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Post by Doghouse6 on Apr 3, 2017 18:28:38 GMT
Oh, great, guys, now you've got me trying to come up with a murder mystery plot based around the "Who's on First?" routine, just as the "SHEILA" code was based on the six secrets. Expect that novel to come to book stores next April 1. Somehow, The Last Of WWITTWBI doesn't have quite the same ring to it. But the scene where the P.I. explains everything to the cop writes itself: P.I.: "Who did it."
COP: "What?"
P.I.: "Not What, Who."
COP: "Who did what?"
P.I.: "No, Who didn't do What; Who did I Don't Know."
COP: "You don't know who did what?"
P.I.: "No, I know Who didn't do What; I know Who did I Don't Know."
COP: "Well, then who did it?"
P.I.: "Yes."
COP: "What?"
P.I.: "Not What; Who."
And then the cop kills the P.I.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Apr 3, 2017 18:47:58 GMT
"And then the cop kills the P.I." But, why ? Doghouse6 why? muahhahahah
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 3, 2017 18:55:20 GMT
"And then the cop kills the P.I." But, why ? Doghouse6 why? muahhahahah Yes, yes, I know you're continuing the routine, but I've got an answer for ya anyway... Why? Because the cop was Bud Abbott, and the PI was Lou Costello. "But why'd you do it, Insp. Abbott?" "Because I couldn't stand his incessant baby chatter all these years! My God, the 'Hey, Abbott!'s drove me crazy! I just had to silence him!"
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 8, 2017 19:10:24 GMT
Last night I saw Fast Company (1938), another fun Thin Man cash-in, this one put out by the same studio (MGM) in between Thin Mans--they were that popular! Melvyn Douglas and Florence Rice play the Nick and Nora Charles knock-offs, here named Joel and Garda Sloane. (Even the cadences of the names are similar!) It has a great cast, and the movie's a ton of fun. Of all the Thin Man knock-offs, this is by far the closest. Not only is it put out by the same studio and does it share Nat Pendleton, but both plot and characters are so similar to the original. The pretty Mary Howard plays the female romantic lead exactly as Maureen O'Sullivan played the role in The Thin Man; both plots hinge on a murdered father (that's a little bit of a spoiler for TM); and Joel and Garda Sloane are far closer, in relationship and repartee, to Nick and Nora Charles than are Clay Dalzell and Donna Martin ( Star of Midnight, 1935) or Lawrence and Paula Bradford ( The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, 1936). Ah, and may I add: there's quite an ingenious clue involving gloves that is very satisfying. I was happy to see a clue in the story. Also, the identity of the murderer seems to derive ultimately, albeit with caveats, from Hammett's/Huston's The Maltese Falcon!
It may only be the MGM atmosphere, but it's the only knock-off I've seen that one could confuse for an actual, if later, Thin Man. Melvyn Douglas is fine, and it's interesting to see him try to do a William Powell impression yet change it up enough--but the lovely Florence Rice does a pitch-perfect Myrna Loy impression, and I believe she's better at it than Douglas is at Powell. A big problem with Miss Rice's performance, though, has nothing to do with her and everything to do with the writers, who gave her just about nothing to do. At the very least, Nora was off doing something with Nick, even if he were trying divers means to keep her away. The point is, of course, that Nick doesn't want to do detective work and Nora pushes him to it. Here, the fact that Joel Sloane wants to do the detective work keeps Garda from having a stronger character. Anyway... Still quite a fun movie. I'm happy I saw it. It's available on TCM screening, but only until Wednesday. Anyone else seen this one?
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Post by shield on Apr 8, 2017 21:35:51 GMT
I haven't seen Fast Company but since I recently watched all of The Thin Man films after reading so much about them here by you, among others, I'm gonna try to watch it. Thanks for another tip! Hmm, now to just find the time for all the movies I wanna watch.....
