Well, dear readers, I once had a book dealer tell me that he always watches what I start collecting, because he thinks I have an uncanny eye for what’s about to catch on. And I believe there’s some truth in that, although I haven’t a clew as to why – I just go through phases and get interested in things, sometimes things I don’t really even know about. But, at a time when Ross Macdonald wasn’t fetching big bucks, save for a handful of the earliest titles, and then only if they were in primo condition, I began collecting him and within a year the prices had gone through the stratosphere. That, of course, served me well. Back in the late 1970s, I had the foresight to spend a whopping forty-five dollars on a first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird. For me, it was the most important book of my life and I just wanted it. Could I have predicted that within a decade and a half that the going price for a copy as nice as the one I got would fetch over $20,000? I was one of the first people to take seriously the book-to-film novels of Boileau-Narcejac, authors of Diabolique and Vertigo. I had firsts of both – both now command very high prices and their other books have been steadily rising in value, especially copies in excellent condition. Condition is, of course, a lot of the value and I now place much more importance on it than ever before, because I found that when I went to sell stuff if the condition were pristine I could get double or triple or a lot more than that for things I had. I sensed what was going to happen with the Stieg Larsson trilogy and got in on the Brit firsts just before they skyrocketed in value.
For some years, when I have a chance to do some trading or dealing, I’ve been getting book-into-film first editions – and that trend has also skyrocketed. Once upon a time, I had a pristine copy of Steve Fisher’s I Wake Up Screaming – you can’t even find bad copies now, and a copy like mine would fetch upwards of $3,000 today, maybe as much as $5,000. One elusive book-into-film title that I had never even seen let alone had a chance to buy was Whit Masterson’s Badge Of Evil, which became Touch Of Evil. I have it now – and it’s a lovely copy – no others like it have ever come on the market. Finding the original Brit hardcover first on Peter Bryant’s Twelve Hours To Doom, a serious novel about a doomsday scenario that became the black comedy Dr. Strangelove was an impossibility until I finally found one some years ago at one of the big book fairs – the trick is not to think about it, not to walk away, because you will never see it again. I didn’t, and I have it now. One thing I walked away from and shouldn’t have, despite its price, was an amazing copy in jacket of the Brit first of Agatha Christie’s The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd – an impossible book to find in any kind of condition and the dealer was willing to give me a year to pay for it. I should have done it. I don’t believe a better copy will ever hit the market again. Another little thing I began doing some years ago was procuring original language copies of certain foreign books – obviously I can’t read them, but they are the true firsts. That’s never been something that’s been that collectible, but since I began doing it I have watched with interest as it has become collectible, with many dealers suddenly glomming onto it. Some of those titles, for example, the original French Boileau-Narcejac book that became Diabolique (The Woman Who Was No More) now commands a very high price and is almost impossible to find in decent condition. I have a particularly nice copy, and the cover is fantastic.
All that by way of saying that over the last couple of years I’ve begun buying the Brit editions (the true firsts in English) of the novels of Georges Simenon, he of the Inspector Maigret series. I have never read his work – so why did I start buying the books (which were more than reasonably priced and downright cheap)? Well, it began when I saw Monsieur Hire, the film by Patrice Leconte. I was entranced by its story and immediately sought out the short story on which it’s based – which is in a Brit book called The Sacrifice. Then I saw The Brothers Rico, and I liked that – it, too, based on a story by Simenon, so I got that collection. Then I saw The Man Who Watched Trains Go By, which I loved, and I got that. The Simenon books published by Routledge in England from the late 1940s through the mid 1950s, when Simenon’s books went to publisher Hamish Hamilton, had amazing covers – just great art (by “MB”) – very Daliesque. I began getting those whenever I could and the good news was there was one particular dealer that had almost as new copies – these books were like they were new, even though they were over fifty years old. Condition like that is always worth investing in, especially at twenty or thirty bucks a pop. And suddenly, in the last six months, I’ve watched the prices begin to creep up – and creep up – and these twenty and thirty-dollar books are suddenly going for three hundred bucks – and selling.
I’m going to read a few of the novellas (Simenon was one of the most prolific authors in history, with well over 200 books to his credit), and then a Maigret mystery – since my next book will not be fiction, I’m comfortable reading just a little bit. But, I did get a DVD of the Michael Gambon Brit series of Maigret tales that aired on PBS here. I watched the first of them last night and quite enjoyed it – The Patience of Maigret. These apparently aren’t whodunits, but whydunits and howdunits – more psychological than standard issue mysteries. It’s a little unnerving hearing British actors speaking in their normal Brit accents playing French people. Some folks don’t mind that, but it’s a little weird. Gambon is a wonderful actor and I enjoyed his Maigret, although I don’t really know how close it is to the character as written. Jean Gabin was the original screen Maigret in the 1950s, and I’ve ordered a homegrown DVD just to see him do the part. There was also a well thought of French TV series of adaptations, starring Bruno Cremer, an actor I really like, and I’ll watch a couple of those. So, I’m enjoying my little Simenon adventure in books and films. And I’m enjoying the fact that the dealer who said that I was prescient in my collecting habits is still right.
Yesterday, I awoke after a great night’s sleep and a dream starring Twiggy (or Twiggs, as I call her). Since I slept late, I had catching up to do on e-mails and other matters. I tried to get motivated to jog but I couldn’t. I then forced myself to go out there but about six blocks in I realized I was going to be late to the editing room, so I came back home. I then got ready, then drove over to the editing room. We watched each of the three episodes we just edited. In each of them, we made one or two teeny-tiny adjustments – just swapping out a shot, pulling up an unnecessary pause, that kind of thing. It went very quickly and those episodes are now locked and finished. And I assigned an order to them so we now have the order for the entire season.
My web guy forgot to put up the new Peter Filichia column, so I told him that whatever big note he needed to put on his computer he had to do, because I don’t ever want that happening again. It was up by ten-thirty and it’s a very good and interesting column, so check it out on the Kritzerland site.
I then had a dinner meeting at Mo’s, pertaining to the next Gardenia show, in which we’ll be reuniting three of the four original pit singers from Promises, Promises (the fourth, Ilene Graff, was a replacement pit singer). They’ll be doing Turkey Lurkey Time for the first time in forty years. I then came home and did some work on the computer and had a couple of telephonic calls.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must try and get another good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall be up by nine and doing the four-mile jog by nine-thirty, unless the weather predictions come true and it’s raining. If that’s the case, I probably won’t get to jog. Then at noon we have a three or four hour rehearsal at LACC. I’ll finish staging the three numbers that we haven’t done, and put the rest of the cast into the one I began working on the other day. After that, I will hopefully pick up a few packages and an important envelope. I did get my replacement Lost Horizon DVD – the first one was in mono – a terrible mistake. So, amazon is replacing them with the correct and great-sounding 5.1 stereo version. I’ll then have to grab a bite to eat, and then I’m going with Adryan Russ to an opening night at the Colony Theater – she had an extra ticket and asked and even though I should probably stay home working, I thought it would be a nice diversion for a couple of hours.
Tomorrow, I have to complete the LACC script, and I think I’m supposed to do something but have no clew as to what it might be. I have to write liner notes, and get ready for an intense six days of rehearsal, as well as getting the next Kritzerland show organized.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, maybe do a four-mile jog, rehearse, eat, and attend an opening night. Today’s topic of discussion: Who are your favorite fictional detectives, and what are your favorite TV and film detectives and your favorite films featuring detectives from your favorite books. And how many here have heard of Georges Simenon, Inspector Maigret, and have read the books or seen the TV shows? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland.