Created by David Dodge
(1910-74)
David Dodge‘s second series character, AL COLBY, is a private eye based in, of all places, Mexico City. Even more notable, perhaps, is that this tough guy’s adventures also took him throughout Central and South America–pretty much uncharted teritory for hard-boiled detective fiction at the time.
He is a norteamericano, an American born in Mexico, lived most of his life there, and speaks fluent Spanish. He’s a loner who, although never lacking for female companionship, but unable to commit himself to a relationship.
In the first Colby novel, The Long Escape (1948), he tracks a runaway husband from Mexico to Santiago, Chile; in Plunder of the Sun (1949) he’s hired to recover lost Inca treasure in Peru; and in The Red Tassel (1950) Colby faces off against saboteurs and witch-doctors at a silver mine in the high altitudes of the Bolivian Andes.
Colby’s cynicism and expatriate status make him a decidedly more hard-boiled character than Dodge’s previous series hero, San Francisco tax accountant James “Whit” Whitney. The Colby adventures are distinguished by their suspense-filled atmospheres and exotic locales. Dodge was an inveterate world-traveler and he drew on his experiences as settings for his novels, as well as for a highly successful series of humorous travel books.
The second novel, Plunder of the Sun (1948), was even adapted in 1949 as an episode of the radio series Escape, and later turned into a pretty good film, with Glenn Ford handling the role of Colby quite nicely. The script, however, changes the locale from Peru to Mexico and now they’re looking for Aztec, not Incan goodies.
NOVELS
- The Long Escape (1948) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- Plunder of the Sun (1949) | Buy this book | Kindle it!
- The Red Tassel (1950) | Buy this book
Initially published in the September 9, 1950 issue The Toronto Star Weekly as a “Star Weekly Complete Novel.”
RADIO
- ESCAPE!
(1947-54, CBS)
30-minute episodes
An American antholoy series.- PLUNDER IN THE SUN
(November 8, 1949)
30 minutes
Based on the novel by David Dodge
Written by John Dunkel
Produced by William N. Robson
Starring Paul Frees as AL COLBY
Also starring Gerald Mohr, Lucille Meredith, Harry Bartell, Charlie Lung, Tony Barrett
- PLUNDER IN THE SUN
FILMS
- PLUNDER OF THE SUN | Buy this DVD | Watch it now!
Starring Glenn Ford as AL COLBY
(1953, Warner Bros.)
Based on the novel by David Dodge
Directed by John Farrow
Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer
Starring Glenn Ford as AL COLBY
Also starring Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina, Sean McLory
Some spectacular shots of the ruins at Mitla and Monte Alban near Oaxaca, Mexico.
THE DICK OF THE DAY
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- A David Dodge Companion
Our pal Randal Brandt, in collaboration with the author’s daughter, is the creator/manager of one of the finest single-author sites I’ve ever seen. Check this one out–you won’t regret it.
