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[The Australian Panther]

It seems 2 of the main characters-- including the title character-- the actors playing them are of INDIAN descent.  In a movie about British middle ages mythology.  WTF???

Making films used to be about making money, in  which case the main game was to do a story that didn't offend the proposed audience's worldview, so as to guarantee maximum attendance and maximum dollar.
No longer, now the idea is to impose a worldview on your audience.
Does anybody think there are many people of Indian descent who would give care about a film about the Green Knight.

On a related subject,

I thought the team-up of Betty and Veronica with Red Sonja and Vampirella was a step too far,
but this has just been published.

Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Versus the Vampire Zoo

Thank you and good night!

[profh0011]

Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer Versus the Vampire Zoo

That just sounds like a crazy fun Halloween joke comic.  Bet some kids would enjoy it.


Speaking of Indians... I recently got my hands on BEEL SAAL BAAL ("Twenty Years Later" / 1962), a movie made IN INDIA with an all-Indian cast.  It's based on Hemendra Kumar Roy's novel "Nishithini Bivishika" (Ghost Horror)... which, in turn, was based on Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles", with all the names changed and the setting moved from the UK to India.  It was first filmed as JIGHANSA ("Bloodlust" / 1951), a Bengali film; the remake is a Hindi film.  It's actually a romantic comedy MUSICAL horror murder mystery.  YES.  All of the above.  It really cracks me up!  The love story (and the music) at times almost makes you forget it's a murder mystery.

Anyway, somehow, this doesn't bother me one bit.  I KNOW which story they're doing, but they actually changed so much, it's fun to take note of the similarities AND the differences.  At least one reviewer did not realize the "comedy detective" was supposed to be the story's version of WATSON, while the police inspector --who's IN DISGUISE for most of the picture-- is the film's equivalent of HOLMES.  Oh-- and THERE'S NO DOG.   

[Quirky Quokka]

I'm really enjoying the Batgirl Bronze Age Omnibus, that includes the Barbara Gordon Batgirl comics from the Million Dollar debut in 1967 and into the 70s. The first few stories are written by Gardner Fox. My retro happy place 

https://www.amazon.com/Batgirl-Bronze-Age-Omnibus-Vol/dp/1401276407/

[ComicMike]

In this time, I'm re-reading the short stories of a very humorous author: Hector Hugh Munro, known as: Saki, a mischievous and occasionally macabre satirist of the Edwardian high society of England before the First World War.

Highly recommended! 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saki

[The Australian Panther]

Thank you, ComicKraut for reminding me about SAKI.
I was introduced to him by the Granada TV series of Adaptions back in 1963.
Some kind person has posted some of them here.
Saki -The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro - Granada TV - 1962
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fpeEm2BrSk

There are also several adaptions of Sredni Vashtar,
most of them add unnecessary material to SAKI's story.
Here is audio of SAKI's words. How can you improve on that?   
Sredni Vashtar | Saki (H. H. Munro) | A Bitesized Audio Production
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4hcsfJz_Nc

Cheers!

[crashryan]

This is "watcha readin'" mixed with "watcha watchin,'" shaken, not stirred.

The recent discussion of Cornell Woolrich and his complicated life reminded me for some reason of David Goodis. Goodis started being a prolific pulp hack but moved up to writing bleak noir-ish novels. He worked in Hollywood for a while and a couple of his books became notable movies. But his output petered out, he died young, and he was remembered mostly by the French. Of the dozen or so movies adapted from Goodis novels, the majority were produced in France. His best-known movie adaptations are the Bogart-Bacall feature Dark Passage (1947), Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall (1957), and Francois Truffaut's 1960 Shoot the Piano Player.

Years ago, long before the Internet, I was a member of a mystery fan apa (anyone out there remember apas?). I was a fan of the movie Dark Passage and I stumbled across an old paperback edition in a used book store (anyone out there remember used book stores?). Then I watched Shoot the Piano Player, which I also enjoyed. Having seen Goodis' name on both, I dug up all the Goodis books I could find and read them. Then I searched out what scant info was available on Goodis and wrote a retrospective of sorts for the apa. Today I looked up his biographical info on the Web and discovered that I was ignorant of much of Goodis' history. You can read a capsule bio on Wikipedia. Goodis died at 50 in 1967, either after a beating or while shovelling snow. You decide.

