Murder and Mystery

Behind that Curtain

feeds@yuku.com (SparkieGojira) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:08:43 GMT

For a mere extra thrown on to the last Warner Oland Chan disc, I quite liked this 1929 darn near Chanless Fox "Charlie Chan". The wierdly diliberate enunciation in the first couple of scenes (Or did I imagine any such?) quickly faded for me as I got wrapped up in the story. And I was darn near floored to Boris Karloff as the faithful good servant of the romantic lead.

The geniunely asian non-actor who makes a brief appearance as Chan could maybe the final argument in the...

MIDNIGHT WARNING (1932)

feeds@yuku.com (zogstar67) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:44:32 GMT

This is a better than average detective story, the kind of story that typically appeared in the pulps of the day. William "Stage" Boyd is a detective who runs across some mysterious shenanigans in a luxury hotel. You know a 30s mystery is going to be pretty good when it begins with a hotel guest discovering charred bone fragments in his room's fireplace!

Genre enthusiasts will be pleased to hear that while the film is certainly not relentlessly grim, there is...

Holmes now has his own folder!

feeds@yuku.com (taraco) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:47:50 GMT

The World of Sherlock Holmes is the new folder at the Classic Horror Film Board for all things Irregular.

Please continue the discussion there, and hopefully we can expand discussion into books, non-Rathbone versions and more things along Baker Street.

Thanks from the CHFB gang...

What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)

feeds@yuku.com (oldmanster) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:54:37 GMT

This film probably should go in the Foreign Horrors folder. But dammit, it carries no horror content other than a murder mystery for those who have strong stomachs. It's generally considered to be one of the first (and best) in the Italian giallo sub-genre, on par with some of the better work from Argento and others.

I've never seen it, so it was a real treat for me. Without going into too much detail, I'll advise those interested to check out the imdb review...

Did Ralph Byrd ever use the two-way wrist radio prop in any of his tv or film Dick Tracy appearances?

feeds@yuku.com (Scathach80) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:38:48 GMT

It was not introduced until 1946 (Midnight and Doc Savage had them before Dick Tracy did). So did Byrd ever use that prop?

Did Ralph Byrd ever use the two-way wrist radio prop in any of his tv or film Dick Tracy appearances?

London Blackout Murders D. George Shermen W. Curt Sidomark (1943) Any Good?

feeds@yuku.com (gfanikf) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:57:49 GMT

When searching for info on another movie I came across this title. Never heard of it before and I have to say the title really grabs you.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034988/
Anyone here ever see it?

A Study In Scarlet (1933)

feeds@yuku.com (Eric Huffstutler) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:54:27 GMT

Does anyone know if there is a decent version on DVD of "A Study in Scarlet" 1933 Sherlock Holmes. I have the Platinum and Brentwood (BCI Eclipse) versions which are the same transfer - pretty washed out and not correctly framed along with several splices. The Platinum version also has horrible audio.

Eric

DICK TRACY feature films on DVD question?

feeds@yuku.com (pinkfloyd95209) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:04:24 GMT

I hear that VCI is releasing the DICK TRACY feature films from the 1940's on DVD. I have the ROAN DVD version which seems fine for me. I don't know if VCI will be using better film elements than ROAN, but I am curious? These DICK TRACY features are in the public domain? Weren't they originally released by RKO? Which would lead me to this question? Does anyone know if WARNER has better film elements of these DICK TRACY features in their vaults? I wonder if Warner would release a...

Mystery Music...

feeds@yuku.com (Lawrence Nepodahl) — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:50:35 GMT

I was going to put this query (or statement) on the "Horror Music" page, but felt I should stay with this genre page... That said: I was watching the last Mr. Wong film, FATAL HOUR, over the weekend and upon listening to the background music, Charlie Chan came to mind. Well, why not, both Wong and later Sidney Toler's Chans' resided at Monogram. I know the music is probably bland to most people, but I still wouldn't mind having a CD with the various music used for...

Saw my first Charlie Chan (Charlie Chan in London)

feeds@yuku.com (gfanikf) — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:54:43 GMT

One thing I was upset with the Mr. Moto films is that there was only enough for two Volumes. Luckily with Charlie Chan this doesn't seem to be an issue. Charlie Chan in London is quite a joy. An interesting and fun murder mystery. Some of the acting is a bit stage bound, but its only a couple of minor characters. It's really in terms of plotting and pacing exactly what I would want for a mystery.

One thing is I just started watching Charlie Chan in Shanghai and unlike...

