harrygbutler keeps reading in 2018 — 5

Welcome to thread 5! I’m Harry, and this is my third year in the 75 Books Challenge. By training I'm a medievalist, by occupation an editor; my taste in reading runs to Golden Age and earlier mysteries, pulp detective and adventure fiction, Late Antique and medieval literature, westerns, and late nineteenth and early twentieth century popular fiction, among others. I also have a fondness for collections of cartoons and comic strips. I usually have a few books going at once.

My wife Erika and I live in eastern Pennsylvania with three cats — Elli, Otto, and Pixie — and a dog, Hildy. Our pets occasionally make an appearance in my thread. My other interests include model railroading, gardening, and birding, so you'll sometimes see something related to them as well.

I’ll be spending time this year building model railroad kits. The boxes for these kits often are good examples of mid-century commercial art design, and I’ll be using scans of some of these as thread toppers.

Two new projects will be features of my threads in 2018 as well: a weekly pulp magazine read and some sort of account of the movies I’ll be watching (I’m aiming to average one a day over the year). These will likely have an impact on my book totals for the year.

I try to provide some sort of comment on the books and magazines I read, but they aren't really reviews.

Books completed in the first quarter of 2018

1. Gold Brick Island, by J. J. Connington
2. Tales of Our Coast, by S. R. Crockett, Gilbert Parker, Harold Frederic, Q, and W. Clark Russell
3. Circus, by Alistair MacLean
4. Poisoned Arrow, by Ibn-e Safi
5. Katzenjammer: A Selection of Comics, by Rudolph Dirks and Harold H. Knerr
6. Vintage Murder, by Ngaio Marsh
7. Cows of Our Planet, by Gary Larson
8. Feeling No Pain, by Syd Hoff
9. The Key, by Patricia Wentworth
10. The Far Side Gallery, by Gary Larson
11. The Groaning Board, by Charles Addams
12. The Old English History of the World: An Anglo-Saxon Retelling of Orosius, ed. and trans. by Malcolm E. Godden
13. The Complete Adventures of Feluda I, by Satyajit Ray
14. Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley, by Lord Dunsany
15. The Rumble Murders, by Henry Ware Eliot Jr.
16. Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, by P. G. Wodehouse
17. The Pocket Book of Cartoons, ed. by Bennet A. Cerf
18. The Years Between, by Rudyard Kipling
19. My Best Girls, by Helen E. Hokinson
20. Mystery in the Channel, by Freeman Wills Crofts
21. Ben Sees It Through, by J. Jefferson Farjeon
22. History of the Bishops of Salona and Split, by Archdeacon Thomas of Split
23. The Far Side Gallery 2, by Gary Larson
24. Walt Disney's Donald Duck: "Terror of the Beagle Boys", by Carl Barks
25. Alexander and Dindimus: or, The Letters of Alexander to Dindimus, King of the Brahmans, with the Replies of Dindimus; Being a Second Fragment of the Alliterative Romance of Alisaunder; Translated from the Latin, about A.D. 1340-50, ed. by Walter W. Skeat
26. Cap'n Warren's Wards, by Joseph C. Lincoln
27. The Horror on the Links, by Seabury Quinn
28. Headlong Hall, by Thomas Love Peacock
29. Look on the Light Side, ed. by Gurney Williams
30. Midnight Murder, by Gerald Verner
31. The Owner Lies Dead, by Tyline Perry
32. The Crimson Query, by Arlton Eadie
33. Smokewater, by Ibn-e Safi
34. Young Men in Spats, by P. G. Wodehouse
35. Sainted Women of the Dark Ages, ed. and trans. by Jo Ann McNamara and John E. Halborg, with E. Gordon Whatley
36. Sailors' Knots, by W. W. Jacobs
37. The Tale of the Good Cat Jupie by Neely McCoy
38. Mr. Pinkerton Goes to Scotland Yard, by David Frome
39. Modern Times: Cartoons from The Wall Street Journal, by Charles Preston
40. The Black Dream, by Constance Little and Gwenyth Little
41. "Honey, I'm Home!": A Collection of Cartoons from The Saturday Evening Post, ed. by Marione R. Nickles
42. The Mystery at Stowe, by Vernon Loder
43. Tales from the White Hart, by Arthur C. Clarke
44. The Broken Fang and Other Experiences of a Specialist in Spooks, by Uel Key

Books completed in the second quarter of 2018

45. Devil's Planet, by Manly Wade Wellman
46. Through More History with J. Wesley Smith, by Burr Shafer
47. Drawn and Quartered, by Charles Addams
48. History and Hagiography from the Late Antique Sinai: Including Translations of Pseudo-Nilus' Narrations, Ammonius' Report on the Slaughter of the Monks of Sinai and Rhaithous, and Anastasius of Sinai's Tales of the Sinai Fathers, by Daniel F. Caner
49. Blood on His Hands, by Max Afford

Argosy kicked off the pulp magazine era with its April 1894 issue, and it remained a major pulp until it became a slick-paper magazine in the 1940s.

After years of reading reprinted stories and novels from the pulp magazines, last November I picked up a number of the original magazines, and I’ve decided to try reading approximately one a week. I don’t intend to include them in my book count, so I’ll be tracking them separately here. If all goes well, I should read about 50 over the year.

Magazines completed in the first quarter of 2018

1. Short Stories, September 10, 1947
2. Railroad Stories, July 1933
3. Argosy All-Story Weekly, September 7, 1929
4. The Phantom Detective, September 1934 (facsimile)
5. Railroad Stories, January 1933
6. Argosy, August 31, 1940
7. Tales from the Magician's Skull, No. 1 (pulp-inspired or neo-pulp)
8. Wings, December 1928
9. Argosy All-Story Weekly, September 8, 1928

Several years ago I challenged myself to view 500 movies in a year. I was successful, but I did find it fairly difficult to manage. I haven’t been watching many movies recently, and I’d like to change that. For 2018, I am hoping to average a movie a day over the whole year, for a total of 365 or thereabouts.

Movies watched in the first quarter of 2018

1. After the Thin Man (MGM, 1936) — viewed Jan. 1
2. Doctor in the House (GFD, 1954) — viewed Jan. 2
3. Lawless Valley (RKO, 1938) — viewed Jan. 3
4. Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (Twentieth Century Fox, 1939) — viewed Jan. 4
5. Unknown Island (Film Classics, 1948) — viewed Jan. 5
6. All Over Town (Republic, 1937) — viewed Jan. 6
7. The Case of the Howling Dog (WB, 1934) — viewed Jan. 7
8. Seven Keys to Baldpate (RKO, 1947) — viewed Jan. 8
9. A-Haunting We Will Go (Twentieth Century Fox, 1942) — viewed Jan. 9
10. Oklahoma Blues (Monogram, 1948) — viewed Jan. 10
11. The Falcon's Brother (RKO, 1942) — viewed Jan. 11
12. The Man They Could Not Hang (Columbia, 1939) — viewed Jan. 12
13. Bringing Up Baby (RKO, 1938) — viewed Jan. 13
14. Air Hawks (Columbia, 1935) — viewed Jan. 14
15. Blackbeard the Pirate (RKO, 1952) — viewed Jan. 14
16. Charlie Chan at the Race Track (Twentieth Century Fox, 1936) — viewed Jan. 15
17. Live Wires (Monogram, 1946) — viewed Jan. 16
18. Hidden Valley (Monogram, 1932) — viewed Jan. 17
19. Conspiracy (RKO, 1930) — viewed Jan. 18
20. Chandu the Magician (Fox, 1932) — viewed Jan. 19
21. Three Smart Girls (Universal, 1936) — viewed Jan. 20
22. The Monster of Piedras Blancas (Filmservice Distributors, 1959) — viewed Jan. 21
23. Tarzan Triumphs (RKO, 1943) — viewed Jan. 22
24. Fog Island (PRC, 1945) — viewed Jan. 22
25. The Old Fashioned Way (Paramount, 1934) — viewed Jan. 23
26. The Garden Murder Case (MGM, 1936) — viewed Jan. 25
27. Doctor X (WB, 1932) — viewed Jan. 26
28. Destination Tokyo (WB, 1943) — viewed Jan. 27
29. Guns in the Dark (Republic, 1937) — viewed Jan. 28
30. Mysterious Mr. Moto (Twentieth Century Fox, 1938) — viewed Jan. 28
31. Nick Carter, Master Detective (MGM, 1938) — viewed Jan. 29
32. Call of the Prairie (Paramount, 1936) — viewed Jan. 31
33. English Without Tears (GFD, 1944) — viewed Jan. 31
34. The Ace of Spades (Radio Pictures, 1935) — viewed Feb. 1
35. The Earth Dies Screaming (Lippert, 1964) — viewed Feb. 2
36. Go West (MGM, 1940) — viewed Feb. 3
37. Charlie Chan at the Opera (Twentieth Century Fox, 1936) — viewed Feb. 5
38. Tarzan's Desert Mystery (RKO, 1943) — viewed Feb. 6
39. The Cat and the Canary (Paramount, 1939) — viewed Feb. 7
40. Bonanza Town (Columbia, 1951) — viewed Feb. 8
41. The Night Cry (WB, 1926) — viewed Feb. 10
42. Frankenstein (Universal, 1931) — viewed Feb. 10
43. Ghost of Hidden Valley (PRC, 1946) — viewed Feb. 11
44. The Deathless Devil (Atadeniz Film, 1973) — viewed Feb. 11
45. The Falcon Strikes Back (RKO, 1943) — viewed Feb. 11
46. Raffles (Goldwyn/UA, 1939) — viewed Feb. 12
47. Before Dawn (RKO, 1933) — viewed Feb. 14
48. Theodora Goes Wild (Columbia, 1936) — viewed Feb. 14
49. Secrets of the Night (Universal, 1924) — viewed Feb. 15
50. Yukon Manhunt (Monogram, 1951) — viewed Feb. 17
51. Desperate Cargo (PRC, 1941) — viewed Feb. 18
52. Old Mother Riley in Paris (Butcher's Film Service, 1938) — viewed Feb. 18
53. The Man from Planet X (UA, 1951) — viewed Feb. 20
54. Charlie Chan's Secret (Twentieth Century Fox, 1936) — viewed Feb. 21
55. Outlaws of Sonora (Republic, 1938) — viewed Feb. 22
56. The Black Cat (Universal, 1941) — viewed Feb. 23
57. The Private Eyes (New World, 1980) — viewed Feb. 24
58. A Song Is Born (Goldwyn/RKO, 1948) — viewed Feb. 25
59. The Case of the Curious Bride (WB, 1935) — viewed Feb. 26
60. Arizona Legion (RKO, 1939) — viewed Feb. 28
61. In Fast Company (Monogram, 1946) — viewed March 1
62. Isle of the Dead (RKO, 1945) — viewed March 3
63. They Live (Universal, 1988) — viewed March 3
64. I Sell Anything (WB, 1934) — viewed March 4
65. Jim Hanvey, Detective (Republic, 1937) — viewed March 5
66. Curtain at Eight (Majestic, 1933) — viewed March 7
67. Passage to Marseille (WB, 1944) — viewed March 7
68. King of the Zombies (Monogram, 1941) — viewed March 9
69. The Fighting Frontiersman (Columbia, 1946) — viewed March 10
70. Charlie Chan on Broadway (Twentieth Century Fox, 1937) — viewed March 10
71. Meet Boston Blackie (Columbia, 1941) — viewed March 11
72. Murder at Midnight (Tiffany, 1931) — viewed March 11
73. Sins of Jezebel (RKO, 1953) — viewed March 14
74. The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (ARC, 1955) — viewed March 16
75. The Wayne Murder Case (Monogram, 1932) — viewed March 15-16
76. Whistling in Brooklyn (MGM, 1943) — viewed March 17
77. Minesweeper (Paramount, 1943) — viewed March 17-18
78. The Girl from Mexico (RKO, 1939) — viewed March 18
79. Bowery Bombshell (Monogram, 1946) — viewed March 20
80. The King Murder (Chesterfield, 1932) — viewed March 20-21
81. Hands Across the Table (Paramount, 1935) — viewed March 21
82. The Canary Murder Case (Paramount, 1929) — viewed March 22
83. Strangler of the Swamp (PRC, 1946) — viewed March 22-23
84. The Gay Divorcee (RKO, 1934) — viewed March 23
85. Seven Men from Now (WB, 1956) — viewed March 24
86. Mystery House (WB, 1938) — viewed March 25
87. Mystery of the Wax Museum (WB, 1933) — viewed March 26
88. Fugitive of the Plains (PRC, 1943) — viewed March 27
89. Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (Universal, 1949) — viewed March 27
90. The Ghost and the Guest (PRC, 1943) — viewed March 28
91. Tarantula (Universal International, 1955) — viewed March 28
92. Charlie Chan in Honolulu (Twentieth Century Fox, 1938) — viewed March 28
93. Murder at Glen Athol (Chesterfield, 1936) — viewed March 28-29
94. The Devil Commands (Columbia, 1941) — viewed March 29
95. Jungle Bride (Monogram, 1933) — viewed March 29-30
96. The Thing from Another World (RKO, 1951) — viewed March 30
97. House of Danger (Peerless, 1934) — viewed March 30-31
98. Cavalier of the West (Artclass, 1931) — viewed March 31
99. Sword of Venus (RKO, 1953) — viewed March 31
100. Murder She Said (MGM, 1961) — viewed March 31

