Mystery & Crime Series 30's & 40's (2 Viewers)

[Matt Hough]

The lacking quality is probably the reason it was held until the end.

 

[Mysto]

The lacking quality is probably the reason it was held until the end.

I suspect that's true. The quality isn't bad - it's just a few of the other Chan releases have been so nice. In some cases, it's been like watching new film.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched The Kennel Murder Case this evening. It doesn't look anywhere nearly as good as the three years older Bishop Murder Case. Warners really did next to nothing with this one leaving in all the dust, damage, scratches, reel cues, etc. Powell is terrific as Philo, of course, and he gets to play with a couple of actors who would show up during his Thin Man years: Ralph Morgan and Henry O'Neill. Good mystery, but this is one I had no trouble figuring out the villain though the path to the murders was a very circuitous one.

 

[Matt Hough]

In honor of the wonderful Patricia Morison, I watched Dressed to Kill on Blu-ray this afternoon. In addition to being a fun mystery (and sadly the last Holmes movie for Rathbone/Bruce), Morison looks stunning in a series of Vera West gowns and suits with a dazzling array of furs to complement each outfit. I didn't re-listen to her commentary since I've heard it several times; I wanted to concentrate on the qualities of the movie, and I enjoyed it once again (for the umpteenth time).

 

[Mysto]

Nancy Drew

Nancy Drew Detective
Nancy Drew Reporter
Nancy Drew Trouble Shooter
Nancy Drew – The Hidden Staircase

If Miss Marple and Andy Hardy had a baby it would be Nancy Drew. She is just so gosh darn bubbly, you just know she’s going to do a show for Uncle Sam. Remember the Nancy Drew novels were intended for kids and these movies are biased toward a younger 1930’s audience. But golly, I guess I’m a kid ‘cause I think these films are a hoot. The movies are brisk and lively with an emphasis on comedy and the relationship between characters over mystery. Nancy (Bonita Granville) is a teenager with a passion for detection and a bit of a con in her heart. Unlike the books, this Nancy is often an air head and gets herself in trouble. Her unwilling sidekick Ted (Frankie Thomas) almost always receives the brunt of her actions. There is a fair amount of slapstick – Ted falls – Ted gets hit – Ted… well you get the idea. Captain Tweedy (Frank Orth) – the police chief is an incompetent (not too uncommon in many of these 30’s & 40’s mysteries) and she has to work around him. Nancy’s father Carson Drew (John Litel) is a single parent and attorney. He is the adult guidance figure in the series who Nancy seldom listens to. If you are looking for brain numbing enigmas and murders, pass on these, but if you are OK with some light amusement surrounding an air of mystery, give these a try. I get pleasure out of watching these and I bet you $23.80 you will too.

Warner Archive has released a complete set of Nancy Drew Mysteries

Currently Nancy Drew Reporter is on Youtube and TCM airs them on a regular basis (Tomorrow they run all four)

This series has an intriguing rumor attached to it. There may have been a fifth movie that was never released. If true I doubt the footage exists now, but it is an exciting thought that a series from the 30’s could have a new episode.

The Nancy Drew series has continued, not only with revamped books, but a failed TV pilot, two TV series, a 2007 movie and a new movie scheduled for 2019.

 

[Vic Pardo]

If Miss Marple and Andy Hardy had a baby it would be Nancy Drew.

The mind boggles.

I found a picture that would be the more likely result, but it was too horrifying to post.

 

[Mysto]

The mind boggles.

I found a picture that would be the more likely result, but it was too horrifying to post.

Well I was thinking more detection and attitude.But when you put it that way - it is scary.

Actually Ms. Granville was very pleasing to the eyes and grew up nicely.

 

[Mysto]

Nancy Drew Detective

It’s an old story. Old lady wants to leave a quarter of a mil to school. Old lady leaves unexpectedly next day without leaving money. Authorities do nothing. Girl and guy go looking for her. Girl and guy find pigeon. Girl and guy follow pigeon. Girl and guy give police a false lead. Girl and guy figure out what they did wrong. Girl dresses as old lady and guy dresses up as nurse. Girl and guy get locked up in basement of sanitarium. Yea, another one of those. Oh, they save the day and the bad guys get caught in a nick of time.

