Carl Deuker -- Books, Movies, TV

Enjoyable, but not a great movie.  Bergman is being psychologically tortured by Boyer. He makes her believe she is stealing things from him though she remembers nothing.  She questions her sanity.  Joseph Cotton, who was infatuated with Bergman's murdered aunt, appears and starts snooping around. (He works for Scotland Yard." Bergman is falling apart mentally, yet she's gorgeous in every scene. Hair, eyes, dress--not too convincing as a character who is supposed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Very entertaining cozy murder mystery.  Lady Hardcastle (Emily) and her lady's maid Florence Armstrong go for a walk in their quiet country village and discover a dead body--a man hanging from a tree.  Both are more than up to the moment, neither expressing much emotion or shock.  Stiff upper lip and all that.  The "suicide" they quickly reveal to the police, is really a murder.  The police find out the dead man had had an argument in the bar earlier.  They arrest the other man, and they're done.  But our ladies are just beginning. So, it's fun, but . . . the relationship between the two women is a bit hard to take.  Flo and Emily get along swimmingly, bantering with one another, each apparently content.  The class distinction, when they are alone, disappears.  In public, it reappears.  All very smooth.  Now the newly "rich" don't possess this ability to be great employers of servants, so they order they servants around and are generally bullies.  

A pleasure to resee.  Bergman is excellent with her soft face and voice, melancholy and trusting. Boyer is suave . . . the murderer.

Just started this. Definitely trying for the charm factor, and succeeding so far. Lady Hardcastle is an imposing woman; her servant and friend is smaller. Both are witty and engage in a back-and-forth repartee which is highly unlikely for early 1900's, but is also highly entertaining. Dead body soon, I'm hoping

I will read more by Stabenow.  This was very good on Alaska tensions between Native Americans, whites, Federal land administrators, park rangers.  The last frontier with many different visions of how best to manage it.  The "murder mystery" part was weaker.  Forest Ranger goes missing, then the man who sets out to find him goes missing.  Both murdered by old guy who is Kate Shugak's sort of surrogate granddad.  It was pretty obvious that he was the murderer.  The final scene with her grandmother who accuses Kate of deserting her Native American heritage was very good, showing the pull in different directions and the lack of an obvious "right" answer. Ending scene for my failing memory.  Kate goes down into mine to confirm that the bodies are there.  Abel sort of tries to kill her; the elevator she is in fails.  Her lover, Jack, saves her.  Kate confronts Abel. He again threatens to kill her.  She walks away, his gun trained on her.  Gunshot . . . he has killed

I'm about 30% finished with  A Cold Day For Murder: Two missing people, but so far the book is much more about the culture of Alaska than it is about the actual "murders" of the two missing people. One is a ranger and the other is a man sent to find the ranger.  Short, so I'll hang with it to the end.

Okay, so my suspected bad guy turned out to be the bad guy--but it was fine.  Better to have him than to pull some villain out of a rabbit's hat.  Jane Finn is an astonishingly loyal girl, but that's also necessary for the plot.  Question now (for me) is whether Tommy and Tuppence get married.  I'm guessing NO, because the "we pretend we're not in love" partnership is more free-wheeling.  I'll know by tomorrow!

British pluck. Tommy thinks Tuppence is dead, but he soldiers on bravely.  She, earlier, thought he was dead, but . . .  The missing documents are still missing. Julius (the American) is looking more and more like Mr. Brown.  A photo Antoinette, the French maid at the place where Tommy was nearly killed, shows up in Julius's drawer. Plodding Tommy just might save the day.  Great fun, but the characters aren't quite real. We're supposed to believe Tommy and Tuppence, without admitting it, are truly and deeply in love. Yet when one thinks the other dead, it's a bit like they've lost a favorite pen.  The plotting of the story, though, is quite amazing--I'm assuming AC can pull it off.  My guess is that Julius is, in fact, Mr. Brown.