By Source, Fair use, Link

Movies watched in the second quarter of 2018

101. The Case of the Lucky Legs (WB, 1935) — viewed April 1
102. Sinister Hands (William Steiner, 1932) — viewed April 1-2
103. The Narrow Margin (RKO, 1952) — viewed April 2
104. Murder by Television (Cameo, 1935) — viewed April 2-3
105. Death from a Distance (Invincible/Chesterfield, 1935) — viewed April 4-5
106. Below the Border (Monogram, 1942) — viewed April 5-6
107. Face in the Fog (Victory, 1936)
108. A Shot in the Dark (Chesterfield, 1935)
109. Jaws of Justice (Principal, 1933)
110. The Dark Hour (Chesterfield, 1936) — viewed April 10-11
111. The Prisoner of Zenda (UA, 1937)
112. The Giant of Marathon (Italian/MGM, 1959)
113. The Crooked Circle (Sono Art-World Wide Pictures, 1932)
114. Wild Horse Mesa (Paramount, 1925)
115. The Devil Plays (Chesterfield, 1931)
116. Devil Woman from Mars (Danziger/British Lion, 1954)
117. A Shriek in the Night (Allied, 1933)
118. West of Cimarron (Republic, 1941) — viewed April 17-18
119. The Case of the Velvet Claws (WB, 1936) — viewed April 18

Next one's yours!

Happy new thread!

>8 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori!

Happy new thread!

Happy new thread, Harry. I came over to say hi, but now I need to go catch up on your last thread.

Happy new thread, Harry!
I just noticed that you have watched over 75 movies, maybe you can start a new group ;-)

>10 drneutron: Thank you, Jim!

>11 rretzler: Hi, Robin! Thank you!

>12 FAMeulstee: Thanks, Anita!

Maybe so! :-) If I stay on track, I should top 100 movies early next month.

Morning, Harry! Happy new thread!

>16 Crazymamie: Good morning, Mamie! Thank you!

Happy New Thread! Wow, 100 movies in just a few months!

>18 mstrust: Thanks, Jennifer! What surprises me is that I've done fairly well at watching regularly, though I have tried to fit in two on some weekend days so that I could take a day off during the week.

How's the weather, harrygbutler?

Snowy days are perfect for reading!

>20 fuzzi: It snowed all day, but I work from home, so it wasn't a snow day for me. I had to wait until breaks and after work to read and watch movies. :-)

Happy New Thread, Harry. I might not get a chance to stop by in the morning, so I thought I would pop in now.

Sorry, to hear about all the snow. Bummer. I hope this is the last of it for you guys.

>22 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Today has dawned sunny and warmer, and the birds have already been active at the feeders.

Movie 77. Minesweeper (1943)

Source: IMDB

A former naval officer (Richard Arlen) who had deserted because of his gambling habit and ended up a hobo seeks redemption by rejoining the service under an assumed name after Pearl Harbor. Assigned to minesweeper duty as a gunner's mate, he finds friendship and romance but all too soon returns to his vice. Minesweeper provides an interesting glimpse of an often-overlooked and unglamorous — but vital — part of naval operations. Mildly recommended.

'Morning, Harry, and happy new thread.

>24 harrygbutler: I don't even think you could join the US military under an assumed name these days. Or are there still Russian or other spies in the military? Enquiring minds and all that!

>25 karenmarie: Hi, Karen, and thanks!

Oh, it probably can be and is done, but it would take more effort. The movie does show the character sending off for a birth certificate of the person whose name he assumes, which suggests that that documentation was expected at the time.

37. The Tale of the Good Cat Jupie, by Neely McCoy



Jupie the tuxedo cat lives alone in a little red house beside a talking apple tree. He likes his home and friends but gets quite lonely in the winter. Then, one day, he sees a young girl, Jean, walking along the road in front of his house, and in talking with her finds out that she has no place to live, for her housee has been swept out to sea. Jupie invites Jean to move in with him to keep him company, and she does, and the rest of the book is devoted to the early stages of their life together, and spending time with friends, such as Squirrel, who had helped Jupie to find the little red house. Recommended.

>24 harrygbutler: ...maaayyybe...

>27 harrygbutler: Sooner I would die, thank you please.

Happy new thread.

>27 harrygbutler: I'm averting my eyes until I read my copy!

>28 richardderus: Thanks. I tend to enjoy Arlen's performances, but I haven't actually seen all that many of his movies, I think.

>29 fuzzi: Noted, though I don't think I revealed anything that happened beyond the first few pages. :-)

Morning, Harry. Happy Friday. Well, I finally saw my owlets yesterday. I think there are 2 of them in the nest and they are all ready getting big. Lots of good looks at Mama GHO too, who can't even fit in the nest anymore. What a great owling year it has been so far this year.

>32 msf59: Good morning, Mark! I'm glad you got to see the owlets. Indeed, your owl-watching year is going very well!

'Morning, Harry!

>27 harrygbutler: You and fuzzi have the distinction of being the only two people on LT to have this book. Interesting. What year was it published?

>34 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! The Tale of the Good Cat Jupie was first published in 1926, but the copy Erika and I own is from 1940. There are two other Jupie books, Jupie and the Wise Old Owl and Jupie Follows His Tale. We have the former, and Erika has read it already, but I see we didn't get it entered into LT yet. I'll have to add it this weekend.

Erika and I had been looking for a copy for the first book after seeing a copy in so-so condition at an antiques mall a few years ago, without success. When fuzzi found her copy, I mentioned that on one of her threads, and she was able to point me toward a copy in good shape for sale online.

78. The Girl from Mexico (1939)

Source: IMDB

Ad man Dennis Lindsay (Donald Woods) is sent to Mexico to recruit a Mexican singing star for a sponsor, but while stranded overnight on his way to a concert, he meets Carmelita Fuentes (Lupe Vélez) and then hears her sing. He thinks she is just right for the spot, despite the fact that she isn't famous, and she agrees to accompany him back to New York — but because she is underage, Dennis is made answerable to the Mexican consulate for her well-being. Meanwhile, Carmelita has fallen in love with Dennis, and with the help of his Uncle Matt (Leon Errol), she aims to make him hers.

Highlights of the film include Carmelita's fiery outbursts, the way Dennis is completely outflanked, and Uncle Matt's (at times grudging) connivance with Carmelita. Velez and Errol have real comic chemistry. The unexpected success of this film led to a a series of seven more "Mexican Spitfire" films over the next few years, featuring Velez and Errol and a few different actors as Dennis.

Recommended.

Where to watch: We watched a DVD I recorded off Turner Classic Movies, but Warner Archive has made a DVD set of all 8 movies available.

Movie 79. Bowery Bombshell (1946)

Link

Thanks to a photographer friend, Sach (Huntz Hall) ends up suspected of involvement in a bank robbery committed by a gang led by Ace Deuce (Sheldon Leonard). With the police after him, Sach goes into hiding. Meanwhile, Slip (Leo Gorcey) and the boys try to find the real culprits and clear their friend. The highlight of the movie has to be Slip's pretending to be a rival gang leader, Midge Casalotti, whose all-over shivers make even oversized toughs shake with fear. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: This is available in the Bowery Boys Collection, Volume 1, from Warner Archive.

Morning, Harry. Happy Saturday. I took the day off today, because we are getting our downstairs family area re-carpeted, so we will be busy with that. I plan on getting out for some birding birding tomorrow and Monday.

Enjoy your weekend.

Good morning, Mark! I'll look forward to your birding reports.

Hi Harry and happy Saturday to you. How much snow did you end up getting this week?

>40 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Thanks. We got about the same as with the last storm, somewhere around 9 inches of wet, heavy snow, but warmer temperatures since have gotten rid of much of it already.

Today we visited a library book sale, a used book store, an antique mall, and a thrift store, and I managed to net something at each stop — mostly mysteries, but some humor and even a couple old pulp magazines, at good prices.

Book sale

• The Three Fishers, by Francis Beeding (1931)


• Death in Four Letters, by Francis Beeding (1935)


• The Seven Sleepers, by Francis Beeding (1925)


• Educated Evans, by Edgar Wallace (1924)

Book store

• The Tick of the Clock, by Herbert Asbury (1928)


• Yu'an Hee See Laughs, by Sax Rohmer (1932)


• Triple Murder, by Carolyn Wells (1929)


• The Way of a Dog: Being the Further Adventures of Gray Dawn and Some Others, by Albert Payson Terhune (1932)

Antique mall

• Short Stories, Feb. 25, 1927, issue


• Wings, December 1928 issue

Thrift store

• Just one book: At Ease, Beetle Bailey, by Mort Walker (1985)


• But 5 vintage movies on DVD:
  
  
  
  • A Canterbury Tale (1944)
  
  
  • Easy Living (1937)
  
  
  • Heidi (1937)
  
  
  • O. Henry's Full House (1952)
  
  
  • Stand By for Action (1942)
  
  
  
  

Looks like a great haul!

