Philo Vance

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Philo Vance was a fictional American detective created by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s who appeared in 12 novels. Although largely forgotten today, for a few years he was immensely popular in books, movies, and on the radio. Vance was portrayed as a super-dandy, super-intellectual and super-man-about-town in Manhattan.

Van Dine's first three mystery novels were unusual for mystery fiction because he planned them as a trilogy but plotted and wrote them in short form, more or less at the same time. After they were accepted as a group by famed editor Maxwell Perkins, Van Dine expanded them into full-length novels.

All twelve book titles are in the form "The X Murder Case," where "X" is always a six-letter word (except for "Gracie Allen," which was originally just "Gracie").

Although Van Dine was one of the most educated and cosmopolitan detective writers of his time, in his essays he dismissed the idea of the mystery story as serious literature. He insisted that a detective novel should be mainly an intellectual puzzle that follows strict rules and does not wander too far from its central theme. He followed his own prescriptions, and some critics feel that formulaic approach made the Vance novels stilted and caused them to become dated in a relatively few years.

Films about Vance were made from the late 1920s to the late '40s. Among the several actors who played him on the screen were William Powell and Basil Rathbone, both of whom went on to great success playing other detectives in movies. The actor probably most identified with the Vance role was Warren William. The Vance movie "The Canary Murder Case" is famous for a contract dispute that helped sink the career of silent screen legend Louise Brooks.

Though Hollywood took a few liberties in its portrayal of Vance, the character in the novels would seem to most modern readers to be supercilious and highly irritating. He struck some contemporaries that way, as well. At the height of Philo Vance's popularity, comic poet Ogden Nash wrote:

Philo Vance

Needs a kick in the pance