Mon 17 Sep 2012
MAKE A LIST: Franchise Players in the Mystery Genre, by Michael Shonk
Posted by Steve under Characters[92] Comments
Franchise Players in the Mystery Genre
by Michael Shonk
What is a franchise character? Let’s adapt the word as used in the film business and apply it to books. So our franchise character is any character that has been featured in three or more books. Good golly, look at them all.
A franchise character should be special, unique among the rest, so lets narrow it down a bit. The character must appear in three or more original novels. No comic books, short stories, screenplay adaptations, folklore or ballads. And since this is Mystery*File, we will limit our choices to the mystery genre.
Considering there are countless mystery books series released every month, it is shocking how many of fiction’s most beloved and remembered characters don’t have a book series to his or her name.
Dashiell Hammett’s NICK and NORA CHARLES, the most famous and best of the detective couple appeared in only one novel The Thin Man. There is good news for the two. November 2012, Mysterious Press plans to release Return of the Thin Man, featuring two novellas Hammett wrote to be used as the basis for the movies “After the Thin Man†and “Another Thin Man.†But it is still not enough to make a book series.
Others who failed to make the list due to a lack of a series of original novels include CONTINENTAL OP, BOSTON BLACKIE, BATMAN, SUPERMAN, CISCO KID, DICK TRACY, and ROBIN HOOD.
Still too many characters for a list, so let’s add films. It is only fair since we stole their word, franchise. Of course in the past, a movie franchise was called, oddly enough, a series. So how can we define a movie series, oops, franchise (and limit our number of characters on the list)? Let’s require three or more original theatrical films shown in America featuring the same studio or independent producer, and/or actor. They must be original films for the movie theatre, doing what Thrush never could do and eliminate MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. with its films made up of TV episodes.
While there have been several films featuring PHILIP MARLOWE and ZORRO, none were a part of a series of three films featuring the same studio and/or actor. Also off the list are: LEW ARCHER, NERO WOLFE, JOHN J. MALONE, MIKE HAMMER, FLASHGUN CASEY, TRAVIS MCGEE, RAFFLES, FLETCH, and MR AND MRS NORTH.
Still too many characters, so let’s add a weekly TV series, a miniseries of three or more episodes, or three or more TV Movies, but no network pilots or foreign productions that have not aired on American TV. You are welcome to add in the comments any, such as the reported PHILO VANCE Italian series, which would restore the character to the list.
A surprising number of popular mystery characters have never had a TV series such as SAM SPADE, THE SHADOW, NICK CARTER, MR. MOTO, BULLDOG DRUMMOND, JAMES BOND, JACK RYAN, JASON BOURNE (only a two part TV movie), and HARRY PALMER (who has only two TV Movies so far).
One character will qualify soon, making him lucky number thirteen on our soon to be revealed list. Thomas Harris created HANNIBAL LECTER, the villain with an odd diet, in a series of four books that began with Red Dragon (1981). A famous movie series of four films has followed beginning with Manhunter (1986). Sometime in the upcoming TV season (most likely in 2013) a TV series featuring the serial killer and cannibal will premiere on NBC.
What should we include in the mystery genre? Should we include the action/adventure series of INDIANA JONES and TARZAN? How about horror and JASON VOORHEES from Friday the 13th? All have a series of original books, series of films, and a weekly TV series. I’m not adding them to our list of mystery characters, but feel free to argue in the comments why I should or suggest others.
So who survived? Who can be called a franchise character in all three major formats?
THE LIST OF THE TRIPLE THREAT FRANCHISE CHARACTERS:
CHARLIE CHAN – Created by Earl Derr Biggers as a minor character in the book House Without a Key (1925) that was serialized in the magazine Saturday Evening Post. Five more books were to follow. CHARLIE has appeared in many films, the first being a ten episode serial from Pathe House, Without a Key (1926), with George Kuwa playing the minor role of CHAN. Fox produced sixteen films between 1931 and 1938 starring Warner Oland. After Oland’s death, Sidney Toler took over the part with eleven for Fox, then eleven more for Monogram Studios. After Toler’s death, Roland Winters took over the Monogram series for six films between 1947 and 1949. J. Carrol Naish played the detective in the syndicated TV series The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1957 – thirty-nine episode). The character played a minor role in the animated children cartoon featuring Chan’s children solving crimes called The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan (CBS, 1972). Keye Luke was the voice of CHARLIE CHAN.
http://charliechanfamily.tripod.com
ELLERY QUEEN – Created by “Ellery Queen†(Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee) in the novel The Roman Hat Mystery (1929), the first in a decades-long book series. Movies have proven unkind to ELLERY, but he was featured in a Columbia film series that lasted seven films, four starring Ralph Bellamy and three with William Gargan. There have been four different TV series featuring the character. The Adventures of Ellery Queen (DuMont, 1950-51; ABC 1951-52) starred Richard Hart then after Hart’s death, Lee Bowman. Adventures of Ellery Queen (Syndication, 1954, thirty-two episodes) starred Hugh Marlowe in the series also called Murder is My Business. The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen (NBC, 1958-59) starred George Nader until the production left New York for Hollywood where Lee Philips took over. Finally (so far), perhaps the best TV adaptation of a traditional mystery detective was Ellery Queen (NBC, 1975-76) starring Jim Hutton.