This is the first outing of the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew movies, an entertaining romp into the teenage life in the 30’s. It’s just fun to see Ted and his interests and jobs. In this one he’s a Ham radio operator. (I used to watch Frankie Thomas as Tom Corbett Space Cadet when I was a kid)

It’s fun to see Nancy hiding in a rumble seat, heck it’s just fun to see a car with a rumble seat.

Sixty six minutes that go by quickly, I enjoyed it and my bride gave it a thumbs up.

The WA DVD is pretty good but at two points there are some real problems with the source material. They are brief but disruptive.

Wanted to add a credit. This lobby card came from www.doctormacro.com. Wonderful site with lots of high quality poster and lobby card scans. All free for private use. Check it out.

 

[Matt Hough]

I really loved Nancy's book adventures when I was a kid (even more than the Hardy Boys), but I didn't see these films until well into adulthood. Yeah, they're occasionally based on the books (Password to Larkspur Lane and The Hidden Staircase are the two most obvious books that I readily recognized when I watched the movies), but the movie Nancy and Ted/Ned are nothing like their literary counterparts, and Nancy's two best gal pals don't really figure into these movies.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I remember really enjoying these fun, fast-paced Nancy Drew movies back when they were first released as a 4-film set on DVD in 2007. I had borrowed the set from a friend and watched them all...Wish I would have bought my own copy back when it was cheap and not out-of-print. Thankfully, Warner Archive has come to the rescue once again.

Bonita Granville was cute and bubbly, if a tad annoying to her long-suffering boyfriend (I especially enjoyed Frankie Thomas' performance as the put-upon but reliable Ted.) You're right, Marv, strong mysteries these are not, but they are a lot of lively fun, and a nice time-capsule of the late 30s. It's been over a decade since I've seen them, but I seem to remember being most impressed with the fourth entry, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.

And yes, she grew up rather well.

 

[Mysto]

I remember really enjoying these fun, fast-paced Nancy Drew movies back when they were first released as a 4-film set on DVD in 2007. I had borrowed the set from a friend and watched them all...Wish I would have bought my own copy back when it was cheap and not out-of-print. Thankfully, Warner Archive has come to the rescue once again.

Bonita Granville was cute and bubbly, if a tad annoying to her long-suffering boyfriend (I especially enjoyed Frankie Thomas' performance as the put-upon but reliable Ted.) You're right, Marv, strong mysteries these are not, but they are a lot of lively fun, and a nice time-capsule of the late 30s. It's been over a decade since I've seen them, but I seem to remember being most impressed with the fourth entry, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase.

And yes, she grew up rather well.

Good Morning Jeff. And yet another chance for some cheesecake.
I agree - the hidden staircase may be the best. It is closer to the source material. The series ended because Ms. Granville left the studio - not because the movies weren't drawing. I think they were getting better.

 

[Matt Hough]

The Hidden Staircase was always my favorite book in the series even though it was the second one and there were dozens of follow-ups. I didn't watch the films on TCM last night, but I need to take my set off the shelf and rewatch them after I finish with the Philo Vance set I'm working on now.

 

[Matt Hough]

I couldn't help myself. WIth TCM presented the six Thin Man films tonight, I had to tune in and watch the first one "live." Always a joy to revisit.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I couldn't help myself. WIth TCM presented the six Thin Man films tonight, I had to tune in and watch the first one "live." Always a joy to revisit.

Cracks me up every time!

 

[Vic Pardo]

I watched TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN (1939) on TCM yesterday. One of my interests is the portrayal of Asians in Hollywood in decades past (TV westerns, in particular) and just last week I watched a Hopalong Cassidy movie, SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND (1941), with significant Asian participation and a plot about a Chinese community in a western town visited by Hoppy and some archaeologists. In light of this thread topic, I even did a blog entry about Asian Detectives in 1930s Hollywood, which I I posted a link to on the first page of this thread.

