Small House of Everything
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: A CASE FOR DEDUCTION
OVERLOOKED TELEVISION: EASY ACES (1949? 1950?)
From Wikipedia: "Easy Aces is an American serial radio comedy (1930-1945). It was trademarked by the low-keyed drollery of creator and writer Goodman Ace and his wife, Jane, as an urbane, put-upon realtor and his malaprop-prone wife. A 15-minute program, airing as often as five time a week, Easy Aces did not draw as strong ratings as other 15-minute serial comedies such as Amos 'n' Andy, The Goldbergs, Lum and Abner, or Vic and Sade but its unobtrusive, conversational, and clever style, and the cheerful absurdism of its storylines, built a loyal enough audience of listeners and critics alike to keep it on the air for 15 years."
The show was adapted for television to a 15-minute program on the Dumont Network, running from December 14, 1949 to June 7, 1950. (In 1956, Goodman Ace apparently intended to revive the show, this time starring Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams; nothing came of it.)
Only three episodes of the Dumont show are known to exist, one at the Library of Congress. The episode below is the only known full episode, and this is missing the credits.
Enjoy.
Sunday, November 10, 2024
BITS AND PIECES
- "Daniel Boyd" (Dan Stumpf) - Hamlet Among the Pirates. Adventure romp! "When Captain Jacobus Hooke, Master of the Dread Pirate Frigate DEBACLE, meets up with Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, the action never stops. Get ready for laughter and excitement, as a hard-working Pirate Captain accidently kidnaps the Melancholy Dane and finds himself saddled with a princely hostage no one wants to ransom! Swordfights...Strumpets...Sea Battles...Literary Allusions...Surprise Encounters...Super Storms...And Just Plain Silliness." Why hasn't this reached #1 on the NYT bestseller list yet?
- Irvin S. Cobb, J. Poindexter: Colored. A very dated (and outdated) novel from 1922. Joel Chandler Harris, the creator of Uncle Remus, wrote, "Cobb created a south peopled with honorable citizens, charming eccentrics, and subservient blacks..." One recent publisher (Nabu Press) offered as an excuse for publishing this out-of-copyright book, "We believe this work is culturally important" -- a namby-pamby way of saying that racial stereotypes abound.
- John Creasey, Six early novels about Department Z, a British intelligence agency headed by Gordon Craigie and consisting of an ultra-secret collection of civilians. The Death Miser (1933), the first book (of 28) in the series. "Millions of lives are at stake if a sinister international conspiracy succeeds," Redhead (1933). "An American gangster brings his bloody business to 1930s Britain." Death Round the Corner (1935). "Leopold Gorman studies the World Economic conference with interest -- and then picks five rich and powerful men to bring his plan to fruition. If any one of them shows reluctance to fall in with his scheme, he'll be dead within the hour..." The Mark of the Crescent (1935). "A mysterious symbol is the key" to a "desperate investigation involving drugs and murder." Menace (1938). Agent Bob Kerr 'is alerted to new developments in the principality of Vallena.' Then there's "a knock on his door. And the visitor is [a] man in a fur coat -- who has arrived from Vallena..." The Day of Disaster (1942). "A French refugee is washed up on the English coast. Feverish, delirious, he babbles incoherently to the men who find him. A single phrase, repeated: 'Loftus. Spell it backwards.' the discovery sparks an explosive reaction" as agents of Department Z fight a "desperate battle to uncover a Nazi scheme that threatens the very heart of British defense." All quick, easy, entertaining reads.
- Avram Davidson & Ethan Davidson, David&Son: Peregrine Parentus and Other Tales. "This collection prints or reprints several pieces by award winning Avram Davidson for the first time, including novella 'Arten of Ultima Thule.' Also featured in this volume are the first publications of writings by Davidson and his son Ethan Davidson, including the final story in the 'peregrine' series, 'Paragrine Parentus.' "
- Cullen Gallagher, High Fliers, Middleweights, and Lowlifes: David Goodis in the Pulps. Pulp historian Cullen Gallagher takes a deep dive into David Goodis's fiction. "Legendary noir author David Goodis is as haunting and mysterious a figure as is any of the protagonists in his novels. Among the most alluring of the mysteries surrounding him is how did he go from Retreat from Oblivion in 1939, his first novel, a melodrama about several inter-connected couples, to Dark Passage, his second novel and first noir masterpiece, in 1946? The answer is in the pulp fiction stories he wrote between those two books: tales of daring aviators, dashing athletes, and ruthless gangsters. In these short stories, Goodis evolved into the master of noir that he is known today...This critical-reference volume includes summaries and commentary on nearly all of Goodis's identified magazine work published under his own name or under pseudonyms." Also, companion piece Looking for Lost Streets: A Bibliographic Investigation of David Goodis's Pulp Fiction. "The pulp career of David Goodis has long been shrouded in mystery. Newly discovered evidence sheds light not only on which stories he wrote, but also the vast network of fellow pulp writers who shared the same pen names. Looking for Lost Streets presents the most complete bibliography of Goddis's short work to date." Although noted for his noir work, Goodis published widely in aviation, war, mystery, sports, and western magazines. I picked these two books up after James Reasoner poured high praise ln them ("They're two of the best books I've read this year.") As, as all right-thinking people know, when James Reasoner says "Jump," the proper response is "How high?"
