Hammett's Woman in the Dark (1934).

Based on the novella "Woman in the Dark" (1933) by Dashiell Hammett, this film features Fay Wray on the run from villain Melvyn Douglas, entangling ex-con Ralph Bellamy along the way.

The game is afoot.

Mention of the Parker Brothers game Sherlock Holmes
in Life 3 Dec. 1904: 586

The Law & Humanities blog features the article by Ross E. Davies (George Mason University) "A Grand Game Introduction, or the Rise and Demise of 'Sherlock Holmes,'" which traces the short-lived history of the Parker Brothers game Sherlock Holmes.

Decoy: "Stranglehold" (1957).

1958 ad for Decoy

This pilot episode of the TV series Decoy features Beverly Garland as undercover policewoman Casey Jones, whose assignment is to get close to a murder suspect's girlfriend (Joanne Linville, who is known for her role as a Romulan commander on Star Trek) in an effort to find the suspect.

Abstract portal opens, 2019 Popular Culture Assn conference.

The next Popular Culture Association conference will take place on April 17–20, 2019, at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC. The portal for abstract submissions is now open through October 1, 2018 (must register for an account to access the portal). The PCA's Mystery and Detective Fiction Area has always been very active; first-time presenters are eligible for the Earl Bargainnier Award (named for a distinguished mystery scholar). Please encourage undergraduate and graduate students to submit paper proposals; members of the Mystery/Detective Fiction Area always have been interested in nurturing the next generation of mystery scholars.

Can't make it to DC? Check out the regional Popular Culture Association conferences.

The Spy in Black (1939).

In The Spy in Black, British agents attempt to thwart a German plan to sink British ships in 1917. Stars include Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Marius Goring, and June Duprez. Based on the book by J. Storer Clouston, the film is directed by Michael Powell, the screenplay is by Powell's Archers partner Emeric Pressburger, and the scenario is by Roland Pertwee (the father of Dr. Who's Jon Pertwee).

Martin Edwards on locked room mysteries.

On The Men Who Explain Miracles podcast, Detection Club President Martin Edwards talks about locked-room mysteries such as Murder of a Lady (1931) by Anthony Wynne and other titles in the British Library Crime Classics series for which he serves as a consultant.

Forbidden Cargo (1954).

In Forbidden Cargo, a customs officer (Nigel Patrick) is on the trail of drug smugglers, assisted by an aristocratic birdwatcher (Joyce Grenfell). Jack Warner, Elizabeth Sellars, Greta Gynt, Theodore Bikel, and Michael Hordern costar.

The career of Edward Stratemeyer.

Edward Stratemeyer.
NYPL

The New Antiquarian blog of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America looks at the career of Edward Stratemeyer (1862–1930), who launched the Stratemeyer Syndicate that published the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and countless other children's series.

Murder on the Campus (1933).

Charles Starrett, ca. 1931

In Murder on the Campus, a reporter (Charles Starrett) seeks to exonerate his coed girlfriend (Shirley Grey), who is accused of murder. The film is based on The Campanile Murders (1933) by author-screenwriter Whitman Chambers (thanks to Mystery*File for link to serial version of The Campanile Murders).

Clues CFP: "Interwar Mysteries" (deadline Oct 12, 2018).

The Bat (1926), adapted
from the play by
Mary Roberts Rinehart
and Avery Hopwood

 

A new Call for Papers has been posted for a theme issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection on "Interwar Mysteries: The Golden Age and Beyond." It will be guest edited by University of Leicester's Victoria Stewart (author, Crime Writing in Interwar Britain: Fact and Fiction in the Golden Age, and a previous contributor to Clues). Although the period between the World Wars is known as the Golden Age of traditional mystery fiction, other literary forms such as the hard-boiled subgenre, true crime, and noir emerged that often reflected a grimmer reality. Articles of between 3300 and 6000 words are sought that examine this important crossroads in mystery, detective, and crime fiction, with a deadline of Oct 12, 2018.

The Hand (1960).

In The Hand, an inspector learns that the murder of a one-handed man has roots in a POW camp in Burma.

Simenon exhibition opens in China.

Georges Simenon,
10 May 1965.
Anefo, Dutch Nat Archives

The exhibition "Simenon, auteur belge a multi-facettes” (Simenon, multifaceted Belgian author) opened in Guangzhou Library's Multiculture Library on May 13 and will be displayed until June 8. It features details on Georges Simenon's life and work, as well as posters of film adaptations of Simenon's books. Cosponsors are the library, the Consulate General of Belgium, and Wallonie-Bruxelles Internationale. Guangzhou Library holds both French editions and Chinese translations of Simenon's works.

