Philo Vance is a fictional character featured in numerous crime novels written by S. S. Van Dine published in the 1920s and 1930s, and who was later revived on radio and in film and television. During that time, Vance was immensely popular. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish, dandy, a New York bon vivant with a highly intellectual bent-America's Sherlock Holmes. He worked closely with his secretary and right-hand woman, Ellen Deering, and his pal John Markham, New York County district attorney-not that Vance needed any help solving a crime. Episodes included: "The Back-Stage Murder Case," "The Argus Murder Case," "The Bulletin Murder Case," "The Cover-Girl Murder Case," "The Black-Jack Murder Case," "The Star-Studded Murder Case," "The Murdock Murder Case," "The Vanilla Murder Case," "The Tea Cup Murder Case," "The Jackpot Murder Case," "The Ivory Murder Case," and "The Mimic Murder Case."
