Sat 18 Sep 2010
British TV News: Tise Vahimagi on THIRTEEN AGAINST FATE, by Georges Simenon (1966).
Posted by Steve under TV mysteries[8] Comments
by Tise Vahimagi
In mid-September 2010 the Library of Congress proudly announced that not only had it (the Library’s Moving Image Section) discovered some 68 rare British TV recordings in the Library’s National Educational Television (NET) Collection but they were handing over digital copies of this treasure trove representing Britain’s “golden age of television” to a very grateful British Film Institute (BFI).
These treasures include such rare finds as Sean Connery and Dorothy Tutin in Jean Anouilh’s Colombe (BBC, 1960), the Zeffirelli-directed (stage) Much Ado About Nothing (BBC, 1967) and director-producer Rudolph Cartier’s Rembrandt (BBC, 1969).
Perhaps for the crime and mystery buff, one of these treasures is (I am delighted to say) the 1966 BBC series Thirteen Against Fate, long considered “missing, believed wiped.” Now, along with the few surviving episodes held by the BFI, the discovery of the rest of the series (ten additional episodes from the Library of Congress) makes this, finally, a “complete” series. Soon, hopefully, all will be available for viewing; and, perhaps, one day, they’ll be out on DVD!
The following quotes are from the the British editions of the daily newspapers:
â— “At the its best the series has given an insight into the criminal mind and brought a welcome relief from the cliché of the effortless, infallible and more or less immaculate detective.” (Daily Telegraph, 8 August 1966).
â— “The new Simenon series made an excellent start on Sunday. It is unlikely to be as popular as its predecessor [Maigret, BBC 1960-63)] for it lacks a reiterative figure like Maigret to give it a common stamp.
“Simenon is a master of naturalism, and absolute accuracy of detail and careful selection of that detail are essential for transposing him.” (Financial Times, 22 June 1966).
â— “An intelligent television crime series that concentrates on the character of the criminal instead of the almost invariably successful process of detection is overdue.” (Daily Telegraph, 20 June 1966).
â— “With Irene Shubik as producer the plays are so thoroughly and carefully set in their time and place that the atmosphere generated becomes a powerful element in their appeal.” (The Guardian, 27 June 1966)
This seems like an appropriate opportunity to present an episode guide for your perusal:
A BBC production. Produced by Irene Shubik. Transmitted via BBC1: June to September 1966. Based on 13 non-Maigret stories by Georges Simenon.
1. The Lodger (transmitted 19 June)
Script: Hugh Leonard. Director: James Ferman.
Cast: Zia Mohyeddin, Gwendolyn Watts, Gemma Jones.
Based on Simenon story “Le Locataire” (1934).
â— “‘The Lodger’ was the first of 13 Simenon stories adapted for television, and it contained, surprisingly, not a whiff of Maigret, garlic or pipe-smoke. It was about the agony of a murderer on the run, and the terror of a simple Belgian family at discovering their paying guest is a killer.
“It kept its promise of being unsuitable for the squeamish, and, although the end was inevitable, it was a tense and moving experience.” (The Sun, 20 June 1966).
â— “The series made a telling, if high-pitched, start, dramatised by the admirable Hugh Leonard. The police get their man, but this is incidental, and the play chiefly shows what can be explored once the Maigrets and Barlows [the latter in reference to a popular Police Detective character played by Stratford Johns in the UK police series Softly, Softly (1966-69)] of this world are moved to one side.” (Daily Telegraph, 20 June 1966).
â— “Everybody concerned made a powerful affair of ‘The Lodger,’ the first of 13 novels by Georges Simenon to be shown on BBC1.” (The Times, 20 June 1966).
2. Trapped (26 June)
Scr: Julia Jones. Dir: George Spenton-Foster.
Cast: Ronald Lewis, Keith Buckley, Sylvia Coleridge.
Based on “Cours d’Assises” (1941).
â— “Those who turned to BBC1 last night hoping that the second of the new Simenon series woul provide them with a nice, cosy murder mystery, must have had an uncomfortable time.
“Simenon, of course, is concerned with crime, not with setting puzzles for his readers, and crime is on the whole a depressingly sordid business. Because character is destiny, a young petty criminal finds himself sentenced for a murder he has not committed.” (The Times, 27 June 1966).
3. The Traveller (3 July)
Scr: Stanley Miller. Dir: Herbert Wise.
Cast: Kenneth J. Warren, Hywel Bennett, André van Gyseghem.
Based on “Le Voyageur de la Toussaint” (1941).
4. The Widower (10 July)
Scr: Clive Exton. Dir: Silvio Narizzano.
Cast: Joss Ackland, Henry Gilbert, Patricia Healey.
Based on “Le Veuf” (1959).
5. The Judge (17 July)
Scr: Hugh Leonard. Dir: Naomi Capon.
Cast: Alexander Knox, John Ronane, Peter Howell.
Based on “Les Témoins” (1955).
6. The Schoolmaster (24 July)
Scr: Alun Richards. Dir: Peter Potter.
Cast: Stephen Murray, Helen Cherry, Cyril Shaps.
Based on “L’Evadé” (1936).
7. The Witness (31 July)
Scr: John Hale. Dir: John Gorrie.
Cast: Pamela Brown, Daphne Heard, Moultrie Kelsall.
Based on “Le Haut Mal” (1933).
