Calling Philo Vance ** (1940, James Stephenson, Margot Stevenson, Henry O’Neill, Edward Brophy) – Classic Movie Review 11,307

Warner Bros’ 1940 mystery comedy crime thriller Calling Philo Vance stars British stage actor James Stephenson, who takes over as S S Van Dine’s dilettante detective hero Philo Vance for one film only.

‘Rich Inventor Murdered! Police Baffled – Until Philo Vance Finds One Slender Clue!’

Director William Clemens’s 1940 Warner Bros Black and White mystery comedy crime thriller Calling Philo Vance stars British stage actor James Stephenson, who takes over as S S Van Dine’s dilettante detective hero Philo Vance, who is on international assignment by the US Government to investigate traffic in wartime aircraft designs. Margot Stevenson co-stars as Hilda Lake.

Stephenson proves himself just the man for the job in this espionage tale of a traitor selling US plane plans to the enemy and spies infiltrating the home staff of the man who may be guilty – a businessman, Archer Coe (Richard Kipling).

But now Coe is found dead, having apparently killed himself with a gun.

Calling Philo Vance (1940, James Stephenson, Edward Brophy).

Calling Philo Vance is an acceptable but not particularly special remake of S S Van Dine’s novel The Kennel Murder Case, and the 1933 film The Kennel Murder Case that starred William Powell and didn’t need remaking. The new angle here is the then topical wartime spy stuff, which adds some poignancy as well as an arguable reason for a remake.

The wartime plot about the theft of secret aircraft plans replaces the original story about art world double-dealing and stolen Chinese art objects, but the solution to the mystery is the same in both films, and also much of the dialogue is identical, so the 1933 film script must have been adapted for this film.

Vance’s usual police irritant Sgt Heath is renamed Ryan here and played by Edward Brophy.

Nevertheless, it turned out to be James Stephenson’s only appearance as the dilettante detective Philo Vance. Despite Warner Bros’ plan to reanimate the Philo Vance series with him, Stephenson never played the part again because he died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1941, aged 52. His career was on the rise after his big break when director William Wyler cast him in The Letter (1940), opposite Bette Davis, and he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Vance’s dog McTavish is played by Terry, who was Toto in The Wizard of Oz.

It was released in the US on 3 February 1940.

Also in the cast are Henry O’Neill as J P Markham, Edward Brophy as Ryan, Sheila Bromley as Doris Delafield, Ralph Forbes as Taylor McDonald, Don Douglas as Philip Wrede, Martin Kosleck as Gamble, Jimmy Conlin as Dr Doremus, Edward Raquello as Eduardo Grassi, Creighton Hale as Du Bois, Harry Strang as Markham’s assistant, Richard Kipling as Archer Coe, Wedgwood Nowell as Brisbane Coe, Bo Ling as Ling Toy, Olaf Hytten as Charles, George Irving as Avery, Frank Mayo as Doorman, Yakima Canutt, Harry Burns, Nat Carr, William Hopper, Stuart Holmes. Olaf Hytten, Maris Wrixon, Jack Wise, Frank Wilcox, and George Reeves.

Note in the cast 1950s TV’s Superman George Reeves and William Hopper, Paul Drake on the Perry Mason in the 1950s and 1960s.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,307

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com