- Charlaine Harris & Toni L. P. Kelner, editors, Many Bloody Returns. Anthology of thirteen stories mixing vampires with birthdays because, why not? authors include Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Bill Crider, Kelley Armstrong, Jim Butcher, P. N. Elrod, Rachel Caine, Jeanne C. Stein, Tanya Huff, Carolyn Haines, Tate Hollaway, Elaine Viets, and Toni L. P. Kelner.
- Tony Hillerman, editor, with Otto Penzler, series editor, The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century. 46 stories first published from 1903 to 1999. Many of the stories are familiar, but all are worthwhile. The authors are: O. Henry, Willa Cather, Jacques Futrelle, Frederick Irving Anderson, Melville Davisson Post, Susan Glaspell, Dashiell Hammett, Ring Lardner, Wilbur Daniel Steele, Ben Ray Redman, James M. Cain, John Steinbeck, Damon Runyon, Pearl S. Buck, Raymond Chandler, James Thurber, Cornell Woolrich, William Faulkner, Harry Kemelman, Ellery Queen, John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Stanley Ellin, Evan Hunter, Margaret Millar, Henry Slesar, Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Connor, Jerome Weidman, Joe Gores, Harlan Ellison, Robert L. Fish, Joyce Carol Oats, Stephen King, Jack Ritchie, Lawrence Block, Stephen Greenleaf, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Donald E. Westlake, James Crumley, Brendan Dubois, Michael Malone, Tom Franklin, and Dennis Lehane. It's hard to argue with any of these choices. (Although I would have added Charlotte Armstrong's "The Enemy.")
- Kevin Lucia, editor (for Cemetery Dance Publications), The Terror at Miskatonic Falls. A collaborative horror novel with over 30 contributors. "This January, winter has fallen hard on the small Massachusetts town of Miskatonic Falls. The icy wind has brought more than ice and snow, however. It has brought something ancient, alien, and evil. As the temperatures drop and the snow drifts build, a creeping horror crawls over the town and its inhabitants, pulsing an insistent mantra into their slowly unraveling minds: The Long Man Cometh.'
- Jonathan Maberry, Patient Zero. Horror, the first novel in the Joe Ledger series. "Monday, 1300 hours: Joe Ledger kills terrorist Javad Mustapha, aka Patient Zero, with two point blank shots from his Glock .45. Wednesday, 0800 hours: Patient Zero rises from the dead...When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, there's either something wrong with your world, or something wrongs with your skills...and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills. Ledger, a Baltimore detective assigned to a counterterrorism task force, is recruited by the government to lead a new ultrasecret rapid-response group called the Department of Military Science (DMS) to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a deadly bioweapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies."
- Francis M. Nevins, Cornucopia of Crime: Memoria and Summations. Nonfiction collection of writings about some of the author's fellow mystery writers, including Erle Stanley Gardner, Cornell Woolrich, Ellery Queen, Anthony Boucher, Anthony Abbott, Cleve F. Adams, John Lawrence, Milton Propper, William Ard, Michael Avallone, Edward D. Hoch, Harry Stephen Keeler, John Lutz, John D. MacDonald, Jack Richie, James Atlee Phillips, David Atlee Phillips, Christianna Brand, Ray B. Browne, Joel L. Hensley, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Joseph H. Lewis, and Aaron Marc Stein. 420 pages!
