CHEYENNE “Mountain Fortress.” ABC / Warner Brothers, 60m, 20 September 1955 (Season One, Episode One). Clint Walker (Cheyenne Bodie), L. Q. Jones (Smitty Smith). Guest Cast: Ann Robinson, Bob Wilke, Peter Coe, James Garner, John Doucette. Director: Richard L. Bare. Season One has been released on DVD and is also currently streaming on Starz.

   As I understand it, Cheyenne the TV series was a hit from the start, and it’s easy to see why. It’s an easy transition from the B-westerns that the TV audience in the mid-50s grew up with in the 1940s, complete with a hunky hero in the laconic Gregory Peck mode (Clint Walker), and a semi-goofy sidekick (L. Q. Jones), in the almost-but-not-quite Smiley Burnette et al. mode.

   Add a story that wouldn’t be out of place in 1940s, except that it’s one that actually makes sense, plotwise, complete with a secondary cast of villains and cavalry men whose faces were well known in westerns before then, if not their names. (But do note one new face, that of James Garner as a cavalry lieutenant whose fiancée is on board a stagecoach ambushed by Indians. This may have been his first appearance in either movies or on TV.)

   But as it turns out, the stagecoach was also the intended target of a gang of outlaws, who take both Cheyenne and Smitty prisoners, as well as the girl and the stage driver, and when the cavalry comes riding in, looking for the girl, they’re taken hostage too. All Cheyenne has to do to free the others is to guide the gang of outlaws safely to Mexico – through Indian territory, of course, and they’re already trapped on a high mountain top surrounded on all sides.

   One quick observation, other than the fact, already pointed out, that this little more than a B-western, dressed up only a very very little, and that’s that the body count is very very high on both sides, and maybe that’s  because (and this may be way off base) some of the footage used was left over (or re-used) from B-westerns from the 40s. No matter. This series made Clint Walker a very big star at the time (and I am not referring to his height, but as long as you ask, he was 6′ 6″), and the fact that it was on for eight seasons, reflects that.

   But one last thing, if I may. The bit with Cheyenne’s sidekick (Smitty) lasted only two more episodes, and he was gone for good. I can only conjecture why. If anyone knows more, that’s what the space set aside for comments is for.

THE GORILLA MAN.  Warner Bros., 1943. John Loder, Ruth Ford, Marian Hall, Richard Fraser, Lumsden Hare, Paul Cavanagh, John Abbott, Mary Field and Charles Irwin. Written by Anthony Coldeway. Directed by D. Ross Lederman.

   Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but it seems to me that if you watch a movie titled The Gorilla Man, you should expect to see at least one Ape Suit in the picture. Imagine then, my disappointment to learn that the eponymous anthropoid is just the nickname hero John Loder got from fellow-soldiers in recognition of his climbing skills on a commando raid.

   Well, life is full of disappointment, especially for those of us looking for cheap thrills. But in fact, Gorilla Man does offer a modicum of shivers, thanks mainly to character actor John Abbott, who plays a particularly sadistic henchman to mildly-mad doctor Paul Cavanagh.

   The whole thing gets a bit over-complicated, thanks mainly to writer Coldeway’s efforts to turn a then-topical spy story into a monster movie, but here goes:

   Doctor Cavanagh runs a sanitarium on the channel coast, where he gets secret orders from Berlin. You see he’s really one of those respectable-looking Nazi spies, who seem to have overrun England in wartime movies like this. Anyway, he’s warned by radio signals that Loder and his men are en route back home from a raid, and that Loder has vital information that must at all costs be kept from Army Brass. Quick as a button, henchman Abbott greets the returning raiders as they land, finds Loder slightly wounded, and spirits him off to Cavanagh’s phony hospital.

   Bwa-(as they say)-ha-hah!

   But Loder does get Germany’s secret invasion plans to the General, so Cavanagh switches to Plan B — there’s always a plan B in these things — which involves making Loder look crazy, so he won’t be believed. To this end, they release Loder and follow him around, killing helpless young ladies he comes into contact with, a task that psycho Abbott is just tickled plumb to death to carry out.

