Nancy's page-to-screen mystery challenge

[Jan C]

Nancy wrote: "I'm adding one more and then I think I may have reached overload, since I have other-genre interests as well:

The Secret Agent, by Joseph Conrad - movie equivalent is Sabotage: https:..."

There is also The Secret Agent from 1996 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117582/?...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Rats. I started to watch a Japanese movie this weekend called "Castle of Sand" and then realized it comes from Inspector Imanishi Investigates, by Seicho Matsumoto, so a) I quit watching right away and b) I'll be rereading that one so I can watch the movie.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I'm sure more will pop up along the way, but here's my list going into 2016 (not necessarily in this order):

Vertigo
She Who Was No More (Diabolique)
Fantômas
Dark Passage
So Evil My Love
To Have and Have Not
The Killer Inside Me
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Bunny Lake is Missing
The Nanny
Black Wings Has My Angel
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
Some Must Watch (Spiral Staircase)
The Aspern Papers (Lost Moment)
The Uninvited
Brat Farrar
Sanctuary/Requiem for a Nun (Sanctuary)
The Secret Agent (Saboteur, and maybe the modern version, who knows?)
Inspector Imanishi Investigates (Castle of Sand)

[Gary]

Nancy wrote: "I'm sure more will pop up along the way, but here's my list going into 2016 (not necessarily in this order):

Vertigo
She Who Was No More (Diabolique)
Fantômas
Dark Passage
So Evil My Love
To H..."

Outstanding list, Nancy! I believe I've either seen or read all but four of your picks.

Happy New Year!

Gary

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I'm sure more will pop up along the way, but here's my list going into 2016 (not necessarily in this order):

Vertigo
She Who Was No More (Diabolique)
Fantômas
Dark Passage
So Evi..."

Thank you, Gary. A peaceful and happy new year to you, as well!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

oops. Left off The Glass Key and Fingersmith.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly.

[Gary]

Nancy wrote: "I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly."

Boileau and Narcejac also wrote "She Who Was No More" (Celle qui n'etait plus) that was made into the classic 1950's thriller Diabolique, remade in the '90's.

BTW, the original French title of "Vertigo" was D'entre les morts (From Among the Dead) originally published in English as The Living and the Dead.

A bit of trivia. ;)

She Who Was No More

[Jan C]

Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly."

Boileau and Narcejac also wrote "She Who Was No More" (Celle ..."

I liked Simone Sigoret in that one.

[Gary]

Jan C wrote: "Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly."

Boileau and Narcejac also wrote "She Who Was No ..."

Agree. Simone Signoret was outstanding in the 1955 classic Diabolique. I also liked her in Casque d'Or, a love triangle/murder/revenge story set in the Parisian underworld ca. 1900.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly."

Boileau and Narcejac also wrote "She Who Was No More" (Celle ..."

It's already on my list and my shelves. I would read everything these two wrote. Their way of writing crime is so good and so different than most modern mystery/crime authors.

[Gary]

Nancy wrote: "Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I finished Vertigo -- this afternoon is dedicated to watching the movie. I'll post my thoughts shortly."

Boileau and Narcejac also wrote "She Who Was No ..."

Without creating a spoiler, I'd say the way they worked mental and physical disabilities into their plots was brilliant. No wonder Hitchcock admired them

[Amanda]

Great challenge. I'm interested to see how you get on. I also try to read books before films. There's something about imagining yourself what the writer is trying to achieve before you see it on film. Good luck!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Amanda wrote: "Great challenge. I'm interested to see how you get on. I also try to read books before films. There's something about imagining yourself what the writer is trying to achieve before you see it on fi..."

That's exactly it, Amanda. I have to say that I've watched a number of movies before reading the books, went back to the book and thought "whoa. Hollywood sure messed that up, " for example The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. The movie missed it all around.

[Bill]

Nancy wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Great challenge. I'm interested to see how you get on. I also try to read books before films. There's something about imagining yourself what the writer is trying to achieve before y..."

