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Philo Vance, the infuriatingly brilliant amateur detective created by S. S. Van Dine, hadn't been seen on screen for seven years when PRC decided to launch a new "Philo Vance" series in 1947. William Wright plays the title role in the first entry, Philo Vance Returns, while Alan Curtis would take over the role for the remaining two films. This time around, Vance investigates the murder of a much-married playboy. With so many of the victim's former wives and sweethearts still around and about, Vance has quite a selection of suspects to choose from. Without revealing too much, it can be noted that the identity of the actual killer will probably startle fans of MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939). Like Monogram's Charlie Chan films, Philo Vance Returns is topheavy with clever but somewhat pointless gimmickry, including a poisoned bubble bath. Older prints of this film still carry its TV-reissue title Infamous Crimes.