PHILO VANCE FILM COLLECTION:

PHILO VANCE -
CANARY MURDER CASE, THE(1929):

Sound on this is pretty bad! I had to turn
the volume on full to hear it! As for the
movie, it's pretty convoluted in that there
are many suspects who all have a reason to
knock off the "Canary"!! But it was fun to
watch Vance(Powell) work the room! B+

From IMDb.com:

William Powell stars as S. S. Van Dine's
amateur sleuth Philo Vance in this, the first
of the detective's screen appearances, and
he looks a little forlorn without a female
companion to keep him on his toes. The
Canary is Louise Brooks, who appears all
too briefly as a blackmailing femme fatale
who is knocked off by any one of half a
dozen men (she is dubbed by Margaret
Livingston, and Paramount couldn't have
picked a worse match if they tried).
Other notables in the cast includes
a very young Jean Arthur as the
girlfriend of one of the suspects,
and Eugene Pallette as the obligatory
dumb cop. It's light on action, but
The Canary Murder Case is an entertaining
watch - although the method of murder
is simply too fantastic for words. - JoeytheBrit

PHILO VANCE -
GREENE MURDER CASE, THE(1929):

Another fun Philo Vance outing and a
good job by Powell! Basic story: the
Greene's are dropping like flies! It
appears to be a case of let's get
rid of the competition for the money!
A good who-dun-it!! B+

From IMDb.com:

The second Philo Vance film with William
Powell in the central role was made in
the same year as the first ("The Canary
Murder Case"), but it is somewhat less
of an antique. It's still often static,
but at least there are a few panoramic
shots of the house of the Greenes, and
a more cinematic finale. Perhaps more
importantly, the mystery is much more
complicated than that of "Canary";
having read Maltin's comment about
an obvious killer and remembering
how easy it was to spot the killer
in "Canary", I was certain I had it
all figured out but I was fooled;
I found the ending thoroughly surprising.
Fans of Jean Arthur (she also appeared
very briefly in "Canary") will be glad
to know that her part is much bigger
this time. **1/2 out of 4. - gridoon2021

PHILO VANCE -
BISHOP MURDER CASE, THE(1929):

Basil Rathbone!! What more can I say?! This
is definitely a fore runner to him playing
his most famous role - Sherlock Holmes!!
In fact this is very "Holmesish"!! In
fact, Philo is jokingly referred to as
Sherlock Holmes several times!

You can tell that the actors are not used
to "talkies" yet, as several of them are
very halting in their speach! And there
are several here that overact, but that
just makes it more fun to watch!

As for the plot, this is a play on the
children's rhyme about Cock Robin!
Someone kills a man named Joseph
Cocharane Robin. He is found dead in a
courtyard of the woman he's courting
with an arrow in his chest! The
man's nickname is "Cock Robin"!
Many suspects but really only one
that makes any sense! Very good
movie!! A

From IMDb.com:

This film is important for a couple of reasons.

First, it is an early talkie, and if you are
a student of film, it is essential to watch
the transition from silent films to talkies.
Some of the characters in this film seemed
to think they were still doing silents.

Secondly, it stars Basil Rathbone as detective
Philo Vance. Philo Vance, a character by S.S.
Van Dine, has appeared in many films. The
great William Powell played him several times
before he did The Thin Man, and here Rathbone
does him before he goes on to playing Sherlock
Holmes. - lastliberal

PHILO VANCE -
BENSON MURDER CASE, THE(1930):

This is all about the stock market and the
financial trouble that it put many people
in! Especially when one of the stock market
moguls is a rat!! He gets killed and just
about everyone in the movie has a motive! A

From IMDb.com:

The third Philo Vance movie starring William
Powell. It's adapted from the first Vance
novel, itself based on the real life "locked
room" murder of famous bridge player Joseph
Bowne Elwell. The mystery here has a neat
resolution. Powell is always aces and he
has fun support from Eugene Pallette.
Paul Lukas gives a nervous turn that gets
a little grating. Lukas would later play
Vance himself. The only real downsides
are the usual complaint about early
talkies, namely the pacing and that
they have a lot of stiff joints. I'm
an avid fan of classic films so it
doesn't bother me much. But your
mileage may vary. - utgard14

PHILO VANCE -
KENNEL MURDER CASE, THE(1933):

It all starts with a dog being killed! Then a
mean, totally unlikable man commits suicide!
He's found in a locked room with a gun in his
hand and a bullet in his head! Enter Philo
Vance to sort the whole thing out! This is
quite entertaining!! A

