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Category Archives: London
Dressed to Kill (1946)
The Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce series of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson mysteries came to an end with this, their 14th entry, in which the Baker Street duo battle suave criminals searching London for the secret hidden within three … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Scotland, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
32 Comments
SINGLE & SINGLE (1999) by John le Carré
John le Carré (born David Cornwell on 19 October 1931) is 86 years old today – and to celebrate here is a quick review of a title that is perhaps unfairly neglected. This is one of the later books that … Continue reading
Posted in England, Espionage, John le Carre, London, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey
16 Comments
Terror by Night (1946)
The Holmes and Watson series picked itself right up again with this train-bound adventure that comes as very welcome after the disappointment of Pursuit to Algiers. It was also the swansong for Dennis Hoey’s Lestrade. Holmes: The Inspector’s going to … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Scotland, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
20 Comments
TILL DEATH DO US PART (1944) by John Dickson Carr
This classic Golden Age detective story tends to get a little lost among the multitude of enthralling mysteries that John Dickson Carr was producing at such a prodigious rate at that time. It begins with a superb set piece in … Continue reading
Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
It’s a shame, I know, but as we say in Italy, not every ring doughnut comes out with a hole in the middle. And the tenth entry in Universal Studios’ Holmes and Watson series, is by common consent considered the … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
17 Comments
RIVERS OF LONDON by Ben Aaronovitch
I first read this urban fantasy / police procedural hybrid several years ago and really enjoyed it, but for various reasons stopped there with the series. Recently a couple of friends of mine mentioned they had been reading the later … Continue reading
THE RIDDLE OF THE THIRD MILE (1983) by Colin Dexter
This book in the Inspector Morse series generally sees little love from either critics or fans – and was changed greatly when adapted for TV (even the title, to ‘The Last Enemy’). Is this a book that is worth reclaiming? … Continue reading
The Woman in Green (1945)
This film marked the final (re) appearance of Professor Moriarty (or, rather, as credited, ‘Moriarity’) in the Universal Holmes and Watson series, this time in the chilly, smooth-tongued form of Henry Daniell (who was said to be Rathbone’s favourite). And this … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
30 Comments
The House of Fear (1945)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are off to a remote part of Scotland to investigate the peculiar goings on at Drearcliff House, a gloomy old mansion where its inhabitants are all starting to receive mysterious threats before dying. Has their … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Scotland, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
48 Comments
OUR GAME (1995) by John le Carré
After several globe-trotting excursions, including The Little Drummer Girl (1983), The Russia House (1989) and The Night Manager (1993), John le Carré got back to basics in this very compact spy novel which doesn’t set foot outside UK until the … Continue reading
Posted in England, Espionage, France, John le Carre, London, Russia
37 Comments
DEATH IN THE TUNNEL (1936) by Miles Burton
This is a bit of a special post – I have so far managed to get through life without reading a single novel by John Rhode, who often published as Miles Burton and whose real name was Cecil John Street. … Continue reading
PAINKILLER by NJ Fountain
“You wrote my note! My suicide note! You want to kill me!” Although the term ‘gaslighting’ has existed for decades, it is very popular at present to describe stories in which men manipulate the minds of women – and this … Continue reading
2016 Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt
For as long as I’ve been hosting this blog, I’ve participated in Bev Hankins’ irresistible vintage mystery reading challenges. The rules have been amended over the years, but the basic criteria is the same – review a mystery from two … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, 2016 Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt, 87th Precinct, Albert Campion, Bill Pronzini, California, Canada, Catherine Aird, Chicago, Cosy Cozy, David Callan, Don DeLillo, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edgar Wallace, Ellery Queen, England, Fletcher Fliora, Florida, Germany, Gideon Fell, Inspector Wexford, Italy, James Hadley Chase, James Mitchell, John Dickson Carr, John le Carre, Kansas City, London, Louisiana, Margery Allingham, Middle East, Montana, New York, Noir, Ostara Publishing, Patricia Moyes, Police procedural, Private Eye, Radio, Ruth Rendell, San Francisco, Stark House Press, Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2016
18 Comments
THE SECRET AGENT (1907) by Joseph Conrad
Subtitled ‘A Simple Tale’ and dedicated to HG Wells, Conrad’s novel of anarchists, spies, treachery and a terror campaign gone wrong was based on the Greenwich bombing of 1894, though it is actually set eight years before that. Recently adapted for … Continue reading
DANGEROUS DAVIES: THE LAST DETECTIVE (1976) by Leslie Thomas
Today I thought I would post something on the lighter side of the mystery genre, a potentially grim story of a cold case told with bawdy humour and plenty of vim and vigour. Leslie Thomas (1931–2014) came to prominence in … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt, London, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, Val Guest