Goodis wrote mostly about the lowlife of his hometown, Philadelphia. His novels portrayed a bunch of increasingly pessimistic men, basically decent but doomed by poverty, alcoholism, personal troubles, and/or small-time crime. The early ones, Dark Passage, Of Missing Persons, and Nightfall, weren't too bad. With the passing years Goodis' flaws, especially overuse of coincidence, got worse. Wikipedia implies that he was moderately successful to the end. However his publishing trajectory--hardback, Dell paperback, Gold Medal originals, Lion originals, minor publishers--suggests differently. His last couple of paperbacks were awful. Added to rampant coincidence were a fatalism that bordered on parody and overuse of Goodis' most irritating schtick, having a character (usually drunk) deliver a speech to an inanimate object like a gun or a whiskey bottle. The monologue would explain character motivations and story points with the subtlety of a bullet to the brain. There were a lot of drunks in David Goodis stories. Though Wikipedia doesn't mention it, I've read that Goodis was himself an alcoholic. It's no surprise, considering all the time he spent hanging about Philadelphia's seedy quarters.

All this might sound like I'm telling you to avoid Goodis at any cost. Not really. His first half-dozen or so books are readable. You'll enjoy them depending on your appetite for gloom. But Goodis is the rare author whose movie adaptations are better than the original books. Some scenes that are clunky in print work more smoothly in the films. Maybe it's just because they pass quickly enough that we don't question them until we're out gobbling pizza after the movie.

Dark Passage is a winner. It's remarkably faithful to the book, stylishly directed, and acted by top liners like Bogart, Bacall, and Agnes Moorhead. We can forgive a couple of fortuitous coincidences because everything is done so well. The tacked-on final scene kind of spoils the original ending. Just think of the story concluding with the next-to-last scene.

Shoot the Piano Player, based on Goodis' novel Down There, is also reasonably close to the novel. Charles Aznavour is excellent as Charlie, a former classical music star turned gin-joint pianist. Francois Truffaut directs the whole thing with brio. It's great to look at, moves fast enough to smooth over the coincidences, and is well-acted. The only sour note is when Truffaut inserts a visual joke that has no place in a serious story (a gangster swears by his mother's life and in a quick cut we see her keel over). Trivia: Truffaut lifted one scene, in which Charlie philosophizes with a stranger on the street, from the book version of Nightfall.

Speaking of Nightfall, it's also reasonably close to the original. You have to accept a couple of leaps of logic to get the ball rolling, but after that it's not bad. The production has a low-budget look but not so much that it interferes with our enjoyment, and Tourneur directs well. The film's main drawback is the lead, Aldo Ray. His acting isn't much worse than the average B-lister, but the character he plays is supposed to be an ordinary guy on the run. Pursued by both gangsters and cops, he fears for his life and is almost overwhelmed by circumstances. Aldo Ray looks like a tough guy, moves like a tough guy, and even his voice is a tough-guy voice. Even when the bad guys are about to rub him out you get the feeling he could lick both of them with one hand tied behind his back.

I said I was ignorant when I wrote my retrospective; now I'll prove it. I thought these were the only Goodis adaptations on the screen. Far from it! In 1956 Goodis himself wrote a film adaptation of The Burglar, not one of his best books. The same year there was a Spanish adaptation of Of Missing Persons. In the 70s and 80s there were a half-dozen French adaptations of different novels. I haven't seen a single one. I'm curious enough to seek some of them out but not so eager that I'll throw myself into the job. Someday.

[bowers]

 "Dark Passage" is one of my favorite Bogart films. I agree that the final scene just didn't fit well with the rest of the film. Bogey was Bogey, Bacall was gorgeous, and Agnes Moorhead was superb! Moorhead was such a versatile actress who could play anything! Looked up the credits on IMDB and was surprised to find Vince Edwards (" Ben Casey") in a bit part.
I've only seen clips from "Shoot the Piano Player", some with subtitles, some without, but it looks like a film worth watching. I'm a big Truffaut fan, by the way.
Thanks for the info on Goodis. Do you know if he wrote pulp stories under his own name? I think I might try to look up some of his stuff. Cheers, Bowers

[crashryan]

Thanks for the info on Goodis. Do you know if he wrote pulp stories under his own name?

According to what I've read, Goodis was a speed demon during his pulp days and cranked out countless stories mostly under pseudonyms. He apparently published some under his own name later in his career. I don't know enough about pulps to say where.