So, I approached TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN with some curiosity. As it stands, as far as I could tell, Torchy never goes to Chinatown at all, unless she did it in the first five minutes, which I missed because I tuned in late. Nor does anyone else in the film. There are only four Chinese characters with speaking parts, all small, only one of them in any way positive. That character is the unofficial "Mayor of Chinatown," played, ironically, by a Japanese actor, Tetsu Komai. Lt. McBride (Barton MacLane) enlists his help in the case, in which three explorers are targeted for murder by a Chinese secret society because one of them filched some burial tablets while on an expedition to China. McBride rails on about "Chinamen" and "Orientals" constantly, expressing casual racism quite openly, which must have jarred the Asians working on the film, including Victor Sen Yung, who plays an entertainer at a party in one scene. I doubt any of them told their family and friends to go see it, unlike, say, the cast of the aforementioned SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND, in which actress Soo Yong had what I believe to be the largest role of her Hollywood career and was certainly something to be proud of.

The mystery plot was pretty dumb and easily figured out. Good actors like Patrick Knowles and Henry O'Neill are caught up in this and dragged down by it. I found the banter between Glenda Farrell as Torchy and MacLane as McBride annoying and tiresome. And Tom Kennedy's doofus partner to McBride was unfunny and equally annoying. The whole Hollywood tradition of stupid cops in certain formulas just gets more unsettling the older I get

Sorry, Torchy fans, I just couldn't roll with it.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Cracks me up every time!

"Oh that's all right, we're married." The original The Thin Man is about as good as it gets.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I watched TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN (1939) on TCM yesterday. One of my interests is the portrayal of Asians in Hollywood in decades past (TV westerns, in particular) and just last week I watched a Hopalong Cassidy movie, SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND (1941), with significant Asian participation and a plot about a Chinese community in a western town visited by Hoppy and some archaeologists. In light of this thread topic, I even did a blog entry about Asian Detectives in 1930s Hollywood, which I I posted a link to on the first page of this thread.

So, I approached TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN with some curiosity. As it stands, as far as I could tell, Torchy never goes to Chinatown at all, unless she did it in the first five minutes, which I missed because I tuned in late. Nor does anyone else in the film. There are only four Chinese characters with speaking parts, all small, only one of them in any way positive. That character is the unofficial "Mayor of Chinatown," played, ironically, by a Japanese actor, Tetsu Komai. Lt. McBride (Barton MacLane) enlists his help in the case, in which three explorers are targeted for murder by a Chinese secret society because one of them filched some burial tablets while on an expedition to China. McBride rails on about "Chinamen" and "Orientals" constantly, expressing casual racism quite openly, which must have jarred the Asians working on the film, including Victor Sen Yung, who plays an entertainer at a party in one scene. I doubt any of them told their family and friends to go see it, unlike, say, the cast of the aforementioned SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND, in which actress Soo Yong had what I believe to be the largest role of her Hollywood career and was certainly something to be proud of.

The mystery plot was pretty dumb and easily figured out. Good actors like Patrick Knowles and Henry O'Neill are caught up in this and dragged down by it. I found the banter between Glenda Farrell as Torchy and MacLane as McBride annoying and tiresome. And Tom Kennedy's doofus partner to McBride was unfunny and equally annoying. The whole Hollywood tradition of stupid cops in certain formulas just gets more unsettling the older I get

Sorry, Torchy fans, I just couldn't roll with it.

Interesting take, Brian. I have the Warner Archive Torchy Blaine set, but have only watched the first film, Smart Blonde, which I found pacey and enjoyable. Haven't seen this entry, but I can sympathize with your wincing at the casual racism...it is off-putting to encounter it. Unfortunately, and as I'm sure you're aware, this wasn't particularly surprising for the time the film was made. The Hopalong Cassidy western you mention (which I really want to see now, after reading your comments on it) must have been pretty unusual for the time. And of course, such casual racism was directed at other ethnic groups as well. It's an inescapable fact one has to put up with when enjoying older movies, books, radio shows, pulps and related material. Where one's personal comfort level with such attitudes eventually falls is of course dependent on individual tastes.

I certainly am no expert on this issue, but it seems to me that it wasn't really until the late 50s / early 60s - particularly on television (an area which you cover extensively on your website) - when the treatment of Asians and other minorities started to become more nuanced as a matter of course, and we saw black characters, for example Bill Cosby's Scotty Robinson on I Spy or Greg Morris's Barney on Mission: Impossible, treated simply as characters, without any reference to their skin color. It seemed to take even longer before Asian characters got similar evenhanded treatment. (And even then, we still got such grotesque caricatures as Mickey Rooney's Japanese neighbor in Breakfast at Tiffany's, a worse offender than you probably witnessed in the Torchy Blaine film, I'd wager).

