Philo Vance
Encyclopedia
Philo Vance featured in 12 crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine
(the pen name
of Willard Huntington Wright), published in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. The novels were chronicled by his friend Van Dine (who appears as a kind of Dr. Watson
figure in the books as well as the author).
:
In the same book, Van Dine detailed Vance's physical features:
In the second adventure, The Canary Murder Case
(set in 1927), Van Dine tells that Vance was "not yet thirty-five." He goes on to say, "His face was slender and mobile; but there was a stern, sardonic expression to his features, which acted as a barrier between him and his fellows."
Vance was highly skilled at many things: an "expert fencer," a golfer with a three handicap
, a breeder and shower of thoroughbred dogs, a talented polo player, a master poker player, a winning handicapper of race horses, experience in archery ("a bit of potting at Oxford," as he referred to it), a patron of classical music, a connoisseur of fine food and drink, knowledgeable of chess and of several foreign languages. He was also an expert on Chinese ceramics, psychology, the history of crime, ancient Egypt, Renaissance art and a host of other recondite subjects.
Van Dine describes Vance's "one passion" as art. "He was something of an authority on Japanese and Chinese prints; he knew tapestries and ceramics: and once I heard him give an impromptu causerie to a few guests on Tanagra figurines..." (The Benson Murder Case)
His interest in dogs is featured in The Kennel Murder Case
(his polo playing is also mentioned in that case), his skill at poker in The Canary Murder Case, his ability to handicap race horses in The Garden Murder Case
, his knowledge of chess and archery in The Bishop Murder Case
and of Egyptology in The Scarab Murder Case
. His skills at golf and at fencing do not figure in any of the cases.
Vance often wore a monocle, dressed impeccably (usually going out with chamois gloves), and his speech frequently tended to be quaint:
He was also a heavy smoker, lighting up and puffing on his Regies throughout the stories.
According to some contemporary critics, these mannerisms of Vance were affectations, which made him look like a foppish dandy, a poseur. (See below for criticisms.) There is some indication that Van Dine wished the reader to question Vance's sexuality. In The Benson Murder Case, Vance is called a "sissy" by another character, and early in the book, as he is dressing, his friend Markham, asks if he is planning to wear a green carnation, the symbol of homosexuality during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
, Van Dine expanded them into full-length novels. All twelve book titles are in the form "The X Murder Case," where "X" is always a six-letter word (except for The Gracie Allen Murder Case
, which was originally just "Gracie").
Although Van Dine was one of the most educated and cosmopolitan detective writers of his time, in his essays, he dismissed the idea of the mystery story as serious literature. He insisted that a detective novel should be mainly an intellectual puzzle that follows strict rules and does not wander too far afield from its central theme. He followed his own prescriptions, and some critics feel that formulaic approach made the Vance novels stilted and caused them to become dated in a relatively few years.
All of the cases, except The Winter Murder Case
, are mostly set in the Manhattan
borough of New York City
. On a few occasions, Vance and Van Dine (usually accompanied by Markham and Heath) briefly travel to the Bronx
, Westchester County, and New Jersey
in the course of their investigations. In The Greene Murder Case Vance tells, after his arrival back in New York, that he traveled by train to New Orleans to gather information relative to the case.
Vance's last case, The Winter Murder Case, is markedly different from the previous eleven cases in that the locale is away from New York (the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts) and Vance and Van Dine are surrounded by an almost completely different cast of characters (only Markham makes a brief appearance at the very beginning). Wright had just finished writing this case when he died suddenly in New York on April 11, 1939.
Vance, Van Dine, John F.-X Markham, Ernest Heath, Dr. Emanuel Doremus, and Currie all appear in eleven of the twelve stories; the last one, The Winter Murder Case, includes only Vance, Van Dine, and a brief appearance of Markham at the very beginning.
