Philo Vance Movie Collection


Philo Vance is a fictional character 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. 


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 Powell, 
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.

These episodes are in the PUBLIC DOMAIN and were transferred from original films. The quality varies movie to movie due to the age and condition of the original films.

DVD 1) 

The Canary Murder Case (1929) with William Powell as Philo Vance.
The Greene Murder Case (1929) with William Powell as Philo Vance.

DVD 2) 

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.

DVD 3)

The Dragon Murder Case (1934) with Warren William as Philo Vance.
The Casino Murder Case (1935) with Paul Lukas as Philo Vance, and co-starring Rosalind Russell.


DVD 4) 

The Garden Murder Case (1936) with Edmund Lowe as Philo Vance.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1939) with Warren William as Philo Vance
Calling Philo Vance (1940) (very loosely based on The Kennel Murder Case) with James Stephenson as Philo Vance.

DVD 5)

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.



We are looking for Copies of the 2 movies which seem to be lost :-(

The Scarab Murder Case (1936) with Wilfrid Hyde-White as Philo Vance. 
Night of Mystery (1937) (based on The Greene Murder Case) with Grant Richards as Philo Vance. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - www.en.wikipedia.org