an El Camino
aprox km 7079 36th Avenue
Movie #1631: Behind Locked Doors (1948, Budd Boetticher)
Early Boetticher has Richard Carlson faking insanity so he can get committed to a mental institution. That is never a good idea. Once the staff find out he's really a private eye they figure out a novel way to get rid of him. You see, they have a boxer (Tor Johnson!) there who will swing at anything when he hears the sound of a bell. So, just throw him in the padded cell with Tor and he'll be nothing but hamburger in no time. Now, as any fool can see, there's a hole in that plot that you could drive a truck through. If Carlson just stays down the boxer won't hit him. So, what does Carlson do? That's right, as soon as Tor flattens him..............he gets back on his feet again..........and again.........and again. Nobody can possibly be that stupid! And what did the scriptwriters think? Nobody would notice? Nobody would care?
All told, a pretty decent "sane man in looney bin" movie.
Book #373: Arctic Chill (2005, Arnaldur Indridason)
OK, he's not exactly Mankell but he's not bad. This is the 3rd of his books I've read and I think this is his best plot. However, his depiction of the policemen's private lives has kind of hit a rut as he regurgitates the same stuff from previous books. So, his strongest point is getting weaker but the weakest part is getting stronger. I'm also a little suspicious of his translator. Some of the prose seems a little clumsy and this could be either Arnaldur or his translator. Is the person wearing a "basketball cap" because Arnaldur or the translator put it on his head?
Still, a pretty decent page turner with enough character development to make it worth reading.
His publisher does sink rather low on their back cover "praise for..." where they have to quote the Winnipeg Free Press.
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