The Body in the Case
RECENTLY had a chastening revelation of the state of mind to which tadio thrillers have reduced me, when I. heard the play Mr. Williams of Hamburg from 4YO. This play briefly and successfully established its period by presenting Mr. Williams on a sailingship during a storm at sea, and describing his cloak and the corded chests containing his goods, which he brought ashore to be examined by ‘the customsofficer. It was when the suspicious official insisted on opening the baggage that my mind (together, I suppose, with those of 90 per cent. of other listeners) leaped at once to the horrid suspicion of Foul _Play. I was sure (so was the exciseman) that there was a Body in the case; and it proved, indeed, to be so. This was where the play skilfully proved its originality and caused myself and likeminded listeners to feel a little ashamed of our ghoulish curiosity. The body belonged to a very beautiful and beloved mistress named Kitty, whom a despairing lover was bringing home for burial. Plot and counterplot here intervened to bring husband and lover together in a telling climax, but for me the most "alive" character of the story was the dead Kitty, whose vital spirit was. revealed to perfection in the conversation of the two men. The play was by Clifford Bax.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 424, 8 August 1947, Page 9
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226The Body in the Case New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 424, 8 August 1947, Page 9
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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