Sun 24 Sep 2023
Diary Review: CORNELL WOOLRICH – Rendezvous in Black.
Posted by Steve under Diary Reviews[5] Comments
CORNELL WOOLRICH – Rendezvous in Black. Rinehart/Murray Hill, hardcover, 1948. Reprinted several times, including Ace H-57, paperback, [1958]. TV play: Broadcast live on October 18, 1956, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90.
Johnny Marr’s girl had died before they could get married. Had died in fact while waiting for their usual eight o’clock date, Had died because of bottle carelessly tossed from an airplane. The list of passengers was small, only five names. And a loved one of each of those five men are about to die. Methodically and insanely. Camero, the detective finally assigned to the case, is unable to stop people from being themselves and thus unable to stop the murders.
What Woolrich lacks in technical aspects of writing is made up for by the ability to tell an engrossing story. The minute details of someone’s actions, the broad delineation of character, almost a burlesque of personality, and the use of conversation to describe action are all overdone.
The war years are described from a personal point of view, and seem unnatural today. It would be most surprising if this has not been made into a movie; it is standard enough fare.Perhaps Walter Matthau could play Camero, as if the part were written for him
Rating: ***
September 24th, 2023 at 11:52 pm
My first Woolrich novel and in many ways a male counterpart to THE BRIDE WORE BLACK. I don’t necessarily disagree with the technical points of the review, but with Woolrich atmosphere and the “line of suspense” count for more than mere logic and motivation.
Set a clock ticking or put a killer on the hunt and Woolrich usually does the rest, even in lesser works.
September 25th, 2023 at 1:09 am
I *really* liked this one.
September 25th, 2023 at 5:51 am
MY first Woolrich too, and quite memorable.
I’m going to reveal some secrets now so here’s a SPOILER ALERT!
This is often compared to THE BRIDE WORE BLACK, where we learn at the end that the Bride’s victims were all actually innocent. The revelation in BRIDE is like a bomb going off — Which recalls Hitchcock’s explanation of Suspense: If a bomb goes off, we’re surprised, maybe even shocked, for an instant. But if we see the bomb ticking away, know it will go off soon, and the writer or director has done his job well, we feel agonizing suspense for the duration.
In RENDEZVOUS, we know the victims are innocent right at the start. We even feel some empathy for their killer. But throughout the novel, we know the intense conflicted emotional impact of cruel deaths, spun out slowly.
Nice work, that.
September 26th, 2023 at 5:53 pm
This is one of a very few of Woolrich’s books I’ve never read a second time. After 55 years, it’s time. And maybe this time I’d give it more than three stars. The book hasn’t changed. I just don’t think I’m the same reader now as I was then.
September 27th, 2023 at 6:16 am
Now if a dating agency had arranged for Johnnie and Julie to meet…