Grace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen was an American vaudevillian and comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns, her straight man, appearing with him on radio, television and film as the duo Burns and Allen.
Ellery Queen is a pseudonym created in 1929 by American crime fiction writers Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee and the name of their main fictional character, a mystery writer in New York City who helps his police inspector father solve baffling murders. Dannay and Lee wrote most of the more than thirty novels and several short story collections in which Ellery Queen appeared as a character, and their books were among the most popular of American mysteries published between 1929 and 1971. In addition to the fiction featuring their eponymous brilliant amateur detective, the two men acted as editors: as Ellery Queen they edited more than thirty anthologies of crime fiction and true crime, and Dannay founded and for many decades edited Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, which has been published continuously from 1941 to the present. From 1961, Dannay and Lee also commissioned other authors to write crime thrillers using the Ellery Queen nom de plume, but not featuring Ellery Queen as a character; several juvenile novels were credited to Ellery Queen, Jr. Finally, the prolific duo wrote four mysteries under the pseudonym Barnaby Ross.
S. S. Van Dine is the pseudonym used by American art critic Willard Huntington Wright when he wrote detective novels. Wright was active in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-World War I New York, and under the pseudonym he created the fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in films and on the radio.
Philo Vance is a fictional amateur detective originally featured in 12 crime novels by S. S. Van Dine in the 1920s and 1930s. During that time, Vance was immensely popular in books, films and radio. He was portrayed as a stylish, even foppish dandy, a New York bon vivant possessing a highly intellectual bent. "S. S. Van Dine" was the pen name of Willard Huntington Wright, a prominent art critic who initially sought to conceal his authorship of the novels. Van Dine was also a fictional character in the books, a sort of Dr. Watson figure who accompanied Vance and chronicled his exploits.
The Canary Murder Case (1927) is a murder mystery novel which deals with the murders of a sexy nightclub singer known as "the Canary," and, eventually, her boyfriend, solved by Philo Vance. S. S. Van Dine's classic whodunnit, second in the Philo Vance series, is said by Howard Haycraft to have broken "all modern publishing records for detective fiction." The earliest editions give the title with quotation marks around the word "Canary", but most subsequent editions omit them.
The Greene Murder Case is a 1928 mystery novel by S. S. Van Dine. It focuses on the murders, one by one, of members of the wealthy and contentious Greene family. This is the third in the series of Philo Vance whodunits, and the first of the Vance books not inspired by a real-life crime.
The Bishop Murder Case (1928) is the fourth in a series of mystery novels by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance. The detective solves a mystery built around a nursery rhyme. The Bishop Murder Case is believed to be the first nursery-rhyme mystery book.
The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 murder mystery novel, written by S. S. Van Dine, with fictional detective Philo Vance investigating a complex locked room mystery.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case (1938) is the eleventh of twelve detective novels by S. S. Van Dine featuring his famous fictional detective of the 1920s and 1930s, Philo Vance. It also features the zany half of the Burns and Allen comedy team. It is in some ways a roman à clef, including not just Burns and Allen but also such characters as Gracie's mother and brother. That gave the book an unusual feel, as did the comic tone of much of Gracie's dialogue. This tone suddenly shifts in a later chapter to one character's philosophically anguished speculations, and then back again to Gracie.
The Dragon Murder Case is a novel in a series by S. S. Van Dine about fictional detective Philo Vance. It was also adapted to a film version in 1934, starring Warren William as Vance.
Eugene William Pallette was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946.
Bordertown is a 1935 American drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Paul Muni and Bette Davis. The screenplay by Laird Doyle and Wallace Smith is based on Robert Lord's adaptation of the 1934 novel Border Town by Carroll Graham. The supporting cast features Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Pallette and Robert Barrat. Although the films They Drive by Night (1940) and Blowing Wild (1953) are not specifically remakes of Bordertown, they include many of its plot elements and similar scenes.
The Canary Murder Case is a 1929 American Pre-Code crime-mystery film based on the 1927 novel of the same name by S.S. Van Dine. The film was directed by Malcolm St. Clair, with a screenplay by Wright, Albert Shelby LeVino, and Florence Ryerson. William Powell starred in the role of detective Philo Vance, with Louise Brooks co-starred as "The Canary"; Jean Arthur, James Hall, and Charles Lane also co-starred in other principal roles.
The Kennel Murder Case is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film adapted from the 1933 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. Directed by Michael Curtiz for Warner Bros., it stars William Powell and Mary Astor. Powell's role as Philo Vance is not the actor's first performance as the aristocratic sleuth; he also portrays the character in three films produced by Paramount in 1929 and 1930.
The Greene Murder Case is a 1929 talking film produced and released by Paramount Pictures and based on the novel The Greene Murder Case, by S.S. Van Dine. The novel had been published a year before this film was made. It stars William Powell in his second Philo Vance outing. Florence Eldridge and Jean Arthur costar.
The Casino Murder Case is a 1935 American mystery film starring Paul Lukas and Alison Skipworth. It was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a screenplay by Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by S. S. Van Dine. It was the ninth film in the Philo Vance film series.
The Garden Murder Case is a 1936 mystery/drama, the tenth in the Philo Vance film series, following after 1935's The Casino Murder Case. In this entry to the series, Vance is played by Edmund Lowe, and Virginia Bruce co-stars. The film also features Benita Hume, Douglas Walton, and Nat Pendleton. It was directed by Edwin L. Marin from a screenplay by Bertram Millhauser based on the 1935 book of the same name by S. S. Van Dine.
The Benson Murder Case is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by S. S. Van Dine and Bartlett Cormack. The film stars William Powell, William "Stage" Boyd, Eugene Pallette, Paul Lukas, Natalie Moorhead, Richard Tucker and May Beatty. The film was released on April 13, 1930, by Paramount Pictures.
The Gracie Allen Murder Case is a 1939 American comedy mystery film taken from the Philo Vance series by writer S.S. Van Dine and directed by Alfred E. Green from a screenplay by Nat Perrin. The film stars the female member of the comedy duo Burns and Allen Gracie Allen, Warren William, Ellen Drew, Kent Taylor, Judith Barrett, Donald MacBride and Jed Prouty. The film was released on June 2, 1939, by Paramount Pictures.
From Headquarters is a 1933 American pre-Code murder mystery film starring George Brent, Margaret Lindsay and Eugene Pallette, and directed by William Dieterle.
