Friday's Forgotten Book: MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD (1956)by Rex Stout

Not really forgotten, of course, not by Nero Wolfe aficionados like you and me, but I've just finished reading it for the umpteenth time and thought this would be a good time to mention it. Don't think I have before, except in passing.

It's Forgotten Book Friday once again, a weekly meme hosted by Patti Abbott at her blog, PATTINASE, so don't forget to check in and see what other forgotten or overlooked books other bloggers are talking about today.

Being that this book was published in 1956, it qualifies as well for the Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge hosted by Bev, at her blog, MY READER'S BLOCK.

MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD features several nasty murders, one of which hits very close to home for gargantuan detective Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's right hand, confidant, secretary, bookkeeper, bodyguard and all around, general purpose henchman. This, of course, makes them even more determined to catch a crazed killer who has already allowed an innocent man to be tried, convicted and sentenced to death.

A prospective client, James R. Herrold, arrives from Omaha, Nebraska especially to hire Wolfe to find his long lost son, Paul. There had been a falling out and the son has severed all contact (after being kicked out of the family home) except for yearly holiday cards mailed to his mother and sisters from New York City. That's all Paul Herrold knows, but he is adamant about finding the boy who had been accused - years before - of stealing money from the family firm but has since been found to have been innocent.

This is one of Rex Stout's more inventive plots - it begins one way then takes a surprising detour almost immediately. The son, when he is found, has - once more - been wrongfully accused of a crime. (This guy just cannot catch a break.) But Paul Herrold aka Philip Hays has refused to help in his own defense despite his lawyer's entreaties. He tells Archie Goodwin that he 'might as well be dead' for all the good anyone can do for him. He refuses to admit who he is and refuses as well, to see anyone, including any family.

Inspector Cramer of the NYPD is not happy that a case he thought solved and over with has been re-opened by Nero Wolfe. And within a couple of days, when the murderer strikes again, then again, he is forced to admit that they may have arrested the wrong man. This sort of thing makes Cramer even grumpier than usual.

Though no one can out-grump Wolfe when he's forced, by circumstance, to work. As Archie is fond of saying: "When a hippopotamus is peevish, it's a lot of peeve."

As bodies pile up, Archie and the gang work to find the glimmer of light which will lead Wolfe to the truth.

As in many of Rex Stout's stories, some of the motivation is a little iffy, but I overlook that since I do especially like the way the plot of MIGHT AS WELL BE DEAD comes together bit by bit, an angle here, an angle there, until it all begins to make sense, even if it is melodramatic sense. Plus there's a great love story at the heart of it. I did mention melodrama.

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Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A Mysterious Island.

An Abandoned Orphanage.

A Strange Collection of Very Peculiar Photographs.

I believe this is Ransom Rigg's first novel and I suspect it will not be his last. He is a fellow blogger, a film-maker, a travel writer and an essayist and while he doesn't have the finely tuned hand of an assured novelist, he comes close in his debut.

According to Riggs there will be a sequel to Miss Peregrine. (Which I suspected from the ending.) Also I read online that Tim Burton might be looking to make the film - no surprise there - it's a project that's right up his particular alley.

MISS PEREGRINE'S SCHOOL FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN is a book based on a batch of odd, assorted vintage photographs. From the cover photo alone, you suspect immediately that you're in for something unusual and you'd be right.

"All the pictures in this book are authentic, vintage found photographs, and with the exception of a few that have undergone minimal postprocessing, they are unaltered. They were lent from the personal archives of ten collectors, people who have spent years and countless hours hunting through giant bins of unsorted snapshots at flea markets and antique malls and yard sales to find a transcendent few, rescuing images of historical significance and arresting beauty from obscurity..."

To say that most of the photos featured in the book are odd is an understatement. The creepiness quotient you'll have to figure out for yourself. But I did wonder over and over what on earth was really going on in these photos. What the photographer was trying to say. What circumstances led up to a particular photo. Who were these people?

Ransom Rigg's explanation is as good as any.

Jacob Portman is a stressed out Florida teenager with a head full of fanciful stories of a mysterious island in Wales where his grandfather spent his childhood. The stories are those which Jacob's grandfather had always told him and which Jacob, when very young, had always believed.

In Poland, just before the onslaught of WWII, Grandpa Portman's parents had shipped him off to a safer place while they stayed behind and perished in the Holocaust.

The stories his grandfather told Jacob were sketchy, full of the weird doings of children left behind at the orphanage on the island. The stories were not without threat from some mysterious monsters and as Jacob grows older, he tries to understand them as allegories of the dreadful loss his grandfather had experienced at the hands of the Nazis. But after awhile not even that can explain his grandfather's irrational behavior. Apparently, he has become just another delusional old man.

But when a horrible event occurs, changing Jacob's life forever, the result is a boy plagued by insistent nightmares and irrational fears. His hapless parents, fearing for his sanity, bring in a psychiatrist to tend to their troubled son and continue Jacob's schooling at home to reduce the stress factor.