- Robert J. Randisi, The Reluctant Pinkerton. Western, a Talbot Roper novel. In my heart of hearts, I felt that uber-productive Robert J. Randisi would go on forever as a perpetual motion writing machine. Sadly, he proved me wrong, passing away earlier this year after writing more than 650 books and editing more than 30 anthologies, mainly in the western and mystery genres. He left behind more than enough books to keep me busy for the ret of my life, including this one: "Former Pinkerton agent Talbot Roper has a begrudging respect for his old boss. When Allen Pinkerton dies and his sons send for Roper to attend the funeral, he has no choice but to oblige him. But Pinkerton's sons, who now run the agency, want Roper to do more than pay his respects. They have a dangerous assignment that no man on their payroll can handle. Now roper is headed to Fort Worth, Texas, where someone is sabotaging the Union /Stockyard company. Undercover to infiltrate the industry, Roper knows that the men he's up against aren't just smart, they're deadly. And he'll need to remember everything Allen ever taught him to finish the job...and stay alive." This was the second, and last, Talbot Roper novel.
- James Reasoner, Lair of the Serpent Queen. Sword and sorcery novella, the third in the Snakehaven series. "Jorras Trevayle is back, exploring the sprawling city of Nucarrah, a cesspit of sin and corruption, the hub of a world of danger and sinister sorcery where the giant serpents known as Nloka Maccumba roam. Rescued by the beautiful Llorna Valyasha from an attempt on his life, Trevayle pledges his allegiance tot he queen of Nucarrah's underworld, unaware that he's sinking deeper and deeper into a war between criminals from which he may not escape!" Previous entries in this series are Doom of the Dark Delta and Fear on the Fever Coast; James has indicated that he will eventually publish these as one volume, but I can't wait.
Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, he introduced the songs "Fugue for Tinhorns" ("I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere...") and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." as Marrying Sam in L'il Abner, he sang "Jubilation T. Cornpone." Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole played the strumming minstrels Sam the Shade and Sunrise Kid in the 1965 film Cat Ballou.
Elements, she had a really cool first name; Rene Clair (1898-1981), French filmmaker who directed the aforementioned And Then There Were None, as well as The Ghost Goes West, I Married a Witch, and It Happened Tomorrow; Pat O'Brien (1899-1983), actor, known for Angels with Dirty Faces and Knute Rockne, All American (in which he said, "win one just for the Gipper"); Maria Babanova (1899-1983), Russian and Soviet actress and pedagogue,, named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1954;
American television personality and designer, member of the original cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy; David Deluise (b. 1971), American actor, son of Dom, brother of Peter and Michael, he played Jerry Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place; Jason White (b. 1973) touring guitarist for the band Green Day; Leonardo DeCaprio (b. 1974), American actor whose films include What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Titanic, Gangs of New York, and The Wolf of Wall Street, active in the climate change movement, his personal life, including his preference for women 25 years old or younger, has been the subject of much media speculation; Jill Vedder (b. 1977), American philanthropist and former fashion model. she is co-founder and vice-chairman of a non-profit organization dedicated to finding a cure for the rare genetic skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa which is marked by easy blistering of the skin and mucous membranes and its severity ranges from mild to fatal, in the United States this disease is prevalent in 8.2 per million live births; Scoot McNairy (b. 1977), American actor, he starred in AMC's Halt and Catch Fire for four seasons, from 2014 to 2017, and has had major roles in a number of films and television programs, he has 95 IMDb credits; Jon Batiste (b. 1986), American instrumentalist and band leader, he was the bandleader and musical director for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert from 2015 to 2022, he has earned five Grammy Awards from 20 nominations; Christa B. Allen (b. 1991), American actress who played the younger version of Jennifer Garner's character in both 13 Going on 30 and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, she played socialite Charlotte Grayson in Revenge from 2011 to 2015; X Gonzalez (born Emma Gonzalez, 1999) American gun control activist, they (the preferred pronoun) survived the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting in 2018; and Oakes Fegley (b. 2004), American child actor, known for Pete's Dragon, The Goldfinch, and The Fabelmans, he also played young Eli Thompson in the fifth season of Boardwalk Empire.
- Florida Man Alexander Rodriguez, 20, of Miami, was arrested after he allegedly stabbed his brother in the neck for talking over the food while he was cooking. When police arrived, the brother was trying to dress the wound with a cloth and Rodriguez had fled; he was later found hiding in a nearby tree. Rodriguez told police that he was irritated at his brother and that he had grabbed a knife and stabbed him because he thought his brother was going for the knife; he said that his brother had an "attitude."