At least in the Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto films, and the (IMO lesser) Mr. Wong movies, the Asian detective - though played by a white actor - is always presented as the smartest person in the room by a country mile. And one of the pleasures of those movies is how the Asian detective (Sidney Toler's Chan is especially adept at this) manages to get some good, sly jabs in at a racist character's expense.

 

[Mysto]

I couldn't help myself. WIth TCM presented the six Thin Man films tonight, I had to tune in and watch the first one "live." Always a joy to revisit.

I avoided them on purpose. If I watched one - I would have stayed up for the lot. These have to be among the most "re-watchable" films in this genre.

 

[Mysto]

I watched TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN (1939) on TCM yesterday. One of my interests is the portrayal of Asians in Hollywood in decades past (TV westerns, in particular) and just last week I watched a Hopalong Cassidy movie, SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND (1941), with significant Asian participation and a plot about a Chinese community in a western town visited by Hoppy and some archaeologists. In light of this thread topic, I even did a blog entry about Asian Detectives in 1930s Hollywood, which I I posted a link to on the first page of this thread.

So, I approached TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN with some curiosity. As it stands, as far as I could tell, Torchy never goes to Chinatown at all, unless she did it in the first five minutes, which I missed because I tuned in late. Nor does anyone else in the film. There are only four Chinese characters with speaking parts, all small, only one of them in any way positive. That character is the unofficial "Mayor of Chinatown," played, ironically, by a Japanese actor, Tetsu Komai. Lt. McBride (Barton MacLane) enlists his help in the case, in which three explorers are targeted for murder by a Chinese secret society because one of them filched some burial tablets while on an expedition to China. McBride rails on about "Chinamen" and "Orientals" constantly, expressing casual racism quite openly, which must have jarred the Asians working on the film, including Victor Sen Yung, who plays an entertainer at a party in one scene. I doubt any of them told their family and friends to go see it, unlike, say, the cast of the aforementioned SECRETS OF THE WASTELAND, in which actress Soo Yong had what I believe to be the largest role of her Hollywood career and was certainly something to be proud of.

The mystery plot was pretty dumb and easily figured out. Good actors like Patrick Knowles and Henry O'Neill are caught up in this and dragged down by it. I found the banter between Glenda Farrell as Torchy and MacLane as McBride annoying and tiresome. And Tom Kennedy's doofus partner to McBride was unfunny and equally annoying. The whole Hollywood tradition of stupid cops in certain formulas just gets more unsettling the older I get

Sorry, Torchy fans, I just couldn't roll with it.

Hi Vic (Brian)- You and I have already talked a bit about this. Here's a bit more of my thoughts.
Well we could do this same argument in a western thread about white people playing native Americans. Welcome to America in the 30's and 40's (and the 50's and 60's). It is what it is. It's history - the studios did what was required to put butts in seats. Put people the public knew in the staring roles. Seen against todays morality it appears sad but I'm sure much of what we are doing now will look the same in 50 years.

The dumb cop thing was a common structure - Torchy - Nancy Drew - Maisie - Miss Marple - Boston Blackie etc. Looks silly by todays standards.

All in all - these are stories - fiction. I don't believe Indians were Jeff Chandler - I don't believe Chinese were Warner Oland - and I don't believe that Allison Hayes was 50 foot tall. But I still enjoy the movies for what they are. (And some I don't)

There are moments that really bother me - One of our Christmas Traditions is Holiday Inn. As much as I enjoy the movie - I still get a jolt when they go "blackface".

I really don't want this thread to become a discussion on racism in Hollywood but I think it might make a great thread. Please continue to share your views on the movies. It would be a boring world if we all thought the same.

ADDED - Secrets of the Wastelands 1941 is currently on Youtube. I'll have to check it out.

 

[Matt Hough]

I had something else planned to watch this afternoon, but my lunch out ran very long, and I didn't have time this afternoon for a full length movie, but as I was scrolling through Amazon Prime movie offerings, I came upon Nancy Drew, Reporter, and since it was just a little over an hour, I watched it. Seeing it again reminded me of how much I despise those two irritating kids who are practical jokers and annoyances to Nancy and Ted. Still, a breezy hour of shenanigans and missteps to get to the solution to the "mystery." (Just like in the books, the guilty parties are never hard to spot.)