The Lady in the Morgue


Book Description

A vanished corpse leads a hard-drinking PI on a madcap chase More than forty corpses fill the cold Chicago basement, but no crime has been committed here. After all, there are supposed to be bodies in the city morgue. Tonight, one is attracting particular attention: a beautiful young woman whose apparent suicide captured the imagination of every newspaper editor in town. Learning how and why she died is too great a task for any cub reporter. Only Detective Bill Crane is up to the job. A few minutes after Crane wakes from a nap in the morgue, the mysterious woman’s body has disappeared. With the howls of the mental patients as a soundtrack, Crane leads the police on a wild search through the hospital and across Chicago, stopping for a nap or a cocktail whenever the situation demands. It may be a matter of life and death, but that is no reason to rush.




The Lady in the Morgue


Book Description







Of Gods and Monsters


Book Description

While Universal's Dracula and Frankenstein (both 1931) have received the most coverage of any of the studio's genre releases, it is the lesser known films that have long fascinated fans and historians alike. Starting with The Last Warning, a 1929 movie released as both a silent and a talkie, Universal provided a decade of films that entertained audiences and sometimes frustrated critics. Each of Universal's horror, science fiction and "twisted mystery" films receives an in-depth essay for each film. The focus is first on the background to the making of the movie and its place in the Universal catalog. A detailed plot synopsis with critical commentary follows. Filmographic data for the film conclude the entry. Universal's The Shadow short film series is covered in an appendix. Many rare illustrations and movie posters are also included.




The Girl in the Morgue


Book Description

Thirtysomething ex-cop-turned-P.I. Cal Corwin faces her most puzzling murder case yet. When a friend of a friend dies in suspicious circumstances, the police believe it's open-and-shut. As Cal digs deeper to get to the bottom of the mystery, she finds herself a target for those who want the truth dead and buried.




The Murders in the Rue Morgue


Book Description

"The Rue Morgue Murders" is a pioneering tale in the mystery genre, in which detective Auguste Dupin uses his acute observation and logic to solve a brutal double murder in Paris, revealing a surprising and unusual outcome.




The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films


Book Description

"The entire field of film historians awaits the AFI volumes with eagerness."--Eileen Bowser, Museum of Modern Art Film Department Comments on previous volumes: "The source of last resort for finding socially valuable . . . films that received such scant attention that they seem 'lost' until discovered in the AFI Catalog."--Thomas Cripps "Endlessly absorbing as an excursion into cultural history and national memory."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.




Universal Horrors


Book Description

Revised and updated since its first publication in 1990, this acclaimed critical survey covers the classic chillers produced by Universal Studios during the golden age of hollywood horror, 1931 through 1946. Trekking boldly through haunts and horrors from The Frankenstein Monster, The Wolf Man, Count Dracula, and The Invisible Man, to The Mummy, Paula the Ape Woman, The Creeper, and The Inner Sanctum, the authors offer a definitive study of the 86 films produced during this era and present a general overview of the period. Coverage of the films includes complete cast lists, credits, storyline, behind-the-scenes information, production history, critical analysis, and commentary from the cast and crew (much of it drawn from interviews by Tom Weaver, whom USA Today calls "the king of the monster hunters"). Unique to this edition are a new selection of photographs and poster reproductions and an appendix listing additional films of interest.




The Lady of the Blue Motor


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Stewards of the House


Book Description

Jonathan Latimer (1906-1983) wrote nine detective novels. He also wrote or co-wrote 20 film scripts, including such noir classics as the second version of Dasheill Hammett's The Glass Key, Kenneth Fearing's The Big Clock, and Cornell Woolrich's The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. Moving to television writing, he scripted 45 original stories and adapted 50 Eric Stanley Gardner novels for the Perry Mason series.