationship with Della is also a bit more obviously romantic under the surface.
This movie is fun to watch, with Mr. William making an excellent Perry Mason. The script moves the characters through the complications cleverly, and the ending is fascinating (more on that in the SPOILERS section). As is standard for Perry Mason mysteries, the formal forces of the law are pretty stupid, and need the brilliant defense lawyer to actually find clues and prevent them from convicting the wrong person.
There’s a good balance of serious and comedic moments; I’m told the sequels went harder on the comedy. At an hour and a quarter, it’s a good length for a light myestery.
Recommended for mystery fans, especially those who enjoyed the Perry Mason books.
SPOILERS
So you will remember that Perry Mason made his name by defending people falsely accused of murder? This movie plays it a bit more ambiguously. The framing of the shooting scene leaves it open whether Mrs. Foley was the one who fired the fatal bullets, or if there was a second, unseen person behind a door that closes after the murder. So Perry’s either gotten his client off on a murder she in fact committed, or there’s another murderer who never gets caught at the end. An unusual ending indeed for a Hays Code era movie!
END SPOILERS