When it appears as if only a visit to Wales and the mysterious island where his grandfather once lived can cure Jacob of his imaginary fears, he and his father set off.

What Jacob finds is a bombed out wreck of an old mansion, a cache of ancient photographs, some very peculiar children (whom logic says should not be there at all) and the impossible truth of what his grandfather had always tried to tell him.

The quirky photos included in the book upstage the story concocted around them, they are creepier than any invented author explanation. But this is still the sort of colorfully told story that will make you think twice about all those old photos you might have stashed in the attic or basement. I know I'm going to take a closer look next time I'm at a flea market.

Book designed by Doogie Horner.

Link to author Ransom Rigg's blog.

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Happy Birthday, Basil Rathbone!

Basil Rathbone (1892 - 1967) One of my favorite actors of all time! Gosh, I love this man. Not only as Sherlock Holmes, but even as the scurrilous villain in ABOVE SUSPICION and the odious Sir Guy of Gisbourne in ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and the snarling, sneering French pirate in CAPTAIN BLOOD and so on and so on...The man was such a strong screen presence. As I said, I love him. Always will. He can do no wrong.

Happy Birthday, Basil, you lovely man.

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Don't miss: HOT IN CLEVELAND

An otherwise run-of-the-mill sit/com (debuted in 2010) which is saved by the incandescent and downright hilarious inclusion of the amazingly wonderful Betty White. She MAKES the show.

Do you get the idea that I love Betty White? I hope so. Because I do.

Typically, the show makes little sense. It features three slightly over the hill (but fabulous) women, Wendy Malick (whom I adore) Valerie Bertinelli (whom I like very much) and Jane Leeves (whom I like well enough) who play best friends. The casting is really not far behind Betty in talent and likability. The premise is that while women of a 'certain age' go under appreciated and overlooked in Hollywood, land of the young, in Cleveland, these women are still considered 'babes'.

Okay. 

Wendy Malick, Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Betty White.

In the first few episodes I saw, the writing was not especially great and the plots seem a bit forced, but all I have to say is: Betty White, Betty White, Betty White. She steals everything that isn't nailed down.

She plays a salty landlord, whose house the three Hollywood 'babes' are renting while in Cleveland. They've landed there by misadventure when their plane to Paris has an unexpected mishap.

All three women are bowled over by the attention the local males lavish on them, so they decide to stay in Cleveland for awhile. I mean, wouldn't you?

Anyway, of course they wind up with a charming house, fully furnished, and Betty White (who lives in the caretaker's cottage on the property) as the adorable landlord who is always around, ready with a quip or a stinger guaranteed to make you laugh.

At 90, Betty White is just as funny as she's ever been, her line delivery is perfection. The woman is unstoppable, not to mention, irresistible. As I said, she makes the show for me, though I do like the rest of the cast which also includes the wonderful Carl Reiner as Betty's occasional boyfriend.

Betty White's perp pix when she is arrested for...well, you'll have to see the show. I howled with laughter as she poses for her mug shots.

I've watched a few of the episodes one after the other (which is perhaps not the best way to watch comedy) on Netflix, and intend to watch more. Though recently I realized that the shows on Netflix appear to be out of order. No wonder I had trouble following the concept.

The series was created by Suzanne Martin (Frasier, Ellen) and has been renewed for a fourth season on TV Land. So, there's plenty left for me to watch.

To get the full low-down on HOT IN CLEVELAND, please use this link to the show's website.

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Tuesday's Forgotten (or Overlooked) Film: MOUSE HUNT (1997) Starring Nathan Lane and Lee Evans

Today is Forgotten (or Overlooked) Film Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Todd Mason at his blog, SWEET FREEDOM. So don't forget to check in over there and see what other forgotten or overlooked films and assorted audio/visuals other boggers are talking about today. It's always a fun mix.

It's hard to believe my movie entry for today is already 15 years old. The 90's seem like yesterday - well, they were yesterday, but fifteen years? Time flies.

At any rate, I'm a big fan of Nathan Lane so already I was inclined to like today's movie before I saw it and while MOUSE HUNT wasn't as terrific as it could have been, it was quite terrific enough for me. (Most of the funny scenes involved the mouse, I admit.) There were a few things in the film I could have done without, including the ugliest cockroach in the history of cockroaches appearing on the dinner table at a fancy restaurant where Nathan Lane's character, Ernie Smuntz, is the head chef and owner.

Enter cockroach, exit patrons and goodbye restaurant.

But let's back up a bit to the beginning. The very elderly Mr. Smuntz (William Hickey at his wizened, cranky best), owner of a string factory - you know, a place that makes string - why not - somebody's gotta' make it.  Anyway, the film begins as the old man's  funeral is ongoing.

When out on the steps in the rain, the coffin slips from its perch...well, you can imagine the rest. It's to be expected but it IS funny and how wrong can it be to begin a comedy with a good, disrespectful laugh?

