(pb; 1970: fourth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair.)
From the back cover:
"On a bitter cold and rainy night, nine bus riders are gunned down by an unknown assassin in Stockholm. It seems a random crime, and the press, anxious for any explanation, dubs him a madman. But Superintendent Martin Beck of the Homicide Squad suspects otherwise: this apparently motiveless killer has managed to target one of Beck's best detectives -- and he, surely, wouldn't have been on that lethal bus without a reason."
Review:
Plot- and writing-taut, unpredictable and thrilling as its series predecessors, The Laughing Policeman is my favorite Martin Beck Mystery thus far, largely because of the strangeness of the crime, and an equally-strange mystery: why was one of Beck's detectives -- who normally didn't take public transport -- on that particular bus?
Worth owning, this.
Followed by The Fire Engine That Disappeared.
•
The Laughing Policeman, the film, was released stateside on December 20, 1973.
Walter Matthau played Sgt. Jake Martin SFPD. Bruce Dern played Insp. Leo Larsen SFPD. Louis Gossett Jr., billed as Lou Gossett, played Insp. James Larrimore. Anthony Zerbe played Lt. Nat Steiner SFPD. Val Avery played Insp. John Pappas SFPD.
Cathy Lee Crosby played Kay Butler. Joanna Cassidy played "Monica, Beth's Roommate". Paul Koslo played "Duane Haygood, Drug Pusher".
Stuart Rosenberg directed the film, from a script by Thomas Rickman.
Showing posts with label Anthony Zerbe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anthony Zerbe. Show all posts
Friday, March 05, 2010
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Dog Soldiers, by Robert Stone
(pb; 1973, 1974)
From the back cover:
"Heroin. You pick it up in Southeast Asia. You smuggle it in through San Francisco. You sell it for all the ravenous American market will bear.
"For Converse, a disillusioned journalist, it is a perverse proof of his manhood. For his wife Marge, a college dropout working in a porno movie house, it is a new kick. For Hicks, a devotee of Oriental spiritualism and martial arts, it is another step past fear and moral scruples.
"For all of them it is a trip into a nightmare of lawless violence and insane greed."
Review:
Like the untenable and nasty war that helped spawn it (Vietnam), the events that take place after Ray Hicks smuggles heroin into the States are spectacularly f***ed-up. (Normally, Converse and Hicks smuggle marijuana, but the heroin pay-off, which looks to be astonomical, is too tempting.)
This is the melancholic, sordid and body-strewn milieu of Joseph Conrad, times ten. Converse is the cowardly, morally ambiguous American; Ray, his amoral American antithesis. Marge, Hick's wife in the States, with her growing needle habit, is just another victim. Even Antheil, whose smack Ray and Marge have fled with (after Antheil sends goons to whack them), is a victim of sorts, in a high-risk game where the wrong word in the wrong ear means instant death.
Bleak, ironic, crazy-violent and ultimately tragic, Dog Soldiers encapsulates many aspects of the Vietnam War, as seen by small-time eclectic "operators" whose cash and chemical endeavours arise from that struggle.
Stunning, pivotal work, this. Worth your cash and time.
The retitled film, Who'll Stop The Rain, was released stateside on September 8, 1978. Michael Moriarty played John Converse. Nick Nolte played Ray Hicks. Tuesday Weld played Marge Converse. Anthony Zerbe played Antheil. Richard Masur played Danskin.
Karel Reisz directed, from a script by author Robert Stone, and Judith Rascoe.
From the back cover:
"Heroin. You pick it up in Southeast Asia. You smuggle it in through San Francisco. You sell it for all the ravenous American market will bear.
"For Converse, a disillusioned journalist, it is a perverse proof of his manhood. For his wife Marge, a college dropout working in a porno movie house, it is a new kick. For Hicks, a devotee of Oriental spiritualism and martial arts, it is another step past fear and moral scruples.
"For all of them it is a trip into a nightmare of lawless violence and insane greed."
Review:
Like the untenable and nasty war that helped spawn it (Vietnam), the events that take place after Ray Hicks smuggles heroin into the States are spectacularly f***ed-up. (Normally, Converse and Hicks smuggle marijuana, but the heroin pay-off, which looks to be astonomical, is too tempting.)