>43 thornton37814: Thanks, Lori! I think I did do fairly well today. I was particularly pleased by the magazines, as I stand in need of more if I'm to keep up with reading them, and they were priced quite reasonably, which is often unusual in antique stores.

>42 harrygbutler: The Way of a Dog will break your heart, but is a worthy read.

>45 fuzzi: Thanks for the warning! I'm not sure when I'll get to it, but when I ran into it in a bookstore I seldom get a chance to visit, I went ahead and added it to my pile.

Happy Sunday, Harry!

>42 harrygbutler: Nice Haul. I've only heard of Edgar Wallace, but that's what LT is for, right? Expanding our author/book/reading horizons. (In addition to cataloging books and chatting with folks of course!)

Movie 80. The King Murder (1932)

Source: Alpha Video/Oldies.com

Miriam King (Dorothy Revier), a woman who supports herself by blackmail, is murdered, and suspects abound. Could it be Van Kempen (Robert Frazer), one of her current flames, whose wife Elizabeth (Natalie Moorhead) has sought the help of a friend, police detective Henry Barton (Conway Tearle)? Could it be Natalie herself? What about Arthur Bronell (Huntley Gordon), from whom Miriam had demanded $5,000 the evening of her death? Or Scott (Maurice Black), who had demanded the money — or the same in jewelry — from her earlier that day? And what of Miriam's former roommate, Pearl Hope (Marceline Day), and Jose Moreno (Don Alvarado), who plot a robbery of her apartment? A multitude of suspects helps keep this low-budget film interesting, and the murder method was surprising. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: We have this on an Alpha Video DVD, but it appears to be available online at YouTube.

>47 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! I snap up books by Edgar Wallace whenever I encounter them, but he was so prolific that it will be a long time before I'm done. His thrillers are great: outlandish plots, but immensely readable. They just gallop along, and even when the identity of the evil mastermind is known or obvious, the working out of the action keeps the reader involved.

Movie 81. Hands Across the Table (1935)

By Paramount Studios - Ebay [1]
alt source: [2], Public Domain, Link

Regi Allen (Carole Lombard) is a manicurist on the make, working in a hotel and looking for a wealthy husband, with a cynical attitude that love doesn't matter. Theodore Drew III (Fred MacMurray) is the scion of a formerly-rich family that has lost its money, but he aims to rectify that by marrying the daughter of the Pineapple King. A chance meeting leads to an extravagant night on the town that costs Ted his last cent and makes him miss his boat for Bermuda, where his fiancé's father is sending him for a couple weeks before the wedding, and he ends up staying with Regi because he has nowhere else to go. Of course, love blossoms between the two. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: This movie is available on DVD as part of the Carole Lombard: The Glamour Collection, from Universal.

38. Mr. Pinkerton Goes to Scotland Yard, by David Frome



In the fifth book in the series, mild-mannered Mr. Pinkerton bets his friend Inspector Bull that he can find a murder that the police have treated as no crime. When he accidentally hears two people gossiping about a third, whom one claims is being poisoned by her kin, and the subject later dies, Mr. Pinkerton's voicing of the suspicion leads the doctor in charge to call in the police, though he says he is confident that the woman died of gastritis. Inspector Bull is assigned the case, with Mr. Pinkerton as usual hovering on the edges but occasionally providing timely assistance or unexpected bits of vital information. Mildly recommended.

>42 harrygbutler: Impressive haul indeed. The DVDs look especially appealing.

Impressive start to your thread #5, Harry.

>50 harrygbutler: Carole Lombard was gorgeous, wasn't she?

>52 richardderus: Thanks! I'm glad to be finding DVDs of older movies at thrift shops — and particularly surprised by encountering the Criterion Collection DVD of A Canterbury Tale. Around here, the price seems to have stabilized at around $2 to $3 apiece, more for boxed sets, which is kind to the budget, and over time should give me a chance to pick up films that had slipped through the cracks when I was buying them more regularly.

I just recently re-researched the possibility of subscribing to either TCM or Warner Archive streaming, and I find they are both combined now into a service called Filmstruck — but the number of films available on demand is strangely but a fraction of those in their libraries, so I'm glad to have built up my own DVD library.

Morning, Harry. I hope you had a nice weekend. I had a great organized bird walk yesterday. It was nearly a tutorial on waterfowl, which I sorely need.

Today is my regular day off for the week, but not sure I'll do a solo, but if I do it will be a shorty. I was out over 4 hours yesterday.

>53 PaulCranswick: Thank you, Paul! Nice to see you dropping by.

She certainly was. I've not actually seen that many of her movies — the most famous of course, such as My Man Godfrey and Nothing Sacred, but not a large percentage.

>55 msf59: Good morning, Mark! I can't say I really enjoyed our winter waterfowl outings when we were more active — the marshes get awfully cold when the wind comes across them and the water is partly frozen. Now if we go after them in the wintertime we opt for a drive on an observation loop and only get out when we must. :-)

Movie 82. The Canary Murder Case (1929)

By Paramount - source, Public Domain, Link

Before he played Nick Charles, actor William Powell was associated with another dapper detective, as he played Philo Vance in three outings for Paramount and a fourth for Warner Brothers. 1929's The Canary Murder Case is a Paramount picture, filmed as a silent and then reworked with sound. Vance assists the police in untangling the murder of the blackmailing showgirl known as "the Canary." Much of the cast seems to struggle with the new medium of sound, but Powell already displays the ease and polish that characterize his performances throughout his career. Not a particularly successful film, but a pleasure to watch him. Mildly recommended at best.

Note: This was the film that essentially ended Louise Brooks' Hollywood career, as she refused to return from Germany to reshoot scenes with sound, and another actress had to be used to provide the voice (and serve as a stand-in in some scenes).

The film is not readily available, but it may show up on a movie channel or service.

39. Modern Times: Cartoons from The Wall Street Journal, ed. by Charles Preston



This is a mixed volume of cartoons that first ran in The Wall Street Journal during the years preceding its publication in 1968. Though there is some amusement to be had, the general quality of the cartoons and the gags is distinctly lower than that seen in similar collections published in the preceding decade, a tendency I had previously noted in the Lawrence Lariar-edited volumes in the Best Cartoons of the Year series. Mildly recommended if it can be had at a low price.

Morning, Harry!

>60 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! Thanks for stopping by!

Movie 83. Strangler of the Swamp (1946)

By PRC Producers Releasing Corporation - source, Public Domain, Link

Mysterious deaths by strangulation (blamed on an evil spirit by some) plague a swampland community linked to the outside world by a ferry whose ferryman (Charles Middleton) had been lynched on the testimony of the current owner of the ferry (Frank Conlan). When that owner meets his doom, his granddaughter Maria (Rosemary La Planche) takes over the operation. Writer-director Frank Wisbar's quasi-remake of his earlier Fährmann Maria is an atmospheric horror film that does not attempt to explain away the supernatural, though the limited budget of a PRC picture does make itself felt. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: It is currently available to watch for free on Amazon Prime.

Cranky kid from the past has his doubts and probably disapproves.

The latest addition to our living room decor is this unknown youth. Erika spotted this photo several months ago and after a long stretch of uncertainty decided to get it during our antique mall visit on Saturday.

Ha! I used to buy antique photos and frame them in fancy-shmancy frames, then when people asked would invent outrageous stories for the men in them. Always of disgrace and shenanigans, of course. One friend of mine called them "instant ancestors."

>54 harrygbutler: Netflix has the same issue with having just about every movie and tv show on their mail service, and just a fraction available on their streaming. Oooh, it burns me!
>58 harrygbutler: Great poster, and I love Louise Brooks. She was so talented and natural as an actress, besides having awesome hair.
>62 harrygbutler: I would love to have that poster.
>63 harrygbutler: He's going to keep an eye on you.

>58 harrygbutler: the poster for this film and the one in >62 harrygbutler: look similar. See the helpless woman's pose in each?

Your description of the Canary Murder Case movie reminded me of the plot for "Singing in the Rain"!

>64 richardderus: I think I've seen that term used for the masses of old snapshots and other photos in some antique shops. I rarely take the time to go through them, but occasionally have found something of interest.

>65 mstrust: I wonder whether the streaming services are concerned that someone might watch — and record — everything of interest and then cancel their subscription?

Louise Brooks may not have been very successful as a performer, but there's no denying her charisma.

Maybe you could find a reprint of the poster? It's very dramatic. :-)

I'm tempted to start using cranky kid to indicate books or movies that didn't come up to snuff.

>66 fuzzi: Yep, quite similar. I hadn't noticed — good eye!

I'm not sure how well the situation of that particular movie would have been remembered, or whether there were other similar situations, but given the setting of Singin' in the Rain, it wouldn't be surprising if it had an impact. I'm fairly sure there were other movies that were filmed silent and then turned into "talkies," but I can't recall other examples at the moment.

>63 harrygbutler: what makes me just a little bit sad is someone knew that child, probably loved him. Where is the family now, the descendants? Why did that photograph wind up in an antique shop?

If he were my distant relative, I'd still want to keep his photograph. I've got a copy my mother had made of a daguerreotype of my great-great grandfather, taken in the 1880s I think.

Good morning, Harry, and happy Tuesday to you!

I have always loved William Powell. I didn't know he was in Philo Vance movies.

>63 harrygbutler: Wonderful picture, raises a host of questions about who he was and how the picture left the family. I'm glad you've 'adopted' him.

>70 fuzzi: Indeed, it is a little sad that old photos end up released into the wild. I also would find it difficult to get rid of such photos, even if I didn't know who the people in an old family photo actually were. Of course, many people are not so sentimental, or have had a falling out, and once the connection is sufficiently attenuated, they just regard the relics of their family's past as so much junk.

I don't think we have many photos in the family that are that old, but my parents do have some that are quite antique, though in some cases the particulars of the persons shown are now lost.

>72 harrygbutler: my husband is the "keeper" of an album of family tintypes. Unfortunately, no one living knows who all the people are. But it's HERITAGE, and we keep it for that reason.

>71 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! Powell's final Philo Vance movie, The Kennel Murder Case, which costars Mary Astor, is readily available online, as it at some point fell into the public domain. I'd recommend it.

https://archive.org/details/The_Kennel_Murder_Case_1933

>73 fuzzi: I definitely can understand that. My parents have a photo of a house that belonged to (I think) my dad's great-grandparents, but no one now can recognize any of the people shown, and I'm not sure that it was labeled on back while there were still those alive who knew.

>63 harrygbutler: This made me laugh! "I'm tempted to start using cranky kid to indicate books or movies that didn't come up to snuff." Okay. I LOVE this idea!!

