Vance appeared in only two more books: The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1938), the only one to break the title formula, and The Winter Murder Case (1939). Wright later novelized the scripts, inadvertently pioneering the concept of the movie tie-in. Friends Who Liked This Quote. Recommend and be entered to win a free book! In all of mystery, no major writer has fallen from grace as completely as S.S. Van Dine, the creator of Philo Vance. Both had actually begun as treatments for Hollywood vehicles, the first for radio comedienne Gracie Allen (George Burns' other half) and the second for ice skater-turned-movie-star Sonja Henie. From the Kick in the Pance Files, Part One Philo Vance Needs a kick in the pance--Ogden Nash. So excited to have my very own library tickets, I browsed only the shelves that I could reach until I picked a title, not because I had a clue what it was about, or who it was written by …but because it had a large hardback cover with an illustration of a ghostly little girl who looked a little like me…sans the blue-rimmed social welfare glasses…and it had a lovely plastic dust-cover on it, which for some odd reason, I loved the smell and the tactile nature of…hint of future career there too! It was a credo Wright stressed in an essay titled “Twenty Rules for Detective Writing.”. Vance’s sidekick in the novels. ", —Dr. Middlemarch by George Elliott, was another title that Evelyn mentioned, the character of Dorothea being the one she loves best; something she shares with the late and legendary Christopher Hitchens. Naturally, it got me thinking about my own life in books, and in particular, the first book I remember reading, where I had that feeling of going outside myself and into the world of the characters…and though I wouldn’t have been able to articulate why I felt so elated as I read the pages, I was living vicariously through the story, and it was a feeling of complete well-being and accomplishment for having finished a book, independently, and having loved every moment of the process. ( Log Out / A PI Mystery Review: RICHARD HOYT – Decoys. Nel capitolo 3 Van Dine fa citare a Philo Vance, con autoironia, i versi che il poeta e umorista Ogden Nash scrisse sulla rivista The New Yorker criticando l'atteggiamento snob del suo personaggio: «Philo Vance / Needs a kick in the pance» (trad. In truth, about the only thing that saves him from total insufferability is a droll sense of humor. Wright likewise claimed that S.S. stood for “steam ship.”. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Both books were poorly received. Inspector French to Ride Again in a New Detective Drama Series, Reefs: The Lesser Antilles Case (1934), by Rufus King, Lost Ladies of Mystery Fiction: Annie Haynes, Who Killed Charmian Karslake? Punctuated with frequent footnotes and elaborate diagrams, the Philo Vance novels were well-crafted puzzlers that captivated readers. One of the books he best remembers from his childhood is The Magic City by E. Nesbitt, an author whom also greatly influenced J.K Rowling, who has frequently stated ‘I think I identify with E. Nesbit more than any other writer.’. Queen, however, evolved with the times, something that Vance was never quite able to do. I recently attended a library conference…yes, I am one of them! Out of all the classic sleuths created by American writers, only Charlie Chan has appeared in more films than Philo Vance. “Philo Vance needs a kick in the pance,” famously needled Ogden Nash, but he got much more than that; he also got cast into obscurity. But the works of S.S. Van Dine serve to transport the reader back to a long-gone era of society and style of writing. "Philo Vance … Punctuated with frequent footnotes and elaborate diagrams, the Philo Vance novels were well-crafted puzzlers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection. AbeBooks.com: Philo Vance Needs a Kick in the Pance"-Ogden Nash: Signed and numbered by the artist Rob Pudim Limited edition. They spotlight a moment in time when one writer had exactly the right idea at exactly the right time, and made hay, blissfully unaware of how rapidly the sun would set. How could one of the mightiest fictional sleuths of the 20th century fall so far, so fast? “Vance was debonair, whimsical, and superficially cynical—an amateur of the arts, and with only an impersonal concern in serious social and moral problems.”—The Scarab Murder Case, 1930, by S.S. Van Dine. Conquest of England 1066 AD. He would play the role four times, from the first Vance film, 1929’s Canary Murder Case, to the best one, 1934’s The Kennel Murder Case. Then, in a plummet almost as dramatic as the rise, it was over a scant quarter-century later.
If one takes the time, one will discover that the clever plots continue to hold up, though Wright’s beloved psychological deductions are often shaky and Vance himself comes off more as a satire than a serious character. “Van Dine,” he claimed, was an old family name, but John Loughery, author of Alias S.S. Van Dine, found no evidence supporting that. Despite the popularity of the novels, Vance was seen by many as a hugely irritating know-it-all, prompting Raymond Chandler to write in his essay “ The Simple Art of Murder ” that Vance was ‘the most asinine character in detective fiction.’, and the poet Ogden Nash was responsible for penning the line; Philo Vance needs a kick in the pance! It takes a bit of work to hunt down a Philo Vance novel today, even at the library.
