Month: September 2014

EP1378: Easy Money: Football Pool Racket

Larry Haines

Mike Trent is forced to work for a football pool kingpin to find the truth of how multiple winning tickets are being cashed.

Original Air Date: October 3, 1954

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EP1377:The Saint: The Saint Goes Underground

Vincent Price
The Saint’s plane lays over for repairs in a small New Mexico town where everyone is hinting he should leave if he cares about his health.

Original Air Date: July 31, 1949

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Telefilm Review: The Big Four

The Big Four was described by Mark Gatiss, the writer who was charged with adapting it for television as, an “almost unadaptable mess.” Massive restructuring was required and much of the book’s plot was cut for the telefilm, but what remained was a solid and enjoyable mystery.

Most of the story feels like a bit of political thriller as a series of strange deaths occur, and a muckraking reporter believe it’s tied in to an international conspiracy known as “The Big Four” which also appears connected to the Peace Party. The solution takes the story in a different direction and I didn’t enjoy the last twenty minutes as much as what came before. But even that had its moments. My favorite was when the killer through Poirot’s comments that the killer was “theatrical” right back at the Belgian detective who does one of his most theatrical denouements ever.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable story. It wasn’t one of the best, but with great acting and a solid script by Mark Gatiss, this is definitely worth watching.

Rating: 4.00 out of 5.00

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EP1376: Dragnet: Production 9 (Benny Trousel)

Jack Webb

One of Romero and Friday’s informants is killed leaving a dying clue to the secret behind a new drug ring.

Original Air Date: August 4, 1949

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Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Mason Dixon Mismatch Matter (EP1375)

Bob Bailey
In a murder in Virginia, Johnny has to find out who a murdered woman: the daughter of the wealthy Mason family or the poor Dixon one.

Original Air Date: June 9, 1957

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EP1374: Nick Carter: The Case of the Poker Murders

Lon Clark

Nick looks into a series of daring robberies committed by a criminal who leaves a playing card as his calling card.

Original Air Date: May 21, 1946

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EP1373: Philip Marlowe: The Green Flame

Gerald Mohr
Marlowe has to find a dead columnist got a story that landed his magazine in court for libel.

Original Air Date: March 26, 1949

 

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EP1372: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The William Post Matter

John Lund

Johnny investigates the murder of an insured woman.

Original Air Date: September 22, 1953

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EP1371: The Saint: Gangster District Attorney

Vincent Price

The Saint looks for the truth behind the rackets after a friend is murdered while investigate them

Original Air Date: October 15, 1947

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A Note Regarding Video Theater Episodes

Unexpectedly, Blip.TV, who had been hosting all of our videos that we used for our monthly video episodes, deleted our accounts because we were just posting videos without adding any commentary.

At any rate, this month’s current episode is posted and further, all prior episodes will be restored starting with the earliest videos that were posted prior to us using Blip as these videos are already on our servers. The rest will follow over the next few days. Please patient as it will require uploading and downloading videos which does take time.

Book Review: The Greek Coffin Mystery

This book while not the first Ellery Queen book ever published is chronologically the earliest Queen novel. The thing to understand about Ellery Queen is that unlike Nero Wolfe, Philip Marlowe, or Father Brown, there’s not a whole lot of characters or wisdom to be garnered beyond the mystery, but when the mystery is good, it carries the rest of the book.

Such is the case here. A  man dies and the latest version of his will is missing. A murder soon follows The book proceeds according to typical plan as Ellery ever the know it all detective and sets out to solve the case. This is Ellery’s first case chronologically even though there’d been other Ellery Queen books. Ellery had some good guesses particularly figuring out that the new will was located in the coffin of the testator. However, then Ellery delivers a brilliant summation of who the murderer is that is irrefutable–only for him to be shown wrong. At the point, I was definitely hooked.

Of course, this is one of three false solutions in the case and not all are proffered by Ellery. This is a book that keeps your mind engaged all the way through and has a quite shocking conclusion. Overall, this is a superb puzzle mystery.

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EP1370: Dragnet: Production 8 (aka: The Big Missing)

Jack Webb
A woman from Utah calls to report her daughter missing and Friday and Remero set out to find the missing girl by Christmas.

Original Air Date: July 28, 1949

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EP1369: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Loss of Memory Matter

Bob Bailey
Johnny suffers a bout of amnesia in a car crash and a scheming relative for a man he’s delivering merchandise for tries to take advantage.

Original Air Date: June 2, 1957

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EP1368: Nick Carter: The Case of the Little Old Ladies

Lon Clark

When searching for a witness, Waldo is held at gunpoint and tied up by two little old ladies. Carter finds out what’s behind their behavior.

Original Air Date: April 23, 1946

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EP1367: Philip Marlowe: The Dancing Hands

Gerald Mohr

Philip Marlowe is hired by a twin sister in a piano sister act to investigate a man.

Original Air Date: March 19, 1949

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