Ernie Smuntz (Nathan Lane) and his hapless brother Lars (Lee Evans) inherit the ancient string factory which is debt-ridden and practically worthless and an empty mansion out in the countryside. When Ernie's restaurant is done in by the giant cockroach - the shock of which kills the town's mayor who is the night's honored guest - Ernie is forced to close. The only asset he and Lars have left is the aforementioned empty, run-down mansion which they decide to renovate and sell and make a ton of money. (And maybe then, Lars' wife won't leave him.)

The house is in bad shape since it's been unoccupied for years, but the mystery is why it's sat empty for so long and why the old man never mentioned it. Rumors abound that the last family that tried to live in the house fled from the place in terror.

Ernie and Lars are about to find out why. It seems the house has an occupant who doesn't like being annoyed, doesn't like to share, and most especially doesn't like it when attempts are made on his life.

That's it. That's the basic plot:

Two idiot humans pitting their 'wits' against a mouse who at times appears to have super-human intelligence. At least, he's able to outwit Ernie and Lars at every turn (which isn't saying a whole hell of a lot when you come right down to it). Of course, you will soon be rooting for the mouse.

Especially once you check out his tiny little room within the bowels of the house where apparently he lives alone and always has. He even has a little bed (a sardine can, I think - stuffed with cotton) and little bits and pieces of mousey 'furniture' - oh, so cute you can't help going 'awwww!' Which everyone in the theater did. (I saw the film when it first came out.)

As Ernie and Lars attempt to gut and renovate, they come up against the machiavellian resistance of this little rodent who doesn't suffer fools gladly - he thwarts the two humans at every turn.

The best scenes are those where we see what is going on from the mouse's point of view. Most everything is telegraphed so the human antics aren't quite as funny as they should be, but the mouse makes the movie. He is pitiless in protecting his turf and the fact that it appears mostly to be a real mouse adds a certain charm to its machinations. Hey, the little guy is just trying to stay alive.

Ernie Smuntz bent on revenge!

Christopher Walken as the exterminator from hell

There is one very unfunny sequence in which a fiendish exterminator (Christopher Walken, of all people) is hired to get rid of the mouse - a few laughs, but not as many as there should have been. Walken is so 'over-the-top' that his few minutes on film bring the whole thing to an absolute screeching stop. He almost appears to have stumbled in from another movie.

Lee Evans as Lars also suffers from 'over-the-top' syndrome, but not as deadly as Walken. The movie's director, Gore Verbinski could have toned things down, but maybe those things that needed 'toning' seemed funnier in real life than on film. Who knows?

Still, there is more than enough fun left in the movie to make up for the skits that fail.

I recommend this film for three reasons. (The fact that my mother loved it doesn't really count, I suppose.)

So what are the reasons, you ask?

1) The mouse. 

The mouse scenes are brilliantly done. At certain points you even imagine you can see the little critter thinking. This is where the term 'movie magic' comes in. See this movie for the mouse, you will be rewarded. Nathan Lane up-staged by a mouse? Yes.


2) Production design by Linda Descenna and Art Direction by Jim Nedza.

The film's setting (a small city or town and its outskirts) is never identified, but it looks like a Middle European town might have looked in the 1950's. (Or at least how I imagine it might have looked.) I don't know why I say that, you'll have to see the film to understand what I mean.

The look of the movie is VERY quirky. Most everything is done is shades of gray, brown and sepia-tone and reminded me of the sort of place Papa Gepetto and Pinocchio might have lived once upon a time. But it's supposed to be modern day. Even quirkier is the string factory. The ancient interior and string-making machinery appear to be of the clunky 'rube goldberg' variety. I mean, it is awe-inspiring in its pre-historic, other-worldly ingeniousness. The moment I saw it I knew I was in the presence of design genius. It's like 1902 but not.


3) Last but never least: The final shot of the two brothers and the mouse is worth the price of admission. How the whole fiasco is finally resolved is wonderfully inventive and makes perfect sense, considering what went on before.

Two nitwits in search of a mouse.

Watch one of several trailers here. 

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The Incomparable Kaffe Fassett

As a 'thank you' for all your good wishes, I'm sharing one of my favorite contemporary artists witb you today. Kaffe Fassett (1937 - ) is a prolific, incredibly talented, American artist primarily known for his festive fabric, quilting, knitting and needlepoint designs.

This chair is a work of art in itself.

But if I had to choose, I'd say it is his paintings I love most, though that chair covered in his needlepoint design does take my breath away.

Gorgeous Kaffe Fassett fabric design.

Kaffe Fassett scalloped shells fabric design.

Only one of many books devoted to Fassett's designs. To learn more about Kaffe Fassett's life and work, please use this link to his website.

I've culled these examples of Kaffe Fassett's work from various online sources for our educational enlightenment. 

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Another Birthday. Another Decade.

'In the Restaurant' 1907 by Charles Hoffbauer

Just a brief glimpse of how I'm spending my birthday today. Same/old. Same/old. Glamour, glamour, glamour...it does get boring after awhile. But I'm bearing up. Ha!

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