- Florida Man John F. Burgos, 72, of Rockledge, was arrested for shooting and killing his dog because he had no power in his home after Hurricane Milton hit. Alcohol was involved.
- Football is a contact sport, especially in Florida. Police are reviewing a viral video taken at a recent football game between the Florida Gators and the Georgia Bulldogs, in which Florida lost, 20-34. The video allegedly shows a Florida police officer in the stands, beating a man in the stands, punching the man repeatedly while the victim was covering his face while lying on the aisle; a short distance away, another officer was seen allegedly punching another man repeatedly. No context was given for the video and the local news station was unable to verify the authenticity of the video. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said that its Professional Standards Division was reviewing the alleged incident.
- Florida Woman Esther Thelus was arrested for killing her nine-moth-old baby and attempting to murder her 2-year-old son after feeling "humiliated" in a child custody suit. Police said that Thelus used a red gas canister and a lighter purchased at a local convenience store to set herself and her children on fire. Thelus had wanted to take the infant to south Florida while leaving the older boy with his father, from whom she was estranged. Apparently the boy's father and the father's mother insisted on a DNA test to prove the child was his before he would taking custody. some Florida Men and Women stories are cure, and some or quirky, and, sadly, some are just tragic.
- Florida Woman Lakevia Davonna Pringle, of Sanford, is facing a judge after she recorded video of her girlfriend fatally shooting another woman, and then live-streamed parts of the shooting on social media. Police said Pringle had also encouraged the fight which led to the fatal shooting.
- 17-year-old Florida Man (Boy?) Jaylen Dewayne Edgar has allegedly told deputies that he shot into crowds of people celebrating Halloween in Orland -- ultimately killing two men and injuring eight others -- because he had witness a lot of "loved ones" die, and that he was under great stress. Thirty minutes prior to the shooting, Edgar apparently climbed into the back of am Orlando Fire Department ambulance and laid down on a stretcher while the ambulance crew was attempting to aid an intoxicated woman; Edgar apparently had a gun hidden in his pants at the time.
- A four-year-old girl who was told she would never walk takes her first steps https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/4-year-old-girl-told-shed-never-walk-takes-her-first-steps-with-sisters-screaming-while/
- An award-winning hero dog https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/18-month-old-bloodhound-wins-hero-dog-awards-for-2024/
- Can identifying fragments of rogue DNA help treat aggressive cancers? https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/study-raises-hopes-of-treating-aggressive-cancers-by-identifying-fragments-of-rogue-dna/
- An old radio is revived from a great distance https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/aging-voyager-1-restarts-a-radio-it-hasnt-used-since-1981-prompted-from-15-billion-miles-away/
- Man sees color for the first time https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/man-is-overwhelmed-with-emotion-trying-color-blind-glasses-for-first-time-my-god-this-is-amazing-watch/
- Life savings of a small town recovered from a crypto-scam https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/life-savings-of-an-entire-small-town-recovered-from-the-depths-of-a-cryto-scam-by-fbi/
- Kids leave Halloween candy on a front step -- for a good reason https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/kids-leave-halloween-candy-on-doorstep-after-noticing-sign-about-sons-hospitalization-leaving-family-overwhelmed/
Saturday, November 9, 2024
THE RICHEST DUCK IN THE WORLD
Who is the richest duck in the world? The answer is obvious...Scrooge McDuck...the scion of Duckburg and Donald's uncle and Huey, Dewey and Louie's great-uncle.
He was created by Disney comics artist Carl Barks for an episode in Dell Comics Four Color #178, dated December 1947, titled "Christmas on Bear Mountain." (The issue also carries the title Walt Disney's Donald Duck and is considered to be the third Donald duck comic book.) Barks originally intended for this to be a single appearance but the character proved to be too popular. As originally presented, Scrooge McDuck was a venal and greedy antihero; he soon morphed into a thrifty hero, adventurer, and explorer -- becoming one of the most popular characters within the Disney comic book stable. Barks later admitted he made the character too old and too weak; the character had to be modified to allow him his many later adventures. By 1952, Uncle Scrooge became a major force in the Donald Duck universe with the introduction of his own title, Uncle Scrooge (1952-1984). It would be many years before Scrooge McDuck would emerge from the pages of the comic book to animated cartoons. One of the actors who would voice Scrooge was David Tennant (yeah, the tenth Doctor himself) in the 2007 reboot of Duck Tales and Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.
