Tuesday's Overlooked Films: Chicago Syndicate Starring Dennis O'Keefe

This uninspired 1955 mob film stars Dennis O'Keefe, Xavier Cugat, Allison Hayes, and Abbe Lane. O'Keefe, a veteran actor I've enjoyed watching in other crime films, plays a tough guy CPA who infiltrates the Chicago mob to get the right damning ledgers from a mob boss played by Paul Stewart. Allison Hayes plays the daughter of the previous accountant who was exposed while working undercover and gunned down. I won't reveal more about the plot so as not to be a spoiler. Xavier's flashy band does a couple of snappy numbers, and his then-wife Abbe Lane sings a song. Lane is the gangster's girlfriend who knows more about the shady operations than she lets on. Carl Sandburg's famous poem "Chicago" is quoted at the beginning narration to help to set up the movie in the city of the same name. IMDb.com rates Chicago Syndicate at 6.5/10 which sounds like a fair mark to me. Enjoyable but nothing really special.

Married Couples Who Like To Read Books

While I was developing the personality profiles for my married couple who are the mature sleuths featured in my second cozy mystery series, I debated over whether to make the husband and wife as fellow book lovers. In the end, I decided to do it, but I let the husband Bill Robins read his favorite types of books (military, hardboiled, etc.) while his wife Piper Robins read her preferred fiction genres (chick lit, cozy mysteries, etc.). I thought it was an effective way to show their common interests besides just their being sleuths in the series. Their first cozy mystery title is The Corpse Wore Gingham.

I wonder how often do the married couples in real life share a mutual passion for reading books. Is "the he/she must be a reader" on the list of desired traits for finding a mate? :-) My wife and I, for instance, both enjoy reading books, and we recommend titles to each other we think the other might also enjoy reading. Our reading tastes are similar, though I lean more toward nonfiction such as sports and history. We go to the library and to the bookstores together. I just read my first "fun book" this year, an Anne George mystery Murder Boogies With Elvis, which I enjoyed and recommend to other mystery lovers.

Does your significant other also enjoy reading books? Do you read the same types of books?

Tuesday's Forgotten Films: The Good Die Young Starring Gloria Grahame

This gritty 1954 crime drama stars Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, John Ireland, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker and Richard Basehart. Robert Morley and Margaret Leighton also are featured. What a good cast. Lewis Gilbert who went on to helm movies like Alfie and James Bonds was the director. Maybe the American actors (Grahame, Ireland, Basehart) were included to make the British production appealing more to the U.S. viewers. The straightforward story involves four men who are strangers hooking up to rob the post office with Harvey as their ringleader. Three men are basically good but need the money for various important reasons. Harvey is a good-for-nothing playboy who was decorated in the war for dubious valor. Each of the men have wives who are also good and bad. Grahame and Collins do a nice job in their roles. Everything climaxes at Heathrow Airport. I got a big kick out of watching The Good Die Young.

What's Playing at the Drive-In Movie Theater?

Asking that question is something from the distant past. I haven't gone to a drive-in movie theater since the early 1980s. The last picture show I can remember seeing at one was a Peter Fonda (who?) movie. I always thought he deserved a lot more credit than he got for an actor. But then that can also be said for many entertainers.

Sadly, the drive-in movie theaters have gone the way of the dinosaur and dodo bird. I can remember passing by one outdoor theater down near Lexington, Virginia, a few years ago. Folks there must still find watching a movie from inside the comfort of their cars to be a relaxing form of entertainment.

When I was a kid, my parents took us to watch such pictures at the drive-in theater as the Jerry Lewis screwball comedies. I remember seeing Western films with The Duke (who else?) and Robert Mitchum. I'm sure there were other movies, but I can't remember any of them by title at the moment. Drive-in movie theaters evoke the nostalgic past in those of us old enough to remember using them. A big box store (one of the chains) now stands where our drive-in movie theater screen once did. The big box store sells the large screen TVs, but it just isn't the same as the drive-in movie theater.