Morning, Harry! As always, your thread is immensely entertaining.

Hmm. Quiet here. Another snowstorm harrygbutler?

>68 harrygbutler: I hadn't thought of that. Maybe. On the other hand, I've looked for Hitchcock on Netflix a couple of times over the years and they didn't have a single one, nor any Elizabeth Taylor or Marilyn Monroe or the other classics I've wanted, which makes it seem like they have huge holes for a movie service.
I vote yes for the little crab's reviews!

As far as the gaps in streaming services' movie listings, they are limited by whoever holds the rights and how much they want to make them available for streaming. I'm not sure about TCM, though; do they actually own the films they air? I have a vague notion that they bought the studios' catalog outright rather than licensing, so my theory wouldn't apply to them. If they are concerned that people would just record and then cancel, they could offer movies on a rotating schedule or something, so that not everything was available all the time but every month some new titles came online and old ones rotated out. Lather, rinse, repeat.

>76 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! With two yes votes, the cranky kid is liable to make some reappearances.

>77 fuzzi: I've been a bit under the weather, though I'm feeling somewhat better now. I'll try to put up at least a couple movie posts before I log off.

>78 mstrust: Gaps have been a driver of my recording and acquiring DVDs, but I think the initial impetus came from AMC's transformation away from a classic movie channel. Seeing what had been a dependable resource for viewing more obscure older movies dry up essentially overnight made me aware of the fragility of depending on such sources — and the paucity of library holdings in my main areas of interest just reinforced the notion that I should build up my own film library.

>79 rosalita: I believe both TCM and Warner Archive own their film libraries, so they shouldn't face those sorts of rights limitations, unless things have changed (which certainly could have happened). TCM does show licensed films on occasion as well, at least on the cable channel, but I'm thinking of its own film library, which I think numbers in the hundreds, while the streaming service offered dozens. And rights holders shouldn't be the explanation for the disappearance of public domain movies (many of the Poverty Row studios' films fall into this category) that had previously been available in a service, though of course the service may have been licensing use of a particular copy.

I think that rotation is the approach the services take, but it leaves far too many gaps for my interests. Thus, I'm happy to have streaming as a free part of my Amazon Prime membership, but I wouldn't get it if it were a separate offering.

Movie 84. The Gay Divorcee (1934)

Source: IMDB

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' second film together, and first starring vehicle, is a pleasing confection. Dancer Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) is smitten with Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers) upon their first meeting, in a Customs office, but he makes a poor impression. A second chance meeting brings a slight thaw, but then Mimi heads to a seaside resort as part of a plan to help her get a divorce from her unwilling husband. Mistaken identities and confusions ensue. Edward Everett Horton is his reliably amusing self, and Alice Brady effectively plays Mimi's scatterbrained Aunt Hortense. Erik Rhodes is a standout as a paid co-respondent. The humor is solid, the dancing terrific — though there isn't quite enough of the twosome together, and the big number, "The Continental" (first Oscar winner for Best Song), goes on a bit too long. The Astaire-Rogers movies get better, but this one is quite good. Recommended.

Where to watch: Released on DVD in the now out-of-print Astaire-Rogers Collection, Vol. 2, but it also is available in a couple other similar DVD sets.

A stop yesterday at a local shop dealing in records, CDs, and DVDs yielded a half-dozen movie DVDs:

Arsenic and Old Lace
The Four Feathers
The Guns of Navarone
Lost Horizon
Mister Roberts
Where Eagles Dare

Prices were quite good (low enough to risk duplicates), and I think I'll be stopping back in for more quite soon.

Movie 85. Seven Men from Now (1956)

Source: IMDB

Randolph Scott's first collaboration with director Budd Boetticher is a taut tale of a former sheriff tracking down the men who robbed an express office and murdered his wife. As the film opens, two of the gang meet their doom, and we learn of Ben Stride's (Randolph Scott) grim quest. Yet despite his focus on vengeance, he takes the time to assist a young couple from the East, John and Annie Greer (Walter Reed and Gail Russell), who are also heading toward the town where he hopes to catch up with the rest of the murderous band. The trio are soon joined by Bill Masters (Lee Marvin), whom Stride once sent to prison, and his sidekick Clete (Don "Red" Barry), who aim to stick with Stride until he wipes out the gang and then step in and steal the money for themselves.

Solid performances all around, with Scott and Marvin particularly effective characters. I think The Tall T, the next Boetticher-Scott film, is a better movie, but Seven Men from Now is very good. Recommended.

Where to watch: There is a DVD release by Paramount; at the moment it is also available on Amazon Video streaming.

Morning, Harry. Sweet Thursday. I plan on paying a quick visit to the owlets today. Not much to report on the feeder front or on the route. The slow build, until it begins to warm up.

Hope your week is going well.

>87 msf59: Hi, Mark! Quiet on the birding front around here, too, but with warmer days in the offing we might manage an outing.

Movie 86. Mystery House (1938)

Source: IMDB

When death strikes in a lodge where nurse Sarah Keate (Ann Sheridan) is working, she urges that her beau, Lance O'Leary (Dick Purcell) be called in, as the daughter of the first victim does not believe he committed suicide, despite appearances. Murder strikes again as O'Leary makes his way through the clues before revealing an ingenious, if perhaps actually rather impractical, murder technique. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: Released on DVD by Warner Archive as part of the six-movie Warner Bros. Horror/Mystery Double Features set.

Good morning, Harry, and happy Thursday to you.

>85 harrygbutler: Arsenic and Old Lace and Mister Roberts are two particular favorites of mine.

>85 harrygbutler: Mister Roberts is sitting on a book truck in the library to be withdrawn in VHS format. It will be in our "book sale" this year.

>90 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Arsenic and Old Lace is probably my favorite of that bunch in >85 harrygbutler: — we even went to see a showing in a theater — but I like all of them that I've seen, which is all except The Four Feathers. That one I'll probably watch after I read the book, which I picked up recently.

>91 thornton37814: Have you ever seen Mister Roberts, Lori? If not, I definitely recommend it.

>85 harrygbutler: oh, The Guns of Navarone is an old favorite of mine! I liked it so much, I finally dug up a copy of the book...and that led me to reading more Alistair MacLean volumes.

I have a copy of GoN on DVD, and I don't own a large collection.

Force Ten From Navarone was actually a pretty good sequel, I recommend it as a follow up to the original.

I've never seen Where Eagles Dare, but since I have the book on my TBR, I suppose a viewing in the near future is warranted...

Sorry you've been under the weather (just noticed that post). Hope you're all better, soon.

Lost Horizon--that is, the 1937 one--ranks as one of my guilty pleasures. How troublesome the whitewashing...how lush the visuals...how eyerollingly silly the premise...and yet I love it.

7 Men from Now was absorbing, even if I had...um...unmet expectations based on the title. Hey, I was 17. My film student beau took me to see all the screened films and this one was in the Westerns class's syllabub. Syllabus, syllabus.

>94 fuzzi: I've been a fan of both movies since forever. I liked Force Ten from Navarone fine, but it's Guns... that I find rewatchable. Where Eagles Dare is a solid movie that I've seen several times, and I'm likely to do so again fairly soon now that I have the movie on DVD. Maybe we can coordinate reading the book and watching the movie in the same month.

And thanks for the good wishes! I'm feeling quite my old self again today. :-)

I'm a fan of Ronald Colman, so I was predisposed to like Lost Horizon. I've only seen it a couple times, though getting my own copy makes another viewing in the near term fairly likely.

7 Men from Now is a solid, spare movie. And it left me wanting to watch another Scott film very soon.

>85 harrygbutler: NICE haul!

>95 richardderus: "7 Men from Now was absorbing, even if I had...um...unmet expectations based on the title." This made me laugh, Richard!

Hello, Harry! Sweet Thursday to you!

Howzabout Albuquerque? Adapted from Dead Freight for Piute, though not hugely faithfully.

>98 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! More films for the queue. :-)

>99 richardderus: Good suggestion! Albuquerque is a distinct possibility, as I have it on the shelf. But I have plenty of others, too, so I'll have to see what calls out to me.

Movie 87. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

Source: IMDB

An artist in wax, Ivan Igor (Lionel Atwill) is attacked and left to die in a burning wax museum in London, but he escapes. He resurfaces in New York, where he guides others in crafting wax sculptures because his own hands have been too badly burned to work with finesse. The recreations of his earlier works are remarkably realistic, and reporter Florence Dempsey (Glenda Farrell) investigates after visiting the place with her friend Charlotte Duncan (Fay Wray), whose beau (Allen Vincent) is one of Igor's assistants. Well done in early, two-strip Technicolor, which adds an eerie atmosphere. Though third-billed, Glenda Farrell dominates when she's on screen. Recommended.

Where to watch: This is available as a bonus to purchasers of the Vincent Price House of Wax on DVD. It's also coming up on TCM on cable on April 4.

>96 harrygbutler: here's a (spoiler-free) video about the making of the original movie, enjoy:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dpC1g46CS8k

>103 fuzzi: Neat. Thanks for sharing.

Movie 88. Fugitive of the Plains (1943)

Source: IMDB

Billy the Kid (Buster Crabbe) is being framed for a series of holdups in another county, and he and sidekick Fuzzy (Al "Fuzzy" St. John) head there to clear his name. To do so, Billy joins up with the gang, led by Kate Shelly (Maxine Leslie), though other members of the gang, notably Dillon (Jack Ingram), Kate's second-in-command, are suspicious. There were some unexpected angles to this one, but I don't think it has much to offer to non-fans.

Where to watch: Available as part of a 4-movie DVD release from VCI, but also online at the Internet Archive (and possibly elsewhere).

Hi Harry and happy Friday to you! Do you have today off work?

Morning, Harry! Happy Friday!

Good Friday to you, Sir Harry.

Have a good Easter, Harry!

>106 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Yes, I did — and I ended up out pretty much all day to do some shopping. Now I'm back and trying to decide whether to read or watch a movie.

>107 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! Thanks for stopping by!

>108 richardderus: Thank you, Richard! It has been a good day.

>109 mstrust: Why, thanks, Jennifer! I like that little toy. We don't have much in the way of Easter-specific decorative items. We do have at least one Lefton bunny, I believe, but that sits out all the time.

Movie 89. Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)

Source: IMDB

An irate guest (Nicholas Joy) gets bellhop Freddie Phillips (Lou Costello) fired, and in the heat of the moment Freddie threatens to get even with him. When that guest later is found murdered, suspicion lights on Freddie, though the hotel contains an assortment of others who may have had reason to wish the victim ill, including Swami Talpur (Boris Karloff) and femme fatale Angela Gordon (Lenore Aubert). House detective Casey Edwards (Bud Abbott), Freddie's friend, tries to help him clear his name, but things look even blacker when the murderer strikes again.

The large cast makes for multiple suspects, but many don't have much of a role. Karloff is under-utilized but has a couple good scenes with Lou. Recommended.

Where to watch: First made available on DVD in the set The Best of Abbott and Costello, Volume Three (which we have) and later rereleased as part of the set Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection.