Other individuals who appear frequently: Francis Swacker, Markham's male secretary; Guilfoyle, Hennessey, Snitkin, and Burke, all detectives under Heath in the Homicide Bureau.
wrote:
Famed hardboiled-detective author Raymond Chandler
referred to Vance in his essay "The Simple Art of Murder" as "the most asinine character in detective fiction." In Chandler's "The Lady in the Lake" novel, Marlowe briefly uses Philo Vance as an ironical alias. A criticism of Vance's "phony English accent" also appears in Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely". In Chandler's "The Big Sleep" Marlowe says he's "not Sherlock Holmes or Philo Vance" and explains that his method owns more to judgement of character than finding clues the police have missed.
Julian Symons
in his history of detective fiction, Bloody Murder, says: "The decline in the last six Vance books is so steep that the critic who called the ninth of them one more stitch in his literary shroud was not overstating the case."
A Catalogue of Crime
, by Jacques Barzun
and Wendell Hertig Taylor, criticizes "...the phony footnotes, the phony English accent of Philo Vance, and the general apathy of the detective system in all these books..." in all the Vance novels. It reviews only seven of the twelve novels, panning all but the first and the last: The Benson Murder Case, which it calls "The first and best..." and The Winter Murder Case, of which it says, "In fact, this short book is pleasant reading..."
, Warren William
, and Basil Rathbone
, all of whom had great success playing other detectives in movies. The movie The Canary Murder Case
is famous for a contract dispute that eventually helped sink the career of star Louise Brooks
.
The Philo Vance novels were particularly well suited for the movies, where the more unpleasantly affected aspects of the main character could be toned down and the complex plots given more prominence. One of these films, The Kennel Murder Case, has been called a masterpiece by renowned film historian William K. Everson
. Following is a list of the movies:
The plots of the final three films bear no relationship to any of the novels and very little relationship to the Philo Vance character of the novels.
An Italian-language TV miniseries from 1974 entitled Philo Vance featured Giorgio Albertazzi as Philo Vance. The series was composed of three episodes based on the first three Van Dine novels. The scripts were very faithful to the originals.
series were created with Philo Vance as the title character. The first series, broadcast by NBC in 1945, starred José Ferrer
. A summer replacement series in 1946 starred John Emery as Vance. The best-known series (and the one of which most episodes survived) ran from 1948-1950 in Frederick Ziv syndication and starred Jackson Beck
. "Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. ... Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman.”
S. S. Van Dine
S. S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright , a U.S art critic and author. He created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio.-Early life and career:Willard Huntington Wright was born...
(the pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of Willard Huntington Wright), published in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. The novels were chronicled by his friend Van Dine (who appears as a kind of Dr. Watson
John Watson (Sherlock Holmes)
John H. Watson, M.D. , known as Dr. Watson, is a character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Watson is Sherlock Holmes's friend, assistant and sometime flatmate, and is the first person narrator of all but four stories in the Sherlock Holmes canon.-Name:Doctor Watson's first...
figure in the books as well as the author).
Vance, the man
As Van Dine described the character in the first of the novels, The Benson Murder CaseThe Benson Murder Case
The Benson Murder Case is the first novel in the Philo Vance series of mystery novels by S.S. Van Dine, which became a best-seller.-Plot outline:...
:
Vance was what many would call a dilettante, but the designation does him an injustice. He was a man of unusual culture and brilliance. An aristocrat by birth and instinct, he held himself severely aloof from the common world of men. In his manner there was an indefinable contempt for inferiority of all kinds.
In the same book, Van Dine detailed Vance's physical features:
He was unusually good-looking, although his mouth was ascetic and cruel...there was a slightly derisive hauteur in the lift of his eyebrows...His forehead was full and sloping--it was the artist's, rather than the scholar's, brow. His cold grey eyes were widely spaced. His nose was straight and slender, and his chin narrow but prominent, with an unusually deep cleft...Vance was slightly under six feet, graceful, and giving the impression of sinewy strength and nervous endurance.
In the second adventure, The Canary Murder Case
The Canary Murder Case
The Canary Murder Case is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and eventually, that of her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, second in the Philo Vance series, is said by Howard Haycraft to have...
(set in 1927), Van Dine tells that Vance was "not yet thirty-five." He goes on to say, "His face was slender and mobile; but there was a stern, sardonic expression to his features, which acted as a barrier between him and his fellows."
Vance was highly skilled at many things: an "expert fencer," a golfer with a three handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
, a breeder and shower of thoroughbred dogs, a talented polo player, a master poker player, a winning handicapper of race horses, experience in archery ("a bit of potting at Oxford," as he referred to it), a patron of classical music, a connoisseur of fine food and drink, knowledgeable of chess and of several foreign languages. He was also an expert on Chinese ceramics, psychology, the history of crime, ancient Egypt, Renaissance art and a host of other recondite subjects.
Van Dine describes Vance's "one passion" as art. "He was something of an authority on Japanese and Chinese prints; he knew tapestries and ceramics: and once I heard him give an impromptu causerie to a few guests on Tanagra figurines..." (The Benson Murder Case)
His interest in dogs is featured in The Kennel Murder Case
The Kennel Murder Case
The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 murder mystery novel written by S. S. Van Dine with fictional detective Philo Vance investigating a complex locked room mystery.-Plot summary:...
(his polo playing is also mentioned in that case), his skill at poker in The Canary Murder Case, his ability to handicap race horses in The Garden Murder Case
The Garden Murder Case
The Garden Murder Case is the ninth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance.-Plot outline:...
, his knowledge of chess and archery in The Bishop Murder Case
The Bishop Murder Case
The Bishop Murder Case is the fourth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance. The detective solves a mystery built around a nursery rhyme. The Bishop Murder Case is believed to be the first nursery-rhyme mystery book.-Plot summary:The story involves a...
and of Egyptology in The Scarab Murder Case
The Scarab Murder Case
The Scarab Murder Case is a classic whodunnit written by S. S. Van Dine. In this book, detective Philo Vance's murder investigation takes place in a private home that doubles as a museum of Egyptology, and the solution depends in part on Vance's extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and customs,...
. His skills at golf and at fencing do not figure in any of the cases.
Vance often wore a monocle, dressed impeccably (usually going out with chamois gloves), and his speech frequently tended to be quaint:
- "Why the haste, old dear?" Vance asked, yawning. "The chap's, dead, don't y' know; he can't possibly run away." (The Benson Murder Case)
- "Really, y' know, Markham, old thing, " he added, "you should study the cranial indications of your fellow man more carefully--vultus est index animi..." (The Canary Murder Case)
- "And now I think I'll erase the Greenes from my mind pro tempore, and dip into the 'Satyricon.' The fusty historians pother frightfully about the reasons for the fall of Rome..." (The Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder Case is a 1928 mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine. It focuses on the murders one by one, of the Greene family: "The holocaust that consumed the Greene family", as detective Philo Vance memorably puts it...
)
He was also a heavy smoker, lighting up and puffing on his Regies throughout the stories.
According to some contemporary critics, these mannerisms of Vance were affectations, which made him look like a foppish dandy, a poseur. (See below for criticisms.) There is some indication that Van Dine wished the reader to question Vance's sexuality. In The Benson Murder Case, Vance is called a "sissy" by another character, and early in the book, as he is dressing, his friend Markham, asks if he is planning to wear a green carnation, the symbol of homosexuality during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The novels
Van Dine's first three mystery novels were unusual for mystery fiction because he planned them as a trilogy, but plotted and wrote them in short form, more or less at the same time. After they were accepted as a group by famed editor Maxwell PerkinsMaxwell Perkins
William Maxwell Evarts Perkins , was the editor for Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe. He has been described as the most famous literary editor.-Career:...
, Van Dine expanded them into full-length novels. All twelve book titles are in the form "The X Murder Case," where "X" is always a six-letter word (except for The Gracie Allen Murder Case
The Gracie Allen Murder Case
The Gracie Allen Murder Case is the eleventh of twelve detective novels by S. S. Van Dine featuring his famous fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s, Philo Vance. It also features the zany half of the George Burns & Gracie Allen comedy team...
