Tag Archives: sam radley

22: THE FLICKERING TORCH MYSTERY

22

 

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1943. After five in a row of John Button, and five I was not especially fond of, the master is back with only two more to his name yet to come.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1971 by Vincent Buranelli, the second revision he did along with his later originals. I didn’t care for his other revision, The Mystery of the Flying Express, giving that one a very low 4 score. Will Mr. Buranelli do better with a McFarlane?

Cover: Rudy Nappi. Is there red and yellow? A little, but this is green on purple and oh, so 70s I could just ease on down the road with a funky song in my heart. This is like a James Bond poster if they wanted to imply Sean Connery was really hitting the good stuff this time. Very dated, but the use of color is striking, and it certainly symbolizes the plot.

Setting: Bayport, and nearby.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Working another angle on the case with Sam Radley, but he shows up and helps out here and there. Mostly in the series recently he’s been there to say, no, he can’t do that dangerous step, but sure, the boys can, just be careful, OK? What does he think an 18- and 17-year-old will say to that question?

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola, Biff and Tony, Phil, the whole band, and yes, I mean band. Just like in 1971 Josie and the Pussycats were a band, and the Archies were a band, now the Hardy Boys are a band. This is not as egregious as it could be because there are other books where the boys are into playing music, but man, this Bayport band formed quickly. I’m just sayin’.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Building airplanes. Say what?! I mean, c’mon, play fair with the reader, willya? We get it. This is a plot about airplane parts, so you needed Chet to build an airplane. But he never showed interest in flying before, and he doesn’t remain interested afterward. I call shenanigans.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: No dessert for you!

Plot: A plane crashes upon approach to an airport, there is a plant with a tower that flickers flames, there is a nightclub called The Flickering Torch, basically this plot is whatever they needed it to be. This book is  known for its radical change from original version to this revised version. Mr. Buranelli wanted to show the boys being cool, so it’s folk rock to the rescue. Uh huh…

Review:  Has its moments, but this one is dated from its too-70s cover to the type of music they play to the way the audience reacts to the music to the ridiculous lengths the bad guys go to foil the Hardy Boys. And where was Jack Wayne in a story all about flying? But I give it an extra point for the end fate of Frank who is drugged and planned to be pushed out a plane into the ocean. Way to show hostility toward the characters, Mr. Author!

Score: 6

20: MYSTERY OF THE FLYING EXPRESS

20

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1941, the fourth of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1970 by Vincent Buranelli, one of two he would revise, though he also wrote five of the later books entirely on his own..   

Cover: Back to Rudy Nappi.  Is there red and yellow?  Well, lots of red all right, but the only yellow is Joe’s hair.  This is the first of the abstract covers.  We have Frank and Joe in the foreground, the Flying Express in the background, a zodiac chart over the boat, and abstract red everywhere.

Setting: Bayport, and Providence, a long ferry ride away to the south.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Up to his usual business, elsewhere most of the time, calling on Sam Radley to go back and forth as needed.  He shows up now and then.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Horoscopes, as if the cover didn’t give it away.  Sorry, this hobby annoyed me.  We have no indication he has this interest before this book, and it’s completely dropped after this book.  This isn’t like picking up archaeology or oil painting.  You can believe someone might dabble with that for a while and then quit.  But astrology is a mindset.  Chet is so incredibly into this mindset in this book, it’s jarring that it gets dropped.  This is bad writing.  Forcing a character to take on something that makes no sense for him to take on.  Oh well, as Frank says in the book, “The solar system isn’t all that concerned about our doings here at Cape Cutlass.  Saturn is millions of miles away.  I doubt that it’s going to interfere with our little airplane.”  Amen, Frank.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: “Big slices of rhubarb-and-strawberry pie.”  Yum!

Plot: Makes no sense.  The owner of the hydrofoil Flying Express wants to set up a ferry service between Bayport and Providence.  Competing businesses don’t want him to.  Attempted murder attempts follow repeatedly.  Wait, what?!  They can’t just offer a better ferry service, they have to try to KILL PEOPLE?  What nonsense.

Review:  Horoscopes everywhere, a plot that makes no sense, Joe says “groovy” at one point (holy ’60s, Batman!), I’m sorry this one is not for me.  At one point Chet takes an old dress (long story) and simply tosses it into the ocean!  I’m sorry, but in 1970 there was enough of an environmental awareness that this strikes me as a clunker of a move.  Hey, Chet, why are you polluting the ocean when there are garbage cans right over there?  Meh, this is my least favorite Hardy Boys book.

Score: 4

19 THE DISAPPEARING FLOOR

19

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1940, the third of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1966 by James D. Lawrence, the last of his three revisions.   

Cover: John Leone, his third and last cover with Rudy Nappi taking over again for the rest of the series.  As usual, Frank and Joe are wearing red and yellow (in fact, Joe is himself wearing red and yellow — way to take one for the team, Joe!).  Night scene, old house, ghostly figure approaching — yup, still in Scooby Doo territory here.  I’m telling you, Scooby Doo owes a debt to the Hardy Boys.  Let’s see, if Chet is Shaggy, and Frank is Fred, and Callie and Iola are . . . naaah, it’s not THAT much of a pattern.