She recalls that her mother would love to have the newspaper read to her out loud, and Anne was always delighted to do this…preparation for her future career perhaps. Meanwhile Wright continued to grind out novels: The Casino Murder Case in 1934, The Garden Murder Case in 1935, and The Kidnap Murder Case in 1936, but public tastes were changing. Born in 1888, Wright was a youthful prodigy with a devotion to Nietzsche. The real detective, we are told, has only permitted publication of his solutions to “impossible crimes” on the condition of anonymity. "To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman. I vividly recall my first trip to the public library, a great old Carnegie building in Inchicore, Dublin 8 (It is still there!) S.S. Van Dine was the pseudonym of Willard Huntington Wright, a man who was every bit as superior-minded as his creation. "Philo Vance" writes Ogden Nash, "Needs a kick in the pance." ( Log Out / Philo Vance Needs a kick in the pance. She also loved The Time Machine by H. G Wells, and named Bill Bryson as a current favourite, particularly, the non-fiction title, A Short history of nearly everything. Anaïs Nin. How could one of the mightiest fictional sleuths of the 20th century fall so far, so fast? Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account.
When not hobnobbing with his personal lawyer Van Dine whom he calls “Van,” or helping New York District Attorney John F.X.
Dapper, mustachioed William Powell was the first and best portrayer of Vance, offering a pleasing characterization that was high on charm but low on the superciliousness of the print detective. Despite the popularity of the novels, Vance was seen by many as a hugely irritating know-it-all, prompting Raymond Chandler to write in his essay “The Simple Art of Murder” that Vance was ‘the most asinine character in detective fiction.’, and the poet Ogden Nash was responsible for penning the line; Philo Vance needs a kick in the pance! This is number 62 of 221 (1929), All Hail Max! To understand the life and times of Philo Vance, one … The panel was facilitated by author and broadcaster, John Quinn. The public demand for his aristocratic amateur detective seemed insatiable, both in book form and on movie screens. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Educated in Europe, he still carries the mannered speech of an upper-class Englishman, habitually referring to his colleagues as “old thing” or “old dear,” and punctuating nearly every other sentence with “don’t y’know.” The monocle-wearing Vance is remarkably indolent and frequently yawns his way through conversations. You can check out the link below to hear the Hitch talking about Dorothea, at the end of a very powerful and moving reminiscence about his mother: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmP7QHhhBoc, Declan Hughes talked about reading Enid Blyton mysteries, and that perhaps those mysteries contributed to influencing the genre that he now writes in.
He forged his literary credentials as an art and drama critic, and worked briefly as editor of The Smart Set, a would-be trendsetting publication created by the iconoclastic writer H.L.
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. ( Log Out / van Eemlandt, Short Story Wednesday: Clarkesworld Year 5, Short Story Wednesday, Doctor Jack O' Lantern, from Eleven Kinds of Loneliness by Richard Yates, Mark Clifton's Pawn of the Black Fleet (When They Come from Space), Blood from a Stone (1945) by Ruth Sawtell Wallis, My Book Notes: The Plague Court Murders, 1934 (Sir Henry Merrivale #1) by John Dickson Carr, writing as Carter Dickson, FRIDAY FRIGHT NIGHT: London After Midnight - Marie Coolidge-Rask, Recent reads: Max Seeck, Susanna Clarke, GE Trevelyan & Alison Belsham. The Passing Tramp: Wandering through the mystery genre, book by book. Even the name Philo Vance is a pseudonym. For someone who had once written, “There are few punishments too severe for a popular novel writer,” it sounded like a dubious proposition, but to Wright’s surprise, he found mystery novels challenging and entertaining. Change ). Dessert with Bullets (1954) by W.H.
One of the sessions, My life in Books, featured a panel that included retired RTE Broadcaster, Anne Doyle, RTE forecaster for Met Éireann, Evelyn Cusack, and author and playwright, Declan Hughes. Diagram from The Scarab Murder Case. Share this quote: Like Quote. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Fake News: The Murder of the Fifth Columnist (1941... Friday Fright Night One Murder is the Devil: Mr. Splitfoot (1968), by Helen McCloy, Friday Fright Night 2--Gorey Night: Edward Gorey's Lost Dust Jacket Design for Margaret Erskine's Dead by Now (1954), Making America Grim Again: Shirley Jackson's Dark Tales (2017), Friday Fright Night 3--Death Card: The Lake of Darkness (1980), by Ruth Rendell, Copper Mines and Soap Kettles: Money and the Making of Mystery Writer Margaret Erskine (1901-1984), Nosing It out in Northumberland: Vera, Season One (2011), The Scarlet Circle (1943), by Jonathan Stagge, A Mid-Century Mid-Life Crisis: John Dickson Carr's Crime Fiction in the Second Half of the 1900s, Sorting It Out:The Crime Novels of Patricia Wentworth, Reissued: The Mysteries of Moray Dalton (Katherine Mary Deville Dalton Renoir, 1881-1963), What Feels Cozy to You? The Philo Vance character was created by S.S. Van Dine (pen name of Willard Huntington Wright) in a series of detective novels beginning in 1927. Mencken and the powerful critic George Jean Nathan. The battles of Fulford, Stamford and Hastings. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. The Bishop Murder Case (1928) was followed by The Scarab Murder Case (1930), The Dragon Murder Case (1933) and The Kennel Murder Case (1933). The titles are formulaic, consisting of “The [Blank] Murder Case,” with the blank being a word of six letters. But Wright tended to dabble more than achieve, and by early middle-age his pretensions far outweighed his accomplishments or income. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account.
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