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 8, 2017 22:05:38 GMT
I haven't seen Fast Company but since I recently watched all of The Thin Man films after reading so much about them here by you, among others, I'm gonna try to watch it. Thanks for another tip! Hmm, now to just find the time for all the movies I wanna watch..... Well, it's not as good as The Thin Man, but it is still quite fun. What did you think of all the Thin Man movies, by the way? I think they're great, as you know.
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Sophomore
Reading is to the mind what excercise is to the body
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Posts: 776
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Post by shield on Apr 8, 2017 22:38:10 GMT
I haven't seen Fast Company but since I recently watched all of The Thin Man films after reading so much about them here by you, among others, I'm gonna try to watch it. Thanks for another tip! Hmm, now to just find the time for all the movies I wanna watch..... Well, it's not as good as The Thin Man, but it is still quite fun. What did you think of all the Thin Man movies, by the way? I think they're great, as you know. I thought that William Powell and Myrna Loy were excellent together and enjoyed all of the 6 films very much. The first and second were the best and 3, 4 and 5 were close behind. The weakest imo were nr 6 (Song of the Thin Man). Their wit and chemistry are perfect and thanks to the thread with a poll about all of the other movies they played together apart from Thin Man I have more to check out. imdb2.freeforums.net/thread/5368/top-william-powell-myrna-moviesTried your TCM-link and it seems I can't watch it here in Sweden. Will keep an eye out for it elsewhere. Next on my watchlist is The Ghost Breakers (1940) which I'm guessing isn't a whodunit-kind of film! This is another title I picked up in another thread here and got interested in. Invaluable to get all these great inspirations from all you guys.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 8, 2017 22:41:45 GMT
Well, it's not as good as The Thin Man, but it is still quite fun. What did you think of all the Thin Man movies, by the way? I think they're great, as you know. I thought that William Powell and Myrna Loy were excellent together and enjoyed all of the 6 films very much. The first and second were the best and 3, 4 and 5 were close behind. The weakest imo were nr 6 (Song of the Thin Man). Their wit and chemistry are perfect and thanks to the thread with a poll about all of the other movies they played together apart from Thin Man I have more to check out. imdb2.freeforums.net/thread/5368/top-william-powell-myrna-moviesTried your TCM-link and it seems I can't watch it here in Sweden. Will keep an eye out for it elsewhere. Next on my watchlist is The Ghost Breakers (1940) which I'm guessing isn't a whodunit-kind of film! This is another title I picked up in another thread here and got interested in. Invaluable to get all these great inspirations from all you guys. So nice to hear that you enjoyed them too! The first is one of my very favorite movies. Sorry that the TCM link doesn't work in Sweden. No worries, though: Fast Company is fun, but it's nowhere near the quality or infectious joy of the Thin Man movies. The Ghost Breakers is a great deal of fun as well, so it's a good choice for the next movie on your watchlist! Salzmank
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 12, 2017 16:28:54 GMT
No idea if anyone's interested, but here's another whodunit I've seen recently... The Night of the Party, directed by Michael Powell in his salad days and starring Ernest Thesiger (most famous as Dr. Pretorius in James Whale's hilarious Bride of Frankenstein). There's a grand, animated, vivacious, dotty, juicy (any more adjectives I can come up with?) performance from Thesiger--he's the best thing about the movie, and (of what I've seen) I'd place this performance right under his work for Whale. The sequences at the party itself, and the suspense of the murder game, are admirably portrayed by Powell--very good and well-done. Thesiger's sudden appearance with the gun is both clever and funny. The plotting is intriguing, though I never had much doubt as to the identity of the murderer. (Well, I had a trifle of a doubt: I thought they might go the route of making the police commissioner, Sir John what's-his-name [motive: to protect his daughter's honor], the murderer, but then I said, "Nah," and went back to my original choice, which was correct.) In particular, the murder game business is better than 99% of examples of this trope--see, for example, its nadir in Ngaio Marsh's first book, A Man Lay Dead--and, as strange as this opinion may be, the plotting has some curious similarities with The Last of Sheila (in particular, the scene set in the ruined abbey)! Unlike in the case of Remember Last Night?, which I believe Sondheim and Perkins must have seen (or at least known about) before making Sheila, I'll chock off these similarities to a coincidence, but it still amuses me. My only real criticism is that it ends far too abruptly after the murderer's hilarious confession speech. P.S. Nowadays, it's an extremely rare film--it has never been on DVD or even VHS--but it's on YouTube at the moment. I don't know how long it will be there, though.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 18, 2017 3:03:33 GMT
If no one's interested, please let me know (you won't hurt my feelings, honestly! ), but does anyone have an interest in my posting an argument I've been writing about Billy Wilder here? I'm writing it in this thread because it has to do with the intersection between Wilder's film and traditional puzzle-plotting, which I've praised here because this thread is about whodunits. Anyone?
