The Library

Stevie asks: << Where did you order this from? Wouldn't mind getting a copy myself. >> Mine is coming from Oldies.com. What I did was put the title of the film on Google, followed by the letters DVD. Then you check out the suppliers who come up. (Oldies.com is a U.S.-based outfit, so was the best ch...

I said, earlier in this thread: << I live in hope that some enterprising film company will transfer THE FORBIDDEN TERRITORY to disc. >> What I didn't know is that THE SECRET OF STAMBOUL (originally THE EUNUCH OF STAMBOUL) *is* available on DVD, under its U.S. release title, THE SPY IN WHITE! I guess...

I have all three of the Hammer films on DVD. THE DEVIL RIDES OUT is the best in every respect--best film version, best "extras." Living in the States, I didn't see THE HAUNTED AIRMAN, but from what you folks say, I didn't miss much. Meanwhile, I live in hope that some enterprising film com...

To Georgina's "This is the end!", Roger Brook replies, "Nay, dear heart, 'tis no more than the passing to a new beginning." I recently received the news of Bob's death, and felt this message (from his wife Sue) should be posted here, for those who had not received or seen it any ...

Well, I don't know how many DW novels Winston Churchill read, but he certainly knew his work and respected his imagination.

Even funnier is Wheatley's comment about Van Helsing:
<< One could wish the good doctor was less verbose, as one could say all he has to say in half the number of words >>.

Oddly enough, I just finished this one myself, having not read a DW novel in a long time (and having left Gregory at the end of WW II). Compared to say, Sax Rohmer, DW is quite politically correct here: all the Mandarin characters, though often small in stature, are handsome and athletic (and of cou...

Well, it's a wonderful site. When you type in a name, you get not only the person searched, but others of his/her family, and sometimes those who were connected professionally. (Jules Verne's editor Hetzel comes up on his page.) Many listings have views of the cemetery as well as the grave itself, a...

Famed horror writer Richard Matheson (THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN) wrote the screenplay for TDRO, and DW went on record thanking him for his work. He felt that no more changes were made to the original than were absolutely necessary to get the story on the screen. I believe that's the only film of ...

We've been through this one before, and it's a common problem in long-running series. Don't forget Hercule Poirot is already RETIRED from the Belgian police when we first meet him, yet he goes on solving crimes for another 35 years! Let's give Armand deRichlieu the benefit of the doubt, and make him...

I have to read it yet, but I recently won a fascinating item on eBay: a "young adult" version of TDRO, re-written for Hutchinson by one Alison Sage. Apart from a huge amount of abridgement, there are other changes that just seem odd: Simon's last name becomes "Field"; the Duke's ...

Thanks so much for posting these. naturally, I like the wall best--to see something DW actually built. (Also, I haven't read enough Roger Brook for the others to mean anything special to me...)

Post moved to the Book Review section The Devil Rides Out

Dan lists several of the great set pieces in TDRO, but my favorite is still in chapter 22, when Mocata visits Cardinals Folly, and tries to hypnotize Marie Lou. She nearly gives in, until the child Fleur interrupts them. Wheatley doesn't make a big deal of it, but what's crucial is that Mocata asks ...

By chance, I was in a bookstore recently that had the hardcover versions of both SHAFT and QUIVER (under still different titles), and checked them out to see if I really needed to add them to my collection. Both have the identical introduction--DW could be pretty lazy, couldn't he? <g>--and only the...