Tagged Peter Davison
24 Comments
CAKES AND ALE (1930) by W. Somerset Maugham
Late in life, Somerset Maugham claimed that this was the favourite among his novels and it is easy to see why, with its wit and provocative themes handled with consummate skill. It is certainly among his most autobiographical, resurrecting the … Continue reading
Posted in Five Star review, Kent, London, Somerset Maugham
42 Comments
The romance of Brian De Palma
The following revisit of a favourite film and director is offered for the Brian De Palma Blogathon being hosted by Ratnakar Sadasyula at his site, Seetimaar – Diary of a Movie Lover from 11 to 21 September to celebrate the great filmmaker’s birthday … Continue reading
Scream and Scream Again (1969) – Tuesday’s Overlooked Film
The big selling point for this movie was the presence of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, though in fact the three never appear on-screen at the same time. And despite the title it’s not much of a horror … Continue reading
Posted in Amicus, Christopher Lee, England, London, Peter Cushing, Science Fiction, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price
34 Comments
The Pearl of Death (1944)
After the rousing success of The Scarlet Claw, could Universal’s Holmes and Watson series continue at the same fever pitch? Well, no, not quite, but this breezy thriller, kicking off the next trio of Holmesian adventures for Basil Rathbone and … Continue reading
Posted in Arthur Conan Doyle, London, Sherlock Holmes, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
Tagged Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce
31 Comments
What Have You Done to Solange? (1972) – Tuesday’s Overlooked Film
In the 1960s two film companies made a long series of films using the Edgar Wallace byline – the UK thrillers were made for Anglo Amalgamated (my microsite devoted to these is here), while Rialto filmed their own in Germany, though … Continue reading
Posted in Edgar Wallace, Giallo, London, Tuesday's Overlooked Film
28 Comments
Jason Bourne – cinema review
Regular Fedora visitors will know that I love spy movies and am a sucker for stories about amnesia, so the Bourne saga – about a spy who forgets who he is and searches for answers from his old employers at the … Continue reading
Posted in Espionage, Greece, Las Vegas, London, Reykjavik, Rome, Spy movies, Tuesday's Overlooked Film, Washington DC
84 Comments
THE CLUE OF THE SILVER KEY (1930) by Edgar Wallace
Why should someone go to the trouble of assassinating petty thief Horace Tom Tickler and leaving his body inside a taxi with £100 in his pocket? This is the problem that Surefoot Smith of Scotland Yard has to clear up, … Continue reading
THE CLUE OF THE NEW PIN (1923) by Edgar Wallace
In 1961 Clue of the New Pin became one of the first of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series made at Merton Park studios to sit on the lower birth of a cinema double bill. Originally released in Britain at a rate of roughly … Continue reading
And your favourite Hitchcock movies are …
Drum roll please … Having gone through a week of voting for the favourite films directed by Alfred Hitchcock on a decade by decade basis, this was meant to lead to a top 10, though we ended up with a … Continue reading
Results for the Hitchcock poll
Well, the polls are now closed and the results are in. First things first though – the response to this celebration of the 53 films directed by Alfred Hitchcock was really gratifying, so special thanks to everyone who joined in. … Continue reading
Hitchock in the 60s and 70s – time to vote
Hitchcock’s life and career changed forever with the release of Psycho in 1960. Made on a tight budget, its enormous success made him a very wealthy man and saw him change studios to Universal for the rest of his career. … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Amnesia, Boston, Cold War, Cuba, Daphne Du Maurier, Ed McBain, Espionage, Film Poll, France, Germany, London, New York, Norway, Paris, Psycho, Robert Bloch, San Francisco, Spy movies, Sweden, Washington DC
63 Comments
1950s Hitchcock – vote for the best
This was the decade when Hitchcock truly became a superstar – along with a string of critically acclaimed and commercially successful films he became the host of his own TV shows Alfred Hitchcock Presents (and later, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour), … Continue reading
Hitchcock in the 1940s – vote now!
With the success of The Lady Vanishes, Hitchcock got a contract with producer David O Selznick and headed to Hollywood to make the Oscar-winning Rebecca – and never looked back. This period saw the director blossom as he got to … Continue reading
Posted in 'In praise of ...', Alfred Hitchcock, Amnesia, Anthony Berkeley, Australia, California, Cold War, Courtroom, Daphne Du Maurier, England, Espionage, Film Poll, Francis Beeding, London, Los Angeles, New York, Noir, Patrick Hamilton, Philip MacDonald, Screwball, Spy movies, The Netherlands, World War II
59 Comments
SMEAR JOB (1975) by James Mitchell
David Callan is a dyspeptic working-class spy employed by a spartan MI6 black ops unit known only as ‘The Section.’ An exceptional marksman with a deep-rooted (and usually well-founded) distrust of authority, his nasty assignments do little to assuage his sense … Continue reading
Jago & Litefoot – Series 1
Hurrah – theatre impresario Henry Gordon Jago and pathologist Professor George Litefoot, those two fruity Victorian investigators created by Robert Holmes and played to perfection by Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter, are back this month for their eleventh series! The … Continue reading
Tipping My Fedora 