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Post by Richard Kimble on Jan 4, 2018 2:56:11 GMT
The Adventure of Auld Lang SyneWhile no one would claim this episode has all that great of a puzzle plot (the dying clue, while clever, is patently ridiculous, and it's the only clue), the atmosphere is superb, feeling exactly like '40s New Year's Eve parties that movies from the era have recorded. There is great fun in the countdown to midnight, when Insp. Queen will be forced to let the suspects go, and as Ellery is stuck in exceedingly silly situations to arrive at the party, solve the mystery, and make up with his girlfriend. (The first instance of a perpetual whim of the writers, giving Ellery different girlfriends as the series progresses.) The suspects are continually at each other's throats, building cases against each other, as in a Christianna Brand story, and the actors playing them, among whom Joan Collins is the most recognizable, are having tons of fun it with it. Guy Lombardo also cameos as himself; seeing all these famous faces is always a delight with this series. David Wayne is also having a good time as the principal investigator, as Ellery is continually trying and failing to get there until the very end. I've watched a few EQ's recently via Archive.org "The Adventure of Auld Lang Syne" Directed by David Greene Written by Peter S. Fischer Suspects:Joan Collins David Doyle Farley Granger Charles Robinson Barbara Rush Ray Walston Victim:Thayer David I can't match the previous remarks about this episode, especially regarding the technical aspects of mystery writing, so I'll just say that this is a very entertaining episode, but a curious choice to start off with, as star Jim Hutton is absent from the main action for most of the running time. He doesn't even interact with the suspects until the very end. Herb Edelman is a colorfully helpful cab driver (didn't he play one in Barefoot In The Park? IIRC he drove one in real life as well), while George Wyner, an expert in making even the smallest role memorable, is the recipient of the victim's last phone call. Thayer David, strangely unbilled, is the victim investigated by one of literature's great sleuths. Just a few months later he would get to play a great sleuth himself, in Frank Gilroy's excellent Nero Wolfe TV pilot. Unfortunately that would be one of his final roles, as he died shortly afterward. A publicity photo taken on the party set. Note the absence of Jim Hutton -- not really a great idea to send out publicity photos w/o your star. Nice to see Thayer David smiling here, as he continually scowled in most of his roles (and this EQ was no exception).
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Post by Richard Kimble on Jan 4, 2018 21:40:14 GMT
The Adventure of the Chinese DogNot only is the appearance of Wrightsville a joy for the EQ fan, and not only is the episode quite hilarious (e.g., Insp. Queen's repeated attempts to go fishing, hindered by the murder investigation!), but there is exceptionally clever plotting. The murderer's identity is not too difficult to figure out, but this person's motive is absolutely brilliant--and very possibly sui generis, for I've never seen it in any other detective story before or since. Also, the writers have apparently been reading Queen's novels closely, for we not only incorporate Wrightsville but also utilize the "Ellery interrupts a marriage ceremony" scenario (what this website calls "the showdown at the wedding bit"), which Queen-the-author used in There Was an Old Woman and Face to Face. "The Adventure of the Chinese Dog" Directed by Ernest Pintoff Written by Robert Van Scoyk Suspects:Orson Bean Geraldine Brooks Katherine Crawford Murray Hamilton Eugene Roche Robert Hogan Jerry Fogel Victim:Robert F. Simon This episode's guest cast is rather less starry than most others, and I must say I found Eugene Roche rather weak as the sheriff. Imagine what a lively character actor like Neville Brand could have done with the role of an overbearing campaigner. If you're wondering how the bland ingenue got cast, she's the daughter of producer Roy Huggins (Maverick, The Fugitive) and wife of Universal bigwig Frank Price. Not having read the Queen books I'm not really familiar w/the place of Wrightsville in the canon. I'll just say that I got a Mayberry vibe, w/the sheriff/deputy scenes and even the presence here of Hal Smith (Otis the town drunk on TAGS). This is an episode that can be solved fairly early on, if you're paying attention. I can't recall anyone else ever using this plot device either. It all hinges on the dog simply being placed in a cabinet at the jail instead of a vault in the town bank. Hard to believe that could happen, but then this is an EQ episode, not real life. Inspector Queen finally gets his shot at the big fish, while his son relaxes by reading about Great American Murders. Ellery's busman's holiday has only begun...