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 19, 2017 16:12:43 GMT
No idea if anyone's interested, but here's another whodunit I've seen recently... The Night of the Party, directed by Michael Powell in his salad days and starring Ernest Thesiger (most famous as Dr. Pretorius in James Whale's hilarious Bride of Frankenstein). There's a grand, animated, vivacious, dotty, juicy (any more adjectives I can come up with?) performance from Thesiger--he's the best thing about the movie, and (of what I've seen) I'd place this performance right under his work for Whale. The sequences at the party itself, and the suspense of the murder game, are admirably portrayed by Powell--very good and well-done. Thesiger's sudden appearance with the gun is both clever and funny. The plotting is intriguing, though I never had much doubt as to the identity of the murderer. (Well, I had a trifle of a doubt: I thought they might go the route of making the police commissioner, Sir John what's-his-name [motive: to protect his daughter's honor], the murderer, but then I said, "Nah," and went back to my original choice, which was correct.) In particular, the murder game business is better than 99% of examples of this trope--see, for example, its nadir in Ngaio Marsh's first book, A Man Lay Dead--and, as strange as this opinion may be, the plotting has some curious similarities with The Last of Sheila (in particular, the scene set in the ruined abbey)! Unlike in the case of Remember Last Night?, which I believe Sondheim and Perkins must have seen (or at least known about) before making Sheila, I'll chock off these similarities to a coincidence, but it still amuses me. My only real criticism is that it ends far too abruptly after the murderer's hilarious confession speech. P.S. Nowadays, it's an extremely rare film--it has never been on DVD or even VHS--but it's on YouTube at the moment. I don't know how long it will be there, though. Unfortunately, The Night of the Party has now been removed from YouTube. I knew the copyright people would catch up with it eventually, but it's such a rare film that it was nice to see it on there even for a little while.
Nope, strike that! I found another copy of it on YouTube here.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 20, 2017 3:49:38 GMT
Please have at it, Salzmank. It would be very interesting, I'm sure. Or do you think it would be better as a thread unto its own? Do whatever you think's best. Thanks, Spider. I really wouldn't have minded if someone said, "Nah, not really interested"; it's just the not knowing that bothered me. I can post in another thread, but I'm not sure if everyone would be interested... On the other hand, it's long enough that I think that may be the best option. Thanks again.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 30, 2017 4:38:51 GMT
By the way, I just noticed that one of the most fun '30s whodunits, The Phantom of Crestwood, is currently available on TCM streaming—until May 4. Very difficult to get to see, so if anyone's interested...
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 30, 2017 19:22:16 GMT
By the way, has anyone else here seen The Phantom of Crestwood?