The Used Bookstores Found In My Cozy Mysteries

I made the main characters in my first cozy mystery series into avid readers of fiction, particularly mysteries. Isabel and Alma Trumbo, my sister sleuths in the Virginia small town of Quiet Anchorage, make it a practice to visit used (secondhand)bookstores in search of their future reads. It's something alluring about the smells of a used bookstore. You never know what obscure reading treasure you might find in one. Isabel and Alma's habit is to hang on to every book they read because they might want to re-read it. They also discuss what will happen to their trove of mystery books once they are gone. Alma believes the town will use their books to establish the first public library, or perhaps to stock the first used bookstore. Isabel favors both ideas. You can begin reading about Isabel and Alma's love of reading mysteries as well as their sleuthing adventures with the first book in their series, Quiet Anchorage.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Boogie Man Will Get You Starring Boris Karoloff & Peter Lorre

This undemanding, fun 1942 horror spoof stars Hollywood giants Boris Karloff paired with Peter Lorre, two excellent reasons why it may be worthwhile to watch. Karloff plays the "mad scientist" at a New England inn, and Lorre is the town sheriff/coroner/physician/or whatever you need. There are lots of moveable corpses and snappy one liners, and I chuckled a few times. The horror element isn't too creepy, so I wasn't looking for much frightening stuff. The film run time is a bit over an hour, so the foolishness isn't carried on for too long. Lorre appears as if he's having a blast, and Karloff's eyeglasses never move from their perch on his forehead. The Boogie Man Will Get You was good stuff, making for a nice change of pace for my old movies viewing.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: "Framed" Starring Glenn Ford and Uncle Joe

Every now and then, I'll run across a film noir that is a fun surprise. Such an entry is the 1947 crime melodrama Framed starring Glenn Ford, Janis Carter, Barry Sullivan, and Edgar Buchanan (later to be Uncle Joe on Petticoat Junction). It's obviously a low-budget "B" picture, but that only adds to its gritty appeal. Glenn Ford plays an out-of-work mining engineer who drives a truck without brakes down into a small mountain town (located probably in northern California). Of course, he runs into bad luck with the local law, and the bar waitress Janis Carter with the seemingly heart of gold pays his court fine. She's too good to be true, and she is just that. Ford teams up with Buchanan playing a silver miner who can't get a loan from Barry Sullivan, the sleazy local bank vice-president. We quickly see Carter and Sullivan are up to no good, and Ford had better watch out. Carter makes for a great icy blonde femme fatale. What a pity she didn't star in more films like this good one. Glenn Ford is always reliable in these films with his low-keyed, earnest performance as seen in this one. Framed was entertaining from start to finish.

Where the Sidewalks Begin and End in My Cozy Mysteries

Something as ordinary as sidewalks has always intrigued me. I grew up in a small rural town with few sidewalks, and I thought of them as a luxury to walk on where I didn't get the mud caked on my shoes. Our Main Street even featured dual sidewalks. Maybe a few of the side streets did, as well. The other small towns I passed through either did or didn't offer its residents sidewalks.

The larger the town was, the more likely it featured sidewalks. Some of the hamlets were no more than a sign staked in the ground at a crossroads or at a railroad crossing. I guess there was no budget to build the sidewalks. Who would use them anyway? So, my small town with its sidewalk had arrived, so to speak.      

Flash forward many years later when we moved to our suburban neighborhood. Sidewalks were one of the criteria we used to pick the neighborhood we wanted to live in. I encounter the sidewalks on every street. Since I'm a big walker, I'm in walking heaven. I make it a point to take a walk daily (doc's orders) and take advantage of the sidewalks found just outside my front door.

When I started writing my Piper & Bill Cozy Mystery Series, they became a married couple who also like to take daily walks in their neighborhood. Bill's doc has told him to walk for health reasons, and Piper sees to it he does.[book:The Corpse Wore Gingham|24404034] is a fun, light-hearted cozy mystery suitable for bedtime reading or anywhere else the reader wants to relax and escape into the entertaining story.

Tuesday's Forgotten Films: "Teresa" Starring Pier Angeli

This 1951 war drama directed by Fred Zinnemann stars Pier Angeli, John Ericson, Ralph Meeker, and Rod Steiger. Ericson plays an American G.I. based in Italy where he meets and falls in love with the Italian girl played by Angeli. She is truly a war bride as the marriage takes place in her native village. Once the war ends, Ericson returns to his family in New York City. His mother is an overbearing, smothering type who takes over running his life again. Of course, after Angeli finally gets her official clearance to join him, the real trouble begins since Mother doesn't like her son's new bride. I enjoyed the movie though it's not my usual fare. I would have liked to see more of Meeker and Steiger (his debut), but they're roles are fairly minor. James Coburn has an uncredited role, but I missed seeing him. Wikipedia indicates Ericson is still living.