Agatha Christie exhibition coming to Derby, UK.

Agatha Christie, 17 Dec 1964.
Anefo, Dutch Natl Archives

Pickford's House in Derby, United Kingdom, is hosting the exhibition "Agatha Christie: Mysteries, Murder, and More" from June 2 to November 3, 2018. The exhibition will feature books and objects related to Christie's life and work.

The Stolen Jools (1931).

This short comedy film involving the theft of Norma Shearer's jewelry was produced to benefit the National Variety Artists tuberculosis sanitarium, with stars such as Wallace Beery, Joe E. Brown, Maurice Chevalier, Gary Cooper, Joan Crawford, Irene Dunne, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Hedda Hopper, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Victor McLaglen, Edward G. Robinson, Barbara Stanwyck, Fay Wray, Loretta Young, and Petey the Dog.

New edition, Blood on Their Hands (with Foxwell short story).

The MWA Classics edition of Blood on Their Hands has been published and is now available in paperback and ebook from amazon. Edited by Lawrence Block, the collection focuses on characters who take the law into their own hands. "No Man's Land," my Agatha-winning and Macavity-nominated short story set in World War I, is included in the collection, along with stories by Rhys Bowen, Marcia Talley, Elaine Viets, and the late Jeremiah Healy and Henry Slesar.

The Green Scarf (1936).

In The Green Scarf, Michael Redgrave defends a deaf, dumb, and blind man accused of murder.

Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys exhibition.

On view until June 8 at the Lawrence Library in Pepperell, MA, is "Mysteries Revealed Book Illustration: Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys," an exhibition of original cover art and first editions of both children's series.

"Murderers' Meeting" (1951).

In this episode of Suspense directed by Robert Stephens and aired on 24 April 1951, a killer (Jackie Cooper) tries to escape from a building after a botched robbery, only to encounter the eccentric members of the "International Association of Assassins" (possibly suggesting the Mystery Writers of America. Blacklisted writer Alvin Sapinsley, who wrote the screenplay, later received an Edgar Award for "Sting of Death," the TV adaptation of H.F. Heard's A Taste for Honey). Mildred Natwick (clutching a cat) and Wally Cox costar.

Boucher picks the best mysteries of 1951.

In the 2 Dec 1951 New York Times, author-critic Anthony Boucher (aka William Anthony Parker White) listed "Boucher's Choices"—his selections for the best mysteries of 1951. They were:

• John Dickson Carr, The Devil in Velvet. "swashbuckling romance . . . strict detection." 
• Agatha Christie, They Came to Baghdad, . "adept . . . spy thriller."
• Dorothy Salisbury Davis, A Gentle Murderer. "distinguished."
• Cyril Hare [Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark], An English Murder . "adroit . . . social satire."
• Geoffrey Household, A Rough Shoot and A Time to Kill. "realistic political melodrama."
• Michael Innes, The Paper Thunderbolt. "funny and chilling."
• Eric Linklater, Mr. Byculla. "Deft."
• John Ross Macdonald [Ross Macdonald, Kenneth Millar], The Way Some People Die. "a worthy successor to Dashiell Hammett."
• William McGivern, Shield for Murder. "Complex and memorable study of a rogue cop."
• Ngaio Marsh, Night at the Vulcan. "Marsh's best to date."
• Elliott Paul, Murder on the Left Bank. "Fun."
• Ellery Queen, The Origin of Evil.  "intricate ingenuity."
• John Sherwood, Mr. Blessington's Imperialist Plot. "Ruritanian spy-melodrama."
• Bart Spicer, Black Sheep, Run and The Golden Door.  "appealing variants on the hardboiled story."
• Julian Symons, The 31st of February. "Striking satire."
• Lawrence Treat, Big Shot. "A notable novel about detectives."

Woolrich's Street of Chance (1942).

Claire Trevor, Sheldon Leonard, and
Burgess Meredith in Street of Chance (1942)

In Street of Chance, Burgess Meredith is accused of murder, but he has no memory of the crime or of his past. The film is based on The Black Curtain by Cornell Woolrich. Costars include Claire Trevor, Sheldon Leonard, and Jerome Cowan.