If anyone has seen it, or hasn't but gets a chance to see it here through the TCM streaming link that I highlighted above, please let me know. I'm interested in exchanging thoughts.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 2, 2017 4:03:36 GMT
Well, no one has responded, but I just finished re-watching it, and it's a swell picture, much better than I first thought. I love the dark-and-stormy night atmosphere, Ricardo Cortez is a fine detective (especially for a gangster--Farnsbarns!), and the much-praised wipe-pans flashback gimmick is indeed superb. I suppose I was disappointed at first because I was expecting a surprising puzzle-plot--not that I expect it with every mystery film, by any means (to the contrary!), but rather because so many puzzle-plot fans have praised it. Well, it doesn't have one, but that's OK. (The murderer's identity isn't particularly surprising, and there aren't many clues, but there is some decent detective work, especially regarding the dart. The motive, connected to the one in the Death in Paradise episode "Wicked Wedding Night" and the Ellery Queen episode "The Sinister Scenario," is absolutely brilliant, also. Unfortunately, though, it's more glossed over than in those examples, where it supplies the main puzzle.)
The characters are delightful, particularly Karen Morley's gold digging Jenny Wren (and the very pretty Anita Louise is a peach--I think she's my early-'30s movie crush!); Cortez's assistants are also very funny. The picture is very well-filmed and entertaining--and appropriately eerie, with shadows everywhere. The fog-draped exteriors at the end are wonderful --and the murderer's demise equally so. I highly recommend it.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 2, 2017 14:03:24 GMT
OK, if not The Phantom of Crestwood (and I'm still hoping that someone else is interested--it's a good movie), has anyone here seen 1932's Night Club Lady (dir. Irving Cummings)? I haven't seen it--never been able to find a copy--but it has also been recommended to me as an above-par '30s mystery movie.
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Post by claudius on May 2, 2017 19:46:14 GMT
I remember CRESTWOOD back when American Movie Classics showed the 30s/40s/50s era films. I remember the cinematography's quick turns to note flashback, the Phantom itself with the death mask (foreshadows of SCREAM?), the candlestick striking notes in my old CLUE fanboyism, and the culprit's death. I finally got to see the full film on TCM, and later taped it in 2013.
How about TOPPER RETURNS? I remember that one when Nick at Nite broadcast PD films in the late 1980s.
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Post by Nalkarj on May 2, 2017 20:49:03 GMT
I remember CRESTWOOD back when American Movie Classics showed the 30s/40s/50s era films. I remember the cinematography's quick turns to note flashback, the Phantom itself with the death mask (foreshadows of SCREAM?), the candlestick striking notes in my old CLUE fanboyism, and the culprit's death. I finally got to see the full film on TCM, and later taped it in 2013. How about TOPPER RETURNS? I remember that one when Nick at Nite broadcast PD films in the late 1980s. Whew, thanks for responding, Claudius! (And, yes, now I know we're talking Graves, not Shakespeare! ) Nice to know I'm not the only person who's seen this little gem! Did you like it when you finally got to see the whole thing? It's definitely one of my favorite (film) whodunits of the '30s. Ashamed to say I haven't seen any of the Topper pictures, actually. (No, not even the first!) Is Topper Returns good?
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Post by claudius on May 3, 2017 9:06:07 GMT
Considering I went to the trouble of programming my VCR to record it, I felt it a worthy picture. I also like the 'murder in a dark mansion' genre.
TOPPER RETURNS, the last of the films, is pretty good. Joan Blondell plays the wise-cracking friend of a heiress (Carole Landis) of a dark mansion who gets murdered in her place and gets the help of Topper, not to mention his household (Billie Burke's wife, Eddie Anderson's black valet, and Patsy Kelly's housekeeper) to solve the case. Billie Burke returns as the ditsy wife (she phones the police: "Oh yes, there's been a murder. Yes. Capital M-u-r-d-e-r. Murder.").
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Post by Nalkarj on May 7, 2017 23:21:44 GMT
Based on some thinking and my comments here, I have now put The Phantom of Crestwood on my list of favorite whodunits; and honesty compels me to note it here. (By the way, I'm still wondering if anyone here other than claudius and yours truly have seen Crestwood...) I'm still interested in everyone's list of favorite whodunits. Any changes, thoughts, new additions, etc.? Anyone who hasn't posted one who's interested?
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