Colonel March of Scotland Yard

We stay with Talking Pictures TV for this next post (indeed one could easily base an entire blog around that splendid channel, such is the appeal of their excellent vintage-centric output, but perhaps that is a project for another time and place...) as their schedules also recently included an obscure 1950s British B-movie that really appealed to me and which - suitably in the run-up to Hallowe'en - starred one of the greatest horror film stars of the 1930s and '40s, Boris Karloff.

source - IMDb

This little gem amongst gems is Colonel March Investigates, an 80-minute feature made in 1953 with Karloff in a rare non-villainous role as the titular Colonel March, the debonair head of Section D.3 of Scotland Yard - otherwise known as the Department of Queer Complaints (and one of the things that hasn't aged so well of course, these days sounding more like the name of a Channel 4 medical documentary(!).  I keep mistakenly calling it the Department of Queer Goings-On, which at least sounds slightly better to my mind).

Colonel March Investigates was in fact a series of three pilot episodes of a new TV series, Colonel March of Scotland Yard, commissioned with an eye for the then soon-to-be-launched British commercial channel ITV, spliced together into a feature-length film (with extra mid-story scenes of Karloff added in to link the stories together) that was also shown in cinemas.  In each case, Colonel March sets out to solve a set of seemingly impossible mysteries - Hot Money sees him investigate a bank robbery where the money disappears after the thief is seen entering a solicitor's office; Death in the Dressing Room involves the strange murder of a Javanese nightclub dancer and The New Invisible Man sees murder committed by a pair of disembodied gloves!  

These initial episodes were originally shot in 1952 following Karloff's return to England from Hollywood earlier that year, his horror film heyday behind him.  At 65 and beginning to suffer from emphysema as a result of a heavy smoking habit Karloff was looking for an interesting yet undemanding project, plus the chance to settle back in his home country, and was attracted to the role and the opportunity to work for a London-based TV studio.  It can be seen from his on-form performance that he clearly relished playing the part of the be-tweeded, eyepatch-wearing (for which no reason is ever given) Colonel - Karloff is a joy to watch, mixing his trademark levels of subtle menace and sinisterness with a wonderful degree of enthusiasm, mysticality, decency and gallantry.  Despite his advancing years and health problems Karloff still enters into the spirit of things with aplomb - there are several incidences of what for the time could easily be termed action sequences and Colonel March even carries a swordstick umbrella such as another later TV hero sports!  Indeed in many ways Colonel March of Scotland Yard could be seen as a sort of forerunner to The Avengers, with in both cases our debonair protagonists investigating strange and outlandish occurrences.

Cecil Street, Carr's inspiration for the
character of Colonel March

The character of Colonel March was the creation of the American mystery writer John Dickson Carr who wrote The Department of Queer Complaints in 1940 under the nom-de-plume of Carter Dickson, one of several pseudonyms he used for the many different detective stories he would write between 1930 and 1971.  Generally regarded as one of the best of the "Golden Age" detective novelists and the master of the "locked room mystery", the Anglophile Carr set most of his stories in England and based some of his creations on real-life acquaintances or other contemporary crime characters (Dr Gideon Fell, for example, was directly influenced by G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown).  The character of Colonel March was inspired by Carr's friend, former Army officer and fellow mystery writer Cecil Street (who also wrote under the aliases of John Rhode, Miles Burton and Cecil Wayne among others).  Regrettably much of both Carr's and Street's work has now been long out of print and is therefore difficult (and therefore expensive!) to come by, which is a great pity especially as I have now a desire to read The Department of Queer Complaints and maybe a few others.  Both authors have however had a couple of their stories reprinted recently as part of the British Library's excellent Crime Classics series, which includes Street's 1930 offering The Secret of High Eldersham (which I have read) and 1936's Death in the Tunnel (which I haven't) along with the first three of Carr's novels - It Walks By Night, The Lost Gallows and Castle Skull.  Some more reading material to be on the lookout for then, at any rate!  

