(hb; 1971: sixth book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Amy & Ken Knoespel.)
From the inside flap:
"Accustomed as he was to public speaking, powerful Swedish industrialist Viktor Palmgren had no idea that his after-dinner speech in elegant Hotel Savoy would be so rudely interrupted that warm summer evening. Suddenly, in the midst of Palmgren's entertaining remarks, an uninvited guest pulled a blue-steel object from his pocket, shot the speaker in the head, and disappeared through an open window. No one in the restaurant was able to identify the gunman, and local police were sheepishly baffled. Enter: Chief Inspector Martin Beck, of the National Homicide Squad. . . and his dogged fellow detectives of Sweden's National Police."
Review:
Another excellent, taut mystery from the Martin Beck series, sporting all the charm, quirkiness and cleverness of the preceding novels.
Worth owning, this.
Followed by The Abominable Man.
•
The video film was released on October 6, 1993 in Sweden.
Per Berglund directed the film, from a script by Rainer Berg, Jonas Cornell, Pelle Berglund (aka Per Berglund, the director), Beate Langmaack and book co-author Maj Sjöwall.
Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised his role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Malm.
Ingvar Andersson played Per Månsson. Lena Nilsson played Åsa Thorell. Birger Österberg reprised his role of Kvant. P.G. Hylén reprised his role of Kristiansson.
Claes Sylwander played Viktor Palmgren. Görel Crona played Charlotte Palmgren. Marie Richardson played Helena Hansson. Arthur Brauss played Jürgen Hoffman. Reine Brynolfsson played Hampus Broberg. Anders Ekborg played Mats Linder. Lena T. Hansson, billed as Lena T. Hanson, played "Grunvald's Sister". Tommy Johnson played Bertil Svensson.
An uncredited Stellan Skarsgård played "Security manager at Palmgrens Company".
Showing posts with label Jonas Cornell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonas Cornell. Show all posts
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
The Man On The Balcony, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö
(pb; 1967: third book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Alan Blair.)
From the back cover:
"In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing of their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendant, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three-year-old boy. The police force works night and day, but their efforts have offered little insight into the whereabouts of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck's mind, and he finally may have the break he needs."
Review:
This is an especially vicious, high-profile case for Beck and his crew: a child rapist-murder is on the loose, accruing victims at an increasingly acelerated rate. Of course, the media is having a field day reporting the crimes, and the public is demanding that the rapist-murderer get caught, pronto.
There are few revelations in this disquieting, hard to put down read, but Balcony doesn't need any revelations. Balcony is solid, logical, character-rich and -expansive, its action and pseudo-twists revolving around many of its core/series characters.
Another excellent entry in the Martin Beck Mysteries.
Followed by The Laughing Policeman.
•
A film version of The Man On The Balcony was released in Sweden on November 26, 1993.
Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.
Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-authored with Jonas Cornell (based on Rainer Berg's treatment-story).
From the back cover:
"In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing of their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendant, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three-year-old boy. The police force works night and day, but their efforts have offered little insight into the whereabouts of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck's mind, and he finally may have the break he needs."
Review:
This is an especially vicious, high-profile case for Beck and his crew: a child rapist-murder is on the loose, accruing victims at an increasingly acelerated rate. Of course, the media is having a field day reporting the crimes, and the public is demanding that the rapist-murderer get caught, pronto.
There are few revelations in this disquieting, hard to put down read, but Balcony doesn't need any revelations. Balcony is solid, logical, character-rich and -expansive, its action and pseudo-twists revolving around many of its core/series characters.
Another excellent entry in the Martin Beck Mysteries.
Followed by The Laughing Policeman.
•
A film version of The Man On The Balcony was released in Sweden on November 26, 1993.
Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.
Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-authored with Jonas Cornell (based on Rainer Berg's treatment-story).
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Roseanna, by Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö
(pb; 1965: first book in the Martin Beck Police Mysteries. Translated from the Swedish by Lois Roth.)
From the back cover:
"On a July afternoon, the body of a young woman is dredged from Sweden's beautiful Lake Vättern. Three weeks later, all that Police Inspector Martin Beck knows is that her name is Roseanna, that she came from Lincoln, Nebraska, and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people. As the melancholic Beck narrows down the list of likely suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for the casual sexual encounter, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive -- indeed, terrifying -- sense of propriety."
