Mystery to Me

Latest Episodes:

Pursuit to Algiers (1945) May 31, 2021

Show notes

Anchors aweigh! We're setting sail on a mystery ship! And a celebrity cruise at that, featuring famed detective Sherlock Holmes!

Sound fun? Well, Pursuit to Algiers, a 1945 Holmes picture starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, never arrives at its intended destination. This Roy William Neill-directed flick is a sinking ship, if we ever saw one.

Basically, Holmes and Watson are tasked with safely transporting a European princeling back to his country of origin in order to ... save democracy? Yeah, we don't get it either. Everybody ends up on a cruise ship, and it gets stupider from there.

Listen to Áine and Kevin pursue diverse topics like the difference between Roman Catholic and Baptist services, "poppers," and the promise of a Dukes of Hazzard-Sherlock Holmes crossover. We'll share why Sherlock's ship-side shortcomings have us feeling salty.

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Smart Blonde / Fly-Away Baby (1937) May 24, 2021

Show notes

Let's take off with a double-feature on one of Hollywood's first plucky gal reporters!

The first two films in the Torchy Blane series, Smart Blonde and Fly-Away Baby, both debuted in 1937. They focus on Torchy Blane, a journo who's sharp, beautiful, and romantically connected to one of the top detectives in the city.
Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane starred in these two Frank McDonald-directed pictures as Torchy and her stern swain Detective Steve McBride. Meanwhile, Tom Kennedy shines as the bizarrely poetic Officer Gahagan.
In the first flick, our fair-haired heroine gets more than she bargained for out of an interview when she witnesses the murder of a prominent businessman. In the second one, she's got to hold her own against a gaggle of reporters competing to fly around the world.
Listen to Kevin and resident blonde reporter Áine get the scoop on these at-times entertaining, at-times sluggish films.
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And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.
Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: "Arson and Old Lace" (1978) May 17, 2021

Show notes

Burn baby, burn! Franklin W. Dixon's inferno!
"Arson and Old Lace" is the 21st episode of the second season of "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries." This one stars Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson as the titular boys from Bayport on Barmet Bay. Basically, fellow-sleuth Nancy Drew has been missing for months, and the Hardy Boys sign on to take one more look at her case, before it goes cold. Things heat up quite a bit from there.

Airing on April 1, 1978, this episode also marks the final appearance of Janet Julian's Nancy Drew. Stevenson and Cassidy would go on to burn through a ridiculous final season where the Hardy Boys are spies.
Listen to Áine and Kevin fan the flames of rage against this often-silly, often-offensive episode of a 1970s kid show. We'll breathe fire and rage about the Towering Inferno, the grizzled chief who tries to hijack the show, and why hack writers should probably stay away from heavy topics like long-term kidnappings.
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And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.
Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Magnum, P.I.: "Novel Connection" / Murder, She Wrote: "Magnum on Ice" (1986) May 10, 2021

Show notes

Forget spandex-clad superheroes. The most ambitious crossover event in fictional history already happened, airing in two parts on November 19 and November 23 in 1986.

That's right — we're talking about the two crossover episodes of Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote.

Thomas Magnum, as played by Tom Selleck, is an affable private investigator living a luxurious lifestyle in Hawaii. Angela Lansbury's amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher is a mystery writer with a knack for getting involved in non-fiction crimes. Both of these gumshoes called CBS home, and the rest is mystery history.

Listen to Áine and Kevin join forces to talk about 1980s cheese, bathrobe-clad chats, and the challenges of combining two different styles of televised detecting.

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) May 03, 2021

Show notes

The adventure is afoot!

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a 1939 film directed by Alfred L. Werker. The picture is based somewhat loosely on a 1899 play by William Gillette, and is the second of two Holmes films unveiled by Twentieth Century Fox in the 1930s.

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce star as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. This wouldn't be their last adventure, either! In total, they would helm 14 films in this series.

In this story, Holmes and Watson must team up to unravel the sinister Professor Moriarity's latest plot, which involves everything from fancy jewels to Victorian horse-cart chases to sketches of sea birds!

Embark on an adventure with Áine and Kevin as they deduce the film's charms and stumbles, and chat about heists, imperialism, and male friendships based entirely on "negging."

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Apr 26, 2021

Show notes

One judge may be quite like another ... but this courtroom drama stands apart!