DR. FU MANCHU – Created by Sax Rohmer. The character began in short story “Fu-Manchu,†published October 1912 in the magazine The Story-Teller. A long series of books would follow. Harry Agar Lyons was the first in films to portray the evil Doctor in the silent British movie serial The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu (1923). Warner Oland starred in three Paramount films starting with Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu (1929). Better remembered is the film series with Christopher Lee that lasted five films beginning with The Face Of Fu Manchu (1965). Glen Gordon played the role in the syndicated TV series “Adventures of Fu Manchu†(1955 – thirteen episodes).
http://njedge.net/~knapp/FuFrames.htm
HERCULE POIROT – Created by Agatha Christie, the Belgian PI first appeared in The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1916) and lasted thirty-three novels before he met his end in Curtain (1975). Austin Trevor (Alibi, 1931) was the first to play the character in film. Peter Ustinov played the private detective in three theatrical films (Death On the Nile, 1976, Evil Under the Sun, 1982 and Appointment With Death, 1988) and three TV-Movies for Warner Brothers (Thirteen at Dinner, 1985, Dead Man’s Folly, 1986, and Murder in Three Acts, 1986). The most popular portrayal of the character has been by David Suchet who has played POIROT since 1989 for various productions usually seen in the United States on PBS series Mystery.
http://www.poirot.us/poirot.php
LONE WOLF aka MICHAEL LANYARD – Louis Joseph Vance created the ex-thief turned adventurer that appeared in a series of eight books beginning with The Lone Wolf: A Melodrama (1914). The character first appeared on film in silent movie The Lone Wolf (1917) starring Bert Lytell, who would star in five films, the other four for Columbia. Most of the LONE WOLF films came from Columbia Pictures with Warren William starring in nine and Gerald Mohr in three. The syndicated TV series, The Lone Wolf (also known as Streets of Danger) turned him into a PI. The series starred Louis Hayward and lasted thirty-nine episodes.
http://thrillingdetective.com/lone_wolf.html
MATT HELM – Created by Donald Hamilton, the government agent appeared in over twenty-five books beginning with Death of a Citizen (1960). MATT HELM changed from tough-guy to campy spy in a movie series of four films starring Dean Martin beginning with The Silencers (1966). In 1975 a TV series starring Tony Franciosa as ex-spy turned PI aired for one season on ABC.
http://thrillingdetective.com/helm_matt.html
MICHAEL SHAYNE – Created by “Brett Halliday†(David Dresser). The character first appeared in Dividend on Death (1939) and continued in a series of seventy-seven novels. Lloyd Nolan played the red headed PI in a 20th Century Fox film series of seven movies beginning with Michael Shayne, Private Detective (1940). PRC followed with five movies starring Hugh Beaumont. Richard Denning played the PI in a NBC-TV series (1960-61).
http://thrillingdetective.com/shaynemike.html
MISS JANE MARPLE – Agatha Christie is the only author with two franchise characters. MISS JANE MARPLE first appeared in Murder at the Vicarage (1930) and would last a total of twelve novels, the final one being Sleeping Murder (1976). Arguably the best of the entire “Little Old Lady†turned detective subgenre. Margaret Rutherford played the character in the popular “Murder†film series for MGM that lasted four films beginning with Murder She Said (1961). The character has PBS to thank for showing the British productions of her TV series starring such actresses as Geraldine McEwan and Julie McKenzie.
http://www.poirot.us/marple.php
PERRY MASON – Created by Erle Stanley Gardner. The only lawyer on the list, he first appeared in The Case of the Velvet Claws (1933) and continued for eighty-five novels. Warner Brothers film series began with The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) and lasted six films, four starring Warren William. Raymond Burr starred in the CBS TV series that lasted between 1957 through 1966. CBS would bring back the character in New Adventures of Perry Mason (1973-74) with Monte Markham playing the lawyer. In 1985, Raymond Burr would return to star in thirty TV Movies between 1985-1993 (CBS).
https://www.thrillingdetective.com/mason.html
THE SAINT aka SIMON TEMPLAR – Created by Leslie Charteris in Meet–The Tiger! (1928). The former thief turned adventurer Simon Templar has been featured in over ninety books. The character has appeared in many films including an RKO series of eight films with George Sanders starring in five. Two series featuring the character have appeared on America television. The Saint starring Roger Moore began in 1962 on British television and later in syndication to American television stations. In 1966 NBC aired episodes from the series. CBS’s Return Of The Saint starred Ian Ogilvy and ran twenty-four episodes during the 1978-79 season.
http://www.lesliecharteris.com
I have left off one consulting detective and one amateur detective who belong on the list. Can you name who they are? One of the missing is obvious while the other is a surprise. Please use the comments for your answer, as well as other suggestions and comments.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/mystery/index.html
September 17th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Michael:
You omitted Sherlock and Jane. Never a big fan of the Rathbone series, Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke were just fine. As for Miss Marple, Joan Hickson hit the spot and her films for television struck me as well produced and written. My personal favorite, The Mirror Cracked with Claire Bloom, Barry Newman and the great, and I mean great, John Castle. So, when will you address these insitutions?
September 17th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
Consulting Detective: Sherlock Holmes
Amateur Detective: Nancy Drew
September 17th, 2012 at 9:12 pm
I am really old, Jane Marple is on the list, but what I said about Hickson goes.
September 17th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
I almost added American radio to reduce the number more, but thought it would be too unfair to our modern mystery characters. Yet, it would have knocked off only Hannibal, Matt Helm, Miss Marple, and one of the two mystery detectives.
I found it interesting the lack of modern characters to cross over all three formats. It seems today it is hard to star in a TV series and film series. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE for example had different characters.
September 17th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Wow, as I was typing my last comment, this place got busy.
Barry, you were right about Sherlock.
