Somewhere between the Hardy Boys and Agatha Christie, some kindly relative introduced me to the World’s Greatest Detective with a collection of six or seven of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous stories about Sherlock Holmes. I think the first story I read was “The Red-Headed League” where, even at the age of 8 or 9, … Continue reading NO SHIRT, SHERLOCK: Elementary, Season One
BOOK CLUB BLUES: Bristow/Manning Sequel Drags the Marsh
Three months after the fact, the world is still reeling from my extraordinary upset win in the 2021 Reprint-of-the-Year Awards, when Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning’s 1930 debut novel, The Invisible Host, beat out J.D. Carr’s Till Death Do Us Part for the grand prize, (a deluxe lounge suite from Broyhill). The folks over at Dean Street Press … Continue reading BOOK CLUB BLUES: Bristow/Manning Sequel Drags the Marsh
“Inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness . . . “Our Final Noir Triple-Bill
For our final 1950’s film noir class, our teacher Elliot Lavine handed us three films, and all I can say is . . . nobody said making it to the end in a noir world would be easy. First of all, these films are not all late examples; rather they span most of the decade, from 1953 – 1958, so you … Continue reading “Inhuman, indecent, and the quintessence of gruesomeness . . . “Our Final Noir Triple-Bill
AS GOODIS AS IT GETS: The Burglar and Nightfall
It takes a special person to write noir . . . a bitter, lonely person plagued with disease and/or mental illness, awash in booze and/or drugs, who somehow manages to produce these dark nuggets of gold before dying in some horrible, lonely, bitter fashion. Ah, the life of a writer! Don’t you wonder how Dashiell Hammett, Raymond … Continue reading AS GOODIS AS IT GETS: The Burglar and Nightfall
NOIR IN THE KEY OF KUBRICK: The Killing and Killer’s Kiss
Stanley Kubrick is an auteur who can irk me no end. There is always beauty in his formalistic layout of shots, but there can be coldness, too. He was also the slowest of the classic directors, sometimes taking years to put a film together. His career spanned roughly the same amount of time as that … Continue reading NOIR IN THE KEY OF KUBRICK: The Killing and Killer’s Kiss
” . . . there are matters of which no jest can be made:” THE RED DEATH MURDERS
Well, it was bound to happen! A pandemic comes along, and you stop teaching. There’s nothing to do but stare at the walls, studiously avoid that mountain of books comprising your TBR pile, and desultorily post in your blog about this or that mediocre novel that you read in Book Club. And then – inspiration! You … Continue reading ” . . . there are matters of which no jest can be made:” THE RED DEATH MURDERS
ROGER THAT, BOOK CLUB: Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley
If there’s one thing that can bring about a Book Club’s downfall, it’s Bad Books. Oh, sure, we could call ourselves Bad Book Club and play hilarious drinking games as we share our favorite Awful Passages, but that’s not what my group is about! And so we’ve been trying a new strategy of keeping our collective … Continue reading ROGER THAT, BOOK CLUB: Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley
THE EVIL THAT MEN DO: Kiss Me Deadly and The Big Combo
It’s hard to pinpoint precisely when film noir began and ended. Its antecedents lie in the silent era, in German Expressionism and in the Warner Brothers crime dramas of the 30’s. Our teacher Elliot Lavine offers a specific starting point – 1940’s Stranger on the Third Floor (which I discussed here) – and will rattle off a title or … Continue reading THE EVIL THAT MEN DO: Kiss Me Deadly and The Big Combo
THE ELLERY QUEEN POLL: The Results!
It is always gratifying to put something up for a vote and then see a mad rush to the polls. Tens of thousands of eager fans showed up to choose the best episode of the Ellery Queen mystery series, and I was all set to post the results yesterday. But then someone who had hacked … Continue reading THE ELLERY QUEEN POLL: The Results!
TWO Bs OR NOT TWO Bs: 99 River Street and Crime Wave
There’s a moment toward the climax of 99 River Street when Evelyn Keyes dances up to psychopath Victor Rawlins (Brad Dexter) and lights her cigarette with his. It’s the dirtiest moment in a 50’s film I can remember, and I wondered how it got past the censors. The New York Times reviewer latched onto moments like this … Continue reading TWO Bs OR NOT TWO Bs: 99 River Street and Crime Wave
Ah Sweet Mystery! 