, which was originally just "Gracie").
Although Van Dine was one of the most educated and cosmopolitan detective writers of his time, in his essays, he dismissed the idea of the mystery story as serious literature. He insisted that a detective novel should be mainly an intellectual puzzle that follows strict rules and does not wander too far afield from its central theme. He followed his own prescriptions, and some critics feel that formulaic approach made the Vance novels stilted and caused them to become dated in a relatively few years.
All of the cases, except The Winter Murder Case
The Winter Murder Case
The Winter Murder Case is a Philo Vance novella that S. S. Van Dine intended to expand into his twelfth full length book, a project cut short by his death. The Winter Murder Case seems especially similar to the B mystery movies of the 1930s, a cross between Van Dine's usual style and the film style...
, are mostly set in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. On a few occasions, Vance and Van Dine (usually accompanied by Markham and Heath) briefly travel to the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
, Westchester County, and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in the course of their investigations. In The Greene Murder Case Vance tells, after his arrival back in New York, that he traveled by train to New Orleans to gather information relative to the case.
Vance's last case, The Winter Murder Case, is markedly different from the previous eleven cases in that the locale is away from New York (the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts) and Vance and Van Dine are surrounded by an almost completely different cast of characters (only Markham makes a brief appearance at the very beginning). Wright had just finished writing this case when he died suddenly in New York on April 11, 1939.
List
- The Benson Murder CaseThe Benson Murder CaseThe Benson Murder Case is the first novel in the Philo Vance series of mystery novels by S.S. Van Dine, which became a best-seller.-Plot outline:...
(1926) - The Canary Murder CaseThe Canary Murder CaseThe Canary Murder Case is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and eventually, that of her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, second in the Philo Vance series, is said by Howard Haycraft to have...
(1927) - The Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder CaseThe Greene Murder Case is a 1928 mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine. It focuses on the murders one by one, of the Greene family: "The holocaust that consumed the Greene family", as detective Philo Vance memorably puts it...
(1928) - The Bishop Murder CaseThe Bishop Murder CaseThe Bishop Murder Case is the fourth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance. The detective solves a mystery built around a nursery rhyme. The Bishop Murder Case is believed to be the first nursery-rhyme mystery book.-Plot summary:The story involves a...
(1929) - The Scarab Murder CaseThe Scarab Murder CaseThe Scarab Murder Case is a classic whodunnit written by S. S. Van Dine. In this book, detective Philo Vance's murder investigation takes place in a private home that doubles as a museum of Egyptology, and the solution depends in part on Vance's extensive knowledge of Egyptian history and customs,...
(1930) - The Kennel Murder CaseThe Kennel Murder CaseThe Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 murder mystery novel written by S. S. Van Dine with fictional detective Philo Vance investigating a complex locked room mystery.-Plot summary:...
(1933) - The Dragon Murder CaseThe Dragon Murder CaseThe Dragon Murder Case is a novel in a series by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance. It was also adapted to a film version in 1934....
(1934) - The Casino Murder CaseThe Casino Murder CaseThe Casino Murder Case is a 1934 novel written by S. S. Van Dine in the series about fictional detective Philo Vance. In this outing, a murder investigation is connected with a private casino on New York's upper west side, and the wealthy and unorthodox family that operates it...
(1934) - The Garden Murder CaseThe Garden Murder CaseThe Garden Murder Case is the ninth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance.-Plot outline:...
(1935) - The Kidnap Murder CaseThe Kidnap Murder CaseThe Kidnap Murder Case is a 1936 murder mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine, the tenth of twelve books featuring fictional detective Philo Vance.-Plot summary:...
(1936) - The Gracie Allen Murder CaseThe Gracie Allen Murder CaseThe Gracie Allen Murder Case is the eleventh of twelve detective novels by S. S. Van Dine featuring his famous fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s, Philo Vance. It also features the zany half of the George Burns & Gracie Allen comedy team...
