The Thirteenth Chair
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greenbudgie — 9 years ago(January 18, 2017 02:12 AM)
'Spiral Staircase' is one of my favourite creepy old house movies. I would like to hear how Dorothy McGuire got round playing a mute girl on the radio.
I like the way that there were radio versions of 1940s movies. The only ones that I have heard to date is a couple recorded adaptations of 'The Uninvited' which is another favourite of the creepy house genre. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(January 18, 2017 06:51 PM)
Unfortunately, I can't remember which show that radio play is a part of. I always listen to radio plays on archive.org. However, a search for
The Spiral Staircase
(radio play) on youtube might get you results.
On archive.org, I heard several radio plays based on film thrillers:
Laura
(shortened script of the film, with most of the film actors starring in the radio play, too)
Sorry Wrong Number- the film is based on a radio play starring Agnes Moorehead. Later, the film script was shortened and recorded for radio, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers - a very shortened version of the film.
I think I also heard the radio play
The Uninvited
. I can't remember.
There's also a half-hour radio play
The Best Years of Our Lives
(obviously not a thriller).
Some of my faves are part of the
Suspense
series, written by John Dickson Carr.
Peter Lorre stars in two of them.
If you want to hear an inverted mystery with a brilliant ending, look up
Want Ad
(part of
Suspense
). Of all the ways that a criminal gets trapped in an inverted mystery, this one's my personal fave. Very highly recommended!
The radio play
Sorry Wrong Number
was written by Lucille Fletcher. Another Lucille Fletcher-Agnes Moorehead collaboration is the brilliant radio play
The Diary of Sophoronia Winters
. Terrific ending!
And one that's set in the Canadian wilderness:
A Terrible Night
, part of
The Weird Circle
series.
Jim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = - the film is based on a radio play starring Agnes Moorehead. Later, the film script was shortened and recorded for radio, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.
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greenbudgie — 9 years ago(January 19, 2017 01:52 AM)
I would love to hear the radio plays that you mentioned especially Peter Lorre in the 'Suspense' plays. I've heard that he can be heard singing from some other old radio programs.
Two radio plays of 'The Uninvited' were done, both with Ray Milland, in 1944 and 1949. Ruth Hussey is in the 1944 version of them. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(January 19, 2017 06:00 PM)
From
Suspense
(written by John Dickson Carr and starring Peter Lorre):
Till Death Do Us Part
The Devil's Saint
I absolutely adore those two radio plays!
Another great one from
Suspense
(also written by Carr):
Will You Make a Bet With Death?
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Suspense_Singles
Those three are near the top of the list. There's also
Want Ad
, which is an inverted mystery and the ending is absolutely brilliant. The crook gets what's coming to himin the best way possible!
I think I had mentioned the one from
The Weird Circle
, called
A Terrible Night
. Brilliant story set in the Canadian wilderness.
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Weird_Circle_Singles
From
Inner Sanctum
, hear
The Voice on the Wire
. Great ending!
https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Inner_Sanctum_Mysteries_SinglesJim Hutton (1934-79) & Ellery Queen = -
greenbudgie — 9 years ago(January 20, 2017 01:24 AM)
Thanks for the links to the radio plays available. There is an amazing wealth of actors from the Golden Age mentioned who have had at least one radio play performance.
I'm going to have to find my headphones for a listen to them. Probably beginning with Terrible Night from The Weird Circle series. -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(January 31, 2017 12:50 AM)
I watched a couple more of the 1930s Perry Mason films. I'd like to comment on all of them, which I have seen at least once.
The Case of the:
Howling Dog- absolutely brilliant movie. I didn't watch it tonight, but I've seen this one a number of times and I adore it. Fantastic mystery, and the adaptation is very faithful to the book (which I've read once a few years ago). This film is well paced, acted well, etc. It's not spoiled by all sorts of idiotic
Thin Man
-style humor.
Curious Bride - very poor, compared to
Howling Dog
. It's mostly spoiled by some idiotic humor which the filmmakers decided to throw into the story. I seem to recall trying to read this novel and it wasn't very interesting. I didn't bother with it tonight.
Lucky Legs - same as
Curious Bride
, except that I don't remember trying to read this novel. I skipped this one tonight as well.
Velvet Claws - An improvement over the last two films, although they could have left out the silly storyline about everyone getting a cold. It wasn't funny and it was certainly distracting. The story is decent enough, as is the book (which I've read). Mind you, I think it's much weaker than
Howling Dog
(which is likely Gardner's Perry Mason masterpiece). Interesting ending. I enjoyed watching this tonight.
