Month: January 2014

EP1171: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Open Town Matter, Part Five and Kudos for Khan (PT 4)

Bob Bailey

Everyone’s called away from the hospital bed of the one man who could reveal the truth about the police chief’ s murder.

Original Air Date: July 27, 1956

Joe Khan faces death in Duluth.

Original Air Date: 1958

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EP1170: Nick Carter: The Funeral Wreath

Lon Clark
Nick’s only clue to a murderer’s identity is a funeral wreath.

Original Air Date: October 29, 1944

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EP1169: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Open Town Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey
Johnny doesn’t know who to trust as he investigates the murder of a police chief with a wife who left a trail of broken hearts.

Original Air Dates: July 25 and 26, 1956

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EP1168: The Casebook of Gregory Hood: The Murder of Gregory Hood

Gale Gordon

Gregory Hood receives multiple death threats and after one close call, he decides to play dead while he solves his own murder.

Original Air Date: June 17, 1946

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EP1167: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Open Town Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny investigates the murder of a police chief in a crooked town.

Original Air Dates: July 23 and 24, 1956

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EP1166: The Line Up: The Modern Sounds Case

William Johnstone

Guthrie investigates the murder of a car hop.

Original Air Date: November 19, 1952

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Book Review: Too Many Clients

In Too Many Clients, Archie is asked by a man named Thomas Yeager to find out if anyone is following him and gives him an address in a poor part of town. However, the man turns out to be Yeager and the real Yeager’s body is found near the address, Archie visits it and is shocked to find a very elaborately designed love nest.

Archie and Wolfe have a mystery on their hands and the “client” who hired them set them up to discover the body and they have to get to the bottom of who hired them and who committed the murder and pick up multiple several offered clients, many of whom want to suppress the existence of a very embarrassing room.

Overall, this was a very well-crafted later Wolfe mystery with a wide range of suspects, a great premise, and some solid scenes in the Brownstone. It doesn’t quite deliver those little human touches that the very best Wolfe’s do, but I still highly recommend it.

Rating: Satisfactory

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EP1165: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Star of Capetown Matter, Part Five and Kudos for Khan (PT 3)

Bob Bailey

Johnny goes ashore and finds danger in his search for the Star of Capetown.

Original Air Date: July 20, 1956

Joe Khan is caught by gangsters as he searches for a missing woman.

Original Air Date: 1958

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EP1164: Nick Carter: Murder on Mad Mountain

Lon Clark
Nick investigates the mysterious deaths of an opera singer, her maid, and the breakman.

Original Air Date: October 22, 1944

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EP1163: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Star of Capetown Matter, Parts Three and Four

Bob Bailey

After being temporarily weigh laid Johnny gets on board the ship containing one of thieves of the Star of Capetown.

Original Air Dates: July 18 and 19, 1956

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EP1162: The Casebook of the Gregory Hood: The Black Museum

Gale Gordon

Gregory Hood Importers acquires a ceremonial sacrificial dagger and then receives a death threat from a woman claiming to be an Aztec priestess.

Original Air Date: June 10, 1946

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EP1161: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Star of Capetown Matter, Parts One and Two

Bob Bailey

Johnny goes to Capetown to convince a wealthy playboy to secure his $150,000 necklace but the necklace is stolen and a murder occurs.

Original Air Dates: July 16 and 17, 1956

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DVD Review: The George Sanders Saint Movie Collection

The Saint, created by Leslie Charteris, hit movie theaters in 1938 with Louis Heyward in the title role. George Sanders took over in 1939 and played the Saint in five films.  This Warner Archives collection collects all five films on a two DVD set.

The films, are somewhat above average B movie fare. The Saint is a figure who walks very close to the edge of the law and is as often hunted by the police as he is the hunter of criminals. Each film includes the Saint teaming up with some recently formed though not all too bright criminal.

The films really work thanks to Sander’s debonair portrayal of the Saint as well as some great supporting characters in the typical roles of police, sidekick, and leading lady.  In four of the five films Jonathan Hale plays the affable and sympathetic Inspector Fernack who is often torn between his sense of duty and his friendship for the Saint and also serves as a comic foil.  Paul Guifoyle plays a criminal who reforms in The Saint Takes Over and then appears as the same character who is now a house detective in The Saint in Palm Springs.  Finally, Wendy Barrie plays three different female leads in the first, fourth, and fifth films.

With that said, here are my thoughts on each film>

The Saint Strikes Back: The Saint helps a female mob boss escape from the scene of a shooting, then flies back to New York to contact Inspector Fernack and get him out to San Francisco with many in San Francisco wanting Fernack to come out any way because it’s suspected the Saint’s involved in the murder. The Saint tries to ensure justice is done and to reform the female mob boss who became a crime boss after she believed her father was framed for murder. The plot’s a bit convulted but really it’s a well executed and tight story that that wraps up nicely in a little more than hour.  Grade: B+

The Saint in London:  The Saint returns to London, hires a pickpocket as a valet, and then is called into a case by an old friend that involves kidnapping, embezzlement, and of course, murder. This is just a very fun movie. Sally Gray is great as the adventurous female lead. David Burns is good as the Saint’s sidekick, Dugan and Gordon Macleod does very well as Inspector Claude Teal of Scotland Yard. This was just a solid film overall. Grade: A-

The Saint’s Double Trouble:  Easily the weakest of Sanders’ five films as the Saint has a double who happens to be a crime boss. The film does have some good moments, but in most places the movie seems kind of forced and silly and not in a good way.  Bela Lugosia can’t even save this one.   In addition, the casting of the film’s heroine and sidekick were the worst of the series. Grade: C-

The Saint Takes Over:  With Fernack framed for murder, the Saint once again journeys through the New York underworld but finds himself as a race against crime as potential witnesses who can save Fernack keep dying off. This film also presents the Saint with the toughest dilemma in his career and perhaps most downbeat ending in the series. Grade: A

The Saint in Palm Springs: Fernack asks the Saint to guard a $200,000 postage stamp for a friend and deliver it to Palm Springs. The friend is killed but the Saint is determined to ensure the stamp  reaches the dead man’s heir. The Saint goes to Palm Springs determined to deliver the stamp and reveal the characters. Overall, this was a fun suspense story with something as tiny as a postage being the desired object, it was always a question as to where it was and who had it, as well as whodunit. The Saint shows a lot of cleverness, unfortunately he also shows a lot of stupidity as he exposes himself and others to unnecessary peril. Still, this was entertaining with a great reveal at the end. Grade: B

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Overall, this was a very enjoyable collection and a great opportunity to see George Sanders at his best.  While the films aren’t perfect, they are really enjoyable.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

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EP1160: The Line Up: The Buggered Bunco Boys

William Johnstone

Guthrie investigates a series of con jobs done on grieving families.

Original Air Date:  November 12, 1952

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EP1159: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Midas Touch Matter, Part Five and Kudos for Khan (PT 2)

Bob Bailey

Johnny has found the killers but he’s staring down the barrel of a gun.

Original Air Date: July 6, 1956

The missing person Joe Khan’s investigating gets richer—by $200,000.

Original Air Date: 1958

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