Episode 202: Playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher

This week on the blog, a podcast interview with playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher on Columbo, Sherlock Holmes, favorite mysteries and more!

LINKS

A Free Film Book for You:  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/cq23xyyt12

Another Free Film Book:  https://dl.bookfunnel.com/x3jn3emga6

Fast, Cheap Film Website: https://www.fastcheapfilm.com/

Jeffrey Hatcher Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/jeffrey.hatcher.3/

The Good Liar (Trailer): https://youtu.be/ljKzFGpPHhw

Mr. Holmes (Trailer): https://youtu.be/0G1lIBgk4PA

Stage Beauty (Trailer): https://youtu.be/-uc6xEBfdD0

Columbo Clips from “Ashes to Ashes”

Clip One:  https://youtu.be/OCKECiaFsMQ

Clip Two:  https://youtu.be/BbO9SDz9FEc

Clip Three: https://youtu.be/GlNDAVAwMCI

Eli Marks Website:  https://www.elimarksmysteries.com/

Albert’s Bridge Books Website:  https://www.albertsbridgebooks.com/

YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/c/BehindthePageTheEliMarksPodcast

TRANSCRIPT

John: Can you remember your very first mystery, a movie, book, TV show, play, a mystery that really captured your imagination?

Jeffrey: You know, I was thinking about this, and what came to mind was a Disney movie called Emile and the Detectives from 1964. So, I would have been six or seven years old. It's based on a series of German books by Eric Kastner about a young man named Emile and his group of friends who think of themselves as detectives. So, I remember that—I know that might've been the first film. And obviously it's not a play because, you know, little kids don't tend to go to stage thrillers or mysteries and, “Daddy, please take me to Sleuth.

But there was a show called Burke's Law that I really loved. Gene Barry played Captain Amos Burke of the Homicide Division in Los Angeles, and he was very rich. That was the bit. The bit was that Captain Burke drove around in a gorgeous Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, and he had a chauffeur. And every mystery was structured classically as a whodunit.

In fact, I think every title of every episode was “Who Killed Cock Robin?” “Who Killed Johnny Friendly?” that kind of thing.

And they would have a cast of well-known Hollywood actors, so they were all of equal status. Because I always think that's one of the easiest ways to guess the killer is if it's like: Unknown G