Marky B

Listening to Ed Stewart on Radio 2 this afternoon whilst enjoying my Sunday dinner,he played Mystery Man by the Shadows.
This prompted me to put on a new thread for this wonderful site.
Mystery Man was the theme music of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries of the sixties. Remember the one hour dramas,with a model of Edgar Wallace revolving and surrounded by smoke.
There was also the Scotland Yard three reelers presented by Edgar Lustgarten in the fifties. I believe Edgar Lustgarten also presented The Scales of Justice,whose theme music was played by the Tornadoes at the end.
I hope this has provoked some fond memories by abyone else out there.
Ta Ta
Marky B
thumbs_u

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

smudge

Cracking stuff Marky ! These series still seem to have a heck of a following out here in Webland. I have quite a few EDGARS and have answered several requests for copies over the years.

I suspect the rights belong to Canal + here ; I only wish they'd do the right thing and put this sort of stuff out on DVD.

SCOTLAND YARDS are wonderful too - they have dated most since production, but are still worth a view.

The theme tune alone makes SCALES OF JUSTICE one to get.

All of these shows had a certain style, particularly the EDGARS and remain atmospheric and effective to this day.

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

DAVID RAYNER

Actually, MarkyB, The Shadows record was entitled Man of Mystery, not Mystery Man. I also am a great fan of those old Edgar Lustgarten half hour programme fillers and the Edgar Wallace series, but they haven't shown them on television here in the UK for many years. They're too busy showing the same old repeats over and over again, I suppose.

DB7

The Wallace Krimi's are immensely popular in Germany. I did a search on my P2P recently and there were about 30 titles available.

Hugo

Those old Edgar Wallace films were really very cheaply produced programme fillers for the ABC circuit and not much appreciated at the time. Some of them were really naff. I can still remember the great groans from the audience at our local ABC when the revolving, smoking head of EW appeared.

Jim

Talking of naff, Hugo, does anyone remember films that were distributed by Butchers Film Distributors? You just knew you in for a real naff treat when you saw the Butchers Films Logo at the start of each film!!

You know the ones - they were so bad that they were good!

Does that make any sense?

Good morning boys.

smudge

So - what has lifted most of these films out of their 'naffness' and made them so appreciated now ? Some ARE bad, I grant you, but in the main they are a reasonable way of spending an hour or so, and some are darned good.

Is it character, atmosphere, economy of writing necessitated by the short runtime ? Or is it simply nostalgia and up-and-coming star spotting ?

Certainly the acting standards in the character roles are for the most part far better than you see today !

How about you Hugo ? Do you still think they're naff, or do appreciate them more now than you did back then.

Butchers, again, were working with quite a few constraints. There output isn't as consistent as the Edgars was, and some of there casting beggars belief ! But take an example like TOMORROW AT TEN and even now you still have a reasonable little film.

Any other opinions ?

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Hugo

Yes Smudge, I think I would probably appreciate the Edgar Wallace films more now than I did then, but it is a long time since I had the opportunity to see them.
On reflection, they did have a certain quality; the crisp black and white photography, setups lit from the front, clear sound. You could see and hear all that was going on which is more than you get with films today, and they did try, usually unsucessfully, to achieve a film noir atmosphere.

MrT

ITV showed the Edgar Wallace films in the 80s and I still have quite a few on tape when transmitted by the old TVS station. I remember reading at the time that the showings always got viewers phoning in to complain - mainly because they were in black and white, even then the mentality that anything in black and white was not worth watching was gaining hold. Eventually ITV succombed to the complaints and the screenings stopped.
It is time for these films (and many others) to be dusted off and given a decent revival, either on tv or through dvd releases. Apart from anything else, with their wonderful location shots away from the studio, they provide a fascinating picture of a Britain now changed beyond all recognition. Let's hope that maybe there could be a television programmer reading these messages who may be ablt to bring some influence to bear!

Mike (MrT)

Jim

I remember seeing them on the flicks. This was when they had a change of films twice a week! Monday to Wednesday and Thursday to Saturday and 'old films' on Sundays.

You may see 2 Edgar Wallaces in one week, if you afford to go to the pictures twice a week!

Ahh! Those were the days (or were they?)
thumbs_u

Good morning boys.

Marky B

Sorry,David Rayner
I did not check my Guinness Book of British Hit Singles. duh It got to number 5 in 1960 along with its "B" side (?) The Stranger.
So 1960 should give a good indication of the year they were made.
They might be old fashioned,but I still think there would be an audience for them on the afternoons. After all we are getting constant retreads of US crime shows with equally naff stories and fashion and anything is better than Loose Women violent
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

Gibbie

The Shadows are great musicians. They were probably at their top at that time. Very good instrumentalists. 1960 was also the year of "Apache".

FYI - they had their final tour this year in the UK.

Gibbie

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Stanley Baxter did a very funny skit on the Edgar Lustgarten series - a series of deaths in front of TV sets - the culprit?- The "Scotland Yard" series which had bored the victims to death! Personally I used to enjoy them.
Not all of Butchers films were bad, Jim! I still roll up when I watch the Old Mother Rileys.

steven haley

Scotland Yard Mysteries have been on vhs and super 8mm so can we look forward to dvd?

Merton Park

The Stanley Baxter takeoff was very funny, introduced by Edgar Lastgasper and starring some wonderfully awful stereotypical characters and heavily overlit sets. Remains one of my favourites.