Disney, being Disney, has a tight control on its properties and Four Color #178 is not available for viewing on the internet, but the title is currently available on eBay for $2395.00 (plus $49.00 shipping -- there are currently 13 watchers), so you may be able to latch onto this one. The episode "Christmas on Bear Mountain" has been reprinted several time in Disney magazines (again, none available to be viewed on the internet) and may be far more affordable. [https://inducks.org/story.php?c=W+OS++178-02]
Normally i link to a copy of the comic book I am discussing for these Saturday posts, so why am I discussing this book? No real reason. I happened to be remembering Jack Chalker's book, An Informal Biography of Scrooge McDuck (Mirage, 1974), and fell down the rabbit hole.
Thursday, November 7, 2024
FORGOTTEN BOOK: A PART FOR A POLICEMAN
A Part for a Policeman by John Creasey (1970)
Superintendent (formerly Inspector) Roger "Handsome" West's 38th novel begins with the brutal murder by beating of Danny O'Hara, Britain's most famous film star. O'Hara was killed in his Berkeley Square apartment; hiding in a closet, and unknown to the police at the time, was a wild Irishman named Patrick Donovan. As West arrived at the scene in the building's elevator, Donovan, armed with a gun, was making a break for it; he forced West back into the elevator and sent to the garage floor, where he attempted to shoot West point blank. But Roger West was not so easily killed, as Creasey's regular readers know.
Donovan claimed he had not killed O'Hara. He had confronted the film star, however, in an attempt to learn where his daughter, Mary Ellen, was. Mary Ellen had been working for O'Hara for the past six months as a cook. Donovan said that another man, whose features were hidden, had burst in and also demanded that O'Hara tell him where Mary Ellen was. Donovan hid in the closet and accidently locked himself in. there, he heard the brutal murder of the actor. The killer (Donovan said) had escaped minutes before help had arrive to find the dead, beaten body.
The trail for Mary Ellen led to a private "nursing home" that was a front for an abortion racket. but an attempt had been made on Mary Ellen's life by poisoning. The woman who ran the nursing home was cooperative, to a point. She refused to say who sent the girls to her for abortions. The poison was administered in the kitchen by a man who had claimed to be a friend of the cook's cousin; his rough description matched that of the man Donovan said had killed O'Hara. Also on the list of suspects was the physician who tended to the patients at the nursing home.
Pressure is put on West from above because influential movers and shaker in the British film industry are afraid that the attack was one on the industry itself. British film was just emerging as a major player in the movie business and a scandal could cost the industry its burgeoning influence. This was threat enough to make government officials concerned.
O'Hara's main -- and most bitter -- rival in the acting field, Raymond Greatorex, was the next to be attacked. Greatorex, seriously injured, remained in a coma.
Fearful of negative publicity, the heads of the movie industry have not informed the police of constant attacks by arson which have destroyed many finished pieces of film.
Arson also came into play when the doctor attending the nursing home and the woman who ran it were killed in a sudden fire at the doctor's home. The fire was set by a chemical which burned very fast and very intensely; a fire, once it started, was impossible to stop.
West also has personal problems, stemming from his devotion to work. His wife is feeling neglected and fears West is losing interest in her. His two sons, now in their early twenties, are an added cause for concern as they try to maneuver their way through nascent careers which may or may bot suit them. This stress, in additional to his heavy workload, is having a negative effect on West's mental and physical health.
A complicated tale, with many twists and turns, and one in which what appears to be clear suddenly isn't. Creasey keeps the pressure on admirably, allowing things to rush to a fast-paced conclusion. As with many of his novels, it is only in the very last few pages that things are resolved. And, as with some of Creasey's books, the finale comes so fast that it is difficult to realize the fallacies in the plot and in the final explanation. This is not a major criticism. The entertaining aspects of the novel far outweigh its flaws.
Creasey (1908-1973), best known for his work in the mystery field, was the author of over 600 books under at last 28 pseudonyms. His most acclaimed series were the books about Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, written under the pseudonym of "J. J. Marric." ("Marric" came from two of Creasey's sons -- Martin and Richard, which were also the names of the sons in the Roger West novels.) Perhaps his most popular series concerned the Honourable Richard Rollison, a.k.a "The Toff," an aristocratic adventurer. Almost as popular were the Roger West books. Other series characters included Dr. Palfrey, John Mannering ("The Baron"), Patrick Dawlish, Emmanuel Cellini, Mark Kilby, and Department Z,; he also contributed several novels to the Sexton Blake series. He also published a large number of westerns, romances, and juveniles, Creasey was the founder of Britain's Crime Writers Association (CWA) and a past president of the Mystery Writers of America (MWA). He won an Edgar Award in 1962 nd was named an MWA Grand Master in 1969. He was awarded an MBE for services to the UK's National Savings Movement during wartime. A dyslexic, Creasey could not serve during World War II because of childhood polio; instead, he contributed to the war effort by writing a slew of readily accessible books for the British public -- 144 books in four years.
