Stage Door Enquiries:
The Case of the Solid Key by Anthony Boucher
published 1941
I recently blogged for the first time on Boucher
Nine
Times Nine by Anthony Boucher
And was very happy to move on to another one: this is an
author I am enjoying.
The Case of the Solid Key is
set in Los Angeles and Hollywood, the world of theatre and film: Norman, a young broke
writer, hopes to get his play produced and make his fortune. He is led to a small low-key venue: The Carruthers Little
Theatre. Some of the people there have connections with Metropolis, one of the
big studios (confusingly nicknamed Polly, it took me a couple of goes to sort
that out, as it might be 'let's call Polly'). And it seems there is something funny going on at the theatre: an
investigation is already underway.
I always love a theatrical mystery, and having found this picture for a previous one, feel that this gives me a title for any such blogposts:
So everything is set up for the owner of the theatre,
Rupert Carruthers, to be found dead in a locked room. He was experimenting with
explosive special effects for a new play, and must have died in an accident.
But of course we suspect the worst.
Norman, and his Irish friend Fergus – a PI – wander round
interviewing people, and getting stocious drunk all the time. Norman is
pursuing a young woman, Sarah, who keeps disappearing. The staff and actors in
the theatre company have very enjoyable social events – including a
charades-like game in which a warning is slipped in to the list of items to be acted
out. I’m not sure that is actually explained in the end, but it is an excellent
turn of events - and I found a picture:
The current play at the theatre is by Lewis Jordan, a most interesting character: national hero, explorer, holder of controversial political views. He was a delight, and had a cat called Nansen – Jordan had worked with Nansen on refugee projects. I liked him very much, and treasured his every appearance. As everyone agrees, it is hard to write goodness in fiction, but Boucher succeeded here I thought.
However, his play was apparently terrible. “I agree with every word he says; but I would fight to the death against his right to say it so badly.”
The economics of the theatre are intriguing: the idea is
that it exists only to bring its writers and actors to the attention of the
studios, there is no intrinsic interest in drama as such. And then it seems
that the owner does very unfair deals with the artistes he discovers.
It is really hard to regret his death.
The lock seems solid – but is it possible there was some
funny business with the key? You be the judge. It wasn’t the best locked
solution ever, but the rest of the book was intriguing and good fun, with one real surprise, and I felt
(as with the previous book, Nine times Nine) that it gave a great picture of
how life really was in that time and place.
A visit to the Santa Monica Pier is rather a small part of
the plot, but I cannot resist the pictures…
'Norman waited a long time in front of the merry-go-round'. His date, Sarah, turns up wearing a light wool coat and a ‘scant sunsuit’.
They do the rounds.
‘Wagner must have loved rollercoasters” Sarah exclaimed as they staggered away limp after their fifth ride. “He couldn’t have written all those swell swoops without them. Oh look! Crazy House. Shall we?”
Picture shows a rehearsal from a few years earlier – part
of the records of the Federal Theatre Project
Image
11 of Miscellaneous Rehearsal | Library of Congress
And charades from a couple of years later
Denman
College, Student Group playing charades, 1950s. | Flickr
New
England Carousel Museum, Bristol, Connecticut - original digital file | Library
of Congress
I spent too much money on a nice Popular Library copy of this, and haven't read it yet. I need to correct that error!
ReplyDelete"it gave a great picture of how life really was in that time and place" - I felt that way about The Seven of Calvary, too, and amazingly enough, also about his collected Reviews and Commentary from the San Francisco Chronicle. I expected some pithy put-downs of all the bad books we've forgotten about, plus the occasional rave about something I could spend ages looking for. I got that, but also I felt like I was right there alongside the WW2 American literary scene as they grappled with the war, founded the MWA, and kept going to the theatre...
I love that charades picture! Charades in costume... did they put more effort and planning in back then?
I think that's a really inventive idea, Moira, to have a warning slipped in with a charades game! Very clever and not something I've read before. Locked-room sorts of mysteries can be very effective, too, and of course, the theatre setting does appeal! I've not read much by Boucher lately; you're inspiring me to get back to his work.
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