My Riding On March's Rollercoaster Weather

Yesterday I walked for the first time this year in my shirt sleeves, and the temperature hit 70 degrees, and even higher before the sun went down. This morning I went out to fetch the newspaper, and a cold rain pelted down on me. The thermometer reading was 42 degrees, and I wouldn't get in my walk unless it's late one. Sometimes I go in the late afternoon if I get all of my work finished for the day. I watched the weather forecast, and the meteorologist predicted more cold temperatures over the weekend. I just went ENOUGH ALREADY! Right now, I'm doing the final edits on my second book in the Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. I feel more like writing my cozies when it's warm outdoors since they are set in the good old summertime. I like Piper and Bill because they're an older married couple who love each other and pull together despite their good-natured fussing. You can catch up on the light-hearted, funny series by reading book one:, The Corpse Wore Gingham: A Piper & Bill Robins Mystery. It has gotten several favorable reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Thanks for trying it out.

Tuesday's Overlooked Films: The Bigamist Directed By Ida Lupino

This very fine 1953 melodrama may feel dated, but I found it intriguing to watch. Wikipedia says it is the first film directed by a woman and also star the same woman who is the super talented and versatile Ida Lupino. I've enjoyed her other directed films noir like The Hitch-Hiker, also starring Edmond O'Brien. This time he stars as playing the husband of Ida Lupino and also Joan Fontaine. He turns in a complex and conflicted portrayal of a bigamist. I felt sympathy for his situation, but he was his own worse enemy. Interestingly, old Edmund "Kris Kringle" Gwenn plays the state adoption investigator who exposes O'Brien's double life. Several references are made about Santa Claus, a humorous touch. I liked O'Brien in this world weary traveling salesman role. His loneliness while on the road is what brings him into Lupino's orbit. The ending is pretty numbing and ambivalent. Lupino doesn't sensationalize or exploit the bigamist topic. Worthwhile viewing for fans of the film noir genre.

My First Crocus Sighting Is Now In The Books

It's now official! Today I made my first crocus sighting of the year. A neighbor down the block had a bunch of them in bloom in his yard. Last week at this time we had six inches of snow on the ground, and it seemed as if winter had no end. But it's looking up now. We'll still have some cool nights. And they'll be pollen in the air for the allergies. But I believe the snow removal is done until next November rolls around. My Facebook friends have left messages telling me their spring flowers are out already. I guess spring just took longer to reach us living in D.C. this year. At any rate, I'm working on the second title in my cozy mystery series I aim to publish later this year before the next snows fall. The cozy series is set in a fictional D.C. suburb, like the one where I live, and begins with [book:The Corpse Wore Gingham|24404034]. Check it out for one of your warm weather reads.

Welcome To The Farmers' Market In My Cozy Mystery

I set one chapter from my Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series Book #1 The Corpse Wore Gingham at the Farmers' Market. There's a good reason for it, too. The Farmers' Market begins the first Saturday in May. We like to get to ours early in the morning. I always enjoy going for the first time after a long, cold winter. The vivid colors of the fruits and vegetables out on display catch my eye. I like seeing our favorite vendors again and chatting with them. The ace barbecuers at one end of the Farmers' Market fill the air with their delicious smoky odors. Everybody is in a friendly, upbeat mood. Of course, the fresh fruit and vegetables are so tasty, especially in making our garden salads. We eat salads around the year, but the Farmers' Market provides us with more variety of the salad ingredients. We're big fans of the tomatoes and cucumbers. It's interesting to see which fruits and vegetables are in season as the summer progresses into autumn. If you're a cozy mystery fan, check out what Piper & Bill discover by going to their Farmers' Market, and how it helps them to solve the murder mystery they investigate in The Corpse Wore Gingham.