Jerry, you spoiled all my fun. I was sure no one would think about Nancy Drew. I had my clues prepared and everything:)
I should have known I was dealing with mystery experts here. NANCY DREW was created by Edward Stratemeyer as Carolyn Keene, house name for many ghostwriters. Warner Brothers produced a movie series of four films starting with “Nancy Drew, Detective,” starring Bonita Granville. ABC TV series (1977-79) starred Pamela Sue Martin in a series that aired alternate weeks with “Hardy Boys.” The series would merge, tick off Ms. Martin who left to be replaced by Janet Louise Johnston.
Maybe I should asked did I missed anybody?
September 17th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
#3. Barry, you are right about Joan Hickson. I didn’t mention her because according to the PBS’ MASTERPIECE MYSTERY site the series had not shown any of her work. I was sure her episodes have been shown here in syndication but couldn’t prove it. Glad you mentioned her.
September 17th, 2012 at 10:14 pm
The Joan Hickson-Miss Marple DVD collections were distributed in North America by both A & E Network and BBC. Little to choose in quality, though there were minor differences. Packaging award goes to BBC.
September 17th, 2012 at 10:30 pm
If there were a prize offered with this blog post, Jerry House, in Comment #2, you would get it. Well done. I wouldn’t have gotten Nancy Drew on my own without Michael’s hints (Comment #5) which I got to see and unfortunately no one else will.
There is the possibility that there’s a character who qualifies that nobody has come up with so far. Anyone?
Michael, in Comment #4 you mentioned that you almost included being on a American radio series as a requirement. How about a list of pre-1950 Triple Threat Franchise Characters who were appeared in all three of books, movies and radio?
SAM SPADE is still out (only the one novel, and was played in the movies by three different actors), but PHILO VANCE would be in.
September 17th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Steve:
You started me thinking and rightly or wrongly I’ve come up with–
Michael Shayne
Bulldog Drummond
Nick Carter
Nero Wolfe (Only two films though)
September 17th, 2012 at 11:02 pm
I’m going to hold off on making any other suggestions myself, but Barry, I’ll go along with your first three. Too bad about Nero Wolfe, though, with only the two movies, played by two different actors.
September 18th, 2012 at 9:11 am
#8. How many characters would have made a list of series of books, film and radio?
Charlie Chan, Ellery Queen, Dr. Fu Manchu, Hercule Poirot, Lone Wolf, Michael Shayne, Perry Mason, The Saint, and Sherlock Holmes. Plus three more.
Barry got two of the additional three. Bulldog Drummond and Nick Carter.
The final one I can think of at the moment is Mr. Moto with six books, eight films, and a NBC radio series starring James Monks that aired in 1951.
While it did not have a character in common, the Crime Club started as a book series for Doubleday (1928-91), had a film series from 1937-39 (that may have been mentioned at some time here on Mystery*File), and a radio series promoting the books with a host called The Librarian on Mutual (1946-47).
September 18th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Oops, I forgot Philo Vance that Steve had mentioned in #8. So a Baker dozen for Books, Film, TV and the same number for Books, Film, Radio.
September 18th, 2012 at 10:12 am
Michael
You’ve come up with all that I had before I went to bed last night, and a few more. I would never come up with the CRIME CLUB series.
And yes, of course the movie series has been discussed on this blog. Here’s a link:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=4249
We can never be quite sure we have come up with all of the characters who fit a given category, but if we haven’t, we must be close.
Here’s another trifecta to think about: movies, TV and radio, excluding books.
Of characters and series not already mentioned, I have two:
Boston Blackie
Nick and Nora Charles (the Thin Man series)
September 18th, 2012 at 12:26 pm
#13. Steve, I can’t think of any other mystery character, especially if we call Batman an action/adventure character.
Did you notice everyone on the list began as a book? That the youngest on the Book/ Film/ TV list is Hannibal Lecter who premiered in a book 31 years ago.
Why is it harder for today’s mystery characters to succeed in multi-formats?
Why does it take so long for a character to appear in multiple formats?
In the 1950s and 60s old radio series didn’t die they moved over to television. Even obscure series such as CASES OF EDDIE DRAKE was based on old radio shows (CASES OF MR. ACE). But then movies were pretending TV didn’t exist. By the time TV series became movies and movie series became TV series, radio was gone. But during all of this, all three formats were adapting books.
Can anyone name a movie series based on a mystery character created in the 21st Century?
September 18th, 2012 at 2:00 pm
More food for thought, questions to think about for the rest of the day.
Before I head out to do some errands this afternoon, the best I’ve been able to do with your last question, Michael, is Lee Child’s JACK REACHER series.
It certainly doesn’t qualify. The first book in the series came out in 1997, and the first movie hasn’t come out yet. (And who knows, it may be a flop and the second may never happen.)
I’ll think some more on this.
September 18th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Lisbeth Salander? Only the one US movie, alas.
September 18th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
#16. Close enough to note another series character who began in books.
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum was the latest attempt and failure for a movie series featuring a mystery character.
We seem to be in a period where most movie series are in the action/adventure (including superheroes) and science fiction genres.
September 18th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Home again. Michael, your last sentence explains a lot. Today’s movies require too much action for most series detective characters.
I think we have talked about this before, but I still don’t understand why more mystery characters from books don’t make it over to TV series. One that has is LONGMIRE, based on the Craig Johnson books, but if there have others, they’re not coming to mind right now.
Personally I would think that Stephanie Plum ought to make it big as a TV series, especially on cable, but since the movie was a flop, I don’t suppose anybody would dare to give it another shot.
PS. Just thought of this one. The Precious Remotswe (No. 1 Lady’s Detective Agency) series by Alexander McCall Smith, which started in 1998, had one season on HBO.