Between the last paragraph and this one I learned that there's a website dedicated to him. I haven't read anything yet but it looks very promising. It's called, appropriately enough,

https://davidgoodis.com/

[Captain Audio]

I've been binge reading online issues of "Six Gun Gorilla" which I was amazed to find is based on a character of a story serialized in the British Wizard magazine in 1939.

The Gorilla in question is a highly intelligent hominid similar to the great Apes in Tarzan novels. His family was wiped out by hunters and he ends up in the old west of the USA where he is taught sign language and how to handle a Colt revolver. His owner is murdered so he goes on a warpath hunting down the culprits.

In the recent illustrated version the guns he uses are custom made scaled up guns for his circus act. I think it would have been more logical and more visually striking if they had used modified Colt Root patent side hammer action revolving rifles or shotguns converted into outsized hand guns. The Root designed revolver is a beauty and was made in several sizes from small pocket pistols to the rifles and shotguns I mentioned. The Rifles were .56 caliber and were used during the US Civil War by sharpshooters and assault troops. The Shotguns were made in 12 gauge and IIRC also in ten gauge.

[ComicMike]

Thank you, ComicKraut for reminding me about SAKI.

You're welcome  and thank you for the YouTube references (Saki -The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro - Granada TV - 1962 and Sredni Vashtar | Saki (H.H. Munro) | A Bitesized Audio Production.)

[paw broon]

Wow!!! Captain.  Thanks for mentioning this.  There was some conversation on CB+ about SGG a wee while ago. If this character can be resurrected for new stories, there are others from the same period that could do very well also.  Not just from the big 5. 
We need the return of Night Hawk (actually either the Horler one or the Nelson Lee one)
Certainly, The Iron Man and Flying Justice.  How good would that be?

[The Australian Panther]

Here is a more complete list of David Goodis screen adaptations.
David Goodis(1917-1967)
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0328959/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

[crashryan]

I finished my second Cornell Woolrich novel: Deadline at Dawn. I didn't like it as much as I did  Phantom Lady but it was still a very entertaining read.

The initial setup was a bit clunky. [No spoilers following.] A lonely man and an lonely woman, each feeling trapped and dehumanized by life in the Big City, meet one night and form a bond. They agree to catch the 6 AM bus leaving town the next morning and escape together to the small town they came from. There's just one problem: the man has stumbled upon a murder, and all the circumstantial evidence points to him as the killer. No one is likely to discover the body until the following morning. When it is discovered, the man is sure to be hunted down and charged with the crime. So they launch a desperate quest to find the real murderer during the remaining hours and still make the 6 o'clock bus. They split up, following separate clue trails.

The book follows the couple hour by hour as they piece together the story of the crime.  After the setup is out of the way the book is a great ride, with plenty of Woolrichian blind alleys and sudden turnabouts. As in Phantom Lady, some of the coincidences are a wee bit too convenient, but in the heat of the chase you're willing to buy them. Deadline at Dawn isn't your typical whodunit. Our pair of amateur detectives--and we the reader--don't know any of the people involved in the crime. We understand from the outset that we won't recognize the murderer when he or she is caught. This distances us from the story somewhat because we don't get a chance to guess the killer before the detective does. The excitement comes from the manhunt aspect: our heroes must first find out who they're looking for, then track that person down.

I haven't watched the movie adaptation. I learned from reviews that they changed the leading man into a sailor on 24 hours' leave. The couple must solve the mystery and get him back to his ship before 6 AM so he won't be AWOL. I have no idea what else the movie changed, but this one alteration seems like a good idea. The nagging question in the book is, if they manage to prove the guy's innocence but miss tomorrow's bus doing so, why can't they just take the day after tomorrow's bus? Woolrich deals with this by giving the woman the obsessive notion that this bus is their last chance. If they miss it they'll never have the strength to try again. The city will drag them under and they'll be trapped there forever. This always seemed a bit artificial.

Well worth reading despite these quibbles.

[The Australian Panther]

Looking for 'Deadline at Dawn' and not finding it, I did find this Cornell Woolrich adaptation.
Black Angel (1946) Film Noir with Dan Duryea & Peter Lorre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggzsFgZ2oNM

Enjoy!

