Comments on: Bill Pronzini on STEPHEN MARLOWE, 1928-2008. http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542 Devoted to mystery and detective fiction -- the books, the films, the authors, and those who read, watch, collect and make annotated lists of them. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:35:11 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: » Inquiry re: STEPHEN MARLOWE. http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-126899 » Inquiry re: STEPHEN MARLOWE. Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:41:54 +0000 http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-126899 [...] In reply to Bill Pronzini’s post on Stephen Marlowe at the the time of his death, David L. Vineyard said —     [...] [...] In reply to Bill Pronzini’s post on Stephen Marlowe at the the time of his death, David L. Vineyard said —     [...]

]]> By: David L. Vineyard http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-125243 David L. Vineyard Tue, 03 Feb 2009 05:55:53 +0000 http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-125243 As far as I know the Lynch adaptation is just another project that never got very far like the Peter Glenville movie of Morris West's Tower of Babel or Hitchcock's film of From Russia With Love. You might try IMDB since they cover films in production or suspended, and there is likely a site for Lynch, if not an official one then a fan site. The term "Valkerie" was the code Von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators used for the attempted assassination of Hitler, so it is most likely just a coincidence that the two have similar names. You might check IMDB for the credits to be certain. There is also a very good novel on the conspiracy by Hans Helmut Kirst (Night of the Generals among others), and I would imagine several non fiction histories. Marlowe's biographical historical novels did recieve quite good critical reception at the time, and if I recall correctly both Colossus and Lighthouse were New York Times Notable Books of the Year, In addition I know he won a major French literary award (the Prix de Concort?). His post-Drum books had very good sales, and I think at least one, Summit, was either a best seller or close to it. Today he is somewhat forgotten, but he's hardly alone in that. Frank Yerby, Edison Marshall, and Samuel Shellabarger all were major best selling writers and little of their work is available, or for that matter Thomas B. Costain or A.J. Cronin. The sad thing is that Marlowe is a bit harder to find because he wasn't in that superseller category. Still, it's not had to find many of the Drum books and with a little work probably most of the others can be found as well. Barring a major film being based on one of his books there isn't likely to be much of a revival of his historicals, though the Drum books, and particularly the one he did in collaboration with Richard Prather teaming Drum and Shell Scott, might fare better. At least the Drum books are fairly easy to find on-line and at second hand book stores. As far as I know the Lynch adaptation is just another project that never got very far like the Peter Glenville movie of Morris West’s Tower of Babel or Hitchcock’s film of From Russia With Love. You might try IMDB since they cover films in production or suspended, and there is likely a site for Lynch, if not an official one then a fan site.

The term “Valkerie” was the code Von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators used for the attempted assassination of Hitler, so it is most likely just a coincidence that the two have similar names. You might check IMDB for the credits to be certain. There is also a very good novel on the conspiracy by Hans Helmut Kirst (Night of the Generals among others), and I would imagine several non fiction histories.

Marlowe’s biographical historical novels did recieve quite good critical reception at the time, and if I recall correctly both Colossus and Lighthouse were New York Times Notable Books of the Year, In addition I know he won a major French literary award (the Prix de Concort?). His post-Drum books had very good sales, and I think at least one, Summit, was either a best seller or close to it.

Today he is somewhat forgotten, but he’s hardly alone in that. Frank Yerby, Edison Marshall, and Samuel Shellabarger all were major best selling writers and little of their work is available, or for that matter Thomas B. Costain or A.J. Cronin. The sad thing is that Marlowe is a bit harder to find because he wasn’t in that superseller category. Still, it’s not had to find many of the Drum books and with a little work probably most of the others can be found as well.

Barring a major film being based on one of his books there isn’t likely to be much of a revival of his historicals, though the Drum books, and particularly the one he did in collaboration with Richard Prather teaming Drum and Shell Scott, might fare better. At least the Drum books are fairly easy to find on-line and at second hand book stores.

]]> By: Caddie http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-125134 Caddie Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:06:59 +0000 http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-125134 Hi, I've been a fan of Marlowe's works for a long time. I specially love his novels on Columbus, Cervantes and Goya, and I can't understand why he has not received the critical attention his historical narratives, along with all his other works, deserve. I wonder if anyone could answer a doubt? Is there any chance the just released film Valkyrie is based on Marlowe's novel The Valkyrie Encounter? And do you know if David Lynch's attempted film on Marlowe's A Lighthouse at the End of the World did finally come out? Thanks so much. Hi, I’ve been a fan of Marlowe’s works for a long time. I specially love his novels on Columbus, Cervantes and Goya, and I can’t understand why he has not received the critical attention his historical narratives, along with all his other works, deserve.
I wonder if anyone could answer a doubt? Is there any chance the just released film Valkyrie is based on Marlowe’s novel The Valkyrie Encounter?
And do you know if David Lynch’s attempted film on Marlowe’s A Lighthouse at the End of the World did finally come out?
Thanks so much.

]]> By: David L. Vineyard http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-123729 David L. Vineyard Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:33:31 +0000 http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=542#comment-123729 As a long time fan of Marlowe I appreciated the tribute. I followed his career from Chester Drum to the later literary novels and enjoyed them all along the way. He may not have been the most popular of the Gold Medal writers, but I always felt the Drum books were a step above the rest, and that he would have been equally at home in hardcovers (which he eventually was). The hallmark of the Drum books aside from the settings was always an understated literacy that never got in the way of the action, but gave the best of them a weight sometimes missing from other GM series (no matter how much I enjoyed them). I always ranked Marlowe with MacDonald, Hamilton, and Charles Williams at the top of the heap in terms of the quality of the product. Of his later novels, two you don't mention are very good, The Man With No Shadow is reminiscent of a Graham Greene novel, and Colossus, his biographical novel of Goya is a fine work. As a long time fan of Marlowe I appreciated the tribute. I followed his career from Chester Drum to the later literary novels and enjoyed them all along the way. He may not have been the most popular of the Gold Medal writers, but I always felt the Drum books were a step above the rest, and that he would have been equally at home in hardcovers (which he eventually was). The hallmark of the Drum books aside from the settings was always an understated literacy that never got in the way of the action, but gave the best of them a weight sometimes missing from other GM series (no matter how much I enjoyed them). I always ranked Marlowe with MacDonald, Hamilton, and Charles Williams at the top of the heap in terms of the quality of the product. Of his later novels, two you don’t mention are very good, The Man With No Shadow is reminiscent of a Graham Greene novel, and Colossus, his biographical novel of Goya is a fine work.

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