It's the Stubble, Stupid! After wading through the sordid wallow that was HBO’s PERRY MASON, my first urge was to dig up some of my tattered paperbacks by Erle Stanley Gardner, or stream a few episodes of the old TV show starring Raymond Burr. I might even dig up some of the flicks from the … Continue reading HBO’S Perry Mason
Tag: Erle Stanley Gardner
Pete Wennick
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner Pseudonyms include A.A. Fair, Grant Holiday, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J. Kenney, Charles M. Green, Kyle Corning, Les Tillray and Robert Parr (1889-1970) Freewheeling legal troubleshooter PETE WENNICK, who appeared in three Black Mask stories in the late thirtes, is an interesting character in Erle Stanley Gardner's long list of semi-scrupulous characters. He … Continue reading Pete Wennick
Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner (The Black Mask Boys)
Created by William F. Nolan Pseudonyms include Frank Anmar, F. E. Edwards & Warren Kastel (1928-2021) "All that talent -- and all that booze. A bad combination." -- Dashiell Hammett in The Black Mask MurdersTalk about resting in pieces. Of course, William F. Nolan didn't "create" Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, or Erle Stanley Gardner. They … Continue reading Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Erle Stanley Gardner (The Black Mask Boys)
Dashiell Hammett (Rest in Pieces)
Fictionalized by Joe Gores and others Joe Gores' fictional, but affectionate, take on former Pinkerton man DASHIELL HAMMETT, the creator of Sam Spade and The Continental Op, pushing aside the typewriter and getting "back on the game", as a favor for a pal. Set in San Francisco in 1928, it's part biography and part novel. … Continue reading Dashiell Hammett (Rest in Pieces)
Dane Skarle
Created By Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) Smooth taking, fast-thinking DANE SKARLE, aka "The Gamy Crimefighter," was a sleight of hand expert and former carnival worker, and yet another of Erle Stanley Gardner's colourful pulp characters. Dane and his lovely assistant Velma Colma, another ex-carny, roamed from town to town, hunting down criminals for the reward … Continue reading Dane Skarle
Silas Booth
Created by J. Lane Linklater Pseudonym of Alexander William Watkins (1892-1971) "You--you unprincipled scoundrel!" (not all Booth's clients were satisfied) SILAS BOOTH was a private eye in post-World War II, a slick operative who oozes a lot of charm, but would rather collect his fees from criminals than from his clients--and he's not shy about collecting by … Continue reading Silas Booth
Peter Quint
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) In 1941, Erle Stanley Gardner wrote a little mini-series of three related stories for the Saturday Evening Post featuring PETER QUINT, a fast-talking salesman with "a line of sales talk that would make the Statue of Liberty drop the lamp to grab a fountain pen." The stories, according to Gardner fan … Continue reading Peter Quint
My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Omnibus by Joseph T. “Cap” Shaw
My Bookshelf The Hard-Boiled Omnibus: Early Stories from Black Mask, edited by Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw Is there a more pivotal collection of stories from Black Mask than The Hard-Boiled Omnibus? Published by Simon and Schuster in 1946, this almost mythical hardcover featured fifteen stories selected by editor Joseph T. "Cap" Shaw (1874-1952), who had … Continue reading My Bookshelf: The Hard-Boiled Omnibus by Joseph T. “Cap” Shaw
Terry Clane
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner San Francisco's TERRY CLANE is yet another of Erle Stanley Gardner's pulp characters, a two-fisted lawyer and adventurer with plenty of friends and connections in that city's Chinatown. But unlike most of Gardner's more pulpy characters -- and Terry's plenty pulpy -- he didn't appear in the pulps at all, … Continue reading Terry Clane
Sidney Zoom
Created by Erle Stanley Gardner (1889-1970) "I am my own courts, my own collector, my own judge." -- Sidney lets us know the score Yet another (and certainly one of the toughest) of the many colourful characters Erle Stanley Gardner created for the pulps, master of disguise SIDNEY ZOOM was a wealthy, crime-fighting adventurer whose … Continue reading Sidney Zoom