[The Australian Panther]

Today has been my first 2023 Bargain Bin Crawl.
Among other things I now have two 1939 ex libris hardback versions of Leslie Charteris Saint books,. The Brighter Buccaneer and She was a lady. I will have read these under whatever name they were later were given, but I can't wait to read them again.   

[crashryan]

The other day I picked up a copy of Yellow Cab, a French graphic novel by Christophe Chaboute adapted from a novel by Benoit Cohen. I read the English translation published in 2021 by IDW.

Benoit Cohen is a writer-director who made several shorts, a TV series, and three features, none of which I've heard of. He was successful enough to afford to live in New York and to fall in love with the city. Feeling creatively burnt out he hatched the idea of becoming a New York taxicab driver in hopes of finding material for his next movie. He drove a cab for about a year or so. From this experience came his novel, Yellow Cab. It's described as an "autobiographical novel," which suggests he embellished his real-life experiences with stuff he made up.

The graphic novel held my interest throughout even though hardly anything happens. We follow Cohen through the lengthy, frustrating process of studying to be a cabbie and getting a license. Then we ride along as he does his job. We see a little bit of Cohen's classmates and his fellow cabbies. Once or twice while he's on duty something happens to him. But mostly we see a succession of passengers. Some talk, some don't. A few are difficult, others aren't. Mostly Cohen sits, haggard, in the driver's seat and observes. He makes notes about his fares and mulls over the movie he wants to make. One day he feels he has learned enough. He quits being a cabbie and sits down to write his movie. That's it.

When I've finished a graphic novel I often look up reviews to see what everyone else thinks of it. Reaction to Yellow Cab was more or less evenly split. The detractors criticized it for being plotless and boring. They have a point. If you crave a strong storyline full of incident this is not the book for you. I enjoyed it because I've always wondered about the lives of strangers passing on the street. That's what Yellow Cab does. You read it not for its narrative but for its slice-of-life feel.

I think Chaboute's artwork is superb. His narrative breakdown mirrors the script. Not a lot happens. Whole pages are devoted to wordless cinematic montages of New York life as seen by cabbies. Chaboute draws in stark black and white. His style is representational while his compositions are architectural, almost abstract. He makes extensive use of white space and vignettes. His art reminds me strongly of Attilio Micheluzzi. I'd be surprised if Chaboute wasn't inspired by that Italian master.

One glaring shortcoming is that Benoit is married (or at least living with someone) throughout the story, but his wife plays no part in the story. In fact we only see her as a distant silhouette in a handful of panels. There is no way the grueling life of a taxi driver wouldn't have a major impact on a relationship. In one early scene Cohen muses that if he can't bring in more money his wife Eleonore might have to get a well-paying job to meet the rent. Other than that Eleonore exists only to deliver a few observations in the opening and closing pages.

I enjoyed Yellow Cab despite its flaws. You may, too, if you're in the proper mood. Here's a sample page.

[The Australian Panther]

I have a copy of Yellow Cab. but haven't had a good look at it yet.
This page is not only very good drawing, it is also very expressive of the element of the narrative it is illustrating.
I'm going to enjoy it.
Thanks Crash Ryan!

[crashryan]

I just finished reading a Joe Kubert graphic novel I never knew existed. It bears the somewhat unfortunate title Jew Gangster, and was published by DC in 2005. It tells the story of a boy, the son of poor immigrant parents, growing up in 1920s New York. Though a remarkable project, the book left me with mixed feelings. Please forgive a long read.

Ruby (short for Reuben) Kaplan is a restless adolescent who hates his limited life and fears ending up like his father, slaving ten hours a day in a clothing factory for a pittance while his mother slaves ten hours a day over a stove in a kosher restaurant. Ruby's discontent leads him step by step into a career as a gangster. His rise through the ranks culminates in a showdown with his former mentor, earning him an audience with The Big Guy. It's all very raw, very violent, and very beautifully drawn.

There's no denying Kubert's passion in telling this story. As a narrative it's excellent. Its sense of time and place is strong. Never having lived during the period, I can't attest for how realistic the story is, but I certainly believed it. Kubert keeps the story on a personal level. He avoids cameos by historical figures and tie-ins with famous events. Ruby's inevitable transformation from a mixed up kid to a hardened killer is shown as if we were simply watching a slice of everyday life.

