tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post7064508443249378273..comments2024-03-27T10:50:17.270-05:00Comments on Rough Edges: Forgotten Books: Johnny Liddell's Morgue - Frank KaneJames Reasonerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18049917964433932612noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-46708422703548512932012-09-02T14:42:58.023-05:002012-09-02T14:42:58.023-05:00Kane found himself the star contributor to WEB DET...Kane found himself the star contributor to WEB DETECTIVE and other bottom of the market cf magazines not long after...I wonder if the books dried up at about that time, or if book sales made the extra pennies off the magazine sales just enough gravy (and obscure enough not to affect paperback audiences) to be worthwhile...Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-34153921461584230512012-08-31T14:59:52.695-05:002012-08-31T14:59:52.695-05:00I'm another Liddell fan and noticed that hed w...I'm another Liddell fan and noticed that hed written some of thbe McGavin Mike Hammer's--or, at least, they were based on his stories.<br /><br />RJRRJRnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-14216218360160510052012-08-31T12:34:32.650-05:002012-08-31T12:34:32.650-05:00I love Frank Kane, recycled lines and all ("J...I love Frank Kane, recycled lines and all ("Johnny Liddell leaned on the bar with the ease born of long experience"). And boy, did people smoke in those books, and I do mean cigarettes. <br /><br />Fred Blosser's mention of TV PI shows prompts me to note that Kane was a key writer in the original "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" show (starring Darren McGavin). Kane scripted more than a dozen episodes and the best of them were straight rewrites of Liddell stories. In fact, I always think of that show as "Frank Kane's Johnny Liddell" as McGavin's tough but lighthearted interpretation of the role is a long way from Mickey's conception. In conversation I once asked Mickey about these Hammer/Liddell episodes and he promptly called Kane an unpleasant name and said he had him fired when he found out. Robert Turner in his memoirs refers to his time in Hollywood writing Hammer scripts and how he was amazed at how fast Kane could turn out a script. No wonder! <br /><br />There's also a pretty good movie, based on a non-Liddel book called KEY WITNESS; the book is one of Kane's best, the film is directed by unsung noir master Phil Karlson and features a very young Dennis Hopper.<br /><br />--Stephen MertzAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-40900650971771532292012-08-31T12:22:01.172-05:002012-08-31T12:22:01.172-05:00LEAD ACHE was adapted for the McGavin MIKE HAMMER,...LEAD ACHE was adapted for the McGavin MIKE HAMMER, which used lots of Kane scripts and/or short stories (almost always Liddell ones).Max Allan Collinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00867456003618637948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-26448638555333245102012-08-31T10:50:03.780-05:002012-08-31T10:50:03.780-05:00I bought this one in ebook format. I'll have ...I bought this one in ebook format. I'll have to get to it.Mel Odomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09292281771732390287noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7527967.post-15053124743036514992012-08-31T08:22:15.793-05:002012-08-31T08:22:15.793-05:00There was a dime-a-dance setting in an old 77 SUNS...There was a dime-a-dance setting in an old 77 SUNSET STRIP episode that I watched a couple of years ago on a gray-market DVD. I'll have to go back and see if there's a "based on" credit citing Kane's story. At the time I thought it was an odd element in a 1959 or 1960 TV show. I'd always assumed that such places were strictly a Depression-era thing.Fred Blosserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07307848103704970189noreply@blogger.com