tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post1947734312743093015..comments2024-03-26T17:48:56.627+00:00Comments on 'Do You Write Under Your Own Name?': Forgotten Book - The Nursemaid who DisappearedMartin Edwardshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-75622249469867164622009-07-22T08:53:38.692+01:002009-07-22T08:53:38.692+01:00Good to hear from you, Christine. More about PM be...Good to hear from you, Christine. More about PM before long.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-40050559046216344702009-07-22T00:23:13.835+01:002009-07-22T00:23:13.835+01:00I love Phillip MacDonald, and have only a short ha...I love Phillip MacDonald, and have only a short handful of his novels. And Warrant for X is one of my all time favorites!<br /><br />Thanks for this!Christinehttp://www.journalscape.com/christinecunninghamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-85720099790074462572009-07-19T14:43:46.398+01:002009-07-19T14:43:46.398+01:00Thanks for that, Monescu. I would love to see the ...Thanks for that, Monescu. I would love to see the film, and indeed the other early movies based on Macdonald's books. He definitely does not deserve to be forgotten.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-28713788902348098742009-07-19T12:52:27.819+01:002009-07-19T12:52:27.819+01:00By the way, "The Nursemaid Who Disappeared&qu...By the way, "The Nursemaid Who Disappeared" also received an earlier film adaptation in England, under the original ("Nursemaid") title. Made in 1939, it was much more faithful to the novel than was the later "23 Paces to Baker Street," and is still extant (or at least was about 11 years ago, when I hand cranked a copy of it on a editing/self viewing machine at the British Film Institute).monescuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04111922576836593406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-1434974951132234142009-07-19T10:45:17.944+01:002009-07-19T10:45:17.944+01:00I think Adrian Messenger is, or was, quite well re...I think Adrian Messenger is, or was, quite well regarded. But 23 Paces to Baker Street is better, in my opinion. I haven't seen the other films.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-83016388031751368142009-07-19T04:55:47.508+01:002009-07-19T04:55:47.508+01:00I tend to find a lot of his stuff too breathless a...I tend to find a lot of his stuff too breathless and action-oriented (i.e., American ;) ) for my taste, but I think Nursemaid and Murder Gone Mad succeed splendidly at what they are. For pure detection I thought The Maze was rather good. That's the one based entirely on courtroom documents as I recall. For me The Rasp is too much of a twenties period piece. And The White Crow has a notable collection of qualities people dislike about Golden Age detective fiction (racism, etc.).<br /><br />I'm not surprised Macdonald went to the States to work on screenplays, a lot of books seem written with film treatment in mind! Several of them were made into films in the thirties, I believe. And his much later List of Adrian Messenger was filmed as well. Though I guess none of the films are very well-regarded?vegetableducknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-48262017061459735912009-07-18T12:05:53.256+01:002009-07-18T12:05:53.256+01:00Yes, I quite liked Rynox, though I prefer books li...Yes, I quite liked Rynox, though I prefer books like X v Rex. Almost all of Macdonald's books had some genuinely fascinating aspect, Arcavist, though he was uneven. I will dig out more of his best stuff for future Fridays.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-58214557137359660312009-07-18T02:23:40.908+01:002009-07-18T02:23:40.908+01:00Or maybe Van Halen?
I liked "Nursemaid."...Or maybe Van Halen?<br /><br />I liked "Nursemaid." I'd put that in the upper tier, along with Warrant for X and Rynox (this latter tale you hear less about, though Julian Symons liked ir).vegetableducknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-30337918011198943752009-07-17T23:49:57.493+01:002009-07-17T23:49:57.493+01:00This is one I've never heard of. Sounds intere...This is one I've never heard of. Sounds interesting, though.Gary Dobbs/Jack Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10935686140719743351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-80215008128352134692009-07-17T21:08:01.504+01:002009-07-17T21:08:01.504+01:00Many thanks, Anon. You are quite right. Correction...Many thanks, Anon. You are quite right. Correction made!Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-14283405137187384162009-07-17T16:52:07.313+01:002009-07-17T16:52:07.313+01:00Van Johnson not Van Heflin.Van Johnson not Van Heflin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7291823984059320518.post-703200281574122622009-07-17T13:58:54.521+01:002009-07-17T13:58:54.521+01:00I would never have expected PM to disappear. Just ...I would never have expected PM to disappear. Just goes to show you, so few are beyond it.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.com