directing. Three titles (The Wall Street Mystery, The Studio Murder Mystery, and the Trans-Atlantic Murder Mystery) have been released on DVD as extras on Forbidden Hollywood Collection Volume 3 (Warner). As far as it is known, none of Van Dine's screen treatments has been published in book form, and none of the manuscripts survive. Short films were a common part of theatre screenings at the time, and Hollywood made hundreds of them during the studio era. On 13 September 1932, a $500,000 plagiarism suit was filed against Van Dine and the Vitaphone Film Company by Arlo Channing Edington and Carmen Ballen Edington who charged that their novel, The Studio Murder Mystery, which had been filmed by Paramount in 1929, had been "'lifted' – title, plot and incident" and produced by the film company, credited to Van Dine. The action was unsuccessful. Late career and death From a monetary perspective, Wright was fortunate in his experiences with Hollywood, and he was lionized on his visits to the movie capital. All but two of his novels were adapted as feature-length films, and the role of Philo Vance was played by stars such as William Powell (before his Nick Charles period), Basil Rathbone, and Edmund Lowe. Louise Brooks (in The Canary Murder Case), Jean Arthur (in The Greene Murder Case), and Rosalind Russell (in The Casino Murder Case) appeared in the S.S. Van Dine movies. On April 11, 1939, at age 50, Wright died in New York of a heart condition exacerbated by excessive drinking, a year after the publication of an unpopular experimental novel incorporating one of the biggest stars in radio comedy, The Gracie Allen Murder Case. He left behind a complete novelette-length story intended for a Sonja Henie film vehicle, which was published posthumously as The Winter Murder Case. Max Perkins generously referred to Wright as a "gallant, gentle man" at the time of his death who had been tormented by the pressures of a market-driven age. His portrait, painted by his brother in 1914, hangs in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Works Journalism and reviews Edgar Allan Poe: His Art, Accomplishments, Influence. Los Angeles Times, 19 January 1909 The Uselessness of Art. West Coast Magazine, September 1909 View of a Highbrow Anent the Fighting Game. Los Angeles Times, 20 March 1910 Hotbed of Soulful Culture, Vortex of Erotic Erudition. Los Angeles Times, 22