Calling Philo Vance
1940 | 62m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | William Clemens |
|---|---|
| Writer: | S.S. Van Dine, Tom Reed |
| Staring: |
| Philo is in Vienna working for the US Government to see if Archer Coe is selling aircraft designs to foreign powers. He grabs the plans with Archer's signature, but is captured by police before he can escape. Deported he comes back to America and plans to confront Archer, but Archer is found dead in his locked bedroom with a gun in his hand. While it looks like a suicide, Vance knows better and the coroner finds that Archer has been shot, hit with a blunt instrument and stabbed - making suicide unlikely. But Vance is on the case and is looking to see if government secrets have been sold and who has murdered Coe. This is a remake of "The Kennel Murder Case" using aircraft designs and espionage instead of Chinese porcelain and dog shows. | |
| Release Date: | Feb 03, 1940 |
|---|---|
| Director: | William Clemens |
| Writer: | S.S. Van Dine, Tom Reed |
| Genres: | Crime, Mystery |
| Keywords | philo vance |
| Production Companies | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Aug 03, 2024 (Update) Entered: Apr 28, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| James Stephenson | Philo Vance |
| Margot Stevenson | Hilda Lake |
| Henry O'Neill | Markham |
| Edward Brophy | Ryan |
| Sheila Bromley | Doris Delafield |
| Ralph Forbes | Tom McDonald |
| Donald Douglas | Philip Wrede |
| Martin Kosleck | Gamble |
| Jimmy Conlin | Dr. Doremus - Coroner |
| Edward Raquello | Eduardo Grassi |
| Creighton Hale | Du Bois - Fingerprint Man |
| Harry Strang | Hennessey - Markham's Assistant |
| Richard Kipling | Archer Coe |
| Wedgwood Nowell | Brisbane Coe |
| Bo Ling | Ling Toy |
| Terry | MacTavish (uncredited) |
| Herbert Anderson | First Reporter (uncredited) |
| Henry Blair | Hans Snauble (uncredited) |
| Egon Brecher | Austrian Judge (uncredited) |
| Harry Burns | Capt. Lugo (uncredited) |
| Yakima Canutt | Sorrento Sailor (uncredited) |
| Nat Carr | 2nd Photographer (uncredited) |
| Glen Cavender | Train Porter Asked to Send Telegram (uncredited) |
| Loia Cheaney | Markham's Secretary (uncredited) |
| Frederick Giermann | Austrian Sergeant (uncredited) |
| Eddie Graham | Coroner's Assistant (uncredited) |
| John Harron | Third Reporter (uncredited) |
| Stuart Holmes | Hertz (uncredited) |
| William Hopper | Clerk at Hotel Nino in Chicago (uncredited) |
| Olaf Hytten | Charles (uncredited) |
| George Irving | Avery (uncredited) |
| Marion Lessing | Mrs. Fritz Snauble (uncredited) |
| Rolf Lindau | Aeronautics Department Sentry (uncredited) |
| Frank Mayo | Doorman (uncredited) |
| George Reeves | Steamship Clerk (uncredited) |
| John J. Richardson | 4h Reporter (uncredited) |
| Cliff Saum | Investigator Snitken (uncredited) |
| Hans Schumm | Nazi Officer at Dock (uncredited) |
| Frank Wilcox | 2nd Reporter (uncredited) |
| Jack Wise | 1st Photographer (uncredited) |
| Maris Wrixon | Long-Distance Operator (uncredited) |
| Henry Zynda | Austrian Lieutenant (uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| S.S. Van Dine | Novel |
| William Clemens | Director |
| Tom Reed | Screenplay |
| L. William O'Connell | Director of Photography |
| Louis Lindsay | Editor |
| Ben G. Liss | Editor |
| Ted Smith | Art Direction |
| Howard Shoup | Costume Design |
| Charles Lang | Sound |
| Name | Title |
|---|
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2024 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
| 2024 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| 2024 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
| 2024 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| 2024 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Trending Position
This is an adequate afternoon B-feature that probably served more as a warning against fifth-columnists than it actually entertained anyone. It all centres around attempts by the Axis powers to obtain access to the designs of "Archer Coe" (the briefest of appearances from Richard Kipling). Now he ha ... s an exclusive arrangement with the Americans so when he is found murdered, it falls to the wily, suspicions and tenacious "Vance" (James Stephenson) to find out who the killers were and on whose malevolent behalf they were working? Did they manage to steal his secret plans? Now this is just a substantial reworking of "The Kennel Murder Case" (1933) - even down to whopping great chunks of the script being transferred, albeit updated, to allow for it's WWII scenario. Although all pretty lightweight and devoid of any real sense of jeopardy, Stephenson is actually quite engaging and there is a decent supporting effort from Edward Trophy ("Ryan") delivering some fun to this rather dry, procedural, crime drama. It's only an hour, and if you like the genre then there isn't really anything not to like - or memorable - about this.