(1938) - The Winter Murder CaseThe Winter Murder CaseThe Winter Murder Case is a Philo Vance novella that S. S. Van Dine intended to expand into his twelfth full length book, a project cut short by his death. The Winter Murder Case seems especially similar to the B mystery movies of the 1930s, a cross between Van Dine's usual style and the film style...
(1939)
Cast of characters
Most of the adventures have at their beginning a "Characters of the Book," much as in Shakespeare's plays.Vance, Van Dine, John F.-X Markham, Ernest Heath, Dr. Emanuel Doremus, and Currie all appear in eleven of the twelve stories; the last one, The Winter Murder Case, includes only Vance, Van Dine, and a brief appearance of Markham at the very beginning.
- John F.-X Markham: New York County District Attorney (who only served one four-year term). A bachelor (like all of the leading male characters in the stories), he lives in an apartment in lower Manhattan. Markham is a straight-arrow, no-nonsense type whose serious demeanor frequently contrasts, in friendly bantering, with Vance's whimsical persona. Van Dine describes this contrast of personalities:
I have often marvelled at the friendship of these two antipodal men...Markham was forthright, brusque, and on occasion, domineering, taking life with grim and serious concern...Vance, on the other hand, was volatile, debonair, and possessed of a perpetual Juvenalian cynicism... (The Greene Murder Case)
- Ernest Heath: Sergeant in the Homicide Bureau of the New York Police Department. He is gruff, lacking in imagination, prone to misuse English grammar, and also a no-nonsense type when it comes to dealing with suspects in the murder cases (he occasionally suggests to Markham that he "work over" some of them to extract confessions). He and Vance, although very different in most ways, gain a mutual respect for each other as they work together. He seems to sleep very little, as he is up all hours working on cases.
- Dr. Emanuel Doremus: Medical Examiner for New York City. A cocky little man who wears a bowler hat and constantly complains (in a mock manner) about being called to check out corpses just as he has sat down to a meal or is otherwise inconvenienced.
- Currie: "...a rare old English servant who acted as Vance's butler, valet, major-domo and, on occasions, specialty cook." (The Benson Murder Case)
Other individuals who appear frequently: Francis Swacker, Markham's male secretary; Guilfoyle, Hennessey, Snitkin, and Burke, all detectives under Heath in the Homicide Bureau.
Criticisms of Vance and the novels
Vance's character as portrayed in the novels might seem to many modern readers to be supercilious, obnoxiously affected, and highly irritating. He struck some contemporaries that way as well. At the height of Philo Vance's popularity, comic poet Ogden NashOgden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
wrote:
Philo Vance
Needs a kick in the pance.
Famed hardboiled-detective author Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
referred to Vance in his essay "The Simple Art of Murder" as "the most asinine character in detective fiction." In Chandler's "The Lady in the Lake" novel, Marlowe briefly uses Philo Vance as an ironical alias. A criticism of Vance's "phony English accent" also appears in Chandler's "Farewell My Lovely". In Chandler's "The Big Sleep" Marlowe says he's "not Sherlock Holmes or Philo Vance" and explains that his method owns more to judgement of character than finding clues the police have missed.
Julian Symons
Julian Symons
Julian Gustave Symons 1912 - 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature.-Life and work:...
in his history of detective fiction, Bloody Murder, says: "The decline in the last six Vance books is so steep that the critic who called the ninth of them one more stitch in his literary shroud was not overstating the case."
A Catalogue of Crime
A Catalogue of Crime
A Catalogue of Crime, by Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor, is a critique of crime fiction first published in 1971. A revised edition was published in 1989 by Barzun after the death of Taylor in 1985. The book was awarded a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America in...