   Add a dubious General into the mix, stir in a sneering Police Inspector, a jilted girlfriend who meets a grisly end, and you have an hour that moves briskly enough, served up with Warners’ usual polish. And as I say, John Abbott is really quite creepy, lurking about with google-eyed glasses and a sick grin.

   But damn, where’s a Gorilla Suit when you need one!

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: I had a nickname in my unit too, where my comrades affectionately called me “that sorry sunuvabitch.” But I digresss….

MICHAEL COLLINS – Blue Death. Dan Fortune #7. Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1975. Playboy Press, paperback, 1979.

   Blue Death finds Dan Fortune a little less introspective than in his earlier cases, but with no less of a passion for the truth. Once more he is brought into a case for a simple $50 fee, and once more he finds himself with more than he bargained for. What appears a simple matter – locating the member of a giant corporation who has the power to sign a lease agreement for a parking lot – turns out to involve quadruple murder.

   Along the way Fortune is beaten, drugged, and nearly starved, but he cannot be scared off the case. He suspects that a member of the corporation is blackmailing another member for murder, and his chain of reasoning is correct. All the facts fit. Unfortunately, he finds that he has been on the wrong track entirely, and before he is able to bring things to a close, the fourth murder occurs.

   The amoral world of the large corporations comes under savage attack in Blue Death; its members appear virtually unassailable in their complacency and power, and even in the end one cannot be sure that justice will be served.

   But justice is not always the point, or at least not justice under the law. Fortune is still looking for the perfect world where we are all free to run ourselves, and sometimes he gives others that chance. As in Act of Fear (reviewed here) the ending may not be entirely satisfactory, but it is appropriate. Anyone looking for the best in private-eye writing in the Chandler/Macdonald vein will appreciate any title by Michael Collins.

   Other notable books in the Dan Fortune series include The Brass Rainbow (1969), Walk a Black Wind (1971), The Nightrunners (1978), and Freak (1984).

     ———
   Reprinted with permission from 1001 Midnights, edited by Bill Pronzini & Marcia Muller and published by The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, 2007.   Copyright © 1986, 2007 by the Pronzini-Muller Family Trust.

GARY DISHER – Consolation. Constable Paul Hirschhausen #3. Text Publishing, hardcover, November 2020. Setting: South Australia.

First Sentence: Did Hirsch own the town?

   Hirsch’s territory covers a large area of not much in Tiverton, South Australia. It is up to him to keep the peace. Someone is stealing women’s underwear. Although that seems a small thing, it is the sort of thing that can escalate. And so they do, exacerbated by a woman who has developed an obsession about Hirsch.

   A very good introduction presents Constable Paul Hirschhausen “Hirsch” and the scope of his job, which is impressive in its scope and diversity. Issues range from the seemingly innocuous to the potentially dangerous. The jump from one incident to the next brings the residents into play. Hirsch isn’t a cop who sits behind a desk, but he spends his time walking the street, and driving the territory.

   Disher is a wonderful wordsmith. One understands the words, and the meaning behind them: “Hirsch the mediator. He seemed to spend most of his time as father confessor, therapist, social worker, fixer and go-between. What he’d give for a plain old criminal and a plain old vanilla arrest.”

   It is not all serious. Hirsch’s relationship with Wendy and her daughter provides normalcy, offset by his unwillingness to confront the woman who is stalking him as she becomes a threat. We see the openness of Southern Australia and the bone-chilling cold of late winter.

   As the story progresses Hirsch finds one should be careful of for what one wishes when things turn violent and deadly: “…his ABC of policing said: assume nothing, believe nothing, challenge everything.”

   Consolation is a story of lives intertwined; the domino effect begun by the actions of one crashing into the lives of others. This is an author well worth reading.

Rating: Very Good.
   

       The Paul Hirschhausen series —

1. Bitter Wash Road (2013)
2. Peace (2019)
3. Consolation (2020)

   
R. T. CAMPBELL – Bodies in a Bookshop. Professor John Stubbs #3. John Westhouse, Ltd., UK, hardcover, 1946. Reprinted by Dover, US, trade paperback, 1984.

