Mild-mannered mystery writer D. H. Mercer has become so immersed in his material that his creation, hard-boiled private eye Biff Deegan, constantly appears to him as a hallucination. Intent on getting rid of Biff, and replacing him with a more civilized detective, Mercer soon finds himself in a genuine mystery involving art fraud, murder, and a beautiful lady in peril.
24 Feb Murder by the Book (1967)
Double Folds
This isn’t worth watching for what it is, but I count it as a notable example, more so because it is a cheap TeeVee production with low aspirations.
The overall story is about art forgery.
The structure is adventuresome. The story we see is written by the mystery writer who is the main character. Actually the main character is an onscreen image of the writer’s character from earlier stories. The same actor plays the writer and his character, and we have a lot of banter.
The character gives advice on what to do next, while the writer works to get control because he wants to write — to be — a different character.
The interesting thing is that any viewer would easily understand the folds here, well enough to get the humour that saturates it.
I have a project that studies folding, stuff like this. Often, you’ll find this in experiments and serious projects. When you find this in silly productions for fun, it matters. It validates the sophistication of the average viewer.
Posted in 2015
Ted’s Evaluation — 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
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