Classic Mysteries

Watching Nero Wolfe

I must confess that I watch next to no television. I may watch a little news here and there, but, on the whole, I'd rather be reading. I particularly dislike most TV adaptations of classic mysteries, especially the ones which feel they have to "update" or "modernize" the stories.

But then along comes Nero Wolfe. Or, to be more accurate, along came Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin and a superb troupe of regular players to bring Nero Wolfe and his stories to the home screen via A&E TV. I've actually sat down and watched some of them. They are good. And - miracle of miracles - they are quite faithful to the original stories. The writers and producers had the sense to take Rex Stout's carefully written stories, which are first-person narratives for Archie Goodwin, and simply put the words into Archie's off-camera voice. It's like having Archie on hand to tell you the story himself.

With the holidays coming up, I want to call your attention to an Amazon deal: they are offering the whole series on DVD for a remarkably low price - it's only about a third of the original list price. You get all 20 episodes that were produced for the two seasons of the television show, including the original two-hour pilot based on "The Golden Spiders." There are assorted other extras in the package as well. Frankly, I think it's a present Wolfe fans ought to be giving themselves. (Yes, if you click through on my link above and order the package, I get a remarkably small cut. Full disclosure.)

Most of the earlier Wolfes and Goodwins on TV and in the movies ranged from awful to embarrassing, but the Chaykin-Hutton shows are really worth watching. Do yourself a favor and get them.

The Movie Hunt

Looking for movies to enjoy - for the holiday or any time? Hunting for videos to give as gifts? Amazon.com has a lot of interesting and inexpensive deals to offer. Please check them out at the link (and, if you do buy, you'll be helping me to keep this site going). Harry Potter? Wizard of Oz? King's Speech? These and a lot more - and the prices are pretty good, too.

Thank you.

Haunting for Halloween

While we're talking about scaring yourself silly for Halloween, I want to recommend what I think may have been the most frightening movie ever made: the 1963 movie "The Haunting," starring Julie Harris, based on Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House."

No, it's not a traditional mystery - it's a horror story, but - unlike far too many later horror films - it achieves its effect by showing you nothing. The horror is built up in your mind and your imagination. If you're not familiar wth the Jackson book, here's the opening paragraph (the last two sentences of which are repeated as the final sentences of the book as well):

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."

That paragraph continues to provoke chills for me when I read it - and it is read as a narration during the opening and closing of the movie as well. It was shot in black and white, directed by Robert Wise - yes, the director of "The Sound of Music" and "West Side Story," but also the film editor of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" and director, for producer Val Lewton, of some marvelous low-budget horror movies, including the Karloff-Lugosi "The Body Snatchers." "The Haunting" is guaranteed to scare the pants off you; the cast, including Julie Harris, Claire Bloom and Russ Tamblyn, is marvelous. It's available from Netflix as well as from Amazon - but don't miss it. Please.

R.I.P. Stephen J. Cannell

We've lost another classicist, a man responsible for some truly classic television mysteries. Stephen J. Cannell, the producer and creator of such hits as "The A-Team," "Wiseguy" and "The Rockford Files," has died. He was 69 years old. The AP (via Google) has details.

Cannell really was an innovator, bringing mysteries to a prime-time public. I'm not sure I buy the AP writer's line about "generally identified with action dramas full of squealing tires and tough guys trading punches" - I think there was more to it. As the Los Angeles Times notes, he was also a strong and influential voice speaking on behalf of independent producers. He will be missed. There's an appreciation at The Rap Sheet blog today.

R. I. P. Nero Wolfe

Actor Maury Chaykin, who played Nero Wolfe in the excellent A&E Television series of Nero Wolfe stories, died yesterday on his 61st birthday. The American-born actor lived much of his life in Canada, and he died in Toronto.

The Washington Post has the Associated Press obituary. Also, Examiner.com has a very good appreciation of Chaykin's life and work, written by Christopher Garcia.

Hat tip: The Rap Sheet blog.

Of Dinner, Discussion and a Doxy

The Wolfe Pack, the organization of Nero Wolfe readers and fans, holds bi-monthly meetings at a pub in New York City's midtown area, where members gather for dinner and coversation about various Wolfean topics. Last night, the group met to discuss one of my favorite books, "Death of a Doxy." In the book, one of Wolfe's regular assistant detectives, Orrie Cather, is arrested by police for the murder of a woman - the titular "Doxy" - whose bills are being paid (to put it politely) by a business tycoon. Said tycoon is terrified that his relationship with the woman will be revealed, and he is less concerned with seeing Wolfe find a way to clear Orrie and find the real murderer than he is with getting Wolfe to guarantee that the tycoon's name is never made public.