Creasey will be remembered as a facile and enjoyable writer.
LUX RADIO THEATRE: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (JANUARY 4, 1954)
Klaatu barada nikto
Michael Rennie reprises his role as Klaatu from the classic science fiction film The Day the
Earth Stood Still. For this radio episode, Jean Peters ("the only woman [Howard Hughes] ever loved") took over the Patricia Neal role of Helen Benson, and Billy Gray reprised his film role as young Bobby Benson.
A flying saucer lands in Washington, D.C. A humanoid, Klaatu, comes out and announces he "comes in peace and with good will. With him is the giant, invincible robot Gort. Human suspicion and fear threaten Klaatu's mission. In the end, Earth has a choice to make...but will it choose correctly?
Based on Harry Bates' story "Farewell to the Master" (Astounding Science Fiction, October 1940), the original film is considered a classic. (Not so much the 2008 remake with Keanu Reeves.) The original film was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress's National film Registry in 2001. It ranked Number 82 on the list of America's most heart-pounding films, and Number 67 on the list of America's most inspiring films. In 2008, the American Film Institute ranked it the country's fifth best film in the science genre. The New York Times as one of The Best 1000 Movies Ever Made.
Enjoy this adaptation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J26YmLqESMg
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
A BITTER PILL
Well that didn't go the way I had hoped or expected. Rightly or wrongly, it appears the people have spoken and I must accept the result with grace and compassion. I will, however, be a voice of the loyal opposition for however long democracy lasts.
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
YOUNGER THAN SPRINGTIME...
OVERLOOKED FILM: BLACK MAGIC (1944)
This is a Charlie Chan film featuring Sidney Toler which I watched last week, and it may be in the running for the worst Charlie Chan film ever made. (I can't say definitely because I have never watched all of them.) The film was later retitled Murder at Midnight
Sidney Toler is execrable in the role of the famed Honolulu detective. Mantan Moreland bugs his eyes out as he does his stereotypical stick. Joseph Crehan and Ralph Peters play the bumbling police officers.
In addition to Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Browm, Chan's assistant here is played by 18-year-old Frances Chan, whose character is coincidently named Frances Chan. The actress was a model and this was her first and only major role in films. Her other two roles was as "Youngest Chan Daughter" eleven years earlier in Charlie Chan's Greatest Case, and as "Chinese Girl Prisoner" in 1945's Samarai. She married and retired from films in 1945; judging from her acting chops in Black Magic, this was probably a good thing.
A phony psychic is shot dead at a seance by a "nonexistent" bullet. One suspect at the seance is Charlie's daughter, forcing Charlie to take on the case. The acting ranges from terrible to adequate. The set design is cheap, flimsy, and unbelievable. The costuming is atrocious. The plot is helter-skelter, jumping around without rhyme or reason and avoiding mentioning important things. The plot (what there is of it) does, however, rely on some imaginary scientific things that just don't exist. The writing is so hurried that at least one suspect on the scene is completely ignored because they just didn't have time to explain who she was, what she was doing there, and what her motive could have been. All other motives given were paper thin. The actual motive (and the clue to solving the case) is not mentioned or hinted until the murderer is caught. In fact, there is no detection in this mystery at all.
It's hard to find a single moment in the one hour four minute run time that is not a mess. You can blame the director, Phil Rosen, or you can blame the writer, George Callahan, or you can blame the studio, Monogram Pictures, for carrying on the Charlie Chan franchise way beyond its shelf date. But blame is not the proper attitude to take here. Pity is.
Judge for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkF0Lf6kp_Y
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Friday, November 1, 2024
NEW COMICS #1 (DECEMBER 1935)
We're taking a deep dive into comic book history with this one. New Comics was a continuing comic magazine and the second continuing title for DC Comics (back then it was the National Allied Newspaper Syndicate, Inc., headed by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, the legendary pulp writer and comic book pioneer. It was the company's first half-tabloid size magazine, now the standard size for comic books. New Fun changed its title to New Adventure Comics with issue #12 (January 1937); another title change, this time to Adventure Comics, came in November 1938 with issue #32. As Adventure Comics it ran until October 2011, with issue #529.
