Wed 1 Aug 2018
Reviewed by Dan Stumpf: BORDEN CHASE – Diamonds of Death.
Posted by Steve under Pulp Fiction , Reviews[11] Comments
BORDEN CHASE – Diamonds of Death. Hart, paperback original, 1947. First serialized as “Blue-White and Perfect,†Argosy, 18 Sept-23 Oct, 1937. Filmed as Blue, White and Perfect, 1941.
A while back, I read and reviewed Borden Chase’s novel Red River and found it surprisingly hammy from a writer known for his laconic screenplays. So I decided to give him another try and fished out Diamonds of Death, the first novel edition of Chase’s pulp novelette, “Blue-White and Perfect.â€
This is that rarity, a dumb mystery that doesn’t insult one’s intelligence. The “surprise†criminal may be obvious early on, but Chase speeds his story through so many curves one hasn’t time to carp, as hero Smooth Kyle (I guess some folks don’t care what they name their kids) chases diamond smugglers from Broadway to Havana and back again.
Chase provides his hero with a wise-cracking girlfriend, buddies in the Customs Office, and enough bad guys to felonize a dozen books like this, ranging from cheap hoods to smooth operators, phony dowagers, fake cops… I could go on, but readers of this sort of thing have met them before, and those who haven’t probably couldn’t appreciate the pulpy splendor of the piece, as Chase fills his story with glittering diamonds, luxury liners, exploding airplanes and elegant mansions, all of which impart a feel of extravagance without actually costing anything to write about.
I’ll just add that the original pulp novel was bought by Fox for their “Michael Shayne†series back in the 40s, movies notable for pace, casting, and for the fact that the producers used only one Mike Shayne novel in the whole series, apparently preferring to impose their hero into stories by other authors, including Clayton Rawson, Frederick Nebel and even Raymond Chandler!
Anyway, Borden Chase’s story suits the character quite well, and reading this one can almost hear Lloyd Nolan’s snappy banter as he stalks through the studio back lot.
August 1st, 2018 at 7:40 pm
This sounds like a book I really should have read before now. Problem is, I’m not sure where my copy is, if I still own it. There are two copies for sale online, one for $20 the other for $40.
I think I’ll look some more for my copy first.
August 1st, 2018 at 7:48 pm
The guy on the Argosy cover even looks a little like Lloyd Nolan.
Great review. Chase only wrote a few novels that made it to paperback, most of his fiction shorter works like this and the Dr. Broadway novellas. Among the books that did see paperback was LONE STAR, bases for the Clark Gable Ava Gardner Western.
August 1st, 2018 at 7:59 pm
I think this was Chase’s only mystery in paperback, maybe even his only mystery in book form at all. I’ll check that statement out later. He had a small handful of westerns in paperback, not many.
August 2nd, 2018 at 7:17 am
Steve —
In case you think $20 is too much,I’ll see you my copy for $19.95 + shipping & handling, tax, title, rustproofing & destination fees.
August 2nd, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Your roots as a used car salesman are showing, Dan. But the deal you offer might not be such a bad one at that. The one offered online for $20 is described as “Very Good” with the title page missing.
August 2nd, 2018 at 10:25 am
What follows is a (possibly) True Story:
At an early screening of Red River, Borden Chase was approached by his old friend (and fellow screenwriter) William Bowers, who complimented him on ” … one of the best Westerns I ever saw.”
Chase replied “Thanks, bill – but I thought you of all people would get it.”
Bowers: “Get what?”
Chase: “That was Mutiny On The Bounty.”
Bowers: “Come again?”
Chase: “I was looking at Mutiny On The Bounty one night, and it occurred to me that the story would make a good Western.”
Bowers: (Unspecified reaction)
Chase: “So I got a print, and took it down scene for scene, and just turned it into a Western …”
Per Bowers’s account, the conversation became more scene-specific at that point, but you get the point (I hope).
August 2nd, 2018 at 2:46 pm
Point well taken, Mike. Thanks!
August 2nd, 2018 at 2:51 pm
In spite of tons of pulp stories published, and a long career of writing for the movies, Borden Chase didn’t have all that many books published.
As I suspected earlier, DIAMONDS OF DEATH was his only mystery. I can find only three westerns: RED RIVER (see Mike Doran’s account of that above), LONE STAR (which David Vineyard mentioned) and VIVA GRINGO!
One other book dealt with tunnel building under the East River, one called SANDHOG.
August 2nd, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Steve:
Actually Chase wrote two novels about tunnel building under the East River, both originally published as serials in Argosy. The first and best of them, EAST RIVER, appeared in Argosy in 1934 and in book form from Crowell the following year; SANDHOG was serialized in 1937 and brought out in hardcover by Penn in ’38. Both were written from personal experience: Chase worked as a sandhog for a time in his youth.
August 2nd, 2018 at 5:44 pm
EAST RIVER, Incidentally, was filmed in 1935 as UNDER PRESSURE, featuring Edmund Lowe, Victor McLaglen, and Florence Rice. Chase wrote the screenplay, his first for the H’wood mill. (IMdB incorrectly cites SANDHOG as the source book. The story and the names of the main characters in the film are identical to those in EAST RIVER.)
August 2nd, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Thanks for the disambiguation and amplifications, Bill!