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Post by BingFan on Feb 1, 2024 18:47:45 GMT
This could probably be filed under either ”classic film” or “classic TV.”
Regular viewers of Noir Alley may remember that back before Christmas, Eddie showed STRANGE BARGAIN (1949). The story involves a bookkeeper, Sam Wilson (played by the excellent Jeffrey Lynn), who gets drawn into an insurance scam by his boss. Things don’t go as planned, and Sam ends up in big trouble. (I’ll leave it at that, to avoid spoilers.) Martha Scott plays Sam’s wife, and Harry Morgan is the police detective who investigates the crime.
It’s a good movie, well worth seeing. But, to me, the fascinating thing about this film is its aftermath, as recounted by Eddie Muller in his outro.
Almost 40 years later, the popular TV show Murder, She Wrote featured an episode (entitled “The Days Dwindle Down”) that served as a very explicit sequel to STRANGE BARGAIN. In it, mystery writer and sleuth Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) is approached by Sam’s wife, who needs help proving that Sam, who has just finished a 30-year prison sentence, was wrongly convicted. Martha Scott, Jeffrey Lynn, and Harry Morgan again play their characters from the movie, and are joined in the cast by June Havoc, Richard Beymer, and Gloria Stuart, among others. The show uses numerous black-and-white clips from the movie to provide the backstory.
I happened to catch this episode of Murder, She Wrote (from the third season) on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel this past weekend. Having just seen the movie on Noir Alley, it was kind of fun to see the TV sequel, although I can’t say that I was particularly impressed by Murder, She Wrote, which I’d never seen before. (I well remember its heyday, however.) I enjoyed seeing Jeffrey Lynn et al. in their original roles, and I appreciate the efforts of Lansbury and the producers to resurrect what was probably a forgotten movie at that time. But frankly, I thought the show had Jessica Fletcher solve the mystery a bit too easily.
But still, it was kind of fun to see both the movie and the show. I’d recommend them.
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Post by Fading Fast on Feb 1, 2024 19:02:22 GMT
That's great color. I remember that noir episode and the movie and even thought about hunting out the "Murder She Wrote" episode at the time, but had the feeling I'd be disappointed other than by having the opportunity to see all the, by then, old stars. One day I probably will, but your insightful comments have me in no rush.
I'm gonna miss Noir Alley this month as it takes a hiatus for Oscar month.
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Post by BingFan on Feb 1, 2024 19:51:05 GMT
That's great color. I remember that noir episode and the movie and even thought about hunting out the "Murder She Wrote" episode at the time, but had the feeling I'd be disappointed other than by having the opportunity to see all the, by then, old stars. One day I probably will, but your insightful comments have me in no rush.
I'm gonna miss Noir Alley this month as it takes a hiatus for Oscar month.
TCM is having a Black History Month marathon this weekend, which I’m glad to see, but then it runs 31 Days of Oscar for the next five Saturdays (and accompanying weekdays) according to the schedule I just received from them.
I’ve never been crazy about the Oscar celebration, as it focuses too much, in my opinion, on “big” movies and neglects the small gems that never received nominations. And the channel seems to use the Oscar month as an excuse to show newer movies just because they received nominations, even though they’re arguably not “classics.” Oh well, it’s a TCM tradition, one that Robert Osborne probably liked, so I’ll just have to live with it. |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 2, 2024 4:10:26 GMT
I remember when that episode of Murder She Wrote originally aired. There was a big to-do about it in TV Guide, mostly because the three original stars reprised their roles (Jeffrey Lynn was semi-retired, so it was a big deal for him to act again).
The flashbacks to the 1949 film were the most interesting part. Incidentally, around the same time, Jane Wyman's character on Falcon Crest was revealed as having an illegitimate child (played by David Selby). And they used black-and-white "flashback" scenes of her giving birth from her 1951 film THE BLUE VEIL. So it was trendy for 80s television to borrow from the old-time movie classics.
The problem I had with the Murder She Wrote episode is that it basically resorted to a retcon. At the end of STRANGE BARGAIN, the killer turns out to be the victim's wife (Katherine Emery). She confesses, and Lynn's character is freed. He does not remained charged with the crime. There is a happy ending. So, why would he suddenly have been guilty and in prison for all those years? Also, in the MSW episode, they made the killer turn out to be the victim's son, which I think was quite illogical.
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Post by BingFan on Feb 2, 2024 21:54:54 GMT
I remember when that episode of Murder She Wrote originally aired. There was a big to-do about it in TV Guide, mostly because the three original stars reprised their roles (Jeffrey Lynn was semi-retired, so it was a big deal for him to act again).
