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The Hardy Boys (2020)
Up to ep two...
...and I'm trying NOT to binge-watch so I can make this last as long as possible. I've read all the rewritten blue spines & a good chunk of the original texts, along with many of the Casefiles & the current "Adventures" series; I loved the Disney serial & the 1990s Nelvana adaptation, and I'm a huge fan of the 1970s series.
I LOVE THIS NEW ADAPTATION.
This series is also done by Nelvana, and like the 1990s show, the writing is sharp, the mystery engrossing, and the casting is awesome. Frank & Joe act like real brothers; the Hardys, like a real family. The current eps feel like an origin story - how did two normal kids get into solving mysteries? In all the other TV adaptations, the Hardys' mother Laura is written out, or ignored, or mentioned only in passing; in the books, she's a non-entity, there just to bake cookies & occasionally worry over her boys. Here, she's an integral part of the Mystery, with her death kicking off the plot, as the brothers get pulled deeper & deeper into the whys.
There's also a lot of sly references to the books - ep 1 has Frank & Joe recreating the iconic cover of "Secret of the Old Mill" as they eavesdrop on their dad - with a mix of tech and styles that make the new series feel timeless. The Brothers ride bikes that look straight out of the 1950s, they play video games that look like first generation 1990s Nintendo, the local grocery doubles as an old-fashioned malt-shop, Fenton wears a by-gods trenchcoat & fedora right out of the 1940s pulp era, they use modern smartphones, the cars look torn from the 1970s, etc. Even better, they've brought back the diversity of cast/culture of the original texts, updated to 2010's standards.
In other words, this is a true "whole-family" show: aimed at the middle-schoolish & YA readers of the various book series, with plenty to engross & capture older fans of the Brothers. I hope this series sticks around!
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Good...for the early '70s, anyway.
One of Dame Christie's masterworks, yada yada yada. We all know the story & the solution by now, and this film adaptation is fairly faithful to the books...right down to the book's weakest point: the ending.
The ending, where staunch, upright "I do not approve of murder" Poirot lets 12 murderers go, easily, without much thought or argument, and his attitude is casual, almost flippant. A human being has been killed, in a horrific, nightmarish way, and Poirot doesn't agonize at all about letting the killers go. Yes, the victim brought about pain and unimaginable suffering...but in prior books and stories, Poirot has always been against people taking the law into their own hands, no matter who the victim was. He's said outright, multiple times, that life and death are the provenance of God & the law; he's been shown upholding that belief, despite what the criminal has done. Yet the original book (and this adaptation) breaks that belief, without any qualm, without any repercussion, without any thought given to morality, law, and consequences.
Killing another human being is not easy. For normal, sane, ethical people, it's a horrifying, life-changing nightmare experience, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter how much the victim deserves to die. The BBC "Poirot" series got that right, with their take on "Orient" & David Suchet's brilliant portrayal of Poirot as deeply conflicted over the situation & the solution, the morals & the law, & how the law/morals and "what's right" don't always meet: it's human. It's real.
Here, though -- yes, the 1974 movie plays it close to the book. The cast is (mostly) stellar, the cinematography first rate. The opening sequence establishes the backstory in tense, horrifying scenes; the ending scenes of the killing of Ratchett are agonizing and nightmareish. Yet throughout the movie, Finney's portrayal of Poirot is the one jarring note. Finney is loud, brash, and disgustingly jovial -- a man lies dead, yet Finney's hammy Poirot seems disconnected from the circumstances, treating the entire matter as an inconvenience, just a way to pass the time while the train is snowed in. Up until the murder happened, though, I was actually enjoying Finney's performance...then Ratchett dies, but Finney doesn't lose the ham-and-cheese. If anything, he ramps it up. (And the awful wavering accent doesn't help).
I admit, I'm heavily influenced by Suchet's Poirot, so it might be that I'm just unable to get past that. I can definitely see Finney's influence in Suchet's portrayal. The 1974 version is definitely worth watching, but if you want a real, gripping adaptation that brings home the horrifying situation, hunt up the Suchet version.