Hi Harry and happy Saturday to you. Glad you had yesterday off. It's a very nice problem to have - deciding between a movie and a book!

Morning, Harry. Happy Sunday. Cold Easter day here. Only in the 30s. We NEED some warmth. Maybe, that will bring out the birds.

I hope you are having a good weekend.

>115 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! It was a good day yesterday, thanks — a train show, then out to lunch and a little thrift-store shopping, then furniture shopping, mixed in with finishing books and watching movies.

>116 msf59: Hi, Mark! It was a fairly warm day yesterday, but we have a "winter weather advisory" with a prediction of snow for tonight. :-)

No birding for us really this weekend.

Hi Harry and Happy Easter to you.

>119 harrygbutler: back atcha!

Hey, remember the video I showed of a thoroughbred named Thunder Snow? He just made a group of winners look like chumps:
https://youtu.be/6_bOgRoqD0U

>120 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Thanks!

>121 fuzzi: Thank you!

That was an impressive performance. I also liked how the program used graphics of the colors to keep you abreast of the positions of the horses.

40. The Black Dream, by Constance Little and Gwenyth Little



Agatha Bunn has been walking in her sleep, and sometimes moving things about, with no recollection of what she has done. But when she finds her hated cook, Em, murdered, she tries to believe that she just couldn't have done it, and she hides Em in her rocking chair in the closet under the stairs, giving out that she must have left the boarding house without telling anyone. Then she gets a note from Em, asking to be let out... This late entry by the Little sisters is an OK mystery, but it seems to lack the sprightliness of some of their earlier works. It may just suffer by comparison with those earlier mysteries, as I recall that the first of their books I read — the quite late The Black Curl — struck me as amusing and cleverly plotted despite coming in their last year of writing, but I hadn't yet encountered the even better books from their height that I have read since. Still, The Black Dream was fairly enjoyable. Recommended.

First quarter review

A mixed bag for the first quarter, I'd say. My book count is respectable, and I'm on track with the movies, but I've fallen behind on the magazines. I am somewhat behind on posts about the individual books and movies, but I'll probably aim to catch up this week.

Books: 44 (with posts on 40 so far)

My reading is down a bit, as expected, but I still should be in good shape to hit 150 books for the year.

Magazines (pulp and pulp-inspired): 7 (with posts on all 7)

I'm reading a pulp magazine at present, but I'm running about 4 weeks behind. It's doubtful, but not impossible, that I'll catch up.

Movies: 100 (with posts on 89)

I've got a comfortable margin above the average of one movie per day; 400 for the year would be within reach, but I know it's easy to hit a string of days when no movies are watched, so I'm not at the moment upping my target.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the studios responsible for the movies I've watched so far. Of the 100 I've seen so far this year, nearly half (49) were released by one or another of the "Big Five" studios of the '30's-'50's. Nearly a sixth came from the "Little Two." Most of the rest came from the various "Poverty Row" studios, but a few foreign films and a couple United Artists' releases contributed to the total.

Big Five
MGM: 6
Paramount: 6
RKO: 17 (1 Goldwyn)
Twentieth Century Fox (including Fox): 10
Warner Bros.: 10

Little Two
Columbia: 7
Universal: 7

Poverty Row
Monogram: 9
PRC: 6
Republic: 4

Other
Other (including non-U.S. and other "Poverty Row"): 16
United Artists: 2 (1 Goldwyn)

I'll be interested in seeing how these percentages change over the course of the year. I expect the shares of MGM and Paramount may grow, and perhaps Republic as well. Twentieth Century Fox has its spot largely thanks to series mysteries, so its share may drop once I reach the Charlie Chan movies made at Monogram instead.

Movie 90. The Ghost and the Guest (PRC, 1943)

By Producers Releasing Corporation - eBay card, Public Domain, Link

Newlyweds Webster and Jackie Frye (James Dunn and Florence Rice) head to a country house bought for them by the bride's father, accompanied by chauffeur Harmony Jones (Sam McDaniel). Upon their arrival, they find retired hangman Ben Bowron (Robert Dudley) in residence, and it is clear that, though it may no longer be his vocation, hanging still holds his interest as an avocation. They also learn that the house had belonged to a notorious gangster whom Bowron had executed, and whose coffin is delivered that very day. Complication is piled on complication as former associates of the dead gangster arrive, a prison escapee searches for a hidden gem, and people make use of secret doors and hidden passages. The accent is on comedy in this mystery penned by Morey Amsterdam, but the pacing is lackluster and many of the gags just so-so. Dudley steals his scenes as the hangman. Not recommended.

Where to watch (if you must): As a public-domain film, it's readily available on DVD and online at the Internet Archive (and probably elsewhere).

91. Tarantula (Universal International, 1955)

By Reynold Brown - Tarantula. Wrong Side of the Art. Retrieved on 2013-02-21. See The art of Reynold Brown. for additional film posters by Brown., Public Domain, Link

Note: It's a bit difficult to talk about this one without spoilers, so I'm going to drop spoiler tags around the brief plot description. I'll still try to keep things vague for anything after the first few minutes of the movie. A grotesque figure in pajamas stumbles and falls in the Arizona desert. Local doctor Matt Hastings (John Agar), who is called in to examine the body, is shocked to learn from scientist Gerald Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) that the deceased was his fellow researcher, Eric Jacobs, as the body was that of a sufferer from acromegaly (called throughout the movie acromegalia), but that disease takes years to develop, and Dr. Jacobs had been fine just weeks before. The two scientists had been working on a means of artificial food production, which caused animals to grow quickly and to great size, but which depended on an unstable radioactive isotope that produced erratic results (including, perhaps, the condition that killed Dr. Jacobs). Dr. Deemer continues with his research, now aided by graduate student Stephanie "Steve" Clayton (Mara Corday), but accidental damage to the lab has resulted in the escape of the title creature, which proves a menace to the surrounding countryside.

Tarantula contains one of my favorite bits in '50s monster movies — a film within the film giving bits of scientific information often only tangentially related to the plot. Here that film is shown by Dr. Townsend of the university in Phoenix, played by Raymond Bailey, best known as Milburn Drysdale in The Beverly Hillbillies.

The plot is a bit incoherent at times, and John Agar makes for a smarmy hero, but it is reasonably entertaining nonetheless. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: Tarantula has been released on DVD a couple times, most recently in Universal's The Classic Sci-Fi Collection.

Good morning, Harry, and happy Monday to you.

>128 harrygbutler: Arachnids. *shudder* Although I note that Leo G. Carroll was in that one. Topper is one of my favs.

Quite the quarter for you, Harry! 100 films is beyond my ken. I doubt I watch more than half your total in a *good* year!

>128 harrygbutler: Even though it's really well done, I would not like that poster on my wall. I want to scream on that poor woman's behalf.

>129 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! I'm in the middle of moving my home office, so today I didn't really have access to my personal computer through the day. I hope your Monday was a good one.

Yep, Leo G. Carroll has a prominent role and does pretty well with it, despite the weaknesses of the script. I've never seen the Topper TV series.

>130 richardderus: Thanks, Richard! I've always been a big fan of movies, but there certainly have been years when I've watched few. My average without trying for more is probably 2 or 3 a week, some years less, some years perhaps a bit more.

>131 mstrust: Hi, Jennifer! Yep, it's a good poster, albeit not for those who shudder at spiders. :-)

Movie 92. Charlie Chan in Honolulu (Twentieth Century Fox, 1938)

Source: IMDB

Sidney Toler takes over as Charlie Chan in Charlie Chan in Honolulu, and the accent is on the comic. From Mr. and Mrs. Chan (Grace Key) as anxious imminent grandparents, to second son Jimmy's (Victor Sen Yung) encounters with a lion, to younger son Tommy's (Layne Tom Jr.) suspicions of the strange doctor (George Zucco) who keeps a living brain in a jar in a packing case, humor plays a big role, though there's no shortage of suspects in a shipboard killing. The red herrings are pretty well done, so that the identity of the culprit does prove a surprise. Recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD as part of the Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 4.

Morning, Harry. I hope your work week is off to a good start. I am off today, but it looks a damp, chilly day, so no tromping around in the woods for this guy. Bummer...

Happy Tuesday to you, Harry! I hope your home office move went well.

>132 harrygbutler: I got confused - thought Leo G. Carroll was also in the movie. Duh. I loved the movie, watched the TV series probably in re-runs some as a child. I see that Roland Young played Cosmo Topper in the movie. Must not have had enough coffee yesterday morning.....

>136 msf59: Hi, Mark. Sorry the weather is proving uncooperative. Maybe activity at the feeders will help make up for it.

>137 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! I'm still in the midst of moving things around, but I have made progress. Next up is probably moving the printer, after I get a spot ready for it.

41. "Honey, I'm Home!": A Collection of Cartoons from The Saturday Evening Post, ed. by Marione R. Nickles

(The cover image will come when I find the dust jacket that I've mislaid.)

This is a fairly amusing collection of cartoons published in the late 1950s, though weakened a bit by depending on just a single magazine. It made for an interesting contrast with Modern Times: Cartoons from The Wall Street Journal, which came out about a decade later, with cartoons that were on the whole less successful and amusing. Mildly recommended.

>114 harrygbutler: Oh! Abbott and Costello!! Loved them when I was younger and watched all of their movies when they were on tv.

All caught up with you, Harry! Love all the eye candy on your thread. Those old movie posters are so cool.

Movie 93. Murder at Glen Athol (Invincible/Chesterfield, 1936)

By Source, Fair use, Link

Bill Holt (John Miljan), a famous detective, has holed up at a country estate to write a book, accompanied by his friend and assistant Jeff (James P. Burtis). Unwelcome intrusions by some of those who live next door draw Holt out of his self-imposed isolation, and he attends a party at the neighboring estate, where he is charmed by Jane Maxwell (Irene Ware). Jane was once in love with the elder son of the household, Harry Randel, who is now in an asylum, while his wife, Muriel (Iris Adrian) lives with his mother Ann (Betty Blythe), younger brother Tom (Barry Norton), and uncle Reuben (Oscar Apfel). It is clear that Muriel is romancing Tom. Also at the party is Muriel's former husband, Campbell Snowden (Harry Holman), and partway through the evening she is visited by bootlegger Gus Coletti (Noel Madison), whom she has been blackmailing. Later that night, Harry, who has escaped from the asylum, is shot and killed as a prowler. When Muriel is later found to have been stabbed, Harry is blamed, but Jane believes him innocent and asks Holt to find the real killer. Murder strikes again as Holt works his way through the suspects. This is a fairly well done low-budget effort, with some decent performances. Mildly recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD and online at the Internet Archive.

>141 Crazymamie: Thanks, Mamie! I really like those posters, too. I don't usually get to have such interesting images for my books, as I try to post the cover of the copy I read, and most of the older hardcovers we own lack their original dust jackets.