September 18th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Some TV mystery series based on books or characters who began in books:
Elmore Leonard has given us characters for KAREN SISCO, MAXIMUM BOB, and JUSTIFIED. There is RIZZOLI AND ISLES, SHERLOCK, and coming soon ELEMENTARY.
The networks currently are involved in the middle of a fantasy horror trend with TRUE BLOOD and coming soon 666 PARK AVENUE, just two series based on books.
Movies series today usually have two years or more between films, so it would take six years or longer to make series of three film.
Add time to the genre trend towards sf and action and maybe it is understanding why we can’t find the successful crossover series character from this century.
September 19th, 2012 at 9:15 am
You’re wrong about there not being original novels about Batman or Superman. I have 2 bookshelves loaded with novels about these characters. There have been over 25 original Batman novels by authors such as Andrew Vachss & most recently Tracy Hickman. There have been original Superman novels by C.J Cherryl, Tom DeHaven & Kevin J. Anderson.
September 19th, 2012 at 11:31 am
#20. Jim, you are right about the tie-in novels. Originally, the piece was the character had to begin as a novel. But we have moved beyond that, so you are right to bring that up. However, Batman and Superman (and Tarzan, Indiana Jones, and more) are more action/adventure and less mystery…though a strong case could be made for Batman (who would make the film, television and radio lists).
Thanks for the correction.
Should action/adventure characters be considered mystery? What makes Matt Helm mystery and others action/adventure?
September 19th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
A good question, Michael. When separating any group of objects into categories, it’s always the fringe examples that cause the problems.
But as a guide to what’s mystery and what might not, we could use Al Hubin’s CRIME FICTION BIBLIOGRAPHY. In that case, Batman is in (as expected), but so is Indiana Jones. (The latter is very much borderline, but I can see why he’s in.)
On the other hand, Superman is not, nor is Tarzan, neither of whom I expected to be.
What this does, though, is add INDIANA JONES to our list of Triple Threat Franchise Characters, does it not, using THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES as the TV series he appeared in. Almost all of his paperback adventures were original novels.
Batman never had a radio series — he appeared only on the SUPERMAN show — but given Jim’s reminder about the Batman novels, BATMAN would qualify under the original Books, TV and Movies specifications.
September 19th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
#22. Steve, you are right about Batman not having a radio series. I have heard two Batman radio shows, but both were pilots that didn’t make series. One was “Batman’s Mystery Club” when Batman read stories to the kiddies.
September 20th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Actually there was a tv production of the first Fleming book “Casino Royale” in 1954. Barry Nelson played Bond.
September 20th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
#24. Hi,ya name. But there was no TV series with James Bond. The show you mention was a half-hour episode of the CBS series CLIMAX. It was a pilot for a TV series. The proposed series has cause fun for lawyers for quite awhile. One of the scripts for the possible series got adapted as the movie THUNDERBALL, which is why NEVER SAY NEVER was able to be made by different people than Bond’s usual.
Last I looked the episode was available on YouTube. I recommend anyone who hasn’t seen it, check it out. If only to end the myth Barry Nelson’s Bond was called Jimmy. The credits list him as James Bond, every character but one called him Bond, only the girl called him Jimmy.
September 20th, 2012 at 6:05 pm
I have found another Triple Threat Franchise Character that meets all three of the original specifications: CRAIG KENNEDY, who
(a) first appeared in a series of books by Arthur B. Reeve;
(b) appeared in three silent films:
The Romance of Elaine (1915) Played by Arnold Daly (as Detective Craig Kennedy)
The New Exploits of Elaine (1915) Played by Arnold Daly (as Detective Craig Kennedy)
The Exploits of Elaine (1914) Played by Arnold Daly (as Detective Craig Kennedy)
and (c) had his own TV series Craig Kennedy, Criminologist (1952), starring Donald Woods.
Thanks to IMBD for verifying the last two categories.
September 20th, 2012 at 6:10 pm
Also: FATHER BROWN, by G. K. Chesterton, first appeared in book form as five collections of short stories;
had a radio series, The Adventures of Father Brown (Mutual, 1945) featuring Karl Swenson as Father Brown;
and in 1974, Kenneth More starred in a 13-episode Father Brown TV series that later was shown in the US on PBS’s MYSTERY!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Brown
There were several movies, including one made for TV, but I don’t believe they qualify as a series.
September 20th, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Nice work, Steve. I missed the silent film series of CRAIG KENNEDY.
September 21st, 2012 at 12:16 am
Just thinking out loud, but would The SHADOW
be a member for this list? Radio, pulps/novels and movies/serials all come to mind.
September 21st, 2012 at 1:14 am
I thought I’d checked him out, but obviously I didn’t. You’re right. THE SHADOW doesn’t qualify under the original set of requirements, since he never had a TV series, only one short pilot episode that I’ve never seen, but if you replace TV by radio, he most certainly does.
And if I have my facts straight, it was radio where The Shadow first appeared. His radio series is probably one of the two most famous radio shows of all time, the other being THE LONE RANGER.
The SHADOW novels first appeared in the pulp magazines, but a number of them appeared in paperback in the 70s, and Tony Tollin’s Sanctum Books is going ahead full steam with the plan of eventually reprinting them all.
As for the movies, here are the three that qualify as a series:
The Missing Lady (1946) Played by Kane Richmond
Behind the Mask (1946) Played by Kane Richmond
The Shadow Returns (1946) Played by Kane Richmond
There’s also the 1940 serial with Victor Jory, and two earlier movies with Rod La Rocque. The less said about the 1994 movie with Alec Baldwin the better, as far as I’m concerned.