It's this matter-of-fact approach that I found unsatisfying. We don't get a clear picture of what makes Ruby tick. Early on we hear his thoughts. He wants to make money raise his folks from poverty, to "do the right thing." But his new "success" breaks his mother's heart and disgusts his father and he ends up on his own. After this point we never know what Ruby is thinking. We hear him say things and see him do things but we must decide for ourselves why. Is any of Ruby's early desire to do the right thing left in him? We don't know.  The ending is just as enigmatic. There's a resolution of sorts, but nothing is resolved.

Possibly this was Kubert's intention. One can't read Jew Gangster without thinking of Will Eisner's stories of Depression-era New York. Though Kubert was ten years Eisner's junior they shared a similar background. A key difference between the men's stories is that most of Eisner's people have a decent streak. Even a gangster will "do the right thing" under the right circumstances. When good people turn bad it's usually because one poor decision, one bad break, knocks them off the track. In contrast Kubert's characters' lives seem predestined. We can't imagine Ruby turning out any other way. His gangster comrades don't have a good streak, but neither do they delight in evil. They just are. Eisner's stories always had plots: a beginning, a middle, and a neat payoff with a touch of emotion. Kubert's story, like Ruby's world, has a narrative without a plot. Life happens as it must; things are the way they are.

This brings up another difference between the two men. Despite its chaos and squalor and inequality Eisner loved New York. His love for the city comes through in even his gloomiest stories. Kubert shows no nostalgia for NYC. Ruby's New York is as emotionally barren as he is.

Whatever misgivings I have about the story do not apply to Kubert's black-and-white art. It's perfect for the story. He draws mostly in outline, with blacks and details when necessary. It's simple in spots but full of movement and atmosphere. For me the only really sour note in both art and story is the final scene with The Big Guy. I won't go into detail so you can decide for yourself, but for me both the character and the scene came out of left field. In sum, though, Jew Gangster is definitely worth a look.

[The Australian Panther]

Interesting post Crash. Food for thought.
What you describe as the narrative, in my interpretation and also given the title of the work, [Jew Gangster] it seems he was asking the question, just how much does the social environment a person is born into, limit a persons options and predetermine the outcome of a person's life?
For me, the definitive Joe Kubert creation was Enemy Ace.[Hans Von Hammer was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert] OK, Kanigher wrote it, but you can't tell me that Kubert didn't have huge input into the concept. This is probably the only work by Kanigher that I consider substantial.
To me his work was cold, monotonous and predictable. You never were surprised by a Kanigher war comic.
The high points were always the art.
Von Hammer, being a German flyer in WW1 - based on the Red Baron - is an enemy from the point of view of the audience of the comic, but we see the war through his eyes. He is a killer but acts according to his own strong sense of honor. He is also a loner and his own messmates and fellow pilots avoid him.
Like the protagonist of 'Jew Gangster' he doesn't choose the world he is born into and grows up in but he wants to be the best human being he can be in that world.
You have made me wonder, most of the time a comic artist is a talent for hire and draws what the writer gives him. But how much of himself does he put into the story through his visual interpretation?
Digression;- I loved Kubert's art so much that I had a girl friend blow up an enemy Ace panel for a wall painting.
[She also did that with A Kirby spread from Tales of Asgard and a Steranko page from an X-man book.I don't think I ever thanked her properly]
So I was gobsmacked when I recently read an interview with George Evans [ who did work for fiction house's Wings comics and most of the work for EC's Aces High] who knew planes. He said that Kubert got the plane' wrong!  I don't think he was referring to the art, but the specific planes used in the stories.           

 

[profh0011]

To my delighted surprise, in the last 3 weeks, I've read 2 SAINT stories by Leslie Charteris.  This is the first time I've done this in over 25 years!

The first was "The National Debt", while this weekend I read "The Man Who Could Not Die".  These were 2 novellas included in a 1994 edition of ALIAS THE SAINT, and research showed me they had much-earlier been collected in 2 separate books, after having appeared originally in THRILLER magazine.

I'd have to do a lot of work compiling my own list of all the stories, and all the books I already have, to really be sure if I never read these before, or not.  The first one seemed unfamiliar, but the 2nd one seemed VAGUELY familiar.  It was only when I briefly looked them up online that I realized that both had been adapted for the Roger Moore tv series, with Patrick Allen playing the villain in the 2nd one.  (All of those I've seen several times... just, not lately... and, before I watch them again, I intend to do what I'm currently doing with THE AVENGERS-- seriously upgrade the whole series to DVD.)

