I was a big fan of Ed McBain's growing up and I believe I've read all the novels in his great police series about the cops at the 87th in a fictional city that resembles New York City.
But I've never read his short stories, so I'd like to get this book for the short stories and his commentary.
I've also read his some of his novels written as Evan Hunter, including "The Blackboard Jungle," and a good non-87th crime novel called "A Matter of Conviction," which was made into one of my favorite crime films in the 1960's, "The Young Savages."
"The Young Savages" was a crime drama about the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy killed by members of a mostly Italian gang in Harlem (before the area turned nearly all black, although Harlem is changing again with white yuppies moving in).
Burt Lancaster is very good as a politically motivated prosecutor on the make who grew up in Harlem and who, like McBain/Hunter, changed his Italian name from Bellini to Bell.
One of the accused murderers is the son of a girl from the neighborhood he almost married.
Telly Savalas is very good in a role as a hardnosed cop a few years before he would play cops again in "The Marcus-Nelson Murders" and "Kojack."
The young actors who played Puerto Rican and Italian gang members were quite good in the film as well.
When I firat saw this film I was running with a South Philly Italian gang, so the film affected me on several levels. I've watched the film again recently and it stood the test of time in my view.
I'm sorry to say that McBain's cops from the 87th never made it into a decent film version.
"Fuzz" was perhaps the best try, and although it had some fine moments, it was sadly not that great of a film.
I read somewhere that the reason the films failed was they did not have McBain's sarcastic voice.
They should have used McBain's voice from the novels in a voice-over narration.
McBain/Hunter/Lombino's voice made the novels, in my view.
I was a big fan of Ed McBain's growing up and I believe I've read all the novels in his great police series about the cops at the 87th in a fictional city that resembles New York City.
ReplyDeleteBut I've never read his short stories, so I'd like to get this book for the short stories and his commentary.
I've also read his some of his novels written as Evan Hunter, including "The Blackboard Jungle," and a good non-87th crime novel called "A Matter of Conviction," which was made into one of my favorite crime films in the
1960's, "The Young Savages."
"The Young Savages" was a crime drama about the murder of a blind Puerto Rican boy killed by members of a mostly Italian gang in Harlem (before the area turned nearly all black, although Harlem is changing again with white yuppies moving in).
Burt Lancaster is very good as a politically motivated prosecutor on the make who grew up in Harlem and who, like McBain/Hunter, changed his Italian name from Bellini to Bell.
One of the accused murderers is the son of a girl from the neighborhood he almost married.
Telly Savalas is very good in a role as a hardnosed cop a few years before he would play cops again in "The Marcus-Nelson Murders" and "Kojack."
The young actors who played Puerto Rican and Italian gang members were quite good in the film as well.
When I firat saw this film I was running with a South Philly Italian gang, so the film affected me on several levels. I've watched the film again recently and it stood the test of time in my view.
I'm sorry to say that McBain's cops from the 87th never made it into a decent film version.
"Fuzz" was perhaps the best try, and although it had some fine moments, it was sadly not that great of a film.
I read somewhere that the reason the films failed was they did not have McBain's sarcastic voice.
They should have used McBain's voice from the novels in a voice-over narration.
McBain/Hunter/Lombino's voice made the novels, in my view.