I am fond of it not so much because of the mystery - halfway through the book, it's clear who committed the murder - but because of a marvelous character named Julie Jaquette. She is one of the most memorable characters in any Nero Wolfe story. She's a cabaret singer, and Wolfe makes her the centerpiece of his strategem which ultimately succeeds in exposing the real killer while keeping the tycoon's name out of the case completely. Julie Jaquette not only manages to be one of the VERY few women in the entire Wolfean library to call Wolfe by his first name and get away with it, she is also treated to a personalized tour of the orchids by Wolfe himself. And he pays her what may be the most amazing tribute in any of the books: "I have the impression that your opinion of our fellow beings and their qualities is somewhat similar to mine." And he stands to say goodbye when she leaves - something he almost never does for anyone, man or woman.

At the Wolfe Pack gathering, our discussion centered around a video of "Death of a Doxy," which is contained in Nero Wolfe - The Complete Classic Whodunit Series, a compilation of some of the excellent teleplays created for the A&E Network based on  Stout's books. Timothy Hutton plays Archie and Maury Chaykin is Wolfe, and the supporting cast is outstanding. Special marks go to actress Kari Matchett, who played Julie Jacquette. As Wolfe would say, satisfactory.  Most of us were amazed at how faithfully "Death of a Doxy" was translated to the screen, with most of the dialogue and much of Archie's narration taken word-for-word from the book. I hadn't seen the A&E shows when they first ran, a decade ago. I'll have to see more of them.

This was my first visit to a Wolfe Pack gathering. I'll be back.

Oh, Just One More Thing...

...as Lt. Columbo was known to say. If you were a fan of the television series, or if you are new to Columbo and are enjoying the short stories in "The Columbo Collection," you might enjoy watching Peter Falk and the rest of the talented cast who brought the Columbo stories to life on television.   Amazon has several collection of Columbo DVDs available for you to buy and watch. They're good fun, well written and well acted.

"The Columbo Collection"

If you enjoy watching classic mysteries on television, you're probably familiar with Lieutenant Columbo. He's a fairly quiet, self-effacing kind of police detective; his opponents tend to underestimate his abilities. That is generally a mistake. As played by Peter Falk, Columbo, the creation of William Link and the late Richard Levinson, may look fairly shabby, but he is both smart and patient.

Well, if you enjoy Columbo on the small screen, his co-creator, William Link, has written "The Columbo Collection," a fine collection of short stories about the intrepid Lieutenant. The collection, from publisher Crippen & Landru, is reviewed this week on our Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the full review here.

These stories are good, fair-to-the-reader mysteries written as "inverted mysteries," a style invented nearly 100 years ago by the late R. Austin Freeman, the creator of Dr. Thorndyke. In an inverted mystery, you generally start with the crime and the criminal fully exposed to the reader; the story then goes on to follow the investigator as he or she tries to identify and catch the criminal. As Link says, the stories are not "whodunits," they're more "howcatchems."

That may be, but they are certainly very firmly in the classic mystery tradition; for that matter, the Columbo character has been around for half a century. And while many of the books written around characters who began their fictional existence on TV are not very good, that's not true of the short stories in "The Columbo Collection." It may be the hand of Bill Link - after all, who could know better how to write Columbo stories than the man who created the character? If you enjoy the character on television - or even if you've never seen him - you'll enjoy these stories.

Birthday for a "Psycho"

Happy 50th Birthday tomorrow to one of the best, and most frightening, classic mystery movies ever made. On June 16, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant thriller "Psycho" was released to the public.

"Psycho" broke all kinds of rules. One of the most noteworthy: a key star was murdered - very much onscreen - early in the movie. "Psycho" turned the act of taking a shower into a nightmare for millions of us. And the shocking ending of the movie still ranks as one of the most horrifying scenes ever.

Those were the days, of course, when directors knew how to make effective horror films without needing buckets of blood and guts. "Psycho" was made in black and white. No 3D effects. Very little real on-screen violence. Just good acting and, of course, Hitchcock's incredible direction. Even in the classic horror scenes, you never saw what you might have thought you had seen. It was the direction, the editing, the acting (not to mention Bernard Herrmann's music) that made the movie work and scared the stuffing out of you.

ABCNEWS.com has a fine article about the movie and its birthday. It reminds us that the audience HAD to be seated in the theater by the beginning of the movie - latecomers would not be allowed in. Those of us who had seen it knew there was a good reason for that. If you have never seen it - go ahead. Scare yourself. But take your shower before you watch it.

Hat tip: Buck Wolf and AOL Weird News

No Missing Link

Does the name of Bill Link ring a bell with you? No? Can't quite place him?

Then how about some of his creations for television: Columbo. Murder She Wrote. Ellery Queen. Mannix. McCloud. Not to count TV movies, feature films, novels and short stories?

Just sat through a delightful hour-long panel at Malice Domestic featuring a conversation between Bill Link and moderator Doug Greene. Lots of great stories about TV, some of the many people he'd worked with, like Alfred Hitchcock, Peter Falk and Angela Lansbury, his partnership with the late Richard Levinson, and the like.

Crippen & Landru has released a new volume of Link's Columbo stories here at Malice Domestic. I can't wait to read them.