Over the years, the comic book blazed its way through the Golden Age with stories about Aquaman, Hour Man, Green Arrow, Manhunter, Sandman, and Superboy, among others; through the Silver Age, adding stories about Congarilla, the Legion of Super Heroes, Tales of the Bizarro World, Aqualad, Black Canary, Black Orchid, Doctor Mid-Night, Martian Manhunter, Spectre, Supergirl, and Zantanna; and through the late Bronze Age with Dial H for Hero, Plastic Man, and Starman; a brief spell as a digest magazine saw stories about the challengers of the Unknown and Shazam; while the lasr few issues included a relaunch of Atom.
But all that was in the future. New Comics -- the International Picture Story Magazine #1 promised "eighty pages packed and jammed with new comics features, written and drawn especially for New Comics -- never printed before anywhere. Here is a magazine of picturized stories chock full of laughter and thrills, comic characters of every hue, knights and Vikings of ancient days, adventuring heroes, detectives, aviator daredevils of today and hero supermen of the days to come!"
Let's take a look at the initial line-up, shall we?
- "Now --When I Was a Boy --" Finding a horseshoe used to be considered lucky, but that's not the case for Uncle Chris in this attempt at humor.
- "Sir Loin of Beef" by R. G. Leffinwell. Our hero gets ousted by a tavern maid. Another humor attempt.
- "Axel." A filler to make you say "huh?"
- "Billy Kid." Young Billy sends Pudge off on a ride in his soap box car, neglecting to tell him the steering doesn't work. They had a strange kind of humor in 1935. A contomuing feature.
- "The Vikings" by Livingstone. King Harald sails off to war and Sigrid gives birth to his child. Sigrid's father ordered that the boy be left in the woods with a piece of salt pork in his mouth for the wolves. The babe is found by Kol the Wise, who slays the wolves, as Odin's ravens, Hugin and Munin fly overhead. To be continued.
- "J. Worthington Blimp, Esq." by Sheldon Mayer. Two episodes. Blowhard J. Worthington gets his comeuppance. A continuing feature.
- "The Tinker Twins at Penn Point." Hijinks at a military school involving a billy goat. A one-and-done feature.
- "Sawbones, C.O.D." by Joe Archibald. A text story from a well=known pulpster. "They were just a pair of saddle tramps and they chewed the dust of the Powder River range. Yrs, those two old favorites of the cattle country are with us again."
- "It's Magic" by Andrini the Great. Text article.
- "Petey the Pup" by Constance Narr. Text story. "A story of the wintry day and the real young readers...pictures by the author" (I hope she didn't give up her day job.)
- "Needles" by Al Stahl. In "Needles Uses His Noodle," he builds a hair-cutting machine, with the expected results. A continuing feature.
- "Dizzy and Daffy" by Bo Brown. One-panel cartoons.
- "17-20 in the Black" by Billy Weston. How Jim Gale ends his gambling career to follow a more useful life. Two episodes, the second has the true title "17-20 on the Black." Oopsie! To be continued.
- "Just Suppose.." by H. C. & A. D. Kiefer. So what if the Gauls had destroyed Rome, or if Charles Goodyear gave up before developing rubber? Points to ponder.
- "Cartoon Corner." How to draw cartoons, starting with using pen lines and cross-hatching.
- "Puzzle Adventures" by Mat Curzon. Solve this puzzle with "the pixies."
- [untitled humor story] Stereotypical Mexican wants some watermelon. Not as offensive as it could be, I suppose. This one-pager was repeated on the next page. Whoopsie!
- "Gulliver's Travels," originally related by Jonathan Swift and drawn by (oh frabjous day!} Walt Kelley, as "Walter C. Kelley." This one covers the voyage to Lilliput.
- "Freddie Bell, He Mans Well" by Matt Curzon. Young Freddie gives up his seat on the subway to a fat woman, irritating the other passengers; then Freddie mistakes a prosperous gentleman for a panhandler.
- "Sister and Brother" by Emakear [I may have gotten the artist wrong; the signature is hard to decipher}. Part of the "Junior Section For Younger Folks" of the comic book.
- "Bunco the Bear" by Dave Ruth. More of the "Junior Section."
