Philo Vance's Secret Mission

In the late 1940s, PRC bought the rights to S.S. Van Dine's novels and brought the Philo Vance character back to the screen for three films. Unfortunately, there was nothing new added to the material, and the films therefore became routine mysteries. Curtis stars as Vance, who investigates the strange murder of mystery-magazine publisher Maxey. The case interests Curtis because Maxey had recently hired him to write a mystery novel for which Maxey would provide the ending. Upon investigation, Curtis learns Maxey may have solved the murder of Birell's spouse, and decides the publisher probably was bumped off so he couldn't tell anyone. To solve Maxey's murder, Curtis...