I quite liked The Woman in Black, maybe it helped that I hadn't read the book first. I enjoyed the book after as well.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Bill wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Great challenge. I'm interested to see how you get on. I also try to read books before films. There's something about imagining yourself what the writer is trying to ac..."

I'm much more of a reader than a movie watcher, so I normally do book to film. I like the added nuances a novel offers that a movie generally doesn't catch.

[Amanda]

I've seen The Women in Black on film but haven't read the book. I did jump at all the right moments so if the book is better, it would definitely be worth a read.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Amanda wrote: "I've seen The Women in Black on film but haven't read the book. I did jump at all the right moments so if the book is better, it would definitely be worth a read."

Well, better is in the eye of the beholder, so it's a toss up. The under-the-surface message in the book is not picked up in the movie.

[[deleted user]]

The 39 Steps (made in movies twice and made for TV [the best of the lot} BBC production
Death on the Nile by Christie - Peter Ustinov
Evil Under the Sun by Christie - Peter Ustinov
Murder on the Orient Express by Christie - Albery Finney
And Then There Were None by Christie - Barry Fitzgerald
4:50 from Paddington (also called What Mrs McGillicuddy Saw) by Christie and filmed as Murder She Said with Margaret Rutherford miscast as Miss Marple
The Light of Day by Eric Ambler (film is Topkapi with Peter Ustinov)
Our Man in Havana by Graham Green - movie with Alec Guinness
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - movie 1948
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - movie and made for TV movie
The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (he only wrote 1 book and 2 short stories, so the movies are not from his stories other than book 1)
The Third Man by Graham Greene - Orsen Wells
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett - Humphrey Bogart
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Echo - movie with Sean Connery
Everything by Tom Clancy (but other than Hunt for Red October, nothing like the books)
One for the Money by Janet Evanovich - with Katherine Heigl
Pretty much all of Raymond Chandler and multiple actors as Phillip Marlowe including Humphery Bogart, Robert Mitchum, Alan Ladd, and Dick Powell plus others
The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum - Made for TV with Richard Chamberlin and Movies with Matt Damon
The Impress File by Len Dighton - Michael Caine
Funeral in Berlin by Len Deighton - Michael Caine
Billion Dollar Brain by Len Deighton - Michael Caine

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Sheesh! Someone's done her homework! Thanks!

[Jan C]

Except that The Third Man is by Graham Greene, not Dashiell Hammett. I assume that was a typo since the item above it was The Thin Man which was by Hammett.

[[deleted user]]

It was my sloppiness, Jan. I was working mostly from memory and that slipped through. Thanks for catching it because my head was on Hammett.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

After a huge number of distractions at home (and being away), I've finally had the time to post about Vertigo.

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/01/...

Next up: Fantômas, by Marcel Allain.

[Gary]

Nancy wrote: "After a huge number of distractions at home (and being away), I've finally had the time to post about Vertigo.

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/01/...

Next..."

An outstanding review, Nancy!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Gary wrote: "Nancy wrote: "After a huge number of distractions at home (and being away), I've finally had the time to post about Vertigo.

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/01/......"

Thanks. There is a LOT more going on in the novel I could have addressed, but well, time and all of that.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I've just finished Fantômas, by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre. I'll be watching the film tomorrow, & then hopefully have time to post about it.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Fantomas:

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/02/...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Starting Phantom Lady, by Cornell Woolrich, which wasn't exactly on my original list, but I'm reading it anyway since I already own the dvd.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Re Phantom Lady: enjoyed the book; the film adaptation not so much, mainly because they give away the show way too early in the movie. I was so disappointed!

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/02/...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Not part of this challenge, but I have read two more novels that became movies

The Blue Angel, by Heinrich Mann, which became a movie of the same name. The book was excellent, the movie was made in the 1930s and has an ending that was just tragic;

Fengriffen & Other Gothic Tales, by David Case , which became the movie "And now the screaming starts." Book terrific, movie strange.

