Warning: SPOILERS ahead!! Not all noir films are whodunnits, but I Wake Up Screaming and Laura most definitely are. If you haven’t watched either film yet . . . well, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!!? Put this down, and go watch these films immediately. Then we’ll talk! The two films we watched for our second Film Noir class with Elliot Lavine through Stanford University … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Week 2 – Film Noir Lite?
UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Notes on Film Noir – Week 1
Here’s what I think I know about film noir. It’s a style that nobody set out to invent. There was no meeting of minds that said, “Let’s invent a new genre.” Instead, directors – a great many of them expatriates from Europe, allowed the surreal visuals and dark mood of German Expressionism to affect the look … Continue reading UN VOYAGE DANS LES TENEBRES: Notes on Film Noir – Week 1
BOOK REPORT #4: Death Walks in Eastrepps
Way back in the Fun Times – early 2019, to be exact – I stumbled (almost literally) upon a new/old author (for me) named Francis Beeding in my favorite local bookstore, bought and read the book, Murdered One by One, and subsequently shared my thoughts in high epistolary style with my buddy, Bev Hankin, who … Continue reading BOOK REPORT #4: Death Walks in Eastrepps
REEL LAUGHS: Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone
“Forward: The producers of this picture feel that the attorney depicted herein should be disbarred and strongly suggest that the American Bar Association do something about it.” Recently, my friend Scott K. Ratner made the claim that the wild success of the film version of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man (1934) did much to waylay the popularity … Continue reading REEL LAUGHS: Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone
BEATING PUZZLE DOCTOR AND KATE TO THE PUNCH: The 2021 Mystery of the Year
It’s February 28, and I know exactly what you’re doing: you’re waiting with bated breath for 306 more days to go by, the amount of time it will for the Puzzle Doctor and Kate at Cross Examining Crime to finish sifting through the respective books they’ve read all year (about 2000 for PD, and 6953 … Continue reading BEATING PUZZLE DOCTOR AND KATE TO THE PUNCH: The 2021 Mystery of the Year
BOOK REPORT #3: The Condamine Case
Perhaps it was because last month’s Book. Club selection, Joel Townsley Roger’s The Red Right Hand (1945) caused some rancor among our company for its unusual narrative style and noir atmosphere which delighted some and confounded others – at any rate, our February pick brings us back to more familiar territory. This month’s title was actually written two years … Continue reading BOOK REPORT #3: The Condamine Case
COFFEE TABLE BOOK TALES: Everson’s Trio of Crime Film Classics
William K. Everson (1929 – 1996) was a film historian, educator and archivist who was one of the guiding lights in preserving films from the silent period through the 1940’s. Born in England, he emigrated to the U.S. in 1950 where he put his experience in film publicity to use for Monogram Pictures, a small, … Continue reading COFFEE TABLE BOOK TALES: Everson’s Trio of Crime Film Classics
It’s Podcast Time Again!!
Morning, friends! I'm just dropping by briefly to let you know that the latest Spoiler Warning episode of my buddy JJ's podcast, In GAD We Trust, has just dropped. This time around, JJ, Moira (of Clothes in Books fame) and I have a discussion about the Agatha Christie classic, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Be … Continue reading It’s Podcast Time Again!!
REEL PROCEDURALS: From Headquarters (1933)
Without a doubt, the most prestigious film studio during Hollywood’s Golden Age was Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Under the auspices of its leader, Louis B. Mayer, MGM adapted classics and concentrated on wholesome family fare and “big pictures.” This was the era when actors were mostly shackled to one studio, and MGM boasted of having “more stars than … Continue reading REEL PROCEDURALS: From Headquarters (1933)
REEL PUZZLES: The Phantom of Crestwood
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the 1960 Doris Day mystery, Midnight Lace. A discussion about the variety of cinematic mysteries ensued, and my friend Scott K. Ratner kindly offered a list of what he considered to be “the classic whodunnit films” (despite its twists, Midnight Lace is not a “whodunnit” as we think of classic … Continue reading REEL PUZZLES: The Phantom of Crestwood
Ah Sweet Mystery! 