, by Jacques Barzun
Jacques Barzun
Jacques Martin Barzun is a French-born American historian of ideas and culture. He has written on a wide range of topics, but is perhaps best known as a philosopher of education, his Teacher in America being a strong influence on post-WWII training of schoolteachers in the United...
and Wendell Hertig Taylor, criticizes "...the phony footnotes, the phony English accent of Philo Vance, and the general apathy of the detective system in all these books..." in all the Vance novels. It reviews only seven of the twelve novels, panning all but the first and the last: The Benson Murder Case, which it calls "The first and best..." and The Winter Murder Case, of which it says, "In fact, this short book is pleasant reading..."
Movies
Films about Vance were made from the late 1920s to the late 1940s, with some more faithful to the literary character than others. Among the several actors who played Vance on the screen were William PowellWilliam Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
, Warren William
Warren William
Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...
, and Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, all of whom had great success playing other detectives in movies. The movie The Canary Murder Case
The Canary Murder Case (film)
The Canary Murder Case is a crime/mystery film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle.The screenplay was written by S.S. Van Dine , Albert S. Le Vino and Florence Ryerson, based on novel The Canary Murder Case by S.S...
is famous for a contract dispute that eventually helped sink the career of star Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks
Mary Louise Brooks , generally known by her stage name Louise Brooks, was an American dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress, noted for popularizing the bobbed haircut. Brooks is best known for her three feature roles including two G. W...
.
The Philo Vance novels were particularly well suited for the movies, where the more unpleasantly affected aspects of the main character could be toned down and the complex plots given more prominence. One of these films, The Kennel Murder Case, has been called a masterpiece by renowned film historian William K. Everson
William K. Everson
William Keith "Bill" Everson was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian. He often discovered lost films.-Early life and career:...
. Following is a list of the movies:
- The Canary Murder Case (1929) with William Powell as Philo Vance.
- The Greene Murder Case (1929) with William Powell as Philo Vance.
- The Benson Murder Case (1930) with William Powell as Philo Vance.
- The Bishop Murder Case (1930) with Basil Rathbone as Philo Vance.
- The Kennel Murder Case (1933) with William Powell as Philo Vance.
- The Dragon Murder Case (1934) with Warren William as Philo Vance.
- The Casino Murder Case (1935) with Paul Lukas as Philo Vance.
- The Garden Murder Case (1936) with Edmund Lowe as Philo Vance.
- The Scarab Murder Case (1936) with Wilfrid Hyde-White as Philo Vance. Reportedly, no prints exist of this British production.
- Night of Mystery (1937) (based on The Greene Murder Case) with Grant Richards as Philo Vance. Reportedly, no prints exist outside of university/museum collections.
- The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) with Warren William as Philo Vance, billed below Gracie Allen.
- Calling Philo Vance (1940) (very loosely based on The Kennel Murder Case) with James Stephenson as Philo Vance.
- Philo Vance Returns (1947) with William Wright as Philo Vance.
- Philo Vance's Gamble (1947) with Alan Curtis as Philo Vance.
- Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947) with Alan Curtis as Philo Vance.
The plots of the final three films bear no relationship to any of the novels and very little relationship to the Philo Vance character of the novels.
An Italian-language TV miniseries from 1974 entitled Philo Vance featured Giorgio Albertazzi as Philo Vance. The series was composed of three episodes based on the first three Van Dine novels. The scripts were very faithful to the originals.
Radio
Three radio dramaRadio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
series were created with Philo Vance as the title character. The first series, broadcast by NBC in 1945, starred José Ferrer
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón , best known as José Ferrer, was a Puerto Rican actor, as well as a theater and film director...
. A summer replacement series in 1946 starred John Emery as Vance. The best-known series (and the one of which most episodes survived) ran from 1948-1950 in Frederick Ziv syndication and starred Jackson Beck
Jackson Beck
Jackson Beck was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's The Adventures of Superman and the voice of Bluto in the Famous era Popeye theatrical shorts.-Career:...
. "Thankfully, the radio series uses only the name, and makes Philo a pretty normal, though very intelligent and extremely courteous gumshoe. ... Joan Alexander is Ellen Deering, Vance's secretary and right-hand woman.”