Anatomy of a Murder is a 1959 courtroom drama from director Otto Preminger, starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Eve Arden, Ben Gazzara, and Army-McCarthy hearings legal icon Joseph Welch, with a jazzy score from Duke Ellington. It's based on a real-life case that defense attorney-turned-Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker wrote under the pen name Robert Traver.

Stewart plays a humble country lawyer trying to do the best he can to get his client acquitted in a murder case. And what a murder case it is! There's no question about what happened — a military man gunned down a local bar-owner. What needs further dissecting is the motive. As it turns out, the bar-owner was accused of raping the military man's wife.

Like so many overwhelmed jurors, Áine and Kevin deliberate over the film's pure Michigan setting, delightful cameos, and un-clichéd, unflinching look at the justice system, as well as some light topics like misogyny, rape, and alcoholism.

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Bourne Identity (2002) Apr 19, 2021

Show notes

Maybe he's Bourne with it, maybe it's his years of CIA training.

The Bourne Identity is a 2002 action thriller directed by Doug Liman, starring Matt Damon, Franka Potente, Chris Cooper, and Brian Cox.

Damon plays a bullet-riddled amnesiac found floating in the Mediterranean Sea. We follow Damon's character as he pieces together the clues to determine who exactly he is. And, as it turns out, he wasn't born yesterday. This character has some serious skills, and he's going to need to put those to use if he's to survive with dangerous assassins hot on his trail.

The Bourne Identity holds up as asurprisingly fresh and thoughtful action flick.So listen to Áine and Kevin chat about the film, and punch their way through light topics like amnesia, salient spy agency acronyms, and the nature of goodness.

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Maltese Falcon (1931) Apr 12, 2021

Show notes

First isn't necessarily the worst, but it's certainly not the best.
Coming out just a year after Dashiell Hammett published his unforgettable novel, The Maltese Falcon is a 1931 pre-Code crime film directed by Roy Del Ruth.
Ricardo Cortez plays private investigator Sam Spade, and Bebe Daniels is the femme fatale and podcast heiress Ruth Wonderly. Spade and the dame are just two rough characters mixed up in the scramble for the priceless avian statue that the film is named for.
Listen to birds-of-a-feather Áine and Kevin squawk about apes, un-intimidating villains, and drunken sailors. All in all, this movie gets a lot right, but fails to soar like the classic Bogart film.
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And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.
Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Chevy Mystery Show: "Enough Rope" (1960) Apr 05, 2021

Show notes

"This old man, he played three, Bert Freed first played Columbo on TV."

This week on Mystery to Me, we'll be discussing the genesis of beloved fictional detective Lt. Columbo. The fictional sleuth — with his rumpled sensibilities and absent-minded charm — was most notably portrayed by Peter Falk. But Falk wasn't the first to have a go at Columbo. That honor would belong to actor Bert Freed, who portrayed the character on the Chevy Mystery Show.

Columbo writers Richard Levinson and William Link first unleashed the character on the episode "Enough Rope" on July 31, 1960. The story is a classic "howcatchem," following a cunning murderer who seeks to outwit Freed's blue collar detective.

Áine and Kevin discuss how this early version of a beloved franchise hadn't quite yet earned its rumpled raincoat. Special thanks to the UCLA Film & Television Archive for putting on the special digital screening of "Enough Rope."

Just one more thing. Make sure to follow us on social media!

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Starsky and Hutch: "Savage Sunday" (1975) Mar 29, 2021

Show notes

Sunday's supposed to be fun-day! But this pilot episode of incredibly popular 1970s cop show "Starsky and Hutch" is anything but!

Starring David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser, as well as Antonio Fargas, "Savage Sunday" debuted the mismatched cop duo in 1975.

In this episode, the charisma-less and humor-free detectives must deal with the problems caused by a couple of nursing home residents who get the bright idea of protesting the bad food at their establishment by loading their car up with dynamite and going out for a relaxing cup of coffee. But their scheme goes awry when a couple of no good punks from Colorado steal their car and go off on a wild — and potentially explosive — crime spree.

Can our stars save the day — and more importantly will their heroics cut into their basketball schedule? And what about the elderly bombers who got us all into this mess? Will someone figure out a way to get them better food before they launch another terrorism plot?

Join Áine and Kevin as they try to salvage "Savage Sunday" and somehow end up speaking about Orville Reddenbacher, Kevin's interest in Suzanne Sommers, and Spock's Brain.

And send us mysterious and intriguing missives at mysterytomepodcast@gmail.com.

Mystery to Me is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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