Warner Brothers probably of all the studios loved remaking its films. I guess Jack Warner thought it saved on buying new properties. Calling Philo Vance after a brief prologue updating the story to have Vance working for the State Department investigating the theft of airplane designs, it becomes almost a word for word remake of The Kennel Murder Case. Even the character names remain the same. Whole bits of dialog from the original are reused in this one.
Too bad they couldn't have gotten William Powell as well. But he was over at MGM keeping Nora and Asta in line. So James Stephenson became the latest in a long line of Vances. Philo Vance would soon fade from the screen.
Stephenson is serviceable, but lacks Powell's unique debonair charm. And of course we've seen it all before.
Too bad they couldn't have gotten William Powell as well. But he was over at MGM keeping Nora and Asta in line. So James Stephenson became the latest in a long line of Vances. Philo Vance would soon fade from the screen.
Stephenson is serviceable, but lacks Powell's unique debonair charm. And of course we've seen it all before.