   R. T. Campbell is the pseudonym of Ruthven Todd, poet, scholar, art critic, and fantasy novelist (according to the back of the book). He wrote several detective novels; I have not read any of the others, but if they are of similar quality to this one, his mystery writing would have to be marked only “fair.” His amateur detective, Professor Stubbs, and botanist Max Boyle, Stubbs’s assistant, have some similarities to Dr. Priestley and his Harold, and some to Nero Wolfe and Archie.

   Max, in the course of a day’s bookhunting, finds two bodies in a gas-filled room at the back of a small bookshop. He calls in Chief Inspector Reginald Bishop, who welcomes Stubbs’ s cooperation and lets the two amateurs come along on all his interviews. This convention seems somewhat shopworn for 1946. Still, there are some lively interviews with possible suspects; some aspects of the bookseller’s business that Max had not known about are revealed, and the shady side of the book dealer’s visitor’s character is shown in all its nastiness.

   Which one of them was the intended victim? Or were both intended to die? To the book lover the unexpected revelation of some very valuable old books will be a treat, even if the book itself is not in the first, or even the second, rank of mysteries.

   
   
Editorial Notes: An earlier review of this book by Doug Greene on this blog can be found here. That particular post includes a list of all seven Professor Stubbs mysteries.  My own review of Unholy Dying, the first in the series, can be found here.  My concluding sentence was this: “I’d have to call this one as being in the wheelhouse of those readers who already fans of the Golden Age of Detection. It won’t convert any others.”

BREAKAWAY. RKO Radio Pictures, UK, 1956. Associated Artists Productions, US, 1957. Tom Conway (Tom ‘Duke’ Martin), Michael Balfour, Honor Blackman, Brian Worth, Bruce Seton, John Horsley, Paddy Webster. Director: Henry Cass. Available on DVD (Region 2) and currently streaming on Fandor via Amazon Prime.

   In West Berlin, a German scientist named Professor Dohlman has been working on a formula which may reduce metal fatigue. He is, however, dying and gives the formula to Johnny Matlock (Brian Worth) with the instruction that it should be passed on to the young man’s brother Michael Matlock (John Horsley). Johnny is in a relationship with Michael’s secretary Diane (Paddy Webster) and meets her at the airport on his return to England.

   Also entering the country is the suave, unflappable private detective Tom ‘Duke’ Martin (Tom Conway) who is welcomed by his friend, the former petty criminal Barney Wilson (Michael Balfour). Soon, Matlock and the girl are kidnapped with only Diane’s abandoned handbag remaining. ‘Duke’ investigates and learns that Diane was due to meet someone the following evening at a nightclub. He makes the appointment himself and meets the glamorous Paula (Honor Blackman), who turns out to be Diane’s sister.

   Determined to return Diane’s possessions personally, ‘Duke’ discovers that everyone else wants to steal them. It seems that the formula is contained somewhere in the bag and he must find it before the bad guys kill Diane.

   This routine B-film was produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman, who would later have such tremendous success on television with The Saint. It is a sequel to Barbados Quest, made the same year (and reviewed here), and again stars Tom Conway in a role identical to ‘The Falcon,’ a character he played in ten B-films for RKO in the 1940s. The plot is a little more straightforward this time, albeit less interesting with its focus on corporate espionage.

   Confusingly, two actors reappear from the first film in different roles, which is jarring if one sees these back to back. John Horsley’s Inspector Taylor is nowhere to be seen and the actor instead plays the sensible scientist at odds with his scheming brother, who played the bad guy last time out. There is a welcome appearance from the always excellent Alexander Gauge and a cameo from future Dad’s Army star Arthur Lowe, while real-life boxer Freddie Mills is stunt-cast as a two-fisted barman.

   Both films are reasonably entertaining, but less pacey than The Falcon films and seem to have a lower budget too. They are basically a couple of pilots for a television series which never materialised, but are efficient timewasters all the same. Conway is always watchable and was born to play such suave and darkly handsome characters. More so, I believe, than his brother George Sanders, who seemed ever so slightly lecherous when in similar roles.

