Murder in the Casbah and Other Mysteries: New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Original Radio Broadcasts)
by Anthony Boucher, Denis Green
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anthony Boucher, Denis GreenReader: Basil Rathbone
Reader: Nigel Bruce
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Published: 2005-11-07
ISBN: 0743551028
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Book Reviews of Murder in the Casbah and Other Mysteries: New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Original Radio Broadcasts)
Book Review: "I should be delighted"
Summary: 3 Stars
"Murder in the Casbah" is the third CD collection of 1945/1946 radio broadcasts starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Its title episode is prefaced by CD presenter Ben Wright pointing out that Holmes and Watson travel from London to Algiers in the space of a musical bridge, but in fact this foreign journey seems more believable than those in such other episodes as "The Vanishing Elephant" (on a previous CD set). "Murder in the Casbah" is an unusually good episode in which for once, although the crucial clues are fairly and clearly presented, I did not perceive their significance until Holmes explained it -- a satisfying experience. "The Tankerville Club" is a Colonel Moran story. Although Watson's encounter with Moran here might seem to contradict his later unfamiliarity with him in Conan Doyle's "The Empty House", this is a forgivable lapse, since Conan Doyle himself committed a similar solecism with respect to Watson's knowledge of Moriarty in "The Final Problem" and "The Valley of Fear".
"The Strange Case of the Murderer in Wax" was performed on a theater stage for a large audience of servicemen. Perhaps to appeal to that audience, it is an unusually action-packed story -- but, refreshingly, Holmes himself expresses dissatisfaction at the case's conclusion with its having been resolved physically rather than mentally, giving the case an authentically Holmesian feeling in its very unusualness. Holmes adopts one of his most startling disguises in this story, which inspires him to be even ruder to Watson than usual; but a couple of scenes later, he is touchingly glad to see Watson, even though the doctor appears on the scene an hour earlier than Holmes had requested. The audience of men in uniform gives this story a gratifyingly loud and enthusiastic ovation.
"The Man With the Twisted Lip" is a reasonably faithful but somewhat reduced adaptation of the Conan Doyle story. The opening scene with Kate Whitney's visit to the Watson household is merely described by Watson rather than dramatized, and Watson's ensuing visit to the opium den is actually less fully told here than in the reworking of the same scene at the beginning of "The Eyes of Mr. Leyton" (on the previous CD set). Very unfortunately, the CD intro to "The Man With the Twisted Lip" includes a major spoiler for the story.
"The Guileless Gypsy" is an extremely unusual episode in that it presents a quasi-romantic attachment for Holmes with a woman other than Irene Adler. A scene in which Holmes' fortune is accurately told seems to violate the rational nature of the Conan Doyle stories, but is forgivable due to its Holmesian tone and detail. "The Camberwell Poisoners" (misspelled as "Camberville" on the CD and packaging) is a version of an "unrecorded adventure" mentioned in the Canon for which Watson gave not only the title, but the basic plot gimmick of the story. The tale writers Denis Green and Anthony Boucher have woven around that gimmick is extremely dark -- perhaps more dark than Conan Doyle would have ventured to write -- with an especially downbeat closing sentiment from Holmes.
"The Terrifying Cats", set in Rome, is one of the best episodes on these Rathbone CDs, despite featuring a breathtakingly appalling Italian accent from the actor playing Inspector Bellini. Holmes stories set outside Great Britain often feel unauthentic, but Boucher and Green cleverly tie this story to the end of another "unrecorded adventure" from the Canon, "the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca". Because Nigel Bruce was ill the week this episode was broadcast, Watson was played by Eric Snowden, whose Watson sounds much more intelligent than Bruce's despite not being written any differently.
"The Submarine Caves" is a quasi-sequel to Conan Doyle's "The Bruce-Partington Plans"; Holmes' brother Mycroft sends Holmes and Watson on their mission, although he remains offstage. This episode was broadcast after the end of World War II, but still reflects wartime anti-German attitudes. It is unusual for a Sherlock Holmes story in general and this series in particular in that, much as in a "Columbo" episode, the identity of the culprits is quite clear early on -- so clear that I erroneously thought they would turn out to be innocent -- and the suspense of the story comes from wondering how Holmes will outwit them.
"The Living Doll" is a dark but charming story set after Holmes' retirement, involving a little girl who comes to Holmes for help when her doll is mutilated. "The Disappearing Scientists", which takes place on the very day Holmes retires, is an especially clever story in that none of the suspects ever appear, and Holmes solves the case without meeting any of them!
The two episodes on the final CD of the set, "The Speckled Band" and "The Purloined Ruby", are introduced with dramatized scenes in which Harry Bartel, the announcer of the original broadcasts, "goes back in time" to meet Irene Adler, with whom he discusses the two Holmes cases in question. Although this is a charming idea, it is not quite logically carried out. When Bartel tells Irene that he had sat down to discuss "The Purloined Ruby" with Watson, this does not jibe with the fact that that episode was in fact hosted by a different announcer.
Given that the other Conan Doyle adaptations on these CDs are quite faithful to the original texts, it is deeply surprising that "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" substantially and unnecessarily alters the most highly-regarded of the Holmes short stories. The basic outline of the plot is the same, but major details are altered, including Watson knowing Holmes' client from years earlier when they were strangers to each other in the original tale. (Some of the differences reflect elements of Conan Doyle's stage adaptation of the story.) "The Purloined Ruby" ends the CD collection on a weak note with the unexplained return of a character whose resurrection is entirely impossible to make believable.
Like the other CD releases in this series, "Murder in the Casbah" is a fun collection of Holmes pastiches, and "The Terrifying Cats" is, in my opinion, exceptional.
Summary of Murder in the Casbah and Other Mysteries: New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (The Original Radio Broadcasts)
From 1939-1946 Americans gathered around their radio to listen to The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- featuring Basil Rathbone as the high-strung crime solver and Nigel Bruce as his phlegmatic assistant, Dr. Watson.
Witty, fast-paced and always surprising, these great radio plays, written by the prolific writing team of Anthony Boucher and Denis Green, are as fresh today as they were then.
The latest audio technology was employed to bring the best audio quality and fidelity to the original performances, which feature nostalgic wartime announcements, original commercials and radio narrations.
This special CD edition includes:
. Murder in the Casbah and The Tankerville Club. The Strange Case of the Murderer in Wax and The Man With The Twisted Lip
. The Guileless Gypsy and The Camberville Poisoners
. The Terrifying Cats and The Submarine Cave
. The Living Doll and The Disappearing Scientists
. The Adventure of the Speckled Band and The Purloined Ruby
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