[Stephanie]

I like this idea, Nancy. Might try something like this next year! Happy Reading :)

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Finished with She Who Was No More by Boileau and Nacerjac. Late yesterday afternoon, we watched the film, the 1955 original version of Diabolique. Excellent movie - if you haven't seen it, you don't know what you're missing. But read the novel before you watch.

[Bill]

I'll keep an eye out for that book.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Bill wrote: "I'll keep an eye out for that book."

Of the two, I much prefer their Vertigo, but this one is also very good.

[Tom]

I don't know if this is the place to post this but I know you all will know the answer. I have only read the first Harry Bosch book but I am intrigued by the amazon series. Can I watch or will it ruin the books?

[Tom]

Tom wrote: "I don't know if this is the place to post this but I know you all will know the answer. I have only read the first Harry Bosch book but I am intrigued by the amazon series. Can I watch or will it r..."

The first series of the show is based on the book Echo Park so it will not spoil any of the other books. It does follow that book closely enough that it will reveal whodunit. I'm not sure what book series two is based on.

[Jan C]

I thought the first show was based on the first three books. I haven't read Echo Park yet but I was able to identify things because of what was in the first few books.

Maybe that's why I haven't watched more than a couple of episodes yet. I am way behind in my Connelly reading.

[Tom]

Thanks. Gosh by the time I get to 12 I will have forgotten anyway so I think I'm going to watch!

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I finished reading Bunny Lake is Missing, by Evelyn Piper, then late last night watched the film. Aside from the missing little girl, the two have very little in common -- the screenwriters even added a character to change the entire story. The book was better, but the last sequence of the movie was just wicked strange and bizarre. One more thing: Bill had mentioned The Zombies, but I noticed that they missed the boat here and never played one of their bigger hits (and in this case definitely appropriate), "She's Not There." More when I have time - probably the weekend flying home.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

I finally found a few minutes to post about Bunny Lake is Missing here:

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/04/...

[SherryRose]

People

[SherryRose]

I guess authors profit from selling rights to movie makers. It's more for money than art for some of them it seems. Movies almost always veer off so far from the book that it's a different story. Hollywood has no integrity. I wonder about some authors as well. I know they write to make money but the idealist in me wishes that they were more proud of their work.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Sherry wrote: "I guess authors profit from selling rights to movie makers. It's more for money than art for some of them it seems. Movies almost always veer off so far from the book that it's a different story. H..."

There are a lot of great writers who ended up in the poorhouse during their lifetimes, but I hear what you're saying.

[Bill]

Nancy wrote: "I finally found a few minutes to post about Bunny Lake is Missing here:

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/04/..."

I've seen the movie a few times. Will have to find a copy of the book now. I liked your review of both.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Thanks. The movie was so creepy -- I made the mistake of watching it while I was away, late at night on my iPad while in bed. I didn't sleep the entire night.

[Bill]

Nancy wrote: "Thanks. The movie was so creepy -- I made the mistake of watching it while I was away, late at night on my iPad while in bed. I didn't sleep the entire night."

I could see that happening..

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Good grief. I just finished watching the movie made from No Orchids For Miss Blandish after reading the "updated" version of the novel by mistake. (I'm waiting for my copy of the pre-1961 revised edition so I can read the original.) Talk about a 180! In the book the title character is kidnapped by some lowlife thugs, and then taken away from them by a psychopath. In the movie, she falls in love with him like pretty much right away; terrible things happen to her in the book. I'm sitting there watching it, and I'm thinking this is insane. So I bought the DVD of The Grissom Gang, a later remake and I'm hoping it does more justice to the original book. Has anyone seen either of these films?

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Well, I must say that there's nothing like taking over a month to get my thoughts down about a book -- but I finally found time this morning to talk about No Orchids for Miss Blandish.

http://www.crimesegments.com/2016/05/...

[Bill]

Interesting review, not sure I'll search for the book though..