Customer Reviews

Dick Francis Mysteries (In The Frame/ Blood Sport/ Twice Shy)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Well yes, the music and cinematography seem embarrassingly dated and low budget today in 2006 (these episodes aired in 1989). But these are wonderful miniseries adaptations of Dick Francis's entertaining novels -- In the Frame, Blood Sport, and Twice Shy -- each episode like a full-length movie, filmed chiefly in Britain and Canada.

Ian McShane is an inspired choice for the sleuth character, David Cleveland. He is incapable of uttering a line that does not have a substratum of irony lying beneath it. And these admirably smart TV dramas not only give McShane the scope to develop his talent but permit the lean jockey character, his boss, his babes, the bad guys, and even the horses all to have their place. I'm so glad I purchased these, and plan to watch them multiple times.

three Dick Francis novel to telly-movies McShane did in a joint Ireland/Canada venture. So you are getting three full length movies in this set. Upfront, this is mainly for McShane fans rather than Dick Francis fans. They will be grumped because of the changes in the books. However...McShane is gorgeous as Francis' David Cleveland, Jock Club Investigator, who becomes involved with three mysterious outside of the track.

In the Frame - Cleveland helps an old friend who has been robbed and his partner's wife is killed. The only trail to solving the murder is a painting that may be a forgery.

Blood Sport - a multi-million dollar stallion was stolen and never seen again. Why would someone steal a horse they could not race or breed?? David is drawn into the mystery in Canada, where he must ride to save his life.

Twice Shy - finds David helping his nephew's guardian. Her husband was killed in a rock climbing accident, and now someone is harassing her. Kidnapping, ransom and a special code of picking winners lead David on a merry chase.

Any McShane fan will wish to add this super buy to their collection.

Koch Vision and Lance Studios present - "Dick Francis Mysteries" (In The Frame/ Blood Sport/ Twice Shy) (1994) - Ian McShane - (287 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- Author Dick Francis OBE (born October 31, 1920) is a British jockey and author ... He was born Richard Stanley Francis in Lawrenny, South Wales. The son of a jockey, he had a successful career himself as a jockey, winning over 350 races ... During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force piloting fighter and bomber aircraft including the Spitfire. He left the RAF in 1946 to become a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing ... From 1953 to 1957 he was jockey to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. He was forced to retire from racing as the result of a serious fall in 1957. His most famous moment as a jockey came while riding the Queen Mother's horse, Devon Loch, in the 1956 Grand National: the horse inexplicably fell when close to winning the race --- Francis is the only three time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come to Grief in 1996. Also in 1996, he was given the Grand Master Award, the highest honor bestowed by the MWA --- In 1962, he published his first thriller, Dead Cert, which was set in the world of racing. Subsequently, he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which year he published a short story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his heroes held a variety of jobs, from artist (To the Hilt) to private investigator (Odds Against).

Our of hero of Dick Francis Mysteries is DAVID CLEVELAND (played by Ian McShane), is the chief investigator for the British Jockey Club --- was a major TV Movie in a series that was based on many of Francis books --- Cleveland was a continuing character who was always on the side of right versus wrong when it came to horses and their racing --- many weave horse racing within action packed full of suspense, romance and a twist of danger just around the bend of a steeplechase run.

First up "IN THE FRAME" (1989) (97 mins/Color) --- Under Wigbert Wicker (Director), Mathias Wittich (Producer), Denis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller (Executive Producers), Andrew Payne (Teleplay) ----- the cast includes Ian McShane as David Cleveland, Lyman Ward, Amadeus August, Peter Sattmann, Patrick Cauderlier, Rainer Grenkowitz, Cedric Smith, Joseph Ziegler, Laura Dickson, Hans-Peter Korff, Jack Duffy, Liliane Clune, Karin Rasenack, Barbara Rudnik . . . . .the story thus far, will Cleveland (Ian McShane) be able to clear his old friend of of stealing fine wines and art ... is there a deeper secret behind all of the skullduggery ... tune in and find the answer.

Second we have "BLOODSPORT" (1989) (97 mins/Color) --- Under Harvey Hart (Director),Jonathan Hackett (Producer), Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller (Executive Producers), Andrew Payne (Teleplay) ----- the cast includes Ian McShane as David Cleveland, Heath Lamberts, Lloyd Bochner, Kenneth Welsh, Patrick Macnee, Carolyn Dunn, Jennifer Dale, Timothy Webber, Laurie Paton, Cameron Graham, Barbara Franklin, R.D. Reid, Louis Tripp . . . . . our story is of a missing race horse that may still be alive and being switched with another stable of race horses ... Patrick Macnee as McShane's boss is a trip, with Ian finding everything he volunteers him too very boring or not worth his time ... let's see if McShane can make something out of this mystery.

Final and third is "TWICE SHY" (1989) (97 mins/Color) --- Under Deirdre Friel (Director)W. Paterson Ferns (Producer)Dennis E. Doty and Jacky Stoller (Executives Producer), Miles Henderson (Teleplay) ----- the cast includes Ian McShane as David Cleveland, Kate McKenzie, Karl Hayden, Dearbhla Molloy, Niall Toibin, Conor Mullen, David Herlihy, Stephen Brennan, John Keegan, Oliver Maguire, Pat Leavy, Patrick Macnee, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Jim Reid, Deirdre O'Kane . . . . . the plot line has betting services over illegal computers, will the death of McShane's friend bring him full force into the mystery that Francis has contrived ... this one is a puzzlement for Ian, will he be able to find all the pieces and put them together before the final reel.

BIOS:
1. Ian McShane
Date of birth: 29 September 1942 - Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK
Date of death: Still Living
2. Dick Francis (Author)
Date of birth: 31 October 1920 - Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
Date of death: Still Living

Great job by Koch Vision for releasing "Dick Francis Mysteries" (In The Frame/ Blood Sport/ Twice Shy) (1994) - Ian McShane, the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the foreign film market --- order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch drama mixed with an outstanding cast and director --- gotta love it!

Total Time: 287 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV #6651 ~ (5/02/2006)

If you are a fan of quality British Mysteries (Inspector Morse, Inspector Frost, Touching Evil,Wire in the Blood, Last Detective, etc) and think you might be getting something like that with this series because of McShane of Lovejoy fame think again. This is an American made for TV movie with second rate American actors, terrible script and dialouge. To add insult to injury the Inspectors name in one of the films was Frost! Very cheesy America early 80's style TV B movies.

The three novels used for these adaptations are considered as among Francis' weakest (see Dick Francis webring). Serious Francis mystery jocks are strongly advised to skip these heats (and even the books). THESE ARE NOT MYSTERIES but nearer sitcoms.

In the "Blood Sport" adaptation, the novel's protagonist Gene Hawkins, spy screener extraordinaire, becomes Dave Cleveland, racetrack security consultant. Francis' awkward structure is like two glued-together novellas: In the first half, Gene's boss wants him to recover a costly stolen stallion for an owner-friend. After an attempted murder of this friend, the reluctant Gene is convinced there is more here than meets the eye