Philo Vance Collection 05/28/24

S.S. Van Dine’s artistocratic detective was featured in 12 murder mystery novels that inspired at least 15 films. The first actor to play him was the urbane William Powell, in three Paramount productions: The Canary Murder Case, The Greene Murder Case and The Benson Murder Case. Powell sorts out the suspects and the victims, playing opposite Jean Arthur, Louise Brooks, Florence Eldredge, Paul Lukas, William Boyd and Natalie Moorhead. Raymond Chandler once wrote that the Philo Vance was ‘the most asinine character in detective fiction’ but reviewer Charlie Largent reports that he’s very entertaining on film, as embodied by Powell, pre- The Thin Man. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
05/28/24