From an IMDb.com customer:

Why can't this type of compact, entertaining
mystery be filmed in the new century? It keeps
the viewer thinking and guessing all the way.
The cast is a great ensemble. William Powell
exhibits true star quality. Who knows--perhaps
he was rehearsing for his future as Nick Charles.
He is a joy to watch. One also can see why
Eugene Pallette made more than 200 films. He
is a great supporting character actor and his
excellent chemistry with Powell is fun to
watch. Mary Astor does above average work
in a not very meaty role. All other hands
chip in to make this a thoroughly enjoyable
way to spend 73 minutes. I suspect Michael
Curtiz had a ball directing his one.
Bravo! - ny1mwd26

PHILO VANCE -
DRAGON MURDER CASE, THE(1934):

It must be William that's the problem here!
The story's ok, and the rest of the actors
are all adiquet, but somehow this isn't as
good as the previous PV movies!! Still not
a bad entry, but just a little under the
weather! B

From IMDb.com:

I've seen two of the Philo Vance movies and
I've been disappointed with both. It isn't
the actors involved. Warren William will
always be the best Perry Mason, in my opinion;
and, William Powell is one of my favorite
leading men. The acting in this movie was
great; it was the writing that failed,
however.

Movies were still in their infancy, so I
can understand a whodunnit set up like a
stage play. But, Philo Vance had literally
no personality. It was as if George Lucas
had directed it. "Whatever you do, DON'T
draw attention to yourself".

On the plus side, the underwater parts
were excellent and the insane aunt set
a higher bar for movie lunatics, I can
tell you. - masercot

PHILO VANCE -
CASINO MURDER CASE, THE(1935):

First things first, Lukas is a terrible
Vance!!!! This isn't a great movie! I
think that it has a lot to do with the
new Vance! Anyway, ok, but not near the
quality of the previous ones!! C+

From IMDb.com:

Casino Murder Case, The (1935)

* (out of 4)

Paul Lukas takes over the role of Philo Vance
and gets involved with a strange family whose
members keep getting poisoned. This is a really
bad movie and there's really no way to get
around that fact. Lukas is incredibly boring
in the lead and I'm not just saying this
because he isn't as good as the men who
played the part previously. Even on his
own Lukas brings nothing to the role and
he actually makes Vance quite boring and
dull. The supporting cast isn't any better
and they all come off with very poor
performances including Ted Healy (with
his Stooges). The story too is very poor
and is never really all that interesting.
It takes about twenty minutes for the
crime to take place and I'm really not
sure what the opening sequences has
to do with anything. - Michael_Elliott

PHILO VANCE -
GARDEN MURDER CASE, THE(1936):

Another new Philo Vance!! At least this
one's not nearly as bad as the last one!
He gets involved with a rich family who's
members are dropping dead! Not as great
as some of the others, but decent
enough! B-

From IMDb.com:

When Philo Vance (Edmund Lowe) is standing
precariously on the edge of a balcony high
above the city, apparently hypnotized and
just about to step to his death,it immediately
reminded me of a nearly identical scene in
another film made nine years later, "The
Woman in Green" in which Sherlock Holmes
(Basil Rathbone)is similarly about to hurl
himself into space while being hypnotized.

Happily, both Philo Vance and Sherlock
Holmes survive these attempts at murder
by unscrupulous criminals. Exciting cinematic
suspense in both these scenes. When will
they learn you can't cloud the minds of
great fictional detectives ? - bllest

PHILO VANCE -
GRACIE ALLEN MURDER CASE, THE(1939):

Love George Burns! Gracie, not so much! This
isn't even close to a Philo Vance movie! This
is a slapstick comedy built around Gracie, with
a moderate amount of Vance thrown in! Not all
together terrible, just don't expect a great
mystery movie here!! And again, as in The Dragon
Murder Case, William is not the best Philo! B-

From IMDb.com:

I've always loved the scatter-brained comedy
of Gracie Allen, but she is terribly out of
place in this (so-called) "mystery". Don't
get me wrong -- she's EXCELLENT but,
unfortunately, "overwhelms" the film,
and the mystery is lost in the shuffle.
Warren William (as Philo) is pitifully
wasted in this film.

