New York dilettante Philo Vance decides to assist the police in investigating the death of another man-about-town because he finds the psychological aspects of the crime of interest, and feels that they would be beyond the capacities of the police, even those of his friend District Attorney Markham. Vance investigates the circumstances under which the body was found and reconstructs the crime sufficiently to determine that the murderer is five feet, ten and a half inches in height. Together, Vance and Markham investigate Benson's business associates and romantic interests until Vance manages to pierce the murderer's alibi for the time of the murder and force a confession.
Literary significance and criticismEdit
The novel was very loosely based upon a real-life case that had made headlines, the unsolved 1920 murder of bridge expert Joseph Bowne Elwell. It was considered a roman à clef because the circumstances under which Elwell's body was found—he was shot to death in a room in his home which was found to be locked from the inside, and he was not wearing his toupee—are duplicated in the novel. Modern knowledge of ballistics reveals that one of the central premises of the novel is fanciful, because the reconstruction of the height of the murderer is impossible (Dashiell Hammett had said as much at the time, in a 1927 book review).
"The first and best, partly because Van Dine had the real-life model of the Joseph Elwell murder (1920) to hold his fancy in check."[1]
"Vance spots the murderer almost immediately but doesn't reveal him, allowing Markham and Sergeant Heath to fix the guilt on five successive persons by circumstantial evidence."[2]
Film adaptationsEdit
Paramount Pictures released The Benson Murder Case (1930) a film version directed by Frank Tuttle and starring William Powell as Philo Vance. The film was moderately faithful to the plot of the novel. Paramount also released a Spanish-language version, El Cuerpo del Delito, written by Catalan writer Josep Carner Ribalta (1898–1988), and co-directed by Cyril Gardner and A. Washington Pezet.
ReferencesEdit
^Barzun, Jacques and Taylor, Wendell Hertig. A Catalogue of Crime. New York: Harper & Row. 1971, revised and enlarged edition 1989. ISBN0-06-015796-8
^Roseman, Mill et al.. Detectionary. New York: Overlook Press, 1971. ISBN0-87951-041-2
External linksEdit
Wikiquote has quotations related to The Benson Murder Case.
benson, murder, case, this, article, about, novel, film, adaptation, film, first, novel, philo, vance, series, mystery, novels, dine, which, became, best, seller, first, edition, authors, dinecountryunited, stateslanguageenglishseriesphilo, vancegenremystery, . This article is about the novel For the film adaptation see The Benson Murder Case film The Benson Murder Case is the first novel in the Philo Vance series of mystery novels by S S Van Dine which became a best seller The Benson Murder CaseFirst edition US AuthorS S Van DineCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSeriesPhilo VanceGenreMystery novelsPublisherErnest Benn UK amp Scribner s US Publication date1926Media typePrint Hardback amp paperback Followed byThe Canary Murder Case Contents 1 Plot outline 2 Literary significance and criticism 3 Film adaptations 4 References 5 External linksPlot outline EditNew York dilettante Philo Vance decides to assist the police in investigating the death of another man about town because he finds the psychological aspects of the crime of interest and feels that they would be beyond the capacities of the police even those of his friend District Attorney Markham Vance investigates the circumstances under which the body was found and reconstructs the crime sufficiently to determine that the murderer is five feet ten and a half inches in height Together Vance and Markham investigate Benson s business associates and romantic interests until Vance manages to pierce the murderer s alibi for the time of the murder and force a confession Literary significance and criticism EditThe novel was very loosely based upon a real life case that had made headlines the unsolved 1920 murder of bridge expert Joseph Bowne Elwell It was considered a roman a clef because the circumstances under which Elwell s body was found he was shot to death in a room in his home which was found to be locked from the inside and he was not wearing his toupee are duplicated in the novel Modern knowledge of ballistics reveals that one of the central premises of the novel is fanciful because the reconstruction of the height of the murderer is impossible Dashiell Hammett had said as much at the time in a 1927 book review The first and best partly because Van Dine had the real life model of the Joseph Elwell murder 1920 to hold his fancy in check 1 Vance spots the murderer almost immediately but doesn t reveal him allowing Markham and Sergeant Heath to fix the guilt on five successive persons by circumstantial evidence 2 Film adaptations EditParamount Pictures released The Benson Murder Case 1930 a film version directed by Frank Tuttle and starring William Powell as Philo Vance The film was moderately faithful to the plot of the novel Paramount also released a Spanish language version El Cuerpo del Delito written by Catalan writer Josep Carner Ribalta 1898 1988 and co directed by Cyril Gardner and A Washington Pezet References Edit Barzun Jacques and Taylor Wendell Hertig A Catalogue of Crime New York Harper amp Row 1971 revised and enlarged edition 1989 ISBN 0 06 015796 8 Roseman Mill et al Detectionary New York Overlook Press 1971 ISBN 0 87951 041 2External links Edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to The Benson Murder Case The Benson Murder Case at Standard Ebooks The Benson Murder Case at Faded Page Canada nbsp This article about a mystery novel of the 1920s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Benson Murder Case amp oldid 1158667270, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