One small point: kudos to Wendy Hiller (Princess Dragomiroff) and the film's makeup team. The book describes the Russian lady as ugly, but an "ugly that fascinated rathr than repelled". I never could imagine that; usually Hollywood "ugly" involves glasses and an odd hairdo. But here? Wow. I found myself staring at Dragomiroff, thinking "what is wrong with her face?!?" -- it dives full into the Uncanny Valley. And just like that...I understood what Christie meant. Holy cow, during the whole scene of Poirot talking with Dragomiroff, I couldn't stop staring at her, wondering what was so wrong about the face...
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: The Creatures Who Came on Sunday (1977)
Wonderfully Cheesy
A wonderfully cheesy ripoff of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" mixed with a bit of "Escape to Witch Mountain" -- what's not to like?
On their way to Las Vegas, Frank & Joe Hardy detour to New Mexico to help an old friend, Sharon, whose boyfriend is missing. Joe is naturally dismissive, since Sharon has a history of psychological problems, but Frank soon decides there's more to Sharon's story than just a jilted lover...and drags Joe into a plot involving aliens, men in black, a threatening sheriff, a mysterious government installation on top of a spooky, fenced-off mountain, possible flying saucers...and...and...you get the picture. The solution turns out to be even more silly than the whole UFO thing, but hey, it's the '70s. You don't watch this show for logical plot...though this episode does take an unexpectedly dark turn towards the end, when Joe is forced into a life-or-death moral dilemma: to save a complete stranger from being gunned down at the cost of his brother's & Sharon's lives.
The episode has its definite dumb moments (even by the show's standards): Frank & Joe can't recognize a helicopter when it's right in front of their faces and Frank's insistence on nay-saying the logical explanation of "jilted lover" doesn't have any real backing in clues or common sense. But Shaun & Parker's performances are wonderfully dry and earnest in the face of the silliness: Parker giving us a Frank Hardy who will stand firmly behind his friend's story, no matter what it sounds like, Shaun as a Joe Hardy exasperated over his brother's insistence on looking into the matter in defiance of all reason. The other actors also seem to be having a good time throughout this episode -- the two "government agents" in particular give us a great scene when confronted with Sharon's belief that UFO's kidnapped her boyfriend. Bonnie Ebsen plays Sharon as believably out-there & emotionally unstable (I knew several folks like her, during the height of the New Age movement).
In all, don't watch this series or episode expecting great TV. Pop a bowl of popcorn and settle in for a cheesy night of good-looking guys taking on a mountain full of aliens. Good stuff!
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: Sole Survivor (1978)
One of the Eps this show is remembered for
Joe Hardy wakes up in a Hong Kong hospital, to find out he's been in a coma over a year...and that his father & brother are dead. Yeah. This is the episode that most fans of the show really remember, despite its goofy logic.
First, put all common sense aside and turn your brain off: if you don't, you'll spend the whole episode going "But why didn't he..." or "there's no way they would've..." and the big "why didn't the agents just break the guy's fingers instead?" This is '70s TV aimed at the teeny-bop crowd and intended only as a vehicle to sell the good-looking male leads, Shaun Cassidy & Parker Stevenson. Common Sense doesn't play any part in it.
Watching this episode now -- through the filter of 9/11 and Guantanamo Bay and our knowledge of water-boarding & torture-tactics to obtain information -- yeah. Despite the Cold War, the '70s were still pretty innocent in terms of TV. Still, if you can put all that aside, this is a rather tense, tight episode, built around the mind-screw the bad guys are using to get information out of Joe. Shaun in particular gives a good performance as someone trying to put his life back together and figure out what happened...though, honestly, better directing should've been applied to Parker Stevenson & Edmond Gilbert, who don't look or act at all like they've just lost a brother/son. Even in terms of '70s TV, though, the plot holes are too big, once they occur to you: why didn't Joe insist on calling his aunt stateside? Or the US Embassy? How did three Chinese agents manage to subvert an entire Hong Kong hospital?
Anyway...enjoyable fun. Turn brain off, enjoy the ride.