September 24th, 2012 at 2:38 pm
I am not sure how many TV pilots The Shadow had. The most famous one is “Invisible Avenger.” But I have seen others claim to be pilots, most have been movie B-features cut up. All have been bad.
To me the most important triple is books-movies-TV. Because each attracts a different audience. TV is free entertainment aimed at the masses. Movies are events, something special you will travel and pay to see. Books (and radio) offer a different experience entirely as the reader and writer creatively interact.
The Shadow makes the list because he has been so popular. But his failings at film and TV is because the character succeeds when the reader or listener (radio) imagines what he looks like and what is happening. I watched the 1994 movie in the theaters and remember the audience laughing at the magically appearing buildings.
I hope we will be adding forgotten characters to one of the lists for a long time.
September 24th, 2012 at 4:26 pm
Except for being unknown in the US, I think that Sexton Blake would qualify for Books, Movies, Radio and TV:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexton_Blake
September 24th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
And in France, Fantômas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fant%C3%B4mas
September 24th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
Maigret, Raffles, just two more I added the America rule to avoid dealing with.
September 24th, 2012 at 6:56 pm
I had Raffles jotted down once, but over the weekend I lost the slip of paper I used. He’d qualify under Books, TV and Radio. I don’t think there was a series of films with the same character playing the part.
Maigret I didn’t consider, even breaking the rules, because I only came up with Books and TV, not films, perhaps wrongly so.
Having to break the rules is a good sign, though. We must be coming to the end of the list of suitable candidates.
September 24th, 2012 at 8:13 pm
Maigret was one of the prime reasons for the American rule. I know very little about the French film industry, and I would be surprised if the French had not done many films featuring the character.
I also know there are probably characters famous in countries such as India, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, etc that could qualify such as Sexton Blake would if you include foreign countries such as England.
September 26th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Do these qualify:
Big Town– radio, film, television
The Falcon — radio, film televsion.
Big Town quite succesful on radio and television, The Falcon did alright on radio and better in pictures.
September 26th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
You’re right, Barry. Two we’ve missed until now, although neither appeared in book form, which was Michael’s original criterion:
BIG TOWN (Steve Wilson & Lorelei Kilbourne): Yes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Town
THE FALCON: Yes, complicated by the fact that The Falcon’s name changed over the years from GAY LAWRENCE to his brother TOM LAWRENCE to MICHAEL WARING
https://www.thrillingdetective.com/falcon.html
September 26th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
The character Steve Wilson made it in radio, film and TV. Lorelei Kilbourne was TV only.
THE FALCON is a real surprise. Take the link Steve leaves in #38. Then check out
https://www.thrillingdetective.com/non_fiction/e010.html
It seems THE FALCON began as a book series by Drexel Drake (Charles H. Huff) with “The Falcon’s Prey” (1936) and lasting two more books. The character was named Michael Waring (according to one page at thrilling detective) or Malcolm J. Wingate (according to another page at thrilling detective).
The radio series claims Drexel Drake as its original source and featured Michael Waring (43). Three films based on this version were made with John Calvert. That lead to the TV series with Charles McGraw.
In 1940, Michael Arlen wrote a short story creating Gay Stanhope Falcon. The famous film series beginning with “The Gay Falcon” (41) with George Sanders as Gay Lawrence gives Arlen’s work as its source.
So the character from the Saint rip-off “The Falcon” film series did not make it. But the character from the radio and TV series made it with adding books and films.
Michael Waring aka Malcolm J. Wingate was created by Drexel Drake and was in three books, three films, TV series and radio series.
September 26th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Michael,
I believe Lorelei Kilbourne begain in radio and was played by Claire Trevor initially. Hillary Brooke had the part in the Big Town films with Phillip Reed, an actor I’ve always liked. Televison had more than one Steve Wilson and I think more than a single Lorelei. Jane Nigh and…of the tv steve’s I preferred Patrick McVey.
September 26th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Barry, you could be right. I checked IMDb for the film credits and Wikipedia so my knowledge here is worthy of questioning. But do you consider either “mystery” characters? I always felt BIG TOWN was more drama than mystery.
Thanks for making me re-examine The Falcon, who I had rejected as different characters with a generic name.
September 26th, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Michael…
Re Mystery. I’m not sure that a narrow definition of mystery works for this series. But, there is crime busting in the newspaper reporter school of detection. So, broadly yes. Open to debate, but not really drama either.
September 26th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Further Thought:
I see The Falcon, Steve Wilson, The Saint all functioning as faux private detectives. Add The Lone Wolf and probably others. So, in a broad context, if one is a mystery of sorts, they all are. Yes…?This is a great subject. A friend of mine, now gone, Chris Steinbrunner co-authored a collection of this kind of material with Otto Penzler, called The Detectionary. Pretty well first on the market with this sort of reference work.
September 26th, 2012 at 7:46 pm
The Thrilling Detective site agrees and includes Steve Wilson (though it fails to note the TV series).
There are certain professions that seem accepted in the detective genre, adventurer, lawyer, reporter, bodyguard, mystery writer, insurance investigator and (of course) private eye.
There is a sub-genre for medical mysteries that can include doctors such as TV’s House. Dr Kildare had a film series, TV series and radio. There were books featuring adaptations of the film series (not original novels).
What other professions have characters considered detectives?
September 26th, 2012 at 8:39 pm
It’s not so much which characters are detectives, but in which books crimes are solved. And the concept of crime can be defined — can’t it? — as anything that’s against the law, extending from juvenile delinquency to international espionage.
For what it’s worth, the only Kildare book in Hubin is Dr. Kildare’s Trial. I’ve not watched any of them in a long time, but I think several of the movies are crime-related if not entirely criminous in nature.