Recreating Main Street In My Small Town Cozy Mysteries

Sometimes I wonder how it would be if I revisited the small town where I grew up if just to see what it is like today. No doubt it would look wet and cold. So, let's make it a clear, sunny day in June. While I made my way down the sidewalk along Main Street, I wonder if the memories would come back to me. I wonder if I would see the details I've forgotten, or I haven't thought about in many years. So far, I've resisted the temptation to return, and I probably won't do it. I suppose there really is something to the old saying you can't go home again. 

Seeing Main Street through an adult's eyes is a lot different than through seeing it through a kid's eyes. As a kid I believe I was more aware of my five senses. You know, the smells, sounds, and sights I encountered on Main Street. For instance, I can still recall the unique pungent scent of the fermenting corn I smelled around the grain elevators and metal silos at the Famers' Co-op.

It was located next to the railroad tracks at the far end of Main Street. The railroad tracks that I remember so well have helped me to anchor the mental map I've drawn to create my fictional small town of Quiet Anchorage, Virginia. I like for my two sister sleuths Isabel & Alma Trumbo to visit Main Street early in the book. In fact, many of the scenes take place on Main Street, either on the sidewalks or inside the different shops. Main Street becomes an important place for Isabel & Alma to go to mingle with and meet their friends.

Tuesday's Overlooked Movies: The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery Starring Steve McQueen

This 1959 bank heist drama stars Steve McQueen in an early movie role. I enjoyed watching his other films over the years, so I decided I'd give this one a try. For some puzzling reason, IMDb.com only rates it 6.0/10.0. I quibble with that low mark. Granted, the movie's pace is slow and deliberate, but I find that to be a good quality as it allowed me to see each of the four gangster characters evolve. McQueen plays a college dropout who is hired to play the wheelman in a planned bank heist. Of course, McQueen doesn't have any experience, but one of the gang members vouches for him. The same gang member also has a younger sister who McQueen is sweet on. Despite their casing the target bank and meticulous planning, tensions run high and testy within the gang. Since this is a film noir, we know things aren't going to go well for the robbers. Crahan Denton as the boss has a few hang ups that get in his way. David Clarke who vouches for McQueen gives an especially edgy performance. Clarke died in 2004 at age 95. All told, I give this film a solid thumbs up. McQueen went on to make better pictures, but he does a good job in this one which proves again crime doesn't pay.

My New Cozy Mystery Is Set In The Cozy 'Burbs

Earlier this year, I published my first title in a new cozy mystery series: The Corpse Wore Gingham. This series is different than my first cozy series featuring the elderly sisters Isabel & Alma Trumbo. They reside in the fictitious small town of Quiet Anchorage located in Virginia. Just like in Cabot Cove, the murders keep turning up in Quiet Anchorage, and they keep Isabel & Alma hopping with their sleuthing adventures.

However, Piper & Bill Robins reside in the fictitious suburb of Beverly Park located in the Northern Virginia area just south of Washington, D.C. Piper & Bill, like Isabel & Alma, are retired, but the Robinses are a married couple who have taken up the role of amateur sleuth. Their unusual decision wasn't made as a fanciful whim but as a practical course as the murder plot in The Corpse Wore Gingham shows. After solving their first case, they find themselves tackling a second one. That's the book I'm working on right at the moment.

Beverly Park is a tidy and quiet neighborhood with its residents like the Robinses who have lived there for decades. Families are raised there. The kids grow up and move away, but their parents stay because they consider Beverly Park to be their home. It has a sense of civic pride, and the neighbors living there like as well as look out for one another. In some ways, my suburb of Beverly Park is like my small town of Quiet Anchorage.

Just as a side note, Isabel & Alma Trumbo will be back, so don't forget about them. I'm planning on their return for late this spring or early summer, so thanks for adding them to your summer reading lists.

My First Draft to Book 2 Is Finished Today

I believe the time was 2:10 p.m. this afternoon when I wrote the last word to Book 2 of my Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. I may have whooped out loud as I typed the final period to the final sentence. I know it's just a first draft--I've done enough of them to understand that--but I was happy at least for the moment. My other fiction projects this year have been editing and revising, so Book 2 is my first new fiction book I've written in 2015. I'll begin the first round of revising it over the next week, licking it into shape. Then I'll set the Book 2 draft aside for a few weeks before I begin the final edits. Meantime, Book 1 is The Corpse Wore Gingham where Piper & Bill Robins get started in their sleuthing adventures.