Setting: Bayport, nothing but Bayport and its surroundings.  Why go anywhere else when major international criminal enterprises decide Bayport is a happening place?

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Chicago mostly, waiting for a break in the case that never comes.  Even when he makes his usual Chapter XX appearance, this time he doesn’t save the day.  Frank and Joe have it all wrapped up by then.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Callie and Iola, Tony.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Nuttin’.  Well, being scared, but willing to help.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Lemon pie.  But Gerty is described as making other pies that the boys are too busy to eat, so who knows, maybe the author would have described more pies if they had stuck around.

Plot: Jewel thieves in Bayport.  I know!  As if there could be any jewels left in town by this point!  Plus an old house in the middle of nowhere that has a floor that disappears.  Plus blood-curdling (I believe that would be the appropriate cliche) screams in the night, a dog that growls, someone whose dying words talk about “…the floor,” yes, it’s a humdinger of a Scooby Doo mystery here.

Review:  I like this one.  Good mysteries involving a laughably elaborate plan to fool someone into going to the 6th floor of a building instead of the 5th floor (think Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol – see folks, all of modern fiction derives from the Hardy Boys), a floor that appears and then disappears, suitably tough jewel thieves, high stakes action, a mysterious message from Jack Wayne as he seems to be flying for the bad guys, and it’s all in Bayport with Chet around to get spooked by the ghost.  Oh, right, that ghost.  You don’t really think it’s a ghost, do you?  Remember, Scooby Doo territory here!

Score: 8

18: THE TWISTED CLAW

18

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button in 1939, the second of his five books in a row.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1969 by Tom Mulvey, the last of his five revisions.  I like each of his previous four quite a bit.  

Cover: Rudy Nappi, red and yellow (if you look for it), but mostly red, red, red.  And the usual spoiler being revealed.  Frankly, this is a Scooby Doo cover.  You can just picture Shaggy and Scooby wandering the museum at night while a sinister pair of eyes peer at them from the suit of armor.  As usual, the Hardy Boys anticipated and set the pattern for Scooby Doo.

Setting: Bayport, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Miami, and a Caribbean island.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Right there working with the boys.  And yes, saves the day in chapter XX as is typical.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, and Iola briefly.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Archaeology, but only briefly mentioned in order to get two jokes at Chet’s expense in the middle of the book, and then repeat the joke as the book’s final line.  And it ain’t that funny.  No, this looks like the author knows McFarlane typically gave Chet a hobby, so he would too, but he doesn’t know how to embed it into the story.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Oh, she’s too busy clucking that no good will come from [whatever the Hardys are doing, that always leads to good coming from it].

Plot: A pirate king with his own island, two freighters being used for no good, a series of museum robberies.

Review:  Again this doesn’t read like a McFarlane.  Lots of stuff happening, but it’s more of a procedural about working on ships, on how to rob a museum, etc.  Not that interesting or typically Hardy Boy-ian.

Score: 6

17: THE SECRET WARNING

17

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: John Button and Leslie McFarlane in 1938 — Wait, what? Leslie McFarlane  took a break after this one, as he really wanted to do as he didn’t think much of these “juveniles” that he wrote for money.  So this one was partially written by him and partially by Button (unbeknownst to McFarlane).  Editing mixed them together into a bit of a mishmash. Don’t worry, though, McFarlane will be back for another few books starting with #22.  For now, it’s Mr. Button.

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1966 by James D. Lawrence, one of three he revised and the second in a row after A Figure in Hiding.

Cover: Rudy Nappi, red and yellow as is typical, but this time the Sleuth is shown in a gorgeous night shot with the lighthouse in the background.  Very solid cover.

Setting: Bayport and its surroundings, with a couple of jaunts to Manhattan.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: As usual, on a case that is related to this case.

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet a bit, Biff, Tony, Jerry, Phil, Iola and Callie for brief stretches.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: None, he must be bored.

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: Nothing.  Again!  Tivoli the Great Dane gets treated better than the boys in this one.  I’ve already posted a complaint to the Great Dane Society, so relax.

Plot: A King Tut-like golden bust worth — pinky to  mouth — ONE MILLION DOLLARS, a sunken ship near Bayport (natch), a couple of rival deep sea divers, you know, the usual.

Review:  Doesn’t read like a pure McFarlane, that’s for sure.  This one has all the characters, but it’s off.  I do like the climax though where some kindness shown comes back to reward the boys.  It’s not a typical climax, it’s more of an adventure at sea ending, not the crooks holding a gun to the boys ending.  You know what I think?  In 1966 James Bond was HUGE.  Thunderball had already come out with its Oscar-winning underwater photography of skin divers fighting.  I’m guessing the rewrite tried to capture a bit of Thunderball.

Score: 6

16: A FIGURE IN HIDING

16

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1937

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1965 by James D. Lawrence, one of three he revised and this was his first.