As for House, he does a lot of detective work, but in the nature of solving diseases, not solving crimes. (If I’m wrong about this, let me know. I never got around to watching the show.)
September 26th, 2012 at 8:46 pm
House was Sherlock Holmes as a doctor. Even its creator David Shore admits Holmes influence on the character and stories. I found HOUSE could be great mystery TV (what was killing the victim versus who), but too annoying to watch often (much like I feel about Doyle’s Holmes).
September 26th, 2012 at 8:58 pm
As for the Dr. Kildare books check out this:
http://goodreads.com/series/74167-dr-kildare
Note the different authors starting with creator Max Brand. Also Norman Daniels, Robert C. Ackworth and William Johnston.
One of the reasons I did the first list as books – film – TV in that order was most TV or film series characters have tie-in paperbacks series and that would make the list too complicated and long to be useful.
September 26th, 2012 at 9:11 pm
#46. I like the concept of House being inspired by Sherlock Holmes. I’ve heard it before, which has pushed me toward giving the show a try, but so far I haven’t. It still doesn’t make House, either the series or the character, crime related.
#47. That’s more Kildare books than I knew existed. I wonder how many of them Al Hubin considered for his book, one way or the other.
I should look back at your original list, Michael, and those we’ve added, but I don’t think too many of series characters have gotten into our Triple Threat Hall of Fame on the basis of after-the-fact paperback originals, have they? I think we’ve managed to exclude most of any such possibilities, if not all.
September 26th, 2012 at 10:05 pm
I can not think of a TV series character to have a film series that does not have a series of paperback tie-ins. CHARLIE’S ANGELS, STARSKY AND HUTCH, etc.
TV series have always been a prime source for the tie-in paperbacks.
The original list Book- Film-TV have added Craig Kennedy and Drexel Drake’s version of The Falcon. Batman and Indiana Jones are possibles depending on if you call them mystery or action/adventure.
September 26th, 2012 at 11:44 pm
Were there film series of CHARLIE’S ANGELS and STARSKY AND HUTCH? Only two for the former, and one for the latter.
The crew of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE might qualify — there were PBO’s of the original series — but the movies have nothing to do with the original series. Well, almost nothing, and then nothing good.
September 26th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
You’re right about Batman and Indiana Jones.
Way back in Comment #22, I advanced their cause for admission, but in both cases, their book appearances were PBO’s that came their original appearances. Batman on TV (really comics) and Jones in the movies.
September 27th, 2012 at 10:04 am
#50. You are right CHARLIE’S ANGELS and STARSKY AND HUTCH did not have film series. But what I found was most successful characters in TV and film have a tie-book series. What dropped most of them was the lack of the same character crossing over from TV to film or film to TV.
When I discovered how far back the tie-in book goes, I knew it was beyond the amount of time I wanted to spend on this list to hunt and find every character with film and TV that could qualify with a series of tie-in books. So I took them out of the formula.
March 31st, 2013 at 1:21 pm
Did you take Occidental animated series into consideration?
March 31st, 2013 at 1:22 pm
Max Allan did write three prose Dick Tracy novels, including the novelization and two original tales.
March 31st, 2013 at 1:46 pm
“On the other hand, Superman is not, nor is Tarzan, neither of whom I expected to be”.
Also, as a follow-up to #51, you did not note whether the TV series had to appear in prime time or main network television, or whether Occidental (or Oriental for that matter) animation impacts, so one could note Iron Man: Iron Man appeared in Byron Preiss prose novels in the 1990’s, has appeared in four films (soon five) and had a animated series in the 1990’s*. However, to include this property in the espionage genre serves as a bit of a stretch, although obviously some cross reference occurs.
*Iron Man’s foe The Mandarin appeared as green for the 90s Iron Man cartoon, as did Dr No for the James Bond Jr cartoon.
March 31st, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Oh, alright, I take you prefer not to include properties that did not start in prose that later had prose adaptations.
March 31st, 2013 at 3:25 pm
What of Shaft?
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michael Says:
September 18th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
#16. Close enough to note another series character who began in books.
Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum was the latest attempt and failure for a movie series featuring a mystery character.
We seem to be in a period where most movie series are in the action/adventure (including superheroes) and science fiction genres.
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http://www.soundonsight.org/all-hail-the-king-the-work-of-stephen-king/
Look to the comments for a similar list of disappointments.
March 31st, 2013 at 4:10 pm
#53. I tried to stay away from non-American work because it is so hard to know what or who has been published or filmed in other countries.
March 31st, 2013 at 4:14 pm
#55, If we can let Batman and Superman in for such novels, I see no reason Dick Tracy can’t be added. But like they were originally comic books, Dick Tracy was created as a comic strip not a book, TV series or movie. So not on the original list.
March 31st, 2013 at 6:06 pm
Virgil Tibbs: John Ball novels, three films with Poitier, and the TV series from around 1988 to 1995.
March 31st, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Shaft: started in novels, four films, and about a half dozen TV movies
March 31st, 2013 at 6:24 pm
On Dick Tracy, a short story anthology featuring a tale by Collins came out in 1990 from Tor, around the time of Collins three novels (two of which featured original plots).
March 31st, 2013 at 8:20 pm
PB210, good picks with Vigil Tibbs and Shaft, and actually Shaft’s TV-Movies were a TV series on CBS similar to NBC Mystery Movies shows such as Columbo, McCloud, etc.
March 31st, 2013 at 10:21 pm
PB210
Congratulations on adding more names to the list after all this time.
Your coming up with ones that hadn’t occurred to anyone else — nicely done!