   Conway was passed fifty here, and was beginning to show it, but proved nonetheless that he could have played the Falcon for a lot longer had RKO allowed it.
   

It’s taken a while to get these DVDs sorted out and organized, but I’ve finally put a list together, and here it is. They’re also listed for sale on Amazon, but take a 20% discount if you order from me directly.

JACK LYNCH – Bragg’s Hunch. Peter Bragg #1. Gold Medal, paperback original; 1st printing, 1982. Brash Books, trade paperback, 2014, as The Dead Never Forget. Reprinted in Bragg V1 by Brash Books, trade paperback, 2014. (This omnibus volume includes the first three Peter Bragg books.)

   While other authors have recently been doing their best to stretch the boundaries of PI fiction, Jack Lynch’s Peter Bragg conforms almost exactly to the time-worn image everyone has of the tough independent California private eye. Women appeal to him, of course, but he doesn’t knock himself out chasing them. Even so (you guessed it), he still ends up with more of them on this case than he knows what to do with.

   This is the first of a new series, based in San Francisco. Bragg is hired by a self-made businessman (which is a polite way of saying he has a piece of a good many sleaze-joints around the Bay area) who needs protection. The man is especially worried that whoever is making threats against him will start taking them out against his young teen-aged stepdaughter.

   The trail leads Bragg out to one of those legendary western whore-towns that exist maybe only in fiction. Before he’s hardly had time to turn around, or so it seems, he’s managed to set the two major criminal elements in town off one against the other. A bloody gang war results, as fierce as anything seen since Prohibition – or the days of Dashiell Hammett!

   All the right buttons are pressed. Somehow the right spark refuses to go off. Some well-drawn touches show some insight into character – some blatant, some subtle – but for the most part, well, let’s just say the action peaks too soon.

Rating: B minus.

   
UPDATE: There were in all eight recorded adventures of Peter Bragg. Reviewed earlier on this blog are #3,Pieces of Death, and #7, Seattle, here and here. The latter has a list of all eight.

   
PAUL McGUIRE – Murder by the Law. Supt. Fillinger #2. Skeffington, UK, hardcover, 1932. No US edition.

   Paul McGuire is known almost exclusively for his classic, A Funeral in Eden, taking place on an imaginary island. Many of his other novels, set in more prosaic locales, deserve better than the almost complete neglect which has been their fate.

   A case in point is Murder by the Law. The crime – -murder of a thoroughly detestable author – is standard, but the book is enlivened by the setting, the character of the detective, and McGuire’s sardonic writing style, The events take place at a meeting of The New Health and Eugenist Conference, and McGuire so thoroughly punctures the movement that even R. Austin Freeman, had he read the book, might have had second thoughts about Eugenics.

   The narrator, Richard Tibbetts, wonders whether a convinced Eugenist might have killed Harold Ambrose simply because the world would be a better place without him. There are, of course, additional suspects, as Ambrose was writing a novel which would embarrass every woman with whom be had an affair.

   The case is competently handled by Superintendent Fillinger, McGuire’s series detective who also appeared in at least two other books, Daylight Murder and The Tower Mystery (which Tibbetts calls “an odd, queer volume”). Fillinger, at more than 400 pounds, may put even Dr. Fell and Nero Wolfe almost literally in the shade. But he is not so eccentric as those worthies. The investigation is straightforward. And it is not until the final four lines that the murderer is revealed.

   
Bibliographic Update: As it so happens, there are now known to be seven recorded adventures in Fillinger’s case file, to wit:

   
   As for Australian-born Paul McGuire (1903-1978), he has sixteen works of mystery and detection listed in Hubin, all between 1931-1940, including the seven above. Five of his novels have been published in the US, but as noted above, not this one.

   And, not surprisingly, while Al Hubin reviewed this one here earlier on this blog, there is not a single copy to be found offered for sale. But also by Paul McGuire and  previously reviewed here is Murder in Bostall (US: The Black Rose Murder), this time by Bill Deeck.