Drab Murder
"| HERE is, I suppose, a place on radio for the "full-length" mystery play. But, while the cetective novel itself has developed into a fairly sophisticated form in the hands of Raymond Chandler, Michael Innes and others, the radio whodunit seems to have remained bogged down in the Ecgar WallaceSidney Horler era. Only occasionally does a crime aficionado hear on the air a detective drama which rises a frifle above the run-of-the-mill. effort. Keep Murder Quiet, by Lance Sieveking and Selwyn Jepson (YA link) had not, I regret to say, anything to offer the really choosy listener. I listened to the end of this tale of a young man trying to trap the murderer of his father, hoping for an Anthony Berkeley twist to redeem the drab pedestrian plot, only to be offered an implausible and muddled climax, which even the Goons would have rejected as far-fetched. The (continued on next page)
grey, characterless script seems to have depressed the actors, who gave, almost without exception, dispirited and painfully routine performances. The Auckland studio can do, and has done, better than this-but it needs better scripts on which to strike form, with characters something more than the puppets of in-the-rut. authors.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19561026.2.35.3
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 16
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202Drab Murder New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 899, 26 October 1956, Page 16
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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.
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.