Rank the Lorre MR. MOTO films!

feeds@yuku.com (Joe Karlosi) — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:21:03 GMT

For all those who've enjoyed Mr. Moto, how would you rank them, from Best to Least?

It's too early for me to tell because I haven't seen them all, but thus far I'd rate THANK YOU, MR. MOTO and MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE as two of the best, and possibly MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE and MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING as two of the least...

Jeremy Brett's SHERLOCK HOLMES, back on the air!

feeds@yuku.com (BijouBob8mm) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:43:29 GMT

One of our local PBS stations announced, starting this Thursday, they will be running the Jeremy Brett series once again on a weekly basis. It's not part of MYSTERY, but just being presented as SHERLOCK HOLMES, so don't know if the old intros & exit comments will be there or not. (Yeah, I already own all the Brett adventures; but I kind of like the idea that I can turn TV on and find him there on a regular basis.) For those interested, check your local listings or contact...

BLAST OF SILENCE (1961)

feeds@yuku.com (thehorrorboy) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:57:01 GMT

Has anyone else here ever seen this interesting little film noir, very recently (just last week, in fact!) released on DVD by Criterion?

Richard Quine's REAR WINDOW

feeds@yuku.com (davlghry) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:54:35 GMT

I watched PUSHOVER last night, a 50's noir starring Fred Mac Murray and Kim Novak, directed by Richard Quine. Mac Murray plays a cop who spends a lot of time in an apartment on a stake-out, watching Kim Novak in her apartment across the way. Although the story is not confined to Mac Murray's apartment, the movie is fairly contained and there's a subplot with Mac Murray's partner Phil Carey becoming attracted to Dorothy Malone whose apartment window is next to Novak's. Like...

ROGUES' GALLERY (1944)

feeds@yuku.com (gene phillips) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:46:23 GMT

I wrote this on the BLACK RAVEN thread:

"On this same Mill Creek opus-- SUSPENSE CLASSICS or something-- there was also a little 40s bit called ROGUES GALLERY. It's mostly about a male/female reporter-team solving a crime, but it has minor fantastic content in that there's a device that can allow one to listen in remotely w/o the need for a receiver in the other location. Was this covered in any fantastic-film reference? I know it's not in CREATURE FEATURES, and I...

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966)

feeds@yuku.com (odradek5) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 10:03:10 GMT

I recently saw this for the first time after channel 43 in Cleveland burned it into my consciousness by running the Bon Ami line in a promo hundreds of times thirty years ago. What surprised me was the gratuitous reference to Wooster, Ohio. As far as I know, this is the only reference to Wooster in all of cinema, perhaps in all of fiction. Does anyone know of a reason for this? Maybe one of the writers was connected with Wooster somehow?

Midnight Shadow (1939)

feeds@yuku.com (Dr Acula) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:22:22 GMT

Just watched this mystery flick courtesy of Mill Creek, and I thought it was a slight but overall enjoyable mystery. I assume it was an amateur production, due to the overall stilted line delivery, though the "good" boyfriend looked like one of the guys who sang with the Ink Spots, so I wonder if it was him or not.

PBS Mystery! The Supernaturals

feeds@yuku.com (Dr Acula) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:13:24 GMT

I was reading a big book about the history of PBS's Mystery! program, where I found out that apparently there was 7 supernatural mysteries presented in a row one year. As opposed to seeming supernatural explinations given for themysteries, these all contained true supernatural elements. Has anybody seen any of them, and/or would they be recommended? The stories listed:

Bewitched
The intercessor
Seaton's Aunt
The...

One Frightened Night (1935)

feeds@yuku.com (Dr Acula) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 17:57:05 GMT

Just watched this fun murder mystery and wanted to know if anybody else enjoyed this semi-comic "old-dark-house" wackiness.

Things worth watching for:

1) Lovely, radiant Mary Carlisle. Wowziers!

2) Wallace Ford as Luvelle, aka The Great Luvelle, who is constantly trying out magic gags or getting slugged from behind.

3) A fun, masked killer similar to Horror Island's baddie.

4) Scary scenes around the old house, such as the...

Fake Miss Marples

feeds@yuku.com (Dr Acula) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:09:50 GMT

Does anybody here watch those Miss Marple mysteries on PBS' MYSTERY program? Because I think that they are taking stories featuring Agatha Christie's less popular characters, and re-writing them with Miss Marple being the mystery solver.

This last week, Miss Marple was solving the crime with Tommy Tuppence & wife, who was (at least as far as I know) in his own none-too-popular series of books that never crossed over with Miss Marple.

Does anybody know if what I...