April 1st, 2013 at 1:03 pm
PB210, one of my motives for the Making a List is to explore themes and common traits. I try to put on as many limits as necessary to reduce the list to a manageable number to examine in less than 2000 words. Then in the comments we all have fun adding to the list. This discussion has been very successful as we have added radio and other groups.
One of the restrictions I had was mystery series so it would take out other genres such as sf and superheroes in the original list. But the comments are for others to add their own lists.
I’d enjoy seeing you add lists of your own, books-TV-Film with animation, horror (Friday the 13th), action, foreign, etc.
April 1st, 2013 at 6:13 pm
A note on comment#55. Look at the note about green skinned Asian foes and that might impact the list.
April 1st, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Interesting to note for this topic that during the 1930’s and 1940’s, one found more detective or sleuth film franchises/series than horror series; during the 1930’s and 1940’s, few studios outside of Universal had film franchises or series in the horror genre. (Also, unless I stand as wrong, few horror properties had radio series other than Doctor Fu Manchu.)
April 1st, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Most of radio’s horror series were anthologies such as Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, Suspense, and Quiet Please.
Horror and sf films really grew during the fifties with the Cold War and the Bomb.
There are two books from McFarland Publisher, written by Ron Backer. One examines “Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood” and another for the 40s. One of these days I’ll run out of TV series to buy and buy those books.
April 2nd, 2013 at 6:11 pm
Michael, look at Comments#55 and #66. You seem to have overlooked a 1991 animated series which might add another entry to the list.
April 2nd, 2013 at 7:36 pm
“Thomas Harris created HANNIBAL LECTER, the villain with an odd diet, in a series of four books that began with Red Dragon (1981). A famous movie series of four films has followed beginning with Manhunter (1986)”.
Five films actually in total.
April 2nd, 2013 at 7:38 pm
http://www.soundonsight.org/the-case-of-the-disappearing-private-eye/
An article which deals with the impediments of private eye franchises in recent decades.
April 3rd, 2013 at 1:16 pm
PB210, if you mean James Bond and James Bond Jr, the animated series didn’t feature the character of Bond, but his nephew.
April 3rd, 2013 at 2:06 pm
As for #71. It is a very interesting article. Here is my take, the hardboiled PI has become a comedic character due to all his quirks and cliches being satirized by endless writers such as those of Rockford Files and Magnum PI.
We can accept a cop who is anti-Joe Friday. Certainly JUSTIFIED Raylan Givens is a PI with a badge. Certainly, PERSON OF INTEREST is PI show with supporting cops who break the rules as often as the other two vigilantes.
We accept the amateur as able to do what the PI used to do.
“The Group” is a TV thing caused by the increase of commercial breaks and ending the four act story structure. It is hard to tell a 42 minute mystery in six or more breaks. So the story often gets broken up in two with one or more characters working one story with three or four mini-climaxs and others working on the B-story with a couple of mini-climaxs.
Films depend on the star so even group films such as Mission Impossible focused on the star. Movies continue to try to make the PI story but fail by mimicking big budget superheroes films rather than the small budget film featuring an individual walking the mean streets.
Books usually feature a single POV (though many today are experimenting with multi-POV). It is the change in book buyers taste to romantic suspense and paranormal that gets most of the attention. That and the amateur or someone in another profession has replaced the hardboiled PI of the past.
April 3rd, 2013 at 6:37 pm
#72 Alright, just wanted to make sure you had noted this series. I suppose some may object, kind of similar to Robin or Junior (Dick Tracy’s ward/Henry Steel) having an animated series and not including a mention of such in a history of their mentors. However, I will not insist on this situation.
It kind of reminds me of Birds of Prey, which featured the respective daughter of Black Canary (whom some of you may not recognize I suppose) and Huntress(the daughter of Catwoman and Batman)
April 3rd, 2013 at 8:46 pm
The reason they were not mentioned is the list is for a single character. But it would be an interesting list of characters with a family tree such as Sherlock Holmes and Nero Wolfe, Lone Ranger and Green Hornet, etc.
I wonder what side of Lupin and Lupin the 3rd possible connection you would side on.
April 4th, 2013 at 6:03 pm
It also kind of reminds me of Shaft’s hitherto underheard of nephew from the 2000 Shaft. Of course, Shaft already appeared in three theatrical films in the 1970’s and Roundree reprised his role in the 2000 film, so Shaft’s status remains intact. However, I seem to recall that Tidyman established Shaft as an only child in his novels, so that eliminates nephews. I would find it intriguing if the films or TV shows broached the subject.
April 4th, 2013 at 6:49 pm
Incidentally, in your phaseout for your article, I should note that some of those TV series which shared names with horror franchises had no plot connections, including those produced by the same studio.
Other than that, I will note that as one can infer from your postings, most of the prominent franchises these days derive from juvenile and adolescent literature.
To add to the list of TV adaptations in #19 which do not have film adaptations, Bones.
April 5th, 2013 at 9:47 pm
The Saint’s newest TV project has a preview ready. Interesting to note that of the listwho does not derive from Agatha Christie , the Saint has had the most new projects in the last thirty or so years. Some of these properties have remained inert for decades.
Ellery Queen
Perry Mason
Hercule Poirot
Charlie Chan
Doctor Fu Manchu
Matt Helm
The Saint
The Lone Wolf (Michael Lanyard)
The Falcon (Michael Waring) (see comments)
Mike Shayne
Craig Kennedy
Shaft
Virgil Tibbs
Miss Marple
April 5th, 2013 at 10:03 pm
To qualify the situation, Virgil Tibbs did have that television show, so in terms of hours of production, he would win, but in terms of separate projects, the Saint wins.