Why I Set My Cozy Mysteries In The Good Old Summertime

At the crack of dawn this morning, I was awakened by a disheartening KABOOM! noise going off behind our neighborhood. I instantly knew what it meant: the transformer had blown out, and our electric power was gone. I heard the wind kicking up in gusts outside the house, and I knew that was the guilty culprit. We've heard the blown transformer noise a lot this winter.

I went into the kitchen and checked the thermometer gauge: 8 degrees. I tapped it and still got the same cold reading. It was going to be a long day. But I'm not complaining. My dad worked for the power company for decades, so I know what their intrepid and determined crews go through to get the lights back on for us. Our power is back now, so hats off to them. Plus, we didn't get much snow, and I know what the brave, hardy folks up in Boston and New England have gotten with their snowfall totals this winter.

So, I sat down after a cold breakfast, and began my daily writing session. I keep a stack of yellow legal pads I like to write on along with my favorite Papermate ink pens. It had been quite some time since I last wrote anything lengthy in my longhand. But I went at it anyway. Right now, I'm working on the first draft of the next book in my cozy mystery series.

I always set my cozy mysteries in the good old summertime. I like the books's setting to be a pleasant one when the outdoors temperature is a moderate and not a frigid one. This morning while I wrote out my next scene in my cold room, I could enjoy the story's sunny warmth vicariously. So, it provided a nice distraction from my present woes. Really, when you think about it, that is one of the nice aspects about reading popular fiction: escapism. Now I have to go keystroke in my handwritten pages to the Word file of my first draft, which I also aim to finish very soon. Rap on wood. I hope you have a good week, as well. Stay warm!

Working On The Second Book In My Cozy Mystery Series

Earlier this year, I published book one titled The Corpse Wore Gingham in my new Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. The reader comments and the reviews have been positive. I've been writing the second book, and today I'm happy to report, I reached the halfway mark in the first draft. By way of introduction, Piper and Bill are a retired couple who do their sleuthing in a Virginia suburb outside of Washington, D.C. Etta the gregarious birdwatcher and the opinionated but affable feline Snoozy Q will also be back. So, I'll post my future blogs as things move along on their next book. Meantime, I hope you'll check out their first adventuresome mystery The Corpse Wore Gingham and see how they got started. There are some surprises that come up.

I Marked My Calendar: Spring Training Begins February 19th

Every winter right about this time in blah February, my thoughts turn to the commencement of spring training. You don't have to be a fan of major league baseball (MLB) to be on the lookout for it. Spring training is one of the true signs of spring. While I'm shoveling the next load of fallen snow off my driveway and sidewalks (we live on a corner lot with more than one), I think of those guys down in sunny, balmy Florida (the Citrus League) or Arizona (the Cactus League). Of course, they're working and not playing around or loafing like I'd be doing. Still, it's nice to imagine being in a place without any cold, ice, and snow. This year the Washington Nationals have their pitchers and catchers reporting for duty on February 19th, which falls on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. I circled the day on my calendar a couple of months ago as if I would forget it. I don't even think much ahead to the summer season when they play the sport. Right now, just basking vicariously in the Florida or Arizona sun is good enough for me. "Let's play two," the great Ernie Banks who sadly just passed away used to say. I like keeping around that positive attitude.

Is The Handwritten Letter A Relic Of The Past?

I'm afraid so, yes. It has gone the way of the dodo bird and passenger pigeon. I'm sitting here, and I cannot remember the last time I sat down and wrote a handwritten letter, or when I last received such a letter from a sender. Can you? Do the personal notes scribbled on the insides of Christmas cards under the greeting message qualify as handwritten letters? I know I must have packets of handwritten letters I got and saved. They are packed away in a pasteboard box somewhere from our different moves. Back in the early days of the internet, I used to print out my email letters so I would have a permanent record of them. I no longer do that, or else I'd have reams of paper containing the printed out emails. When did you last spot a functional public mailbox? I guess they are still around in the shopping centers and such well-trafficked places. Going down to our mailbox used to be a treat, but now we just receive third class junk mail. But I must say I very much like the ease and convenience of the digital age. I'd hate to return to the days of having only use snail mail. I bet you feel the same way, too.