This is the melancholic, sordid and body-strewn milieu of Joseph Conrad, times ten. Converse is the cowardly, morally ambiguous American; Ray, his amoral American antithesis. Marge, Hick's wife in the States, with her growing needle habit, is just another victim. Even Antheil, whose smack Ray and Marge have fled with (after Antheil sends goons to whack them), is a victim of sorts, in a high-risk game where the wrong word in the wrong ear means instant death.
Bleak, ironic, crazy-violent and ultimately tragic, Dog Soldiers encapsulates many aspects of the Vietnam War, as seen by small-time eclectic "operators" whose cash and chemical endeavours arise from that struggle.
Stunning, pivotal work, this. Worth your cash and time.
The retitled film, Who'll Stop The Rain, was released stateside on September 8, 1978. Michael Moriarty played John Converse. Nick Nolte played Ray Hicks. Tuesday Weld played Marge Converse. Anthony Zerbe played Antheil. Richard Masur played Danskin.
Karel Reisz directed, from a script by author Robert Stone, and Judith Rascoe.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
(pb; 1954: novella)
From the back cover:
"Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.
"By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.
"How long can one man survive like this?"
Review:
This is Matheson at his best. Neville is one of fiction's greatest anti-heroes. He vacillates between emotional extremes, sometimes tender, often brutal and gruff, as he struggles to survive, and ultimately understand, the whys of his situation.
Grim, black-humored and sometimes ironic, this is a must-read for any science fiction fan: one of my all-time favorite books.
Check this out.
•
The novella has been filmed three times.
The Last Man on Earth was released stateside on March 8, 1964.
Vincent Price played Dr. Robert Morgan, the film equivalent of Robert Neville. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart played Ben Cortland.
Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow shared directing duties, co-scripting the film with William F. Leicester and book author Richard Matheson (billed as Logan Swanson).
•
The second version, retitled The Omega Man, was released stateside on August 1, 1971.
Charlton Heston played Robert Neville. Anthony Zerbe played Matthias, the film equivalent of the novel's Ben Cortland. Rosalind Cash played Lisa.
Boris Sagal directed the film, from a script by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington (billed as Joyce H. Corrington).
•
The third version, titled I Am Legend, is scheduled for stateside release on December 14, 2007.
Will Smith plays Neville. Salli Richardson plays Ginny. Paradox Pollack plays Alpha. Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, plays Marley.
Francis Lawrence directs, from a script by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman.
From the back cover:
"Robert Neville is the last living man on Earth... but he is not alone. Every other man, woman and child on the planet has become a vampire, and they are hungry for Neville's blood.
"By day he is the hunter, stalking the undead through the ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for the dawn.
"How long can one man survive like this?"
Review:
This is Matheson at his best. Neville is one of fiction's greatest anti-heroes. He vacillates between emotional extremes, sometimes tender, often brutal and gruff, as he struggles to survive, and ultimately understand, the whys of his situation.
Grim, black-humored and sometimes ironic, this is a must-read for any science fiction fan: one of my all-time favorite books.
Check this out.
•
The novella has been filmed three times.
The Last Man on Earth was released stateside on March 8, 1964.
Vincent Price played Dr. Robert Morgan, the film equivalent of Robert Neville. Giacomo Rossi-Stuart played Ben Cortland.
Ubaldo Ragona and Sidney Salkow shared directing duties, co-scripting the film with William F. Leicester and book author Richard Matheson (billed as Logan Swanson).
•
The second version, retitled The Omega Man, was released stateside on August 1, 1971.
Charlton Heston played Robert Neville. Anthony Zerbe played Matthias, the film equivalent of the novel's Ben Cortland. Rosalind Cash played Lisa.
Boris Sagal directed the film, from a script by John William Corrington and Joyce Hooper Corrington (billed as Joyce H. Corrington).
•
The third version, titled I Am Legend, is scheduled for stateside release on December 14, 2007.
Will Smith plays Neville. Salli Richardson plays Ginny. Paradox Pollack plays Alpha. Willow Smith, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, plays Marley.
Francis Lawrence directs, from a script by Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman.
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