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Living with
Dillard is his niece Belle; Dillard's adopted son, Sigurd Arnesson, who is also Belle's boyfriend, returns from college on hearing of the crime. In the next house are the Drukkers, a brother and sister: she feels responsible for a serious injury he still suffers from, and is now frail and
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Dillard is the murderer, and was trying to fake
Arnesson's suicide. He was jealous and wanted to be Belle's only friend. He originally only intended to kill Robin and frame Arnesson, but developed the more elaborate scheme when he realized Miss Drukker must have witnessed his actions. Arnesson acted
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is a bishop—named
Arnesson. He rushes back to Dillard's house together with Markham, Heath, and more police. Arnesson's window is open and neither he nor Belle is in their room. Dillard joins the group to search the house. Breaking down the locked door to the attic, they find the typewriter,
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368:". That was Robin's nickname, and another visitor at the house that day was named Sperling—German for "Sparrow"—but he proves to have a solid alibi. Neither Drukker's nor Arnesson's typewriter matches the note, and Dillard does not have one.
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Markham, who brings in private detective Philo Vance and lazy police detective Heath. Vance quickly deduces that the arrow scene was staged (Robin was actually bludgeoned inside the house), but there is no obvious suspect.
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That night, after Belle says goodnight to
Arnesson, she makes her way into the attic and finds the typewriter that "the Bishop" used for his notes. At this point she is jumped from behind.
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into a wine glass. As things calm down and
Arnesson is about to be arrested, Dillard pours wine for Arnesson and himself; but Vance announces that he has switched the glasses.
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Downstairs, they are talking to
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From his private balcony, elderly Prof. Dillard and his servant see the body of family friend Joseph Robin with an arrow in his chest. Dillard calls
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guilty because Vance asked him to. And Belle is fine; after
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A taunting typewritten note is found, signed "the Bishop". It alludes to the nursery rhyme "
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532:List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
312:(credited for screen direction) and starring
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106:Learn how and when to remove this message
324:. Ten years before assuming his role as
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332:, Rathbone essayed the character of
44:adding citations to reliable sources
308:(credited for stage direction) and
55:"The Bishop Murder Case" film
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388:This Is the House That Jack Built
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31:needs additional citations for
655:American black-and-white films
645:Films directed by David Burton
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461:as Professor Bertrand Dillard
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609:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
675:Films scored by William Axt
250:December 31, 1929
137:Original theatrical poster.
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640:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
509:as D.A. John F.X. Markham
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340:in this single outing.
650:American mystery films
603:The Bishop Murder Case
592:The Bishop Murder Case
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570:The Bishop Murder Case
552:The Bishop Murder Case
294:The Bishop Murder Case
172:The Bishop Murder Case
126:The Bishop Murder Case
665:1930s American films
660:1920s American films
497:as Sgt. Ernest Heath
40:improve this article
515:as Raymond Sperling
489:Charles Quatermaine
297:is a 1929 American
236:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
635:1930 mystery films
597:TCM Movie Database
455:as Sigurd Arnesson
330:series of 14 films
670:Philo Vance films
485:as John E. Sprigg
467:as Adolph Drukker
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38:Please help
33:verification
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483:Carroll Nye
471:Zelda Sears
447:Leila Hyams
442:Philo Vance
419:poison ring
359:agoraphobic
338:Philo Vance
318:Leila Hyams
310:Nick Grinde
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151:Nick Grinde
143:Directed by
630:1930 films
625:1929 films
619:Categories
555:at tcm.com
538:References
366:Cock Robin
254:1929-12-31
176:1917 novel
66:newspapers
521:as Beedle
214:Edited by
118:1929 film
96:June 2024
586:AllMovie
526:See also
299:pre-Code
283:Language
222:Music by
186:Starring
167:Based on
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286:English
275:Country
270:88 min.
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344:Plot
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