The Strange Case of the Shrinking Packages

For my wife and me, it started out with the Chobani Greek Yogurt we bought in the 6-ounce plastic cups. Remember those? Then one day I happened to notice how the yogurt cups appeared to be a wee bit smaller as I was putting them into the shopping cart.

So, I read the label's fine print (luckily, I was wearing my bifocals) and discovered it was now 5.3(!) ounces of yogurt packaged in the plastic cup. The price hadn't changed, but the proportion size had decreased. Instead of raising the price, we got 0.7 ounce less of yogurt.

Our young checker paused while he was swiping the yogurt cups over the price scanner. He scratched his head and wondered out loud when the yogurt cup size had shrunk, and we filled him in.

So, I checked around. Peter McGuinness, Chobani’s chief marketing and brand officer, said: “It is the established category norm; everyone is at 5.3 ounces. Many of our consumers were confused at the shelf when comparing nutritional information. Many have sent messages clearly to us saying, ‘Why do you have more sugar and calories?’ We wanted to level the playing field so they were comparing apples to apples, yogurt to yogurt.” (Source: Boston Globe, 2/14/14)

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: Blonde Ice

Oh, those poor guys who fall for the gorgeous but dangerous femme fatales. Will the guys ever learn? Apparently not, given all the films noir where they get burned and often burned badly. This 1948 crime film takes the femme fatale character to the extreme by calling her "blonde ice." For the most part, the film succeeds, but the last fifteen minutes are a bit confusing to me. The ending was a bit of a head-scratcher, but that's all I'll say about it. Anyway, Leslie Brooks stars as Claire Cummings Hanneman who has just gotten married when she steps out on the terrace to reassure her old lover he remains the object of her enduring love. Robert Paige is the poor sap who believes her, but to his credit, he's enough of skeptic to not totally fall for her glib line. She goes on her honeymoon and murders her new filthy rich husband, making it appear as a suicide. Brooks plays the "blonde ice" femme fatale with a frightening ease, and she only made a handful of movies before she retired from the motion picture business. The scheming airplane pilot (Russ Vincent) who blackmails her is her future real-life husband. All in all, I enjoyed watching the familiar dynamics play out Blonde Ice. You might, too, if you're a film noir fan.

How I'll Spend My Own Groundhog Day

Today is the celebration of that peculiar day known as Groundhog Day. If Punxsutawney Phil, our favorite groundhog residing in Pennsylvania, doesn't see his shadow when he comes out of his burrow, then we're suppose to get an early spring. But if Phil, no dummy, sees his shadow, he returns to hole back up in his burrow since spring will come late. However, Groundhog Day is also a 1993 fantasy movie where comedian Bill Murray plays a Pittsburgh TV weatherman who repeats the same day over and over. It's a cute and humorous film if you haven't seen it. The lovely Andie MacDowell is Murray's co-star.

It struck me as ironic this morning when I put out my first tweet of the day and mentioned that today is Groundhog Day. Coincidentally or not, I'm also repeating the process of starting my new novel. This book is the second title in my new Piper & Bill Robins Cozy Mystery Series. The first title The Corpse Wore Gingham came out in January. My plan is to bring out the second book in 2016. My sleuths are a retired married couple who decide to take up playing detective. I'm having a lot fun with the Robinses, and the books capture it.

So, we'll have a good Groundhog Day, and the best to Punxsutawney Phil when he makes his grand appearance.

Tuesday's Forgotten Movies: DEAD RECKONING Starring Humphrey Bogart

This fine 1947 film noir stars Humphrey Bogart as a grizzled World War Two paratrooper veteran and Lizabeth Scott as the blonde bombshell femme fatale. The last scene is fabulous, which is all I'll say about it. The plot left me scratching my head in a few places, but I thought the movie was well-acted, and it satisfies all of the things you expect from a film noir. There is lots of cigarette smoking, and a safecracker pal even smokes a pipe. Scott sings a torch song at a club that captures Bogie's heart, well, sort of, anyway. The setting is a small Southern city called Gulf City where it's hot. New Orleans is mentioned once, and I saw lots of Spanish moss on the trees. I read where Rita Hayworth was supposed to play the femme, but she was in the top brass's doghouse. Bogie is always watchable, and he has some great lines (pulp author Steve Fisher wrote the screenplay). All in all, Dead Reckoning is a worthwhile crime drama.