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Post by Nalkarj on Jan 4, 2018 23:30:03 GMT
Thanks for your analysis for each episode, Richard Kimble! As for “The Chinese Dog,” I don’t really mind Eugene Roche as the sheriff, though I agree another actor could have done more with what was given him. Wrightsville in the books (beginning with Calamity Town and ending with The King is Dead) is very well-portrayed—one of the most convincing parts of the Queen canon, in fact—and, in fact, nothing like Mayberry, which may be why so many fans object. With that said, I find the portrayal here fun, even if not faithful to the source (a criterion, I should note, that I don’t especially value). I’m surprised that the motive is sui generis, as I would have thought some mystery writer would have come up with it before. I still think it very clever indeed.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Feb 3, 2018 14:44:44 GMT
It always amused me why, if the writers wanted a female lead, they didn't just use the character of Nikki Porter from the books (and radio show)? She's Ellery's secretary-girlfriend, and she's a very perky, likable character. Great for a film or TV adaptation, but no EQ adaptation outside of the radio series has ever used her. I've no idea why.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Feb 3, 2018 15:19:02 GMT
"The Adventure of the Pharaoh's Curse" Written by Peter S. Fischer, from a story by Rudolph Borchert Directed by Seymour Robbie Suspects:June Lockhart Ross Martin Nehemiah Persoff Wallace Rooney Joel Stedman Nedra Deen Victim:Simon Oakland The mummy episode, complete with rich grave robber, condescending museum honcho, and Egyptian archaeologist warning of a curse to all those who defile the pharaoh's tomb. An entertaining episode, although the solution is disappointing in that the murderer is not one of the name guest stars. This irritates me whenever it's done, and it probably annoyed a lot of viewers at the time If you have trouble figuring out the clues here, even the show's creators sometimes had problems in that area. As William Link wrote in his memoirs: "Thinking back, the Queen series was too complicated for its own good. I remember spending an entire afternoon with Dick trying to figure how keys on a keychain would fall into what configuration in one's pocket when placed there." Once again the producers try out a female sidekick for Ellery; this time it's a stenographer (to whom he dictates his latest novel), played by Nancy Belle Fuller (hitherto unknown to me; she has a handful of early '70s credits and disappears from the IMDb by the end of the decade). She kinda overacts and thus has no real chemistry with Hutton at all; that may be the director's fault as much as hers. John Laroquette, who I believe had just gone to Hollywood the year before, has a bit part as a hotel bellhop. Ellery and Simon Brimmer actually team up in this episode, and Brimmer has perhaps my favorite moment -- in the coda, when he learns that his solution is wrong yet again. John Hillerman's deadpan reaction is classic. Ellery teams with Simon Brimmer to solve The Pharaoh's Curse
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Post by Nalkarj on Feb 3, 2018 15:39:50 GMT
It always amused me why, if the writers wanted a female lead, they didn't just use the character of Nikki Porter from the books (and radio show)? She's Ellery's secretary-girlfriend, and she's a very perky, likable character. Great for a film or TV adaptation, but no EQ adaptation outside of the radio series has ever used her. I've no idea why. I stand corrected. And I’ve seen that movie, too!
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Post by deembastille on Feb 3, 2018 16:04:20 GMT
no but i knew it was a show. the first instance i heard it was from are you being served? in the Oh What a Tangled Web episode.
they mention it later on, at about 21:00in.
that would be the best Ellery to send for...
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Post by Nalkarj on Mar 11, 2018 22:43:55 GMT
I recently watched “The Adventure of the Wary Witness,” which is very good indeed but not, I think, in the upper echelon. While it has some decent one-liners (including a very funny one about Harry Truman that David Wayne skillfully shoots off early on), it’s more serious and sober than most episodes, as befits the material. (Amusingly enough, though, Ellery is at his most Columbo-ish here, with repeated “excuse me”s and “just one more thing”s.) While most sources (myself included, above) put “The Mad Tea-Party” down as the only EQ episode based on an actual EQ story, the main outline of the plot here is fairly faithful to Queen’s “The Case Against Carroll,” with names changed—though the details (and clues) are very different. Sadly, most of the cast (including Cesar Romero and Dick Sargent) have little to do—except for Michael Constantine’s Leo Campbell, a curious cross between Mr. Haney and Clarence Darrow. In spite of a rather brilliant central clue, Ellery’s reasoning is a bit too shaky, recalling Mrs. Fletcher’s “ I never said it was poison” at times. While this show never gave tons of clues, the plots are usually logically sound. With that said, my main problem with the episode is not detectival but dramatic: it’s rather shocking that Ellery lets his old college friend confess and be sent either to the Electric Chair or to life-in-prison, especially when, of all killers in this show, this guy is the most sympathetic. Even if Ellery believes firmly in justice above all, he should have at least urged his pal to confess in private or something, not blurted it out in open court.
As if that weren’t enough, Constantine’s folksy-but-intelligent attorney is the other killer (which is surprisingly unsurprising)—something completely at odds with his character up to that point. I’ve got no problem with least-likely culprits—to the contrary—but they have to be logically set up and inevitable, and to be in line with their character. Turning sweet old Mrs. DuPré into a cold-blooded fiend in the last chapter, without any build-up or preparation, simply does not convince. Very good indeed, as I wrote, but still not great.
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Post by ellynmacg on Apr 25, 2018 18:00:58 GMT
Salzmank, I wasn't ignoring you; I just hadn't got around to this particular forum yet, being busy with not only the movie fora but also with a number of personal and familial challenges--I came over here because I just recently started watching re-runs of WKRP in Cincinnati (which barely qualifies as a '70's series, having premiered in '78). First, let me say a giant thank you for introducing this thread! I love, love, love this show (as did my whole family), and I have never forgiven the powers that be (were?) at NBC for their shoddy treatment of this wonderful program. I seem to remember crying in disappointment, frustration, and anger when it was canceled...although I can't say I was surprised. As Milton Berle (of all people!) described the series at a roast--of Jim Hutton, I think--"the only [series] that's listed in the TV Guide in pencil." That was a large part of the problem: the way EQ was shuffled around, how could it hope to develop a loyal (and large) viewership? Well, obviously, it's had its loyalists--such as a number of the posters here--but it was never able to build the audience, and thereby high ratings, that would have assured its renewal. Well, anyway, now I'm here (albeit more than a year after you started this thread), and I hope my post, by bumping the thread up to the top, will help to capture or re-capture some interest. Thanks again!
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 26, 2018 1:03:27 GMT
You’re very welcome, ellynmacg, and my apologies for not seeing and responding to your post sooner. It’s a very fun show, and the Hutton-Wayne chemistry is great; one can really believe they’re father and son. It is disappointing that NBC cancelled it, but it’s neat that a few of the scripts made their way (slightly revised, of course) to Murder, She Wrote (“We’re Off to Kill the Wizard,” “Murder Takes the Bus,” especially “The Grand Old Lady”) and The Eddie Capra Mysteries—though, of course, neither show is quite as good as EQ. MSW manages to be endearing (if slightly twee), and Eddie Capra manages to be well-plotted, but only EQ manages both, and that’s a definite accomplishment.
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