Philo Vance started his movie career at Paramount in 1929 with 2 features - The Canary Murder Case (most famous for a dispute with Louise Brooks) and The Greene Murder Case starring William Powell as world-famous sleuth. Next year as William Powell was starring in Paramount's The Benson Murder Case and had a cameo in Paramount on Parade, over at MGM The Bishop Murder Case was filmed starring Basil Rathbone. The next adaptation of S. S. Van Dine's novel came from Warner, where William Powell reprises the role of Philo Vance for the last time on the big screen in The Kennel Murder Case. This is perhaps the best and most famous adaptation, readily available from a number of Public Domain releases. Philo Vance never had a single studio at once releasing the adaptations, so a number of films came out from Warner (The Dragon Murder Case with Warren William, Calling Philo Vance with James Stephenson), MGM (The Casino Murder Case with Paul Lukas, The Garden Murder Case with Edmund Lowe), Paramount (Night of Mystery with Grant Richards, The Gracie Allen Murder Case with Warren William). A British adaptation of The Scarab Murder Case was made in 1936 with Wilfred Hyde-White, but is considered lost. In 1947, the rights to the character went to a poverty row studio PRC and 3 original stories were made - Philo Vance's Gamble, Philo Vance Returns and Philo Vance's Secret Mission.

This collection from Warner Archive includes 6 films from MGM and Warner, with 6 different actors portraying Philo Vance. The supporting cast of character in these 6 films is impressive - Leila Hyams, Delmer Daves (who would become a reknowned director), Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette, Etienne Girardot, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Rosalind Russell, Louise Fazenda, Virginia Bruce, H.B. Warner, Margot Stevenson, Jimmy Conlin. Some of the characters (and actors) travel through different movies - District Attorney Markham, Coroner Dr. Doremus, Detective Ernest Heath. Calling Philo Vance starts like a wartime espionage thriller, but then turns into a remake of The Kennel Murder Case with a noir bend. All around, this is an excellent collection and we wish the remaining films from Paramount, now owned by Universal Studios, will get a proper release.

The 6 films in this collections are presented on three made-on-demand dual-layered discs, with 2 films on each disc. Films are showing wear-and-tear with many marks and specs and a few damaged frames; some of the transfers are too soft, like The Casino Murder Case. This is still the best presentation of The Kennel Murder Case - public domain transfers are usually soft-focused 16mm mess. The mono audio for the films is fine, although the early sound pictures show their age with some audible hiss, but it never becomes too pronounced to lessen the enjoyment of the films. Trailers for three latest films rounds off the collection, making it a recommendation for mystery aficionados.

  - Gregory Meshman