Although the first three pilots of Colonel March of Scotland Yard were made in July 1952 it was not until a year later in 1953 that the series was finally given the green light by ITV executives, with Karloff again returning to England from America where he had been continuing to appear on TV, film and radio.  Even so it was only in September 1955 that the series finally premiered on British television following the launch of ITV that year -  and then just in the London area where it was first available.  Later broadcasts followed when ITV Midlands began in February 1956 - the same time that U.S. broadcasts started - and even B.B.C. viewers were not left out, with the feature-length Colonel March Investigates being shown in September of that year.

Sadly only one 26-episode series of Colonel March of Scotland Yard was made; on release it garnered largely negative reviews (perhaps somewhat coloured by the general antagonism many people had at the time towards the new-fangled "commercial" television channel) with only Karloff's stand-out performance receiving any positive comment.  Today it seems rightly regarded as something of a [forgotten] cult classic, with good reviews on the likes of IMDb.  As well as having Boris Karloff in the lead role many episodes feature the great and the good of British, American & Canadian TV and film from the 1950s and beyond including Christopher Lee, Dana Wynter, Joan Sims, John Laurie, Richard Wattis, Patrick Barr, Patricia Owens and Hugh Griffith.  Karloff is also ably supported by Ewan Roberts as the sceptical, put-upon Scottish Inspector Ames and Eric Pohlmann as March's opposite number Goron of the French Sûreté.  The three episodes that form Investigates were also directed by Cy Endfield, who would later go on to do Hell Drivers and Zulu in the 1960s.

Certainly I have been thoroughly enjoying both the film and any episodes I have been able to lay my hands on.  I'm told all 26 are on Amazon Prime, if that's your sort of thing, but for now I am happily making do with the nine episodes that are currently available on YouTube.  I can heartily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of Fifties TV mystery drama in the mould of The Twilight Zone and now have another new hero in the form of Colonel March, head of Department D.3, Scotland Yard - the Department of Queer Complaints!

***Colonel March Investigates is available to buy on DVD and will be shown again on TPTV weekly from Saturday 7th November 2020 at 5pm (and which they previously ran daily at 7:30pm a few years ago).  Coincidentally a new illustrated reference book - Colonel March of Scotland Yard: The Series - has also recently been published and seems to be well worth a look.***

Introducing the unflappable Miss Fisher

Introducing the unflappable Miss Fisher

In February I did a blog post centred around The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, the short-lived 1999 Twenties-set murder-mystery series starring Dame Diana Rigg, which was being shown again on B.B.C. Four and which inspired me to purchase the DVD box set.

At the time I remarked on how it was a shame the series was not a great success when first broadcast and that there were no more than 5 episodes, with nothing else quite like it coming along since.  Well now there is a new murder-mystery drama that to these eyes has a lot [of good] in common - Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.  The catch?  It's only broadcast in Australia!

source

A fairly recent creation (1989), Phryne Fisher looks to be very much the home-grown Australian heroine but in many respects is much like Ariadne Bradley - perhaps even a younger version of her.  The protagonist in seventeen books (so far), which have already been picked up and turned into a 13-episode series by Australian broadcaster ABC1, she is somewhat reminiscent of both Mrs Bradley and also the earlier Tuppence Beresford from the 1980s series Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime (Tommy & Tuppence).

Unlike both those two series, however, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries appears to have been a great success in its native country.  It is also rather interesting in that it is set in 1920s Australia, and this seems to have attracted viewers keen to connect with this period of their nation's history.  (If any Australian readers would care to pass comment, I'd be interested to know if I've called it right, and what you think of the series).  I don't know about you, but I'd be interested in the setting too - we see and read so much about Twenties America, Twenties Britain, even Twenties Europe yet comparatively little about Twenties Australia.  A programme set in that time period in Australia would go some way towards filling that void, I feel sure.

source

Neighbours and Home and Away are both great export successes for Australian television and I from what little I've seen I see no reason why Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries shouldn't be as well.  We all know vintage and retro is riding the crest of a worldwide wave at the moment and I'm sure that any cultural references that might exist in the programme wouldn't detract from it or spoil our enjoyment of it.  Come on, ABC Television - send Miss Fisher abroad, it looks positively topping!

