Urbane But Unmoral
DOUBT whether Anthony Berkeley has ever writen a better novel than Trial and Error, either under that pseudonym, or (since he shares the whodunit writer’s passion for multiple identities) as Francis Iles, Anthony Rolls or A. B. Cox. The story of middle-aged Lawrence Todhunter who, dying of a heart disease, decides to kill the most odious person he can find, may not be a very moral tale, but it is a clever one, with typical Berkeley twists and a spectacular ending. The NZBS version, through compression, lost much of the novel’s ingenious detail and unhappily left the identity of the real murderer a puzzle at the end. At the same time, it had an urbanity and an individuality of characterisation which lifted it above the average radio detective play. John Schlesinger was excellent as Todhunter, with his delightful little embarrassed giggle, (continued on next page)
and Don Crosby was a particularly appropriate Chitterwick. On the strength of this piece, it would appear that if detective plays are to be raised from the slough into which uninspired scripting has plunged them, they must be based on good books. Has anyone ever thought of a radio series of Father Brown?
J.C.
R.
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19520321.2.21.3
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 663, 21 March 1952, Page 10
Word count
Tapeke kupu
203Urbane But Unmoral New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 663, 21 March 1952, Page 10
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
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.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in