Philo Vance

_____________________________________ The character of Philo Vance came from the pen of S. S. Van Dine, the pen name for Willard Huntington Wright (1888 - 1939). He wrote a total of 12 Philo Vance novels: The Benson Murder Case (1926), The Canary Murder Case (1927), The Greene Murder Case (1928), The Bishop Murder Case (1929), The Scarab Murder Case (1930), The Kennel Murder Case (1933), The Dragon Pool Murder (1933), The Casino Murder Case (1934), The Kidnap Murder Case (1936), The Garden Murder Case (1938), The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1938) and The Winter Murder Case (1939). Philo Vance is an amateur detective who assists the district attorney with his investigations. Outside of detective work, he is a wealthy connoisseur of the arts. The first ten novels take place in New York City. The last two take place in Hollywood. A large number of the novels became movies, with William Powell filling the role of Vance five times from 1929 to 1933 and Basil Rathbone doing the honors once in 1930. NBC was the first to bring Vance to the airwaves, airing a Summer series from 07/05/45 to 09/27/45 with Jose Ferrer starring as Vance. ABC tried a short running series on the West Coast starting July 23, 1946, starring John Emery as Vance. It wasn't until 1948, after the last Philo Vance movie was made, that Frederick Ziv syndicated a series starring Jackson Beck as Vance with Joan Alexander as his secretary. This series, of 104 shows, would last into 1950. The series featured last minute clue- gathering to lead into end-of-the-show revelations and solutions. 43/04/29 The Case of the Cellini Cup 45/07/26 The Girl Who Came Back 45/08/09 The Case of Strange Music 48/07/13 1 The Eagle Murder Case 48/07/20 2 The Merry Murder Case 48/08/24 7 The Poetic Murder Case 48/08/31 8 The Coachman Murder Case 48/09/07 9 The Midget Murder Case 48/09/14 10 The Lady In Blue Murder Case 48/09/21 11 The Backstage Murder Case 48/09/28 12 The Argus Murder Case 48/10/05 13 The Bulletin Murder Case 48/10/12 14 The Cover Girl Murder Case 48/11/16 19 Heavyweight Murder Case 48/11/23 20 Tree Trunk Murder Case 48/11/30 21 Blackjack Murder Case 48/12/07 22 Star Studded Murder Case 48/12/14 23 Murdock Murder Case 48/12/21 24 Vanilla Murder Case 48/12/28 25 Rhumba Murder Case 49/01/04 26 Magic Murder Case 49/01/25 29 Idol Murder Case 49/02/01 30 Golden Murder Case 49/02/08 31 Flying Murder Case 49/02/15 32 Butler Murder Case 49/02/22 33 Herringbone Murder Case 49/03/01 34 Listless Murder Case 49/03/08 35 Curtain Call Murder Case 49/03/15 36 Million Dollar Murder Case 49/03/22 37 White Willow Murder Case 49/03/29 38 High Hat Murder Case 49/04/05 39 Movie Murder Case 49/04/12 40 Green Girls Murder Case 49/04/19 41 Cardinal Murder Case 49/04/26 42 Cipher Murder Case 49/05/03 43 Masters Murder Case 49/05/10 44 Meanest Man Murder Case 49/05/17 45 Butterfly Murder Case 49/05/24 46 Hurdy Gurdy Murder 49/05/31 47 Red Duck Murder 49/06/07 48 Mistletoe Murder 49/06/14 49 Combination Murder Case 49/06/21 50 Peacock Murder Case 49/06/28 51 Motor Murder Case 49/07/05 52 White Murder Case 49/07/12 53 One Cent Murder Case 49/07/19 54 Racket Murder Case 49/07/26 55 Cheesecake Murder Case 49/08/02 56 Tick Tock Murder Case 49/08/09 57 Deep Sea Murder Case 49/08/16 58 Johnny a Murder Case 49/08/23 59 Blue Penny Murder Case 49/08/30 60 Brotherly Murder Case 49/09/06 61 Oxford Murder Case 49/09/13 62 Checkerboard Murder Case 49/10/04 65 Black Gold Murder Case 49/10/11 66 Tea Cup Murder Case 49/10/18 67 Meeker Murder Case aka Necktie Murder Case 49/10/25 68 Deathless Murder Case 49/11/15 71 Little Murder Case 49/11/22 72 Nightmare Murder Case 49/11/29 73 Thundering Murder Case 49/12/06 74 Birdcage Murder Case 49/12/13 75 Grey Glove Murder Case 49/12/20 76 Chop Suey Murder Case 49/12/27 77 Identical Murder Case 50/01/03 78 Tip Top Murder Case 50/01/10 79 Left Handed Murder Case 50/01/17 80 Talking Corpse Murder Case aka Catty Corpse Murder Case 50/01/24 81 Music Box Murder Case 50/01/31 82 Sterling Murder Case 50/02/07 83 Chicken Murder Case 50/02/14 84 Scarface Murder Case 50/03/07 87 Church Murder Case 50/03/14 88 Mathematical Murder Case 50/03/21 89 Jackpot Murder Case 50/03/28 90 Ivory Murder Case 50/04/04 91 Mimic Murder Case 50/04/11 92 Nylon Murder Case 50/04/18 93 Golden Key Murder Case 50/04/25 94 Shower Bath Murder Case 50/05/02 95 Rooftop Murder Case 50/05/09 96 Whistling Murder Case 50/05/16 97 The Manicure Murder Case 50/05/23 98 The Money Machine Murder Case 50/05/30 99 The Whirlaround Murder Case 50/06/06 100 The Alibi Murder Case 50/06/13 101 Full Dress Murder Case 50/06/20 102 Prize Ring Murder Case 50/06/27 103 Argyle Murder Case 50/07/04 104 Muddy Murder Case _____________________________________