The flashbacks to the 1949 film were the most interesting part. Incidentally, around the same time, Jane Wyman's character on Falcon Crest was revealed as having an illegitimate child (played by David Selby). And they used black-and-white "flashback" scenes of her giving birth from her 1951 film THE BLUE VEIL. So it was trendy for 80s television to borrow from the old-time movie classics.
The problem I had with the Murder She Wrote episode is that it basically resorted to a retcon. At the end of STRANGE BARGAIN, the killer turns out to be the victim's wife (Katherine Emery). She confesses, and Lynn's character is freed. He does not remained charged with the crime. There is a happy ending. So, why would he suddenly have been guilty and in prison for all those years? Also, in the MSW episode, they made the killer turn out to be the victim's son, which I think was quite illogical.
Anyway, I’m glad to hear that Jeffrey Lynn received attention from TV Guide, which I hope made him feel remembered after some years of semi-retirement. After first seeing him in the FOUR DAUGHTERS series, where I thought he excelled, I’ve usually been very impressed with his acting. I’d already seen Martha Scott and Harry Morgan in The Bob Newhart Show and MASH respectively, so seeing Lynn in Murder, She Wrote was the real treat for me.
Interesting that Falcon Crest did something similar with one of Jane Wyman’s movies, which I didn’t know about. With some of those older actors still working in those days, I guess there was potential for some interesting uses of their old movie clips. (Much earlier, Vincente Minnelli did something similar in TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, where clips from THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL were presented as a movie that Kirk Douglas’s character from TWO WEEKS had previously starred.) |
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Post by topbilled on Feb 2, 2024 23:13:16 GMT
I remember when that episode of Murder She Wrote originally aired. There was a big to-do about it in TV Guide, mostly because the three original stars reprised their roles (Jeffrey Lynn was semi-retired, so it was a big deal for him to act again).
The flashbacks to the 1949 film were the most interesting part. Incidentally, around the same time, Jane Wyman's character on Falcon Crest was revealed as having an illegitimate child (played by David Selby). And they used black-and-white "flashback" scenes of her giving birth from her 1951 film THE BLUE VEIL. So it was trendy for 80s television to borrow from the old-time movie classics.
The problem I had with the Murder She Wrote episode is that it basically resorted to a retcon. At the end of STRANGE BARGAIN, the killer turns out to be the victim's wife (Katherine Emery). She confesses, and Lynn's character is freed. He does not remained charged with the crime. There is a happy ending. So, why would he suddenly have been guilty and in prison for all those years? Also, in the MSW episode, they made the killer turn out to be the victim's son, which I think was quite illogical.
Anyway, I’m glad to hear that Jeffrey Lynn received attention from TV Guide, which I hope made him feel remembered after some years of semi-retirement. After first seeing him in the FOUR DAUGHTERS series, where I thought he excelled, I’ve usually been very impressed with his acting. I’d already seen Martha Scott and Harry Morgan in The Bob Newhart Show and MASH respectively, so seeing Lynn in Murder, She Wrote was the real treat for me.
Interesting that Falcon Crest did something similar with one of Jane Wyman’s movies, which I didn’t know about. With some of those older actors still working in those days, I guess there was potential for some interesting uses of their old movie clips. (Much earlier, Vincente Minnelli did something similar in TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN, where clips from THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL were presented as a movie that Kirk Douglas’s character from TWO WEEKS had previously starred.)
The episode of Falcon Crest that uses a clip from THE BLUE VEIL (1951) is the season 6 cliffhanger 'Desperation' which was broadcast in May 1987. Ironically, THE BLUE VEIL has been unavailable for many years due to legal rights issues. So the clip in FC is the only real chance to see part of the film now. Each episode of FC is available for streaming on freevee. |
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Post by BingFan on Feb 3, 2024 2:52:46 GMT
I’d forgotten about WHIPLASH, but now that you mention it, I was reminded that I saw part of it when it was on Noir Alley a few months ago. What little I saw of Jeffrey Lynn’s performance impressed me, so I’ll have to make a point of watching the full movie the next time it’s on.
This discussion of Lynn makes me think about getting out some of our DVDs of his movies: THE ROARING TWENTIES, THE FIGHTING 69th, and A LETTER TO THREE WIVES would all be worth watching. And my wife and I usually watch the FOUR DAUGHTERS series (and sometimes DAUGHTERS COURAGEOUS) as spring gets here.
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