Glenn Miller clue found in Reading plane-spotter's log

Glenn Miller clue found in Reading plane-spotter's log

source

The music of Glenn Miller & his Orchestra was one of my first experiences of vintage; shortly after I started watching Laurel & Hardy and Harold Lloyd films at the age of about 9 or 10 I somehow stumbled across this Big Band sound.  Maybe I first heard it at my nan's WRVS club; if memory serves I seem to recall buying an old LP of The Glenn Miller Story soundtrack from a charity shop - my first record, I think.  As a youngster I lapped up anything to do with the man and his music until I became quite well-versed in it.  Since then my tastes have expanded to include most bands and musicians of the 1920s, '30s & '40s but Glenn Miller will always have a special meaning as my introduction to Big Band and Swing.

The fact that he mysteriously disappeared in 1944 - in an aeroplane no less, another interest of mine - simply added to the legend.  That his "sound" has endured to this day, and has become synonymous with World War Two (despite Miller's success predating the war by a few years) is a testament to the unique, instantly recognisable quality of the songs.  The Glenn Miller Orchestra still records and tours today and books, musicals and documentaries about Miller's career continue to be made.

The mystery of his disappearance over the English Channel on the 15th December 1944, in a flight from Bedford in England to Paris where he was due to join his band for a performance, has continued to puzzle Miller enthusiasts for nearly 70 years.  There have been various crackpot theories that I won't endorse with publication here, but a few years ago the account of an RAF navigator came to light that until now was widely accepted to be most likely - Miller's aircraft had strayed into the South Jettison Area, an agreed-upon place in the Channel where Allied bombers returning from abortive raids could unload their bombs safely, and had been struck by bombs jettisoned by a flight of Lancasters on their way  back from Siegen in Germany.

Glenn Miller death: teenage planespotter's logbook 'scotches conspiracy theory'

A Noorduyn UC-64 Norseman, of the type in which Glenn Miller disappeared

However, with the discovery of this latest information found in a young plane-spotter's book, that hypothesis now looks rather shaky to say the least.  There appears to be no doubt that the aircraft this young lad claimed to have seen that day was the UC-64 Norseman taking Glenn Miller to Paris.  Provided it stayed on course, it would not have gone anywhere near the South Jettison Area and so couldn't have been the aircraft seen to crash by the Lanc navigator. 

The quashing of this previously-favoured theory now means that we are once again no closer to knowing what became of Glenn Miller.  If he was travelling on course and was not struck by RAF bombs, then what did happen to cause him to disappear like that?

The last British government documents relating to such incidents during Second World War won't be declassified until 2025, eighty years after the end of the conflict.  There may be something in them that will shed some light on this enduring mystery but until then this particular enigma looks to remain unanswered.

Agatha Christie mystery gets 21st Century debut

Agatha Christie mystery gets 21st Century debut

Things have been a little quiet on the interesting story front lately, no doubt partly because of the election fever that is gripping the country. Quirky stories get edged out by reams of political news and debate.

Nevertheless I have managed to unearth this interesting piece about a play based on a book by one of my favourite authors - Agatha Christie. What makes this particular play rather interesting is the fact that it hasn't been performed in over 30 years and has helped to save an hitherto little-known Christie work. I've given away too much of the article already - I'm terrible at keeping things to myself! I'll let you read more about it in the accompanying story.

It is good to see the theatre enjoying some good times and particularly plays from Christie novels still being enjoyed by and commissioned for modern audiences. More wonderful 1930s settings, hurrah! I wonder if it will be touring...?