Carl Deuker -- Books, Movies, TV

Not enjoying this as much as Brat Farrar. From the start, the "conventional" reading is that the young girl is framing the older (richer) women. There hasn't been much back-and-forth as to our sympathies.  As we get closer to the trial, the townspeople remain virulently anti-Marian and her mother. The observation that Tey is anti-democratic seems reasonably. Average person is gullible fool; aristocrats see more. Ugh. Plot:  Betty Kane actually was in Amsterdam with a man rather than being beaten by Marion. The hotel keeper, as Robert Blair semi-predicted earlier, saw an old copy of Ack-Emma, happened to be traveling to England, and came to Robert Blair's office in the nick of time. Additionally, the maid who heard "screams" from upstairs was actually a thief who blackmailed a friend into backing her story.  The friend returns a stolen item with a note, the note is identified as hers by comparison to school work, so the maid's story of the "screams...

Plot thickens.  A couple of witnesses come forward who seem to corroborate Betty Kane's story. One says he saw her get in a car like Marion's.  The other is a former maid of Marion who insists she heard screams from upstairs.  (She was sacked for theft so it's a little tricky.) In favor of Marion is the fact that the girl describes the circular driveway even though she could not have seen it from her prison window.  Marion and her mother are served with a summons to appear in court, so Scotland Yard believes it has enough. Not sure what will come. Marion talks about wishing she could "torture" the girl because of her anger. Hmmm. Odd thing to say if you have been accused of beating the very same girl.  Robert remains convinced of the innocence of the two, yet there is the hint that the two women living alone have become quite eccentric.

Treat Williams acting is all over the place; sometimes great, sometimes laughable.  Screenplay and directing inconsistencies.  He'll be on the verge of a nervous breakdown in one scene, and in the next be just fine. Cop films start out with much in their favor, and this is pretty good with tension between prosecutors who aren't on the street and cops who are.  Prosecutors go after cops for breaking laws; cops break laws to enforce laws. One character based on Rudy Guiliani. Too long by an hour at least.  Family totally ignored.  Don't bother to see this.

Marion and her mother are accused of kidnapping a 16 year old girl and forcing her to be their servant. Impossible, but the girl is able to describe the inside of the Franchise (the house) perfectly.  She also was missing for four weeks.  So how does she know about the house and what was she doing all that time.  Blair is a bit in love with Marion but hates to admit it.  Intriguing story. Audible/Kindle Whispersync

Blair, a lawyer in Milford, gets a strange call.  His practice is wills and similar--nothing criminal.  A woman tells him that Scotland Yard is accusing her of abduction and implores him to come out to help her, even if later on he passes the case to someone else.  The woman says she has called him because he is "her type," meaning respectable and conservative.  He agrees.

Of Mann's famous books (Magic Mountain, Doctor Faustus), this is the most conventional.  Family drama, rise and fall of the Buddenbrook family.  Thomas is the main character. He fights hard to keep the family going, but ultimately fails.  He's a bit of a prig, though his basic dignity makes him an appealing character.  The tides of change overwhelm.  Christian, his brother, is a sign of the changes.  A hypochondriac, lazy, self-centered . . . funny at times. Perhaps his greatest "flaw" in Thomas's mind is that he doesn't admire the business. Antoine (Tony), the sister, wants to further the Buddenbrook's line.  She even gives up her first love to marry properly.  But . . .  nothing works for her.  Failed marriages and then her daughter, Erika, fails in marriage, too. Erika actually marries an insurance agent who is jailed for insurance fraud over arson cases. Greda is Thomas's somewhat exotic wife from Amsterdam.  She is musical, as ...

Hagstrom takes over the Buddenbrooks house after the death of Thomas's mother.  Christian tells Thomas off--you're a prig, have no heart, etc. Thomas acknowledges the truth of some of it.  Little Hanno continues to care more about music than about anything else.  The death of Thomas's mother is described in detail.    The decline is in full swing.