Film You May Have Missed (#1)

The Cat’s Meow (2001)

In November 1924, Thomas Ince, a very successful Hollywood director and producer, was taken ill during a weekend cruise on newspaper magnet William Randolph Hearst’s yacht and died 2 days later. His death certificate showed the cause as being ‘heart failure’ but contemporary rumours spread that Ince had been shot by Hearst and that there had been a cover-up.

The Cat’s Meow, directed by Peter Bogdanovitch (‘The Last Picture Show’, ‘Targets’, ‘Paper Moon’) is a nicely crafted fictionalised version of events during that weekend, starring Cary Elwes as Ince, Edward Herrmann as Hearst, Kirsten Dunst as Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies and my favourite comedian, raconteur and actor, Eddie Izzard, as Charles Chaplin the man behind the ‘Little Tramp’ character.

It’s not an action-packed thriller or even a ‘who-done-it?’ but a thought-provoking and entertaining film for anyone interested in Hollywood’s silent era and its inhabitants’ excesses. And/or Eddie Izzard fans.

Fun fact: The title is a 1920’s slang term meaning ‘the best’. A better-known variation (in the UK) was ‘the cat’s pyjamas’.  “When it comes to live stand-up, Eddie Izzard is the cat’s pyjamas.”

Book(s) You May Have Missed (#1)

This is the first of a regular Friday postage of 'Book you may have missed' alternating with 'Film you may have missed'. Remember that what is one person's goldmine is another's cesspit, so don't dive in without a snorkel.

Lawrence Block’s ‘Burglar series’

The prolific American crime-fiction author Lawrence Block has to date (he’s now 78 years-old) written about 100 novels and 28 novellas. 11 of the novels feature Bernie Rhodenbarr, the owner of a second-hand bookstore (Barnegat Books on East Eleventh Street) in Greenwich Village by day and thief by night.

They were published between 1977 and 2013 with a gap between ’83 and ’94. It was after this gap that I discovered the series and so read them all over a period of about 20 years. If I had only just found out about them I would be tempted to read them back-to-back but, even though they are immensely enjoyable capers with a good dose of humour, like most book series they follow a formula - in this case almost always involving Bernie’s attempt to extradite himself from false suspicion of murder helped (or hindered) by a regular cast of characters, so I wouldn’t advise binge reading them.

They don’t have to be read in order but this is the chronological list pinched from the ‘IMDB’ of  sci-fi / fantasy / horror / mystery / thriller / romance / western / mainstream books- www.fantasticfiction.com –

Burglars Can't Be Choosers (1977)
The Burglar in the Closet (1978)

The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling (1979)

The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza (1980)

The Burglar Who Painted like Mondrian (1983)

The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams (1994)

The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart (1995)

The Burglar in the Library (1997)

The Burglar in the Rye (1999)

The Burglar on the Prowl (2004)

The Burglar Who Counted The Spoons (2013) 

All are obtainable from Amazon (other online booksellers (who actually pay their taxes) are available)