Movie 94. The Devil Commands (Columbia, 1941)

Source: IMDB

Boris Karloff is Dr. Julian Blair, a brilliant scientist who has developed an effective electroencephalograph. When a traffic accident results in the death of his wife, Blair is persuaded to consult a medium, Blanche Walters (Anne Revere). Though her work is fakery, he discovers that she may in fact have strong mental powers, so Blair endeavors to use Mrs. Walters to contact his wife. The experiment fails, but it does seem to come near success, and Blair devotes his life and his fortune to trying to complete the experiment successfully. The tale is narrated by Blair's daughter, Anne (Amanda Duff). Another sympathetic turn for Karloff as a mad doctor. Recommended.

Where to watch: Available on commercial DVD, both as a stand-alone and bundled with other Karloff Columbia pictures.

I think that may be my favorite movie poster so far. It's fantastic!

>145 mstrust: It's a stunner, isn't it?

>142 harrygbutler: I picked that DVD up for $1 somewhere.

>147 thornton37814: We had a local CD shop that stocked these Alpha videos, and we bought a lot of them then. Many of the movies (since they are public domain) later showed up for even less, and of course now quite a few are available for streaming online.

$1 is a good price. Around here, most of the thrift stores still hope to get $3 apiece for DVDs, but our current local CD store prices most at $2.

Movie 95. Jungle Bride (Monogram, 1933)

By Source, Fair use, Link

A shipwreck strands a young woman, her fiancé, the man she believes guilty of a murder for which her brother was imprisoned, and that man's sidekick on an uninhabited island. As the quartet struggles with the demands of survival, Doris (Anita Page) finds her attitude toward Gordon (Charles Starrett) despite her conviction that he is a murderer, as he shows himself a thoughtful and able person in adversity. Her fiancé John (Kenneth Thomson), however, who has sworn to bring Gordon back to face a trial, only hardens in his attitude, in part because Doris's growing fondness for Gordon spurs his jealousy, and in part because Gordon consistently shows himself the better man. More drama than adventure tale, this one didn't really work for me. Not recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD and for free streaming via the Internet Archive.

'Morning Harry, and happy Thursday to you.

>150 harrygbutler: I really like that cartoon.

>150 harrygbutler: LIKE!

Morning, Harry. Sweet Thursday. Not much to report on the bird front, but definitely a lot more robin action. For some strange reason, I have seen very little of the goldfinch and I am keeping the feeder filled too. Huh?

>151 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! My, you were up early.

That cartoon makes me think of the times when a bird is heard, clearly very close by, but it just can't be seen.

>152 msf59: Good morning, Mark. My new home office location is less good for watching the feeders, but I am getting some good views of birds, including a downy woodpecker, in the tree where they tend to congregate before and after visiting the feeders.

96. The Thing from Another World (RKO, 1951)

Source: IMDB

Easily one of the best science fiction movies ever, 1951's The Thing from Another World is a tautly plotted, well-directed story of the consequences of the crash of an alien spacecraft in the Arctic. Scientists and military men at a remote research facility investigate the scene of the wreck and bring back the body of an alien in a block of ice...but danger lurks within. The Howard Hawks' production is filled with strong characters (particularly Kenneth Tobey as the resourceful Capt. Patrick Hendry, Robert Cornthwaite as lead scientist Dr. Arthur Carrington, and Margaret Sheridan as Carrington's assistant, Nikki Nicholson) and fierce action relieved by lighter moments that serve to build tension. Highly recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD.

Keep watching the skies!

>153 harrygbutler: Insomnia reared its ugly head from 2:30 - 6:15. I got another two hours sleep after that.

the times when a bird is heard, clearly very close by, but it just can't be seen. That's what happened when I was in California a year ago; I added a Eurasian Collared Dove to my life list because although I never saw her/him, the call was distinctive.

>156 karenmarie: Sorry to hear about the insomnia, though I suspected that was the likely cause of your early visit.

Warblers can be hard to spot but easy to hear, but I'm not good enough at identifying their songs to recognize them unaided. Rails can be like that, too, hidden as they are by the reeds as they walk the edges of ponds and marshes.

>150 harrygbutler: I love that cartoon, too.

I'm not very good with bird calls, but I recognize the Pileated woodpeckers' calls coming from the woods at the end of the road. I rarely see them, but I know they're there.

I mainly hear the fasy "wuk" that reminds me of a Tarzan movie: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/pileated_woodpecker/sounds

>158 fuzzi: I'm not great with bird calls myself, so I'm not really keen on "birding by ear" walks.

42. The Mystery at Stowe, by Vernon Loder



Ned Tollard has promised to back the next expedition by explorer Elaine Gurdon, and planning for the trip has brought the two much together, despite his wife Margery's disapproval. The circumstances have given rise to speculative gossip among guests at Stowe House, where all three have been invited by Mr. Barley as part of a house party. Anxious to defuse an unpleasant situation and also gain recognition for himself, Barley asks Elaine to let him back the expedition instead, but she refuses, though she disavows any interest beyond friendship in Ned. When Margery is found dead in her room the next morning, poisoned by a dart from a blowgun Elaine had demonstrated earlier in the stay, suspicion naturally falls on Elaine, particularly as she discovered the body and later took steps that would complicate a police case against her, and Ned's absence ("on business") appears to give him an alibi. Fortunately, Jim Carton, who has spent some time in a government role that involved some sleuthing, and who is interested in Elaine, shows up and undertakes an investigation of his own aimed at proving her innocent. A well-told mystery, though some of the characters' actions are a little baffling, and some alternative suspects get rather too little attention to be effective red herrings. Recommended.

Happy Friday to you, Harry!

I'm not good with bird calls either. I just heard a distinctive one that I have absolutely no idea at all about.

>160 harrygbutler: Sometimes those old covers amuse you.

>161 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! We have some CDs for practice, but I haven't made much use of them.

>162 thornton37814: Good morning, Lori! I just noticed the bloodstained left hand. The back cover of this dust jacket is pretty good, too; I'll try to remember to scan it.

I've never heard of Loder, so that's a new author for me to look for.

Morning, Harry. Happy Saturday. Lots of sun today but cold- only in the mid-30s. Hoping for some bird activity.

Enjoy your weekend.

Good morning, Harry! Happy Saturday to you. I saw my first hummingbird this morning!

>167 karenmarie: ooh! I probably should get my feeders out, cleaned, and filled...

Morning, Harry! I'll bet you got through a few movies over the weekend.

>167 karenmarie: Congrats on the hummingbird!

>168 fuzzi: We probably still have a bit of time up this way, since it is pretty darn chilly today, but it is time to get thinking about it. Erika did order us a new tube feeder to replace one that has come apart.

>169 mstrust: Hi, Jennifer!

Actually, I did more reading than watching of movies this weekend, but the only thing I finished was a pulp magazine that I'll post about later.

On Saturday morning we went to the Punk Rock Flea Market over in Trenton. It was OK, but it was a little too chilly to stand out at the food trucks and listen to the bands that were performing. The on-hand celeb was Marky Ramone. The most interesting booth was one selling strange lamps made from found objects, but we didn't bring one home. Erika did get a doll from Eelmonkey Art because it was a decent reminder of our cat Pixie. This isn't it, but the body style is like this:

However, with different fabrics and adornments, they vary greatly in appearance. I don't recall seeing this one, but I kind of wish I had:

Hi Harry!

Those are adorable dolls. I just looked on their website, and they have some wonderful plush dolls.

>172 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! They had quite a few dolls on display, in at least a couple different body styles, and they all did seem well done.

A punk rock flea market?! Marky Ramone?!! I'm going to a corner to cry.
I met Marky a few years ago at a book signing/talk he gave for Punk Rock Blitzkrieg. Proof:

Sorry it's so big, just let me know if you'd like it removed.

>174 mstrust: Congrats on the book autograph! Did you get to chat with him for a few minutes? The punk rock flea market was OK, though I was hoping for more books or other items I might want to buy. I also expected more musicians or bands to have booths. They apparently have these flea markets several times a year, but I hadn't known about them until just before this one.

>165 mstrust: I just saw this comment. I had seen the name Vernon Loder before, but I hadn't read any of his books before this one. The copy of The Mystery at Stowe I have is a well-made hardcover that is part of the series of Detective Club reprints from HarperCollins.

Pulp 8. Wings, December 1928



At the same antiques mall where Erika picked up the cranky kid portrait, I found two pulp magazines. They were somewhat the worse for wear, but the prices were good, so I got them. I've finished reading one of the two, the December 1928 issue of Wings. This long-running pulp, which began as a monthly in January 1928, settled down sometime in the 1930s as a quarterly and remained one until it ceased publishing in 1953. I found the stories in this early issue fairly entertaining, including the novelet mentioned on the cover, Jack Smalley's "Bat Wings of Bogota, a tale of air piracy and nefarious plotting in Colombia, and the novel "Sky-Scrappers All!," by Frederick C. Davis, about the air arm of the U.S. Border Patrol versus a gun-running scheme, with some exciting accounts of air combat and crashes, and a daring mid-air transfer between craft. The short stories were weaker but still filled the time pleasantly. I skipped the third part of a serial (which may be what the cover illustrates) and also Lesson 8 of "How to Become a Pilot." I'd certainly be willing to pick up other issues of this pulp if I encounter them in the future.

Hi, Harry. Great to have LT back up and running again, eh? I couldn't make my usual Sunday rounds yesterday.

It looks like we are going to get some warmer weather starting on Wednesday, which happens to be my day off, so I have a bird walk planned.

Movie 97. House of Danger (Peerless, 1934)

Source: Vintage45's Blog

A man (Onslow Stevens) arrives at the Nelson home, claiming to be Ralph Nelson. He is actually Don Phillips, who has come there at the request of his friend Ralph (James Bush), as Ralph fears some menace threatens both the estate and his erstwhile near-fiancée, Sylvia Evans (Janet Chandler). Don is not completely successful in his masquerade, but he does soon uncover evidence of misdeeds; at the same time, however, his growing attraction for Sylvia renders his position ever more difficult. An OK movie, but nothing memorable, and most of the acting is fairly weak. Not really recommended.

>177 msf59: Hi, Mark. Yep, glad to have it back. It's supposed to get pretty warm here late in the week, too. Maybe we'll manage a birding walk on Saturday morning.

ETA: I missed your post at >166 msf59: because of the downtime. Thanks for stopping by on Saturday!

Hi Harry and happy Tuesday to you.

It's going to get to about 74F on Thursday here and be warm for the three days of our book sale. No rain, either.

I saw the bald eagle again yesterday but couldn't stop on my way in to help set up for the book sale. And I had my scope with me, too. :(

>180 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! Too bad about the eagle; I hope you get another chance.

If the weather cooperates on Saturday and we get out of the house early enough, we're likely to go on a birding walk at the Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (https://www.fws.gov/refuge/John_Heinz/). A number of years ago, we saw our first (and so far only) cuckoo in the wild while on a walk there.