Cover: NOT Rudy Nappi!  The only one of this entire series that was by someone else: John Leone.  But hey, no matter who does the cover, red and yellow are prominent.  This time it’s Frank climbing a tree to see the figure in hiding.  It’s an OK cover, kind of static despite it being an action scene.

Setting: Bayport.  Nothing but Bayport, that amazing town where crooks stumble over each other stealing every jewel in town.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Oh, he’s around, but for the first half of the book he’s off on another case.  Then he joins the boys on this case, and quickly manages to get caught and in a steamy situation (ya gotta read it to understand that — what, you think there’s going to be sex?  In the Hardy Boys?!)

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Biff, Tony, Callie, Iola.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Physical fitness.  BWAAAHAHAHAHA!

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: No dessert for you!

Plot: Complicated.  Fake eyes, evil eyes (relax, remember the Scooby Doo rule), a health farm where Chet gets a job, stolen cars, a hydrofoil, a stolen jewel, I mean, this plot has everything.  Oh yeah, someone is in hiding.  But he’s all over the place for most of the story, so good luck trying to figure out who the figure in hiding is.

Review:  Despite it all, I kinda like this one.  It’s in Bayport, the chums do their chumly things, crooks are all over town, there’s mystery all over town, it’s a fun ride.  Not the most memorable one — good luck remembering this plot six weeks later, whereas no one forgets the plot of The Sinister Signpost — but a fun ride.  It’s like a movie full of action that is just a fun popcorn flick.

Score: 7

12: FOOTPRINTS UNDER THE WINDOW

12

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1933

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1965 by David Grambs, one of four he did and the first since The Shore Road Mystery

Cover: Rudy Nappi, red and yellow as is typical.  Plus green foliage and tan roof.  Frank and Joe and Chet face down a gang of desperadoes who don’t need no steekin’ badges!  Oh sorry, so many South American cliches in this book I got carried away.

Setting: Bayport and an island off the coast of South America

Where’s Fenton This Time?: Gone until the very end, at which point he performs his usual job and SAVES HIS SON’S LIVES.  Again.  

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Tony, Iola and Callie.  But other than Iola getting a bag of hers stolen, not much goes on with the others except for Chet who might as well be the honorary third Hardy boy in this book he does so much.  And Jack Wayne shows up prominently to fly them back and forth to South America.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Weather forecasting.  What?  It’s a hobby!

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: No sweets described, just some delicious meals the reader cannot share because they aren’t described.  Bad David Grambs!

Plot: Top-secret microfilm is at risk, and tourists from South America are having their bags stolen, and a laundry gets into the plot, and footsteps are seen under some windows, and Fenton is off doing who knows what.  And tell me this isn’t EXACTLY a line from Scooby Doo: “You catch on fast,” [SPOILER] said mockingly.  “The warning sign I put up here and the ghost legend helped keep people away — But not you nosy kids.”  Heh, you can’t tell me the Scooby Doo writers weren’t Hardy Boy fans when they were young!

Review:  Just OK.  Lots of investigating which gets interrupted by a trip to South America where they encounter a dictator’s gang (so 1960s!), fly back, get locked in a  tomb (!) and have a race to the finish when things look bad.  But the Coast Guard is made to look like an unstoppable force when they show up.

Score: 6

7: THE SECRET OF THE CAVES

7

Who Wrote It?: Franklin W. Dixon

C’mon, Who Really Wrote it?: Leslie McFarlane in 1929

Was It Revised?: Yes, in 1964 by Andrew E. Svenson

Cover: Rudy Nappi, yellow and red yet again, but this time green is prominent and the background is daytime with the beach.  As always the boys are watching something, this time the hermit by the caves.  Not bad.

Setting: In Bayport some of the time, but south along the Atlantic coast for the cave story, and north for a brief time at a university.

Where’s Fenton This Time?: He sticks around Bayport while the boys travel.  Fenton is supposed to protect a transmitting tower above Bayport.  Fenton, you had one job!

Which Chums Show Up?: Chet, Tony, Biff, Iola, Callie.  For once Iola and Callie get to do some detective work!  But they don’t get to do much, and frankly are stereotypically female in the writing, unfortunately.  They deserve better.

What’s Chet’s Hobby This Time?: Metal detecting.  Boy does it come in handy!

Aunt Gertrude’s Dessert: No pie for you!  Gertrude merely shows up toward the end for a spinning wheel minor subplot.

Plot: A young woman wants to find her brother who has disappeared from university.  Investigating this, the boys stumble onto a smuggling operation.

Review: I dunno, this one seems odd to me even though it’s like all the others in several ways.  Frank and Joe investigate something, someone tries to hurt them, they investigate, they get attacked, they reach the end of the story and do something heroically suicidal in order to figure out the mystery, they get captured, heeeeeeer’s Fenton, the end.  Just didn’t flow.  Mr. Svenson only rewrote this one and the Melted Coins, so maybe I’m just noticing the different tone of the writing.

Score: 5