8. The Friends (7 August)
Scr: Anthony Steven. Dir: Michael Hayes.
Cast: Jessica Dunning, Frederick Jaeger, Sandor Elès.
Based on “Chemin sans issue” (1938).
9. The Survivors (14 August)
Scr: Stanley Miller. Dir: Rudolph Cartier.
Cast: Lila Kedrova, David Buck, Kathleen Breck, Terence de Marney.
Based on “Les Rescapés du Télémaque” (1938).
10. The Son (21 August)
Scr: Jeremy Paul. Dir: Waris Hussein.
Cast: Joan Miller, Simon Ward, Jack Woolgar, Clive Dunn, [way down the cast list] Lila Kaye.
Based on “Les Destins des Malous” (1947).
11. The Murderer (28 August)
Scr: Clive Exton. Dir: Alan Bridges
Cast: Frank Finlay, Michael Goodliffe, Annette Crosbie, Lyndon Brook.
Based on “L’Assassin” (1937).
“It was set in a respectable little Dutch town where Dr. Kuperus shot his wife and her lover and the story follows his gradual disintegration as he becomes the object of suspicion.” (The Guardian, 29 August 1966).
12. The Suspect (4 September)
Scr: Donal Giltinan. Dir: Michael Hayes.
Cast: Marius Goring, Mary Miller, Peter Halliday.
Based on “Les Fiançailles de M. Hire” (1933).
13. The Consul (11 September)
Scr: Leo Lehman. Dir: John Gorrie.
Cast: Jonathan Burn, Michele Dotrice, Jeannette Sterke.
Based on “Les Gens d’en Face” (1933).
Editorial Comment: A complete listing of this recently uncovered cache of vintage BBC programs can be found here. (Scroll down.)
September 18th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
This is a very interesting article.
I have a vague memory of maybe having seen some of these, on USA Public Television in the late 1960’s. “The Lodger” sounds familiar. We got a lot of British shows in that era.
September 19th, 2010 at 6:45 am
At least one of these, “THE SUSPECT” was also made into a major French film MONSIEUR HIRE (1989) by Patrice Leconte and was filmed previously in 1946 as PANIQUE. I think a couple of the others may have been films too, but will have to consult Hubin and the various Simenon sites to be sure.
Great sounding series. About the only American television adaptation of Simenon I can think of was “Stan the Killer” with Eli Wallach, though surely one of the anthology series did at least one or two more.
September 19th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Excellent news, but I wouldn’t hold my breath about these appearing on DVD. The BBC has recordings of the Rupert Davies Maigret series and has been pressured to issue them on DVD but that has been the case for years now.
September 19th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
I think the fear with the BBC is the Davies Maigret’s would suppress sales for the newer Gambon series which is available on DVD. Or the rights to the new series may conflict with the older one.
I’m not certain how many Simenon films are available in France and from other countries. I’d be interested if the Jean Gabin Maigret films or the popular West German series were available anywhere, though the West German ones used to show up on American televison regularly in a package with the Eddie Constantine spy films and a few Robert Hossein, Euro Spy films, and OSS 117 films in the late sixties and early seventies.
I don’t think either of the American Simenon films BOTTOM OF THE BOTTLE or THE BROTHERS RICO are on DVD though THE MAN IN THE EFFEL TOWER has long been available. I don’t think THE PARIS EXPRESS with Claude Rains is avaiable either (based on THE MAN WHO WATCHED THE TRAINS GO BY).
MONSIEUR HIRE, HOUSE OF STRANGERS (with James Mason), INSPECTOR MAIGRET (with Richard Harris), and few others have been on VHS, but I’m not sure they are availabe on DVD.
There are many French and other adaptations of Simenon’s works, but how many are or have been available on VHS or DVD is an open question.
September 19th, 2010 at 1:15 pm
IMDb lists 126 Simenon adaptations including six Maigret series.
September 20th, 2010 at 10:59 am
I don’t have any insight as to how networks and studios decide on what to put out on DVD and what they don’t. Mostly I’m just glad when they do.
But if they don’t, I just assume that it’s a copyright issue that I don’t have any information about, or that they don’t expect to make any money by doing DVDs, or at least not enough.
So I can see that issuing one set of Maigret’s might affect the sales of another, the bottom line sort of thing.
But I could see issuing a non-Maigret set of Simenon adaptations might enhance the sales of a Maigret series, or vice versa.
What do I know? Nothing.
But like Tise, I’ll stay hopeful that I might see this new find on DVD someday. It’s a side of Simenon’s work I confess I don’t know that much about.
And if it never happens, well, we always have the books, and the stories.
October 31st, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Great to see this tantalising Shubik production, one on my wish list, rescued.
No chance of an ‘Out of the Unknown’ in one of the archives in the near future, alas. I sometimes think I’d sell my soul for them, then I remember Hurd Hatfield and think better of it.
November 14th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Dear Tise,
Since your darn columns inspired me into seeking out classic and vintage TV, I think you would appreciate this web-site, which has a review a day by experts on the US ‘Thriller’. From the 1/1/11, there will be an new one on ‘The Outer Limits’….would love to see you there, especially as your two part ‘Starburst’ articles readied me for the Beeb’s early ’80s re-showings.
http://athrilleraday.blogspot.com/2010/11/thriller-day-awards.html