43. Tales from the White Hart, by Arthur C. Clarke



I read and enjoyed this collection of science-fiction "tall tales" at least once many years ago, so I picked it up more recently for another go. Unfortunately, I found that the volume had not aged well for me. A few of the stories remained mildly entertaining, but on the whole it wasn't much worth the time. Not recommended.

Movie 98. Cavalier of the West (Artclass, 1931)

Source: IMDB

Silent Western star Harry Carey, best known today as a character actor in movies of the 1930s and 1940s, starred in this low-budget actioner as a cavalry commander attempting to put an end to the activities of a gang that is attacking Indian gold shipments, rustling, and committing other crimes. Complicating matters is the arrival of his younger brother Wilbur (Kane Richmond), who has disgraced himself by drinking and gambling back East, but who is being given a last chance to avoid a dishonorable discharge by serving out with his brother. Harry's character is sweet on Dolores (Carmen Laroux), who is also desired by the foreman of her father's rancho, Lee Burgess (Ted Adams), who is a member of the outlaw gang, but will things change when dashing young Wilbur is injured by the crooks and nursed by Dolores? Carey is appealing, and Gabby Hayes does a good job as his friend the sheriff, but the creaky production weakens the whole. Not really recommended.

When I bought a copy of The Gods of Mars a couple weeks ago, I found tucked within a clipping from the newspaper AntiqueWeek, from an issue dated May 18, 1987. It shows what I think may be the very copy I bought, though of course it may have been tucked inside as an indicator of the value of the book. I think I paid less than the price stated in the clipping, but if not, I certainly did not pay much more.

Movie 99. Sword of Venus (RKO, 1953)

Source: IMDB

Raymond Dantes (Robert Clarke), son of the Count of Monte Cristo, is set up by his father's enemies, framed for a crime and deceived into trusting those who would see him executed after arranging a marriage (to one of those same enemies) that will bring the Monte Cristo fortune into their power. Overall, the action is fairly weak, and one enemy's change of heart not particularly convincing. OK, but not recommended.

>175 harrygbutler: Marky and I did chat a minute or two, as the event was organized so that each person got to go up to the table one at a time. I told him that even after being a fan for decades, I was still "discovering" new Ramones songs. He said that was because they recorded so many songs that didn't make it on the official albums, but he had cleaned out the vaults of demos over the last couple of years, and everything (every complete song) they had recorded was now released. He was very nice and I was so excited that I completely forgot to look at the camera for a picture with him. Duh.

Hi Harry and happy Wednesday!

>184 harrygbutler: How exciting. I love finding things in books.

Morning, Harry! 60 degrees today! Yah! I am going on a bird stroll a bit later on and I am joining another birding couple. They are relatively new at the game too but more eyes and brains sure help with IDing.

My feeders have been hopping lately too. I had to fill everything yesterday but the finchfeeder. I'll probably bring out the hummingbird feeder, in the next week or two. They have been spotted downstate.

>186 mstrust: Nice that you got to talk with him and hear about the music. I think it's a good sign that you were sufficiently caught up in the moment that you didn't even think about the photo.

>187 karenmarie: Good morning, Karen! The book had been a gift at some point (perhaps originally); there's an inscription:

To Katharine
With much love
from
The Cook Family

>188 msf59: Good morning, Mark! It's to be in the mid-50s today, but much warmer the next few days. We got a new tube feeder yesterday, so I'll likely set it up today.

>192 harrygbutler: Ha!

Morning, Harry! Happy Wednesday!

>193 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! Thank you!

>184 harrygbutler: I love surprises like that!

>195 fuzzi: It was a neat find.

I see from this thread — http://www.librarything.com/topic/289941 — and assorted other bug posts that all is not well after the downtime. I suspect (but cannot confirm, as I had no recent export or record of the exact count of our collection on LT) that my LT library may be missing a few books in its count, and with the news that search indexing has been turned off until they are done working through the further necessary repairs, so that anything new added won't show up if I need to search while shopping, I'm reluctant to catalog anything else at the moment.

Movie 100. Murder, She Said (MGM, 1961)

Source: IMDB

Margaret Rutherford is a delight as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, who witnesses a strangling in a passing train. Unable to convince the police of the crime, she undertakes an investigation herself, securing a berth as a housemaid at the estate where she suspects the body may be hidden. Rather different from the character in the books, and with an accent on the comic, Rutherford nevertheless turns in quite a pleasing performance, and the success of the film led to three further movies.

Where to watch: Available on DVD as part of a set containing all four movies.

>190 harrygbutler: Interesting — that one must be based on 4:50 from Paddington from the plot description. I'd love to see the approach with what must be a much younger Miss Marple than in the books.

>199 rosalita: Yep. This lobby card makes explicit reference to that book:


Source: IMDB

As you can see, Margaret Rutherford wasn't exactly young when she made this, but she was fairly active as an investigator.

>200 harrygbutler: Ah, I didn't have a good reference for how old Rutherford would have been in 1961. She definitely looks suitably Marple-ish there. If I'm remembering the original story correctly (it's been a while since I read it), Marple sends a young acquaintance in to pose as the housemaid and gather intel. But I can see how in a movie it would work much better to have Marple herself snooping around.

>201 rosalita: Yes, it would have been a bit odd to have her on the sidelines, and this approach allowed for some good byplay with James Robertson Justice as the crotchety patriarch.

I love Rutherford as Marple, even if they are way more comical than Christie intended. And the theme music to the Rutherford/Marple movies are always jaunty tunes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG-ZO26pnE8

>203 mstrust: She's a lot of fun, and you're right, the theme music is awfully fun, too.

101. The Case of the Lucky Legs (WB, 1935)

By Source, Fair use, Link

Warren William is back as Perry Mason, this time investigating the murder of a con man whose racket involved running phony contests for a hosiery company and skipping out with the prize money. Among the suspects are the latest prize winner (Patricia Ellis), who had come to the city following the swindler and was seen leaving the hotel where the victim was staying; her fiancé (Lyle Talbot), a doctor who had pursued her, and who is implicated because of the murder weapon; and an earlier prize winner (Peggy Shannon) who had quarreled with the victim in an effort to get the money she was owed. Perry is brought into the case by Col. Bradbury (Porter Hall), the latest winner’s boss and someone also interested in her. Genevieve Tobin and Allan Jenkins provide good support as Della Reese and Spudsy Drake. Recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD as part of Perry Mason: The Original Warner Bros. Movie Collection.

Morning, Harry! Those last two movies look good - I'll have to see if I can track them down.

>206 Crazymamie: Good morning, Mamie! I forgot to mention that the Perry Mason was part of a set put out by Warner Archive, but it might be available from one of the streaming services, too.

44. The Broken Fang and Other Experiences of a Specialist in Spooks, by Uel Key



This volume reprints a collection of stories of an occult investigator, Professor Arnold Rhymer, as he foils German spies and uncovers other plots — some indeed involving the supernatural. The stories, first published in Pearson's Magazine in the late 1910s, are of varying interest; perhaps the most effective is "A Prehistoric Vendetta," with its grim view of relentless Fate destroying those who stumble into its clutches unawares. Dated in some respects, but worth a look for someone interested in occult detectives.

Movie 102. Sinister Hands (William Steiner, 1932)

Source: IMDB

A wealthy man is murdered during a séance, in a room full of people with motives for the crime, and police captain Herbert Devlin (Jack Mulhall, whose voice makes him recognizable even in bit parts later in his career) investigates. Mischa Auer is on hand as the swami who is bilking the victim's wife. Nothing special here. Not recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD and online at the Internet Archive.

Hi Harry, and happy Sunday to you!

I'm back after a busy Book Sale, tired but with a surfeit of books. *smile*

Morning, Harry! Happy Sunday!

>210 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Beautiful weather yesterday, but much cooler today. I'll head over to your thread and check out your book haul report. :-)

>211 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! It has been a quiet day today, reading and watching movies.

Movie 103. The Narrow Margin (RKO, 1952)

Source: IMDB

Killers stalk a mobster's widow aboard a cross-country train, and a gruff detective (Charles McGraw) tries to protect their quarry after the murder of his partner, despite attempts of various kinds to get him out of the way. Complicating matters is the presence of a woman traveling with her son, who at first mistakes the detective for a robber. Suspenseful. Recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD.

>192 harrygbutler: LIKE!

Happy Sunday, Harry. Hope you are having a good weekend. Another cold, damp, drab day in the Midwest. Getting tiresome. At least, I am taking advantage of staying indoors with the books today.

Despite the chill and the wet, still seeing activity at the feeders, including my FOY, chipping sparrow.

>215 msf59: Hi, Mark! Erika heard a chipping sparrow around yesterday; today we didn't notice anything unusual, but we did disturb a chickadee while we were checking out some of our plants.

45. Devil's Planet, by Manly Wade Wellman



Young Dillon Stover has come to Mars to continue his grandfather's work to develop a means of providing water to the dry planet, whose natives subsist on the most meager gleanings from Martian plant life or on rations doled out sparingly, while Mace Malbrook and his partner Brome Fielding control the distribution of water from the poles. Stover quarrels with Malbrook in a nightclub and is challenged to a duel (illegal but unlikely to be prevented). When Malbrook is murdered while Stover is in his apartment, the young man finds himself framed for the crime, and the dying evidence of another victim seems to seal his fate. Who can he trust as he struggles to foil his unknown enemy and clear his name? This fast-paced novel by Manly Wade Wellman first appeared in the January 1942 issue of Startling Stories magazine (with a better, though not more — and perhaps less — accurate, cover than the Ramble House reprint I own). Recommended.


Source: Luminist.org

Movie 104. Murder by Television (Cameo, 1935)

Link

The inventor of an improvement for television technology is murdered while broadcasting, and the chief of police (Henry Mowbray) must sort through various potential culprits, including a man (George Meeker) in the pay of a company that wanted him to do whatever was necessary to obtain the new invention. Bela Lugosi is on hand as the inventor's assistant, who is numbered among the suspects. This one doesn't have much to offer. Not recommended save for Lugosi or mystery completists.

Where to watch: Available on DVD and online at the Internet Archive and YouTube.

Books were scarce finds in my shopping this past week, but I did pick up a few, and I added a number of movies as well.

Books:
The Case of the Fiery Fingers, by Erle Stanley Gardner
Four Frontiers: Rocket Ship Galileo, Space Cadet, Red Planet, Farmer in the Sky, by Robert A. Heinlein
The Winter of the World, by Poul Anderson

Movies on DVD:
Saludos Amigos (1942)
Tonight We Raid Calais (1943)
Wing and a Prayer (1944)
Objective Burma! (1945)
Go for Broke! (1951)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
D-Day the Sixth of June (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Never So Few (1959)
Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Great Escape (1963)
Girl Happy (1964)
In Harm’s Way (1965)
The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
The Return of Count Yorga (1971)
Blacula (1972)
Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973)
That Man Bolt (1973)
Spaceballs (1987)
Army of Darkness (1992)

Hi Harry and happy Monday to you!

Nice haul. Bill and I love Space Balls and watch it about once a year. May the Schwartz be with you!

>221 karenmarie: Hi, Karen!

Spaceballs isn't a very good movie, but it sure is fun. I've seen it quite a few times, so I was happy to add it to my DVD library.

This is the first movie haul I've seen, and the only one I've seen all the way through is Army of Darkness, which is a lot of fun. I believe I've seen parts of Count Yorga too. Enjoy!

>219 harrygbutler: haha!

>220 harrygbutler: I've only seen The Ten Commandments and Spaceballs. The former is typical Hollywood melodrama and the latter wasn't very good, though I liked the last scene in the bar...

>223 mstrust: I remember enjoying Army of Darkness, but I think I've only seen it once, so I'm ready to revisit it. The vampire movies were good finds: I recall that Robert Quarry makes a pretty good vampire in the two Count Yorga movies, and William Marshall was excellent as Prince Mamuwalde/Blacula.

>224 fuzzi: Of course, all the cafe bookstores are filled with people just sitting and reading, I think.

I've seen The Ten Commandments quite a few times. I don't know that we watched it every year, but probably somewhat close. It has been a while since I last saw it, and though I didn't want to watch it this year, I did decide I wanted to be able to do so in the future.

Happy Tuesday, Harry!

Movie 105. Death from a Distance (Invincible/Chesterfield, 1935)

By Invincible Pictures - eBay card, Public Domain, Link

Once again, murder strikes in a darkened room — this time, in a planetarium! Though others saw, or thought they saw, someone moving around at the time of the shooting, descriptions disagree, and the police are forced to dig rather into the background of the victim, and of the people on hand, whether invited guest, employee of the observatory and planetarium, or gate crasher. They turn up a fair number of suspects, but eventually, with the help of an intended victim, they succeed in uncovering the culprit and a rather far-fetched murder mechanism. The unusual aspects don't really save the film, and I found Russell Hopton, as the lead detective, and Lola Lane, as a reporter covering the case, less than appealing. Not recommended.

Where to watch: Available on DVD and also for free online streaming at the Internet Archive.

>227 karenmarie: Thanks, Karen! Same to you as well!

Looks like you made a Cranswickian movie haul!

Morning, Harry! That's how I'd like to go - Death From a Distance. Ha!

>230 thornton37814: I was pleased with my finds. For years, I pretty much skipped the DVD sections, as nearly everything was too recent or too TV-oriented to appeal to me, but although newer movies still dominate, there seem to be enough older films in the mix to make it worth my while to look again. Just yesterday, for example, I was able to pick up three (well, really four): Bell, Book, and Candle, a 1958 comedy starring James Stewart and Kim Novak; The Desert Rats, a 1953 war movie starring Richard Burton, Robert Newton, and James Mason, about the siege of Tobruk; and a boxed set of Ben-Hur (1959) that includes the 1925 version as well.

>231 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! That sounds like an answer from the book meme everyone was doing back in January. I may have to try it with movie titles next year, too.

>220 harrygbutler: Nice, movie/book haul. That should keep you busy for awhile.

Morning, Harry. The cold weather continues. Like, most of the country- We NEED a break.

>234 msf59: Thanks, Mark! Yes, there are quite a few nights' worth of movies in that group.

Chilly here as well. I need to refill the feeders at some point today.

Movie 106. Below the Border (Monogram, 1942)

Source: IMDB

Monogram’s appealing cowboy trio, the Rough Riders — Buck (Buck Jones), Tim (Tim McCoy), and Sandy (Raymond Hatton) — investigate a gang that has murdered a local sheriff and is using a rancho just over the line as a base, unbeknownst to the owner. All three marshals are operating undercover: Buck as a notorious fence, Tim as a cattle buyer, and Sandy as a swamper in a saloon run by one of the bad guys. Action with some humor is the keynote, and the charismatic chums make it a pleasure to watch. Mildly recommended, with a stronger recommendation to fans.

I see that "Silver" is listed on the poster. Is this the Lone Ranger's Silver? Did he endure the frustration of typecasting?

>237 mstrust: Much as he wanted the starring role in Lassie, Come Home, it was never to be. :-)

This Silver was Buck Jones' horse, so no, not the same as the Lone Ranger's Silver. Buck had his first, so I suppose (but do not know) it is possible that the name used for the Lone Ranger's horse was inspired by Buck's horse.

46. Through More History with J. Wesley Smith, by Burr Shafer



Burr Shafer's Everyman, J. Wesley Smith, can be found making the wrong decision, or taking the wrong side, or just goofing up, throughout history (and even pre-history) in this collection of cartoons, whether suggesting that Cato give the subject of Carthage a rest, or merely bringing some cheery English sparrows home to Brooklyn. There's plenty of fun here. Recommended.

Happy Wednesday, Harry!

>239 harrygbutler: Sounds like a lot of fun.

Today is a colorful bird day already here - I've seen Cardinals, a male Goldfinch, and a Blue Bunting.

Morning, Harry!

Movie 107. A Face in the Fog (Victory, 1936)

By Source, Fair use, Link

A murderer in disguise stalks those associated with a theatrical production. The victims are poisoned, but the source of the poison is unknown. A rash reporter (June Collyer) puts herself on the spot by claiming to be able to identify the killer, and eventually, she and a fellow reporter (Lloyd Hughes) help identify the motive and the culprit. Pretty feeble stuff even by Poverty Row mystery standards. Not recommended.

>240 karenmarie: It is a good one. Some of Shafer's cartoons did appear in The New Yorker, so you now have some on hand. :-)

Oh, nice on the birds! We don't get the buntings here at our feeders, but maybe this year we'll be luckier. I've switched to a different base feed blend, so I'm hoping we'll get some different visitors.

>241 Crazymamie: Hiya, Mamie! Thanks for dropping by!

>242 harrygbutler: Don't laugh, but I didn't see the eyes in the movie poster until I looked at it a second time.

>245 Crazymamie: They are a little surprising.

One oddity of this movie was that it is careful to call attention to the fact that it is based on Peter B. Kyne's novel The Great Mono Mystery but eschews that title for one that frankly doesn't seem to apply. There isn't a whole lot of fog in this film.

Movie 108. A Shot in the Dark (Chesterfield, 1935)

Source: IMDB

A worried young man's apparent suicide is revealed as murder, setting off an investigation by the man's college roommate (Charles Starrett) and the roommate's criminologist father (Robert Warwick), as well as an official inquiry. Family secrets come to light, and more killings follow as the murderer seeks to protect himself, but the film is a bit too crowded with alternatives to work well. Mildly recommended at best.

Morning, Harry. Waking up to snow again but we do have a warm-up coming and I am really looking forward to it. There should be a bird frenzy going on out there too. I am hoping to venture out for a short walk today and see if I can drum up anything.

I hope your day goes smoothly.

Morning, Harry!

Hi Harry! I hope you have a good Thursday. I am beset by cows in my pastures again, but have had my first mug of coffee and am listening to the birds calling.

Morning, Harry. Happy Friday. I am going on a late afternoon bird walk, after work today. These are rare events, but there is supposed to be a certain area, where monk parakeets hang out, so this would be a lifer for me. Our weather is really improving.

Hi Harry! Happy Friday to you. No cows this a.m. but birds aplenty and it's definitely spring here. Everything's leafing out and the pollen is outrageous.

>249 Crazymamie: Hi, Mamie! Thanks for dropping in!

>250 karenmarie: >252 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! I'm glad the cow situation was resolved again. Lots of springtime here, too. There are blossoms on our peach tree, but we aren't actually expecting fruit this year, so we'll see what happens.

>251 msf59: Hi, Mark! Good luck on the monk parakeet search! I know I've never seen them in the wild, though there are colonies not too far away.

109. Jaws of Justice (Principal, 1933)

Source: IMDB

Kazan the Wonder Dog appears in one of his three starring pictures, about a hidden treasure trove and murder. Kazan doesn't have a whole lot of screen presence, and the acting of the rest of the cast leaves something to be desired, though the story is interesting enough. Not recommended.

>256 harrygbutler: Perhaps they should have given Kazan a bigger part!

Morning, Harry! Happy Friday!

>257 Crazymamie: That might have been a good idea, Mamie! Thanks!

>256 harrygbutler: interesting name of the dog. James Oliver Curwood wrote a book Kazan: the Wolf Dog back in 1914, and then a sequel, Baree: Son of Kazan.

They remain good solid stories in the same vein as Silver Chief or White Fang.

>259 fuzzi: I thought the name seemed familiar. I've read some Mountie novels by Curwood, but nothing else. I'll pick up the two dog books if I come across them. Thanks!

We're getting rid of the VHS collection at our library. Today I withdrew most of what remained with the exception of what was on my student worker's cart. I thought of you as I looked at so many of the "old" movies. I brought one home with me because I simply couldn't resist watching it before we completely got rid of it. It's called "The Curse of the Cat People" and came out in 1944. The description on the cover and accompanying image show nothing about cats, so I really don't know if I'll be disappointed or not. With a title like that, I must check it out. I just hope my VHS still works.

>261 thornton37814: I hope you enjoy it, Lori. It doesn't really have much to do with 1942's excellent Cat People, though characters carry over. It has been some time since I've seen it, but I don't think there's all that much with cats in the picture; it is a good movie, however. It's one of several solid low-budget movies produced by Val Lewton for RKO in the 1940s.

We're finally getting rid of the last of our VHS tapes, as we no longer have a VCR and are unlikely to get one again, though there are still some movies that have only had a legit home video release on videotape.

Hi Harry! Happy Saturday to you.

We still have some VHS tapes (and laser discs and some of Bill's old beta tapes!), but I don't think we've got a working VHS player right now either.

Morning, Harry. Sadly, no parakeets yesterday but we saw their nests. Maybe they were out foraging. They were introduced here, about 50 years ago, in a city park, and decided to stick around. I think the naturalist, said there were a couple hundred around the area. Pretty cool.

>263 karenmarie: Hi, Karen! Every now and then I run across a stack of laser discs at a thrift store or antique store, and I debate getting them, but I don't want the hassle of tracking down a player. The same is true for movies (most often silent comedies or cartoons) on 8 mm, Super 8, or 16 mm film. I do see projectors often, but I just don't think I'd ever bother to play them.

>264 msf59: Hi, Mark! Too bad about the parakeets. On the plus side, though, you now know a good spot to go looking for them on your own.

New thread is up. Please join me over there: http://www.librarything.com/topic/290391.

>260 harrygbutler: oh, do read the Curwood books, they have been reprinted in the last 20 years, so shouldn't be hard to find. His writings reflect his first-hand knowledge of the Yukon of the late 1800's, much like Jack London but without the "psychoanalysis" aspects of that author. I read Kazan after finding an old copy on my 5th-grade teacher's free book shelf. I lost it at some point, but found a reprint replacement a couple years ago. It was as good a read as I recalled.

>261 thornton37814: my son has transferred a number of VHS to DVD, and there are some businesses that will do it for you for a small fee.

>268 fuzzi: Responded on my new thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/290391#6456319