Review:
Solid, tautly-penned police procedural that thrills with its spare descriptions of Beck and his fellow cops as they slowly piece together what happened to Roseanna McGraw, a visiting American who had a fatal encounter with a murderer. Despite the authors' acknowledgements of time passing, their writing is quick, days passing in as little as two sentences, months experienced in a paragraph.
The tone of the novel is melancholic, steeped in mundane but telling details and moods; excellent authors that they are, Sjöwall and Wahlöö make this work for their narrative, as they steadily increase the tension of the tale for an emotionally-explosive, exciting finish.
Excellent novel, this. Promising start to the Martin Beck Police Mysteries.
Followed by The Man Who Went Up In Smoke.
#
Two movies resulted from Roseanna.
The original Roseanna was released in Sweden on August 14, 1967.
Keve Hjelm played Martin Beck. Tor Isedal played Gunnar Ahlberg. Gio Petré played Roseanna. Michael Tolan played Elmer B. Kafka. Kersten Tidelius played Sonja Hansson. Leif Liljeroth played Stenström. Mona Malm played Siv Lundberg. Hans Ernback played Folke Bengtsson.
Hans Abramson scripted and directed the film.
#
The filmed-out-of-series-order remake was released on video in Sweden on October 6, 1993.
Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.
Ingvar Andersson reprised his role of Per Månsson. Lena Nilsson reprised her role of Åsa Thorell. Torgny Anderberg reprised his role of Evald Hammar. Anita Ekström, this time credited, reprised her role of Inga Beck. Birger Österberg reprised his role of Kvant. P.G. Hylén reprised his role of Kristiansson.
Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-wrote with book co-author Maj Sjöwall, Jonas Cornell, Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.
From the back cover:
"On a July afternoon, the body of a young woman is dredged from Sweden's beautiful Lake Vättern. Three weeks later, all that Police Inspector Martin Beck knows is that her name is Roseanna, that she came from Lincoln, Nebraska, and that she could have been strangled by any one of eighty-five people. As the melancholic Beck narrows down the list of likely suspects, he is drawn increasingly to the enigma of the victim, a free-spirited traveler with a penchant for the casual sexual encounter, and to the psychopathology of a murderer with a distinctive -- indeed, terrifying -- sense of propriety."
Review:
Solid, tautly-penned police procedural that thrills with its spare descriptions of Beck and his fellow cops as they slowly piece together what happened to Roseanna McGraw, a visiting American who had a fatal encounter with a murderer. Despite the authors' acknowledgements of time passing, their writing is quick, days passing in as little as two sentences, months experienced in a paragraph.
The tone of the novel is melancholic, steeped in mundane but telling details and moods; excellent authors that they are, Sjöwall and Wahlöö make this work for their narrative, as they steadily increase the tension of the tale for an emotionally-explosive, exciting finish.
Excellent novel, this. Promising start to the Martin Beck Police Mysteries.
Followed by The Man Who Went Up In Smoke.
#
Two movies resulted from Roseanna.
The original Roseanna was released in Sweden on August 14, 1967.
Keve Hjelm played Martin Beck. Tor Isedal played Gunnar Ahlberg. Gio Petré played Roseanna. Michael Tolan played Elmer B. Kafka. Kersten Tidelius played Sonja Hansson. Leif Liljeroth played Stenström. Mona Malm played Siv Lundberg. Hans Ernback played Folke Bengtsson.
Hans Abramson scripted and directed the film.
#
The filmed-out-of-series-order remake was released on video in Sweden on October 6, 1993.
Gösta Ekman reprised his role of Martin Beck. Kjell Bergqvist reprised his role of Lennart Kollberg. Rolf Lassgård reprised his role of Gunvald Larsson. Jonas Falk reprised his role of Stig Åke Malm. Ing-Marie Carlsson reprised her role of Gun Kollberg. Bernt Ström reprised his role of Einar Rönn. Niklas Hjulström reprised his role of Skacke.
Ingvar Andersson reprised his role of Per Månsson. Lena Nilsson reprised her role of Åsa Thorell. Torgny Anderberg reprised his role of Evald Hammar. Anita Ekström, this time credited, reprised her role of Inga Beck. Birger Österberg reprised his role of Kvant. P.G. Hylén reprised his role of Kristiansson.
Daniel Alfredson directed the film from a script he co-wrote with book co-author Maj Sjöwall, Jonas Cornell, Rainer Berg and Beate Langmaack.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)