"The Man Who Could Not Die", even admitted by both Templar AND Teal, was not the Saint's "usual thing", as he had a slowly developed suspicion about the title character, who he'd never met, based purely on instinct.  But even I was shocked in the later part of the story when the guy turned out to be COMPLETELY INSANE.

It was funny at the finale when Teal seemed slightly disappointed that Templar had turned down someone's suggestion that he run for public office.     Come to think of it, there was an Adam West BATMAN episode that ended that way, too, except in that case, Gordon was relieved that he wouldn't be losing Batman's help.

[profh0011]

I have to admit, what I read on this message board some months ago has really become an obsession with me.  That is, the sypnopsis of Louis Joseph Vance's 1914 novel THE LONE WOLF.

Ever since then, I feel like I must be the ONLY person on Earth who's figured out that the 1998 Val Kilmer movie THE SAINT was an uncredited (and unauthorized and UNPAID) adaptation of that novel.  I mean, NOBODY else seems the slightest bit aware of it.  The other day, I read a review of the '98 film where the person went on and on talking about how little it had to do with Charteris, and how much they "changed"... but never once mentioning what should be OBVIOUS... if only someone were aware of the real source and was looking in that direction.

It's really criminal.

[The Australian Panther]

an uncredited (and unauthorized and UNPAID) adaptation of that novel.

Prof, welcome to Hollywood! Standard practice. Nobody cares either.
Disney, who is one of the worst, is ruthless about protecting its own properties but the empire is built on top of works like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Fantasia, Jules Verne's works, all of which are public domain so they don't have to pay anybody for the rights.
And most TV situation comedies owe something to Shakespeare. and Greek playwrights. Mind you, Shakespeare owes something to them too!
The worst thing about that Saint Movie was that it put paid to Val Kilmer's career. He was capable of great performances but had a reputation as difficult on set, but what actor hasn't bee accused of that. Possibly someone was out to get him, because, good actor or not, he was never the Saint. Just wrong for the part whatever the script.
Also because of that saint movie, it would take a brave producer to try another Saint movie. I also believe that the only way you can dramatize the Saint in 2023 is to do it period, like most Sherlock Holmes adaptations.   
Thinking about it, didn't the writers of the Lone Wolf and Falcon films plunder Charteris's Saint work?
cheers!         

[profh0011]

I love films or Tv series that have been done as period pieces-- SHERLOCK HOLMES, PHILIP MARLOWE (in the 80s), MISS MARPLE, HERCULE POIROT, ALBERT CAMPION.  I wish they'd do that with JAMES BOND and SIMON TEMPLAR.

Someone complained about the film THE SAINT'S VACATION because it made no mention of WW2 or Nazis.  In my own review, I said the book was published in 1932.  Not every character or story should be "updated" to when the film is made.

As for THE LONE WOLF and THE FALCON... I feel like I'm only recently really learning about these, though I taped most of the movies decades ago.

The Lone Wolf books ran from 1914 to 1934.  So most of them pre-dated The Saint!  The silents ran from 1917 to... well, I'm not sure.  There were films in 1929, 1930 & 1932, but none of them seem to be available at all, and I haven't quite looked in deep enough to see when they switched to sound.  I have all the films now from 1935 to 1949, and plan to get the 1955 TV series eventually.  Several reviews at the IMDB felt the 1935 film THE LONE WOLF RETURNS with Melvyn Douglas was the BEST one ever made, and I tend to agree.  But the first 4 LW films by Columbia feel like 4 different continuities!  The Melvyn Douglas film was the 2nd adaptation of the 1923 novel.  So far, I've only found 1 of the earlier films available-- in rather rough shape-- the 2nd one, FALSE FACES (1919, based on the 2nd novel from 1918), and it's an EPIC!!!  The print I have is in pretty bad shape visually, but, it has a FABULOUS music score.  (I'm guessing that, like many silents, there are multiple prints around, each with a different musical score.)


THE FALCON is a really crazy situation.

Charles H. Huff (as "Drexel Drake") wrote 3 novels about "Michael Waring", alias "The Falcon", from 1936-1938.

However, Michael Arlen wrote ONE novel in 1940 about "Gaylord Falcon", alias "The Falcon", an ENTIRELY-different character.