A better title for this film should be,
"What Happened to Philo Vance"? - Norm-30

PHILO VANCE - CALLING(1940):

Again a new Philo Vance! And if this seems like
a case of deja vu, it is! This is basically the
same story as was in Philo Vance's The Kennel
Murder Case!! A lot of the dialague is verbatum
tho the actual story is a bit different with
Philo being hired by the Secret Service to
find out who's steeling information about
airplanes! Since this was 1940, it was
inevitable that Vance would be put in the
war one way or another! B+

From IMDb.com:

One of the weakest Philo Vance films: a pointless
remake of "The Kennel Murder Case", with a blander
cast. But if you haven't seen "Kennel", you may
still find the story ingenious. The then-topical
WWII elements look out of place now in a Philo
Vance mystery. ** out of 4. - gridoon2021

PHILO VANCE - RETURNS(1947):

It appears that the only actor that could
hold on to the role of Philo Vance was William
Powell(who did a great job)! And here we have
another new Philo, William Wright! He does ok
in this, but the plot is paper thinly veiled!
I knew the cuprit in 5 minutes!! But still
and all it's not terrible, just not the
best! B

From IMDb.com:

It's an okay Vance programmer at a time
when crime films would soon turn to noir.
So who's knocking off all the good-looking
babes. There were so many I couldn't keep
them straight-- such a pickle. Then too,
I kept yelling at them to stay away from
the lipstick cause it ain't Revlon. Seems
handsome rover Blendon keeps marrying
them one after another, using his big
inheritance as inducement. But now
they're headed for the morgue in
mysterious fashion. So, in good
detective tradition, it's up to Vance
and his comic Russkie helper Alexis
to figure things out. Good thing the
guys don't use lip brightener.

Journeyman director Beaudine films
in straightforward fashion, few close-ups,
little moody lighting. The guessing game
itself is pretty good as the suspects
keep accumulating then dying off. However,
I do wish ditzy Alexis had more scenes
with Choo-Choo Divine, such a great name.
Then too, she's played by that great
movie floozie Iris Adrian. In my little
book, their one goofy scene's the movie's
highlight.

All in all, the flick's an entertaining
time-passer, with one of the best distaff
casts since the Miss America
Pageant. - dougdoepke

PHILO VANCE'S GAMBLE(1947):

Yah, I know this is getting to be a broken
record, but here we have ANOTHER new Philo!
He's ok, definitely not the worst, but the
movie is just kinda bland to me! But even
a bland 40s mystery is better than most of
the movies put out now(2020s)! B+

From IMDb.com:

I thought Philo Vance's Gamble was a very
solid effort, especially for a movie that
is a long way down the list of Philo Vance
films done. It was a solid mystery, with
a little comic relief, good acting and
a better than average cast.

I have seen almost all of the Philo Vance
films, and besides two or three of the
early ones (Kennel Murder Case is a classic),
this is one of the better films in the long
running series. - dpalmer-2

PHILO VANCE'S SECRET MISSION(1947):

Alan Curtis returns, making him the only actor
to be in more than one Philo Vance movie other
than William Powell! Philo is hired to be a
help to write a murder mystery! The story is
already in his mind! It's about the murder of
a former partner of his! B+

From IMDb.com:

For the most part, this is a standard entry
in the long-running (the first film was made
in 1929!) detective series. All the main
characters are formulaically (is that a word?)
conceived. But the production values are less
static than expected - there is even a car
chase followed by a fight in the woods. And
in the best genre tradition, the most
essential clue that enables Philo Vance
to solve the case is found in a simple
photograph. I was surprised at how well
the pieces of the script come together.
Alan Curtis makes an adequate Vance,
while Sheila Ryan is not only stunningly
beautiful, but can handle comedy and
drama as well. **1/2 out of 4. - gridoon2021

PHILO VANCE, DETECTIVE(1950):

This is a TV "pilot" which was taken directly
from the last movie and shortened down considerably
for a pitch for a half hour TV series! The editing
wasn't so good and of course it never made it
to television!

This is the story: Philo is hired to be a
help to write a murder mystery! The story is
already in his mind! It's about the murder of
a former partner of his! B-

From IMDb.com:

For the most part, this is a standard entry
in the long-running (the first film was made
in 1929!) detective series. All the main
characters are formulaically (is that a word?)
conceived. But the production values are less
static than expected - there is even a car
chase followed by a fight in the woods. And
in the best genre tradition, the most
essential clue that enables Philo Vance
to solve the case is found in a simple
photograph. I was surprised at how well
the pieces of the script come together.
Alan Curtis makes an adequate Vance,
while Sheila Ryan is not only stunningly
beautiful, but can handle comedy and
drama as well. **1/2 out of 4. - gridoon2021

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