I mention this as some people revile how the various native-to-comic-books-heroes seem to dominate the spotlight, but the truth of the matter seems to point to them carrying forward a tad bit better.
April 5th, 2013 at 11:48 pm
We will see if The Saint finds the backing to go beyond the European pilot and if he gets picked up in America. My guess is yes but not by any major American network, cable is its only hope.
Notice it is the Agatha Christie’s characters that still live and in most part because the British still love the traditional mystery that appeals to PBS fans.
The rest offer little appeal to the modern audience, either due to PC problems of Charlie Chan, bad attempts to overcome such as Matt Helm, and the inability to overcome the success of a past attempt such as Raymond Burr as Perry Mason.
Care to figure out which character lasted the longest in years?
I do see new possible additions in the future such as Jason Bourne and Jack Ryan, once their film series ends a TV series would make sense.
Right now the fantasy of superheroes and paranormal are more popular than mysteries when it comes to movies. Detectives remain a source for a film series, but the audience hasn’t shown enough interests in any recent attempt. So we’ll see when we get to add to the list again.
April 7th, 2013 at 5:17 am
http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/41931/Murder-Mystery-Series-filmography?page=1
Features a nice filmography list
April 7th, 2013 at 5:33 am
I thought people might find it helpful, the Yuku link.
This fellow has other helpful posts as well.
April 7th, 2013 at 9:41 am
Great link. I wish I had had his list before I started this. I see he fell into the trap I tried to avoid. There are no clear boundaries so he has some TV series and not others. There is no excuse to miss James Rockford who had a weekly series in the 70s and TV Movies in the 90s. He missed countless British TV series. I noticed he had the same problem with The Batman I did.
It is a great list but with so much genre bending fiction what deserves to be on a list of “Murder and Mystery”? Gunsmoke dealt with murder and mystery. Bladerunner is a mystery.
Thanks for letting me know about the link.
April 21st, 2013 at 5:36 am
A franchise character should be special, unique among the rest, so lets narrow it down a bit. The character must appear in three or more original novels.
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Do you insist that the novels come from the same author, publisher, or have some other unifying feature? Max Allan Collins wrote two Dick Tracy novels aside from the disqualified novelization of the 1990 film, with an earlier Dick Tracy novel around 1970 by William Johnston, and even further earlier novels.
http://www.mystericale.com/index.php?issue=073&body=file&file=like_em_tough.htm
has a summary of these novels. Note that different publishers released them.
April 21st, 2013 at 10:00 am
#84. I would put the same limit on books I did films and need three or more from same author or publisher. I need a series not just three of more random books at random times to qualify.
Nice link. Notice on my original list, every character began in a book series. It is the no tie-in books rule that made the list manageable.
If I was to start over or do sequels, the list would have focused on characters that began as a book series, followed by series in film and TV.
A nice sequel would be characters that began in a TV series that then followed a book (tie-in would be included) and film series.
I think the shortest list would be characters who began in a film series then followed in a TV series and series of books (Indiana Jones is all I can think of at the moment, keeping the American film only requirement).
April 22nd, 2013 at 5:00 pm
“No comic books, short stories, screenplay adaptations, folklore or ballads”.
Just to make it clear; tie-in novels which do not adapt television episodes, television movies, motion pictures, radio show episodes, radioplays, comic strip storylines, and comic book stories would count?
April 22nd, 2013 at 9:54 pm
To answer your question, yes, the tie in books have to be original, not adaptations of a script or a published script.
The problem with tie-in paperbacks is the same as foreign production of TV series, there are limited sources to verify what qualifies and what doesn’t.
For example, are the DR KILDARE paperbacks that tied to the film series original or adaptations of the film? Is DR KILDARE a mystery?
The original premise that there are only a dozen characters to have done mysteries series in books, TV, and film has long ago been proven wrong.
I have put so many restrictions on the list I have lost track, and the list grows more and more meaningless. But still fun, I hope.
I would be interested in what would happen to the list without any rules but a character who has appeared in a series of books, films, and a television series or a series of TV Movies. A series is three or more appearances in each format, book, TV, and films.
It’s a list I don’t think could ever be finished.
August 25th, 2013 at 12:14 am
A discussion on the Latarnia Yuku Forum indicates:
http://thelatarniaforums.yuku.com/topic/11820/Where-are-the-heroes#.UhmRyRzGqL8
But those really well thought through heroes who emerge primarily from literature into mainstream culture do seem a little rarer. Maybe because most heroes that break across culture now seem to owe their origins to TV, films, games or comic books.
September 25th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
PB210 at #76: I have read that the original script for the 2000 “Shaft” identified the hero as John Shaft, Jr., son of the original character. Then Samuel L. Jackson was cast, and as he was only a few years younger than Richard Roundtree, a different connection had to be made.
I have also read that that original script kept Shaft, Jr. as a policeman from beginning to end–because, as writer Richard Price said, a black man who ran around New York shooting people better have a badge, or he would quickly end up dead. However, the producers thought that the song lyric “Who’s the black private dick who’s a sex machine with all the chicks?” was too iconic to ignore, so the script was rewritten, and he changed professions midway through.
October 20th, 2013 at 8:31 am
I suppose Dr. Fu Manchu might count, with some point stretching as the only horror property on the list.
October 24th, 2013 at 4:22 pm
#90. If you include horror, Dracula would join.
August 30th, 2014 at 10:46 am
Just read my 1st Mike Shayne mystery–“Never Kill a Client”. Well, he’s now on my reading list! Thanx for the thorough listing of mystery genre.