I've read (many years ago) that Leslie Charteris SUED Arlen for plagiarism.  Nobody seems to mention this these days.  It could explain why there was only ONE "Gaylord Falcon" novel.  Without having read any of these, I'd think "Gaylord Falcon" must have been closer to "Simon Templar" than he was to "Michael Waring"-- otherwise, why didn't Huff sue Arlen?

In 1941, Charteris was really FED up with how RKO was mis-using THE SAINT, and from what I read (years back) TOOK BACK the film rights, then signed with another studio in England (which turned out to be the newly-formed RKO British Productions) to do THE SAINT'S VACATION, which is infinitely closer to Charteris' work than anything since THE SAINT IN LONDON (which was the only one of the 6 RKO films made in England).

RKO went looking for a replacement, and decided to adapt Arlen's novel THE GAY FALCON.  And then Charteris apparently sued RKO for plagiarism!  Different accounts only mention Charteris suing RKO, not suing Arlen.  I wonder.  is it possible he sued BOTH?  Hey, why not?

A question that only crossed my mind this past month... is it possible Arlen was an employee of RKO when he wrote that novel in the first place?   

Both THE SAINT'S VACATION and THE GAY FALCON were serious steps up in quality from the previous film, THE SAINT IN PALM SPRINGS, which somehow managed to make George Sanders seem BORING.  And that's a real crime!

Sanders himself did get bored, and in his 4th film THE FALCON'S BROTHER, "Gaylord Lawrence" is KILLED OFF, to be replaced by his brother "Tom Lawrence", played by Sanders' real-life brother Tom Conway.  I think this may be the only time such a thing ever happened in a Hollywood film series.

Conway did about 10 films (I really need to update my index) before RKO finally stopped.

But then something WEIRD happened.

Another studio did 3 more "Falcon" films featuring the character "Michael Waring".  YEAH.  That guy.  I've seen many reviews complaining or mystified about why they "changed his name".  NOBODY seems aware that this was from the start, an entirely-different FALCON, in fact, THE ORIGINAL.  And the "Michael Waring" character ALSO appeared in both a RADIO show and TV series, thus making far more appearances than "Gaylord" or "Tom" ever did.


One thing I found amusing (while reading Charteris' books) was how RKO's FALCON films tended to vere more toward comedy, he had a butler and sometimes a steady girlfriend.  The character's personality was VERY different from Templar-- he's more down-to-Earth, low-brow, etc... but the format at times seemed closer to Charteris' books than the RKO SAINT films had been.  CRAZY.

[profh0011]

I remember hearing at the time that Val Kilmer behaved HORRIBLY while making BATMAN FOREVER, and was fired off the 4th film.  He behaved even worse during the making of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU.  But he behaved himself all thru the making of THE SAINT.

It's sad.  He did a wonderful job, the film is fabulous, and I fell i love with Elisabeth Shue.  But IT'S NOT THE SAINT.

It's silly when people spend time making comparisons without even realizing the reason for all the differences is, they're using the WRONG source material.

Had they called the film THE LONE WOLF... I could have a much-greater appreciation for what they did-- taking so many elements from a 1914 novel and updating them to the modern day.  (Looking back, I realize they made more references to real-life events in Russia than I ever imagined at the time.  The film's villain is effectively a fictional version of Vladimir Putin!)

The whole background of him being an orphan, becoming a professional thief, deciding to reform when he falls in love, and taking down a criminal gang threatening him, that's all from the book.  That's "Michael Lanyard"-- even to his name being made up.

"Simon Templar" IS Simon Templar's REAL NAME.  He was not an orphan, he clearly came from money, he went to all the best schools, and had a small army of friends and associates.  so that Kilmer movie had NOTHING to do with "THE SAINT"-- despite using the name "Simon Templar" and having the cop be named "Teal".

I imagine Vance's work are probably public domain by now.  Maybe they were in 1997.  But it still seems like somebody should have been sued somewhere.  (It's interesting that film was made a few years AFTER Charteris passed away.)





I should use the above as the basis for an IMDB review.   

[ComicMike]

MAD 

At the moment I am reading old MAD magazines. These magazines were published in Germany from 1967-1995 in 300 numbers by Bildschriften/Williams Verlag.

The Dino Verlag and the Panini Verlag published a new series "Deutsches MAD" from 1998 to the last regular edition in 2019 (185 editions), before MAD was finally history in Germany.

As before, Dave Berg and of course Don Martin are my favourites.