Philo Vance's Secret Mission

Philo Vance's Secret Mission
Directed byReginald Le Borg
Written byLawrence Taylor
Produced byHoward Welsch
Starring
CinematographyJackson Rose
Edited byW. Donn Hayes
Production
company
Distributed byEagle-Lion Films
Release date
  • August 30, 1947 (1947-08-30)
Running time
58 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Philo Vance's Secret Mission is a 1947 American mystery film directed by Reginald Le Borg and starring Alan Curtis, Sheila Ryan and Tala Birell.[1][2] It was part of a series of films featuring the detective Philo Vance made during the 1930s and 1940s.[3]

Plot

Philo Vance is approached by the head of a publishing company to become an advisor on a series of crime novels they are releasing. Before long he is embroiled in a case about the mysterious killing of one of the partners in the company.[4]

Cast

Production

Philo Vance’s Secret Mission was director LaBorg’s only picture for Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), and filmed at the Samuel Goldwyn Studio. According to director Reginald LeBorg, PRC was a low budget outfit, and acknowledged that some films were shot in two or three days, incorporating stock footage.[5]

Though PRC executives were satisfied with his efficient handling of the production, LeBorg declined to make another film for them.[6]

The film's sets were designed by the art directors Edward C. Jewell and Perry Smith.

Retrospective appraisal

Of the three films in the Vance series produced by PRC, Philo Vance’s Secret Mission “is perhaps the most accomplished,” according to critic Wheeler W. Dixon.[7]

Director LeBorg departed PRC and returned to Columbia Pictures. Dixon makes this observation regarding PRC:

For most directors, PRC was the last rung on the way to the bottom, or the first rung on the way up. LeBorg was lucky to escape and return to the majors, even if his escape was to the “B” unit of a former Poverty Row studio, which was precisely what Columbia in its earlier days had been.[8]

Notes

  1. ^ Backer p.35
  2. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 139-140: Directorial Credits
  3. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 139-140: Directorial Credits
  4. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 28: Plot sketch
  5. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 28, p. 101-102
  6. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 28, p. 101-102: LeBorg: “...I didn’t like it [PRC]. I wanted better things….”
  7. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 28
  8. ^ Dixon, 1992 p. 28

References

  • Dixon, Wheeler Winston. 1992. The Films of Reginald LeBorg: Interviews, Essays, and Filmography. Filmmakers No. 31 The Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey. ISBN 0-8108-2550-3

Bibliography

  • Backer, Ron. Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood. McFarland, 2012.