Black Cat - Another one which I watched tonight. This time, Ricardo Cortez replaced Warren William as Perry Mason, and he did a good job in the role. This one's an interesting story. I would rank this as the second best in the series, but it's not nearly as interesting as
Howling Dog
(which is probably one of the best mystery stories ever written). Still, I like the complex ending of
Black Cat
. It reminds me a bit of
The Kennel Murder Case
.
Stuttering Bishop - I've seen this one once and found it very dull. I skipped it tonight. I don't even remember who the leading actor is in this one.
So I enjoyed both
Velvet Claws
and
Black Cat
tonight. I think it's the first time in two or three years that I've seen those movies. Very unlikely that I'll ever see
Lucky Legs
and
Curious Bride
again.
Proud to be Canadian! - absolutely brilliant movie. I didn't watch it tonight, but I've seen this one a number of times and I adore it. Fantastic mystery, and the adaptation is very faithful to the book (which I've read once a few years ago). This film is well paced, acted well, etc. It's not spoiled by all sorts of idiotic
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MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 01, 2017 12:37 AM)
Three from the 1930s:
Murder on the Campus
(1933): a female college student is the prime suspect in several murders. A journalist, who is in love with her, decides to try to solve the case. Enjoyable movie.
Murder in the Museum
(1934): a murder takes place at an event which is more of a 14-A rated show rather than a museum, and the real killer has to be found. I admit that, a couple of times now, I've had trouble getting through this film.
Murder by Television
(1935): an interesting look at very, very early television. A man is murdered while speaking on television. Always nice to see Bela Lugosi on the big screen.
I've enjoyed a number of retro-1930s mysteries, but it's also nice to see mysteries which were released in the 1930s - not just for the plots, but also for the genuine clothing, hairdos, and scenery of the time. No anachronisms. I know that some folks don't care about this, but I'm kinda fussy about this issue.Proud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 12:05 AM)
Two more from the 30s, with newspaper reporters as main characters:
Murder With Pictures
(1936): I admit that this one didn't appeal to me as much as it did when I last saw it a few years ago.
The 13th Man
(1937): This one's a great whodunit about an announcer who is about to reveal who killed a certain man. Before he gets the chance to do so on the air, he is murdered. It's up to a newspaper reporter to figure out which of the suspects is the culprit.
For these 1930s mysteries, check their IMDb home pages to see if the movie is posted there. It is, in some cases.Proud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 12:36 AM)
It's late, but I'm watching the 1932 mystery
The King Murder
, about a blackmailer who gets murdered. I seem to recall enjoying this one a couple of years ago, so I'm watching it again now.Proud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 09:08 PM)
It Couldn't Have Happened, but it did
(1936):
I've seen this one a few times. It's a bit confusing, but fun. I like the leading actors.
Let's just say that several people and several adjoining offices are factors in a murderProud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 02, 2017 10:34 PM)
Murder by the Clock
(1931):
creepy house and tomb/vault
an old matriarch with a lot of money
a
femme fatale
Can't go wrong with this combination.
EDIT: this film really isn't a whodunit, although it sure feels like one! I wrote more comments about this film on the film noir thread. I wanted to bring up the fact that this film has a
femme fatale
in it.Proud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 03, 2017 08:58 PM)
Since the boards are scheduled to be disabled in a couple of weeks or so, I'll just write a few final comments for those looking for classic mysteries.
First, get to know as many of the classic mystery authors as possible. Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Mignon Eberhart, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Stuart Palmer, Erle Stanley Gardner, Earl Derr Biggers, Stanley Ellin, John Dickson Carr, etc.
Then, look up their filmography.
Do online searches for the films, using key words like "murder" and "thirteen".
For books by these authors, don't expect to find too many in public libraries, unless the books are still in print. Try a nearby university library. If necessary, use the interlibrary loan feature where the books from these university libraries can be sent to your local library.
Good luck!Proud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 09, 2017 11:30 PM)
I'm hoping to watch all of the above in the next couple of days. I've seen them all before. Yup, these are from the 1930s:
Mystery Liner
Murder at Dawn
Murder at Glen Athol
The Thirteenth Guest
The Old Dark HouseProud to be Canadian! -
MsELLERYqueen2 — 9 years ago(February 11, 2017 02:14 AM)
Regarding some of these films: you'll find some of them on archive.org, where you can download them legally. Check their IMDb home pages. The links to the full movies are sometimes there.
Proud to be Canadian!