- "The Travel Twins" A cut-out fashion for Gretchen the Dutch girl. "Young ladies ---Try these cut-outs."
- "Fun for All -- A Test of Eye and Wit" A coloring page (use pencil, crayon, or water colors), with a poem that has blank spaces for you (yes, YOU!) to guess the colors that rhyme.
- "Wing Walker" by Thor. We're out of the "Junior Section" now, kiddos. He's a test pilot who has been grounded on trumped-up charges. He's been kidnapped by the "Sons of the Red Cormorant" to fly a load of weapons south. attacked by the St. Louis mob and with his engine on fire, wing lands in the Everglades, where he meets a girl who has just escaped from the Seminoles. There's a lot of bull-tikky and stereotyping to unpack here, but we will just have to wait because the story is continued in the next issue.
- "Cap'n Spinniker" by Tom Cooper. Another attempt at humor. Spinnaker attempts to drill up to the North Pole from a submersible and runs into both his nemesis and a sperm whale.
- Stamps and Coins." Text article, focusing on an Ethiopian stamp.
- "Hobbies" by Danny Ryan (who has spent eighteen years studying hobbies). A text article, this time on felt handcraft. Readers are asked to pick what hobbies they wish to discuss112 hobbies to choose from. in future issues, and are given a list of 112 hobbies (phew!) to choose from.
- "Sports." Another text article. "Timely comments on the athletic question; Are big schools going high hat?; What is the right age?"
- "They Started Young" by Joe Archibald. One page comics feature on early starters Bobby jones, Wilcox, Junior Coen, and Helen Wills
- "Worth-While Films to Watch For" by Josephine Craig. Text article. Message to Garcia, Under Two Flags, Captain Blood, The Story of Louis Pasteur, Frisco Kid, Typee, Captains Courageous, O'Shaughnessy's Boy, Robin Hood of El Dorado, Mother Lode, Prairie Schooner, and Angel of Mercy.
- "The Bookshelf," reading with Connie Naar. Indian Brothers by Hubert V. Coryell, The Cove Mystery (they may have meant The Cave Mystery) by S. S. Smith, Radio by John Langdon-Davies, Tin-Can Craft by Edwin T. Hamilton, The Box of Delights by John Masefield (at last! a book I have heard of and can recommend), Louis Untermeyer's poetry anthology Rainbow in the Sky, The Good Master by Kate Seredy, Red Sky by Theodore Arland Harper, Young Walter Scott by Elizabeth Janet Gray, Moviemakers by John J. Floherty, and -- one more that I know -- Babar the King by Jean de Brunhoff.
- "The Radio Dialer." A brief article mentioning Bobby Benson's Mickey of the Circus, as well as Let's Pretend and Billy and Betty.
- "Captain Quick" by John Elby. London, 1586: Kendal quick refuses to join Lord Barlow on a privateering expedition against the Spanish. Some consider him a coward but he is really out to catch two spies bent on destroying Barlow's ship. Quick goes on for a long career in the comic book.
- "Jibby Jones" by Vin Sullivan. More (ahem) humor. Jibby's mother leaves him some money to get a haircut, but Jibby really wants an ice cream sundae.
- "The Strange Adventures of Mr. Weed" by Sheldon Mayer. Historian Oliver Weed has a change to go back to any point in time with a new time machine. Two episodes. A continuing series.
- "Ray and Gail" by Clem Getter. On her deathbed, Ray's mother makes him promise to take care of his twin sister. So now they as "On the Trail of Life's Adventures" as slick-talking Willie Gewgaw convinces to two join him on the Gewgaw boat expedition to a secret destination. to be continued.
- "Allan DeBeaufort." The saga of a crusader who rode with the hordes of Genghis Khan. Evidently a one-and-done.
- "Dickie Duck" by Matt Curzon. A simple task of watering flowers goes astray.
- "Peter and Ho-lah-an" by Liv. Peter, who has a dog named Rab and a ram named Loki, meets an Indian boy named Ho-lah-an Morango, who teaches him how to make a lasso of wire grass to catch lizards. A continuing series.
- "It's a Dern Lie," as told by G. W. Falcon of Evanston, Illinois. Come up with a whopper and have a chance to win $1.00. This time, great-grandfather Utah Falcon creates the Great Salt Lake.
- And on the back cover is an ad for a real, lifelike Shirley Temple Doll, in three sizes (13 inches, 18 inches, or 22 inches) for a very low price ($2.98, 44.98. and $7.49, respectively). Don't delay!