Tommy and Tuppence are on the case.  "Mr. Brown" is after information in the possession of Jane Finn which might cause a general blowup of the UK.  Labor riots, Irish riots--bad stuff.  Poor Tommy has been banged over the head.  Tuppence is working as a maid for one of the baddies, a Mrs. Vandermeyer.  The American is along, too, passing out money. Great stereotypical characters . . . great fun.

Just starting out. Liking it very much. This one is looking to be a political thriller mystery. Two young Brits, one male and one female, fall into espionage.  They have that "Brit" devil-may-care-it's-all-going-to-work-out-we're-Brits attitude. Prologue involves papers passed just before the sinking of the Lusitania.  I'm hooked, and I don't usually like Agatha that much.

Lourdes is saved -- she was stuck in a survival hole dug out by ex-cop and present inspector Dortweiler.  Very exciting rescue, from capturing Dortweiler to finding Lourdes.  Now Harry is back on his other case . . . but is the first one really over. I think Dortweiler will get at Harry's daughter somehow--perhaps he had an accomplice.

Very exciting ending. Our constable acts completely within character in his "treatment" of the man who was planning on torturing and killing his grandchildren.  Exciting ending. This was a terrific, no holds barred (except for saving the dog at the end, and I'm glad he did) mystery.  Far more than a thriller, with solid insights into Texas in the early 60's.  I look forward to reading another.

Terrific.  Lana Turner and Juanita Moore are both fantastic.  Rich ambitious actress; salt of the earth hard-working servant. Two daughters and heartbreak for both.  Two of the most moving scenes--Sara Jane saying goodbye to Mama at the Moulin Rouge and Sara Jane coming back for Juanita Moore's funeral.  Mahalia Jackson at the end.  Really, really great.

VANCE is dead, but he has sent a will to Harry with instructions to keep looking for an heir. Was Vance murdered? Looks like it. Plot two: The screen door rapist is chased off. He drops his knife and Bosch tracks down the first owner (stolen from him). Bosch also goes through the garbage looking for a discarded mask. Very good procedural crime solving. Enjoyable novel."

Close to the finish.  Murderer/torturer revealed and is very fitting.  His past (including abuse at the hands of his father) makes the torturing sensible . . . if that's a sensible thing to say.  Very exciting final scenes.  The subplot of race plays out in the discovery of the murderer.  I like this book very much, and it's way off my normal turf.

4/5 stars TERRIFIC movie.  Louis Jourdaine and Joan Fontaine.  Joan falls in love with pianist Louis when she is 15.  She remains in love with him despite the fact that he forgets all about her.  She has his baby, raises the boy, marries, but when he returns--she falls madly in love with him again.  Goodbye son and husband. She packs her boy off (tears streaming) to his school.  Both he and she sit briefly in a railroad car that has had typhus patient.  Boy dies.  Joan dies . . . but not before writing a letter to Louis explaining her love. Movie ends with Louis heading off to a duel (which he will lose) with Joan's husband, though it seems unlikely he is aware that it is her husband.  He is, however, aware that by being so self-centered he threw away his one chance at true love. Joan Fontaine was terrific.

Ned (Grandpa), Top, and Pepper have an idyllic relationship on the border of Texas and Oklahoma.  Shooting, hunting, dogs, hanging out, uncles and aunts, storms--nice evocation of rural life in 1964.  One problem is a major one, though.  Some psycho has been killing and skinning animals.  He's graduated to humans, and he seems intent on skinning/torturing 10 year-old Top.  Nice.  Odd tone . . . Little House on the Prairie meets Freddy Krueger.

Texas/Oklahoma border during Kennedy part of the '60's.  Sheriff Ned continues to try to maintain the peace.  Top's Uncle Cody is messing with a married woman and gets in a fight with four men. Ned's cotton pickers threaten to go off the job. Ned is nearly ambushed and killed.  Lightfoot (?) is released from prison, kills the man who has moved in with his wife, kills his wife, accidentally causes his house to burn killing the rest of his family except for his baby who turns up dead . . . and may be the first human victim of the animal torturer the book started with. Yikes!

