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.
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This remake of "The Kennel Murder Case" (the bulk of the film) and "Private Detective 62" (all the introductory sequences) offers quite passable entertainment for those of us who haven't yet had the pleasure of seeing William Powell in both these wonderful films directed by Michael Curtiz. This one is directed efficiently but somewhat less effectively by William Clemens. The best thing about it is Jimmy Conlin who does more amusingly by Doctor Doremus than did Etienne Girardot in the original adaptation of the S.S. Van Dine thriller. Edward Brophy is also a joy. On the other hand, James Stephenson who gave such a great performance opposite Bette Davis in "The Letter" (1940) makes a very disappointing Philo Vance. In fact, he was miscast. His accent is all wrong for a start, a problem that Stephenson himself seems acutely aware of. Instead of making Vance a debonair detective (William Powell style), he turns him into a stuffed shirt. Both his expressionless facial activity and his reading of his lines signally lack charisma. But at least you can hear him clearly. He doesn't mumble like many present-day leads, but a stuffed-shirt hero is also a deadly dull hero.
The Kennel Murder Case was the highlight of the Philo Vance movie series. This film is a remake of that, updated to fit World War II with an espionage theme. James Stephenson makes a poor Philo Vance. He talks through his nose the whole time, which I found annoying. Supporting cast isn't bad. Includes great character actors Edward Brophy and Henry O'Neill. There is one scene where Brophy is supposed to knock open a door. He bumps into it with his shoulder twice with no result. Then he kicks it and his foot awkwardly knocks out a part of the door without actually kicking it open. Whether this was intentional or not I do not know but it sure looked like a goof. A cheapie like this wouldn't have done multiple takes if they could help it. Margot Stevenson plays the part Mary Astor played in the original. She speaks breathlessly and acts weakly. The best thing about the film for me are the Warner sets and backlot. It's a watchable film. Not a patch on the original and very flawed, but passable.
Calling Philo Vance (1940) * 1/2 (out of 4) In this entry, Philo Vance (James Stephenson) is working with the U.S. Government trying to determine if a man sold war plans to a foreign agent. I guess it was natural for this series to enter the foreign agent storyline since it was released during WW2 but it still makes for a pretty poor film. Stephenson is pretty bland in the role and sleepwalks throughout most of the film. The supporting cast doesn't fair any better but to their credit the screenplay doesn't give them much to work with. There are a couple of dogs in the film and they probably give the best performances.
The Philo Vance murder mystery series was entertaining and worthwhile but had one serious problem, the actor playing the lead role of Philo Vance kept changing from movie to movie. This was not true of other successful series such as Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes and Chester Morris' Boston Blackie. By far the most competent actor in the role was the indomitable William Powell, who starred in not only the best one of the Philo Vance films but a movie classic "The Kennel Murder Case." Alas, he was too good and went on to bigger and better roles, in particular the Thin Man series. What we get with "Calling Philo Vance" is James Stephenson, who makes a pleasant enough Philo Vance but he is certainly no William Powell. On the other hand, the supporting cast is equal to and sometimes even better than the supporting cast in "The Kennel Murder Case." "Calling Philo Vance" is a reworking of the "Kennel Murder Case," updating the story to involve espionage (Hitler invaded Poland the year before this movie was released). Other than the spy angle and having Philo a government agent rather than a P.I. there is not much change. The story still involves the intriguing idea of having a murder committed in a sealed and locked room. A few of the scenes are shot verbatim from the original. So why watch this one if you can get hold of the original, which is a superior film? I'm a Philo Vance fan. So I enjoyed this one too.
