Sat 4 May 2024
An Old Time Radio PI Mystery Review: THE ADVENTURES OF THE ABBOTTS – The Man in the Green Nile Suit.
Posted by Steve under Old Time Radio , Reviews[6] Comments
THE ADVENTURES OF THE ABBOTTS – The Man in the Green Nile Suit. NBC, 29 May 1955. Claudia Morgan & Mandel Kramer as Pat & Jean Abbott. Based on the characters created by Frances Crane.
Married couples, one of whom is a famous detective, should never take second honeymoons, as this episode of The Abbotts well demonstrates. About to embark on a cruise in the West Indies, they stay overnight in a cabin where they find in the bathroom … a dead body. The captain of the ship insists on taking over, a task Pat Abbott is well willing to step away from
But not for long. Once on the ship more intrigue breaks out. One man, a Frenchman, quietly suggests to the Abbotts that another man on board is a collaborator and that he wishes him dead. Soon enough, you guessed it. It’s a good thing the Abbotts are on board. The captain would hardly be up to the job.
You may have already jumped to a conclusion that there is a connection between the two deaths, and luckily for your own safety, you would be correct. It’s one of those things it is difficult to avoid on old radio shows when there is only 30 minutes available to the writer and with no visual effects that can be used to distract the viewer of a contemporaneous television show.
It is difficult for me to reveal events I read, watch, or listen to whenever I wrote up a report like this, but there is a twist I didn’t see (hear) coming, and that is a good thing, but I’m not so sure it would have worked as well on television as it does on radio.
I had to go back and listen to the previous scene again, and yes, the script writer wrote it perfectly right — and the player in the role played it just exactly as it should have been done.
Chagrined I was, that I missed it.
But you can listen for yourself. Follow the link below and do some scrolling. Quite a few other episodes can also be sampled. I can’t promise you that there is more than a surface resemblance between Frances Crane’s characters and those you’ll find in this and the other episodes you’ll discover there, but you may find them as amusing as I did this one, co-winky-dink and all.
https://www.greatdetectives.net/detectives/category/adventures-of-the-abbotts/.
May 4th, 2024 at 8:54 pm
Thanks and a tip of the topper to Paul Herman, who steered me right when he a couple of days ago told me about this old time website he told me about, dedicated solely to the exploits of not only the Abbotts, but hundreds of other radio detectives.
As you can see, I started at the beginning.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:03 pm
I listen to episodes of the ABBOTTS on radio somewhat more enthusiastically than I read the Frances Crane novels. I’ve enjoyed a few, but they are only a bit better than duBois the McNeils.
You can find out for yourself, because many of the Crane books are available under $4 in ebook form.
I think I’ll stick with the Charles, Norths, Duluths, Troys, Blakes, Marshalls, and Schoefields.
May 5th, 2024 at 5:13 pm
The only book by Frances Crane I remember reading is THE CINNAMON MURDER, but the only thing that has stuck with me is the title. That was over 20 years ago. Nothing of the story itself.
By some strange coincidence I am reading one of the Norths books right now.
You can’t go wrong with them. And they had a long running TV show as well as one on radio too.
May 6th, 2024 at 5:30 pm
I just listened to two shows I never knew existed
on the Great Detectives web site:
“Here Comes McBride” featuring P.I. Rex McBride by Cleve Adams. Only known show from 5/19/49 Opening show featuring Frank Lovejoy! Pretty good. And the opening music has “Here Comes the Bride” interspersed in the theme song.
Also a police drama from 1943: Homicide O’Kane
Features a smart-ass detective played by Bud Hiestand (never heard of him) and Dick Legrand (Peavey from The Great Gildesleeve) as the police Captain. OK only show. For a show from 1943 I think some of the patter from Bud was pushing the envelope. Only known show to survive. I’ll keep looking for more gems from this website.
May 6th, 2024 at 10:17 pm
Paul, I think but am not sure that the McBRIDE program was an Audition show (now called a pilot in TV terms). It’s been around for quite a while, but I’ve never listened to it. (Till now?)
But the O’KANE is a new one for me. It may also be an Audition show (and therefor a one and one, not really a series). I did find one small reference to it that said the star was John Heston. No idea who that might be.
All in all, that website is well worth going back to, and often. Thanks again!
July 8th, 2024 at 5:11 pm
‘The Abbotts’ –crime-fighting couple –ne’er caught fire with me. But it may be my fault. I might be too chary in my appreciation for the entire genre. Husband & wife teams typically do not rank highest among the top-most tiers of my personal favorite sleuths.
The repartee strikes occasional pearly notes, but there’s just something about these indefatigable, always-winsome, endlessly-meddling duos which [often] makes it hard to sustain my long-term interest.
Slightly too cozy? Slightly too predictable? Not enough tension? No romantic pursuit? Not enough twists/turns in the relationship? Not enough pathos?
Boston-Blackie/Mary Wesley, Lamont Cranston/Margo Lane, Richard Diamond/Helen Asher, George Ballantine & ‘Brooksie’ …when a p.i. has a gal-pal as loyal and adoring as these dolls were, how can they fail?
Worse –at the end of every show –the ‘doting ladyfriend’ always seems to curl up on the floor beside her hero’s armchair while he fills his pipe. Raising her eyes up at him worshipfully, cheek laying sideways on his knee, she insists on knowing how he so masterfully solved the case. She can’t connect a single dot herself.
They’re all decent listening; some I’ve enjoyed repeatedly. But only occasionally-sprinkled-in for a mood-lifter. In the same way, a ‘Thin Man’ movie will do.
But there’s just not the same bite, sting, or sizzle that I really prefer. Consider for example, the icy way Harry Lime usually ends one of his stories.
Trying to recall if there were ever any TV versions which I favored. Eh. ‘McMillan & Wife’ probably had the most interesting chemistry.
Oh well. That is a nifty website, I agree.