Harry Bosch makes headway with Vance's illegitimate child.  Dominick, born at St. Helena's home for "bad girls" later is adopted and dies in Vietnam. His birth mother commits suicide at St. Helena's.  Bosch is with Dominick's sister, looking through his things.  Possibilities.  Dominick isn't really dead--highly unlikely, but it's hard to see where this story next goes unless Vance is murdered. Screen door rapist story is basically on hold.  Not much information on that one today.

Probably my fourth viewing.  Still very enjoyable, though the Grace Kelly character is a bit mystifying.  She doesn't fit with Jimmy Stewart and it's hard to see why she comes around all the time to hear his abuse about her "perfection."

This is my "car" listen.  Really enjoying most of it.  Texas in 1964. Racism accepted part of life, but attitudes changing.  Good characters, though sometimes Top--10 year-old--can be a bit annoying.  Besides the family interaction, there is a serial animal torturer.  Ned Parker, Top's grandfather, is worried that the killer will turn to humans, children most likely (Top, no doubt), at some point. Excellent reader.

Harry has two investigations going.  One for old-guy Vance into Vibiana's life.  Seems she committed suicide (ha!) at 17.  The other into the screen door serial rapist. I can't imagine that these two intersect in any meaningful way.  Just Harry busy.

Harry Bosch is off the LA police force.  P.I. and part-time employee of San Fernando police.  Called to do a little P.I. work for a wealthy Los Angelino in his 80's . . . Vance. Raymond Chandler start. Vance, an old California scion, calls Bosch in to investigate a personal matter.  Does the dying old man have relatives (grandchildren, most likely) from a romance when he was 18 with a Mexican girl, Vivianna Duarte?  The old, dying guy wants Bosch to report to him only.  The danger--since Vance has no heirs, all the board members who would inherit the business would prefer than no heir exist.

When it is good, it's great.  But . . . there were too many scenes that seemed to flop around without purpose.  The final confrontation between Lilian Gish and Robert Mitchum is oddly undramatic. Some sappy moments.  Beautiful sets . . . ride down the river . . . Mitchum genuinely creepy.

Barbara Stanwyck as invalid wife who has been marked for murder by her husband.  She is a privileged  brat, so it's interesting that she is able to elicit our sympathy.  I guess murder does that.  Burt Lancaster is the husband, uneducated and clearly tired of bossy-invalid Barbara.  Based on a radio play, and there are lots of phone calls.  I will try to find the radio play and listen to it.

Ingrid Bergman as woman with notorious reputation who agrees to marry Claude Rains to spy on Germans.  Cary Grant is in love with her, but her reputation keeps him from speaking kindly of her.  Rains discovers she is an agent and slowly poisons her. Cary Grant saves her. Ingrid Bergman is fantastic.  Very expressive fact, wonderful performance. Cary Grant is wooden, not nearly to her level.

Excellent for the most part.  Frederich March returns and fights a drinking problem. He struggles to fit into the bank.  Homer returns with hooks where his hands were.  His sweetheart still loves him, but he can't believe it and struggles to let him back into his life.  Dana Andrews comes back to a wife who wants money now, and Andrews can't find a decent job (he was a bomber in the war, and a hero.) Andrews falls in love with Frederich March's daughter.  FM is not happy--Dana is married.  Ending, FM is doing better at the bank, working for the returning soldier.  Homer marries his sweetheart who accepts his disability. Dana Andrews divorces his wife and is clearly going to marry Theresa Wright.  The divorce, initiated by Andrews' wife but completely endorsed by him, will allow them to marry. Many very fine scenes throughout

My willing suspension of disbelief is being challenged. Somehow Scott--the hero swimmer who saved the little boy--is a suspect in the downing of the plane. He paints disaster scenes so he caused one?  And he knew he would live? Or it was suicide?  Don't get it.  The Bill O'Reilly character continues to rail.  There seems to be an investigation of one of the crew.  The main problem is the story requires a SUICIDAL passenger or crewman, and there just isn't one . . . at least not yet. Much more likely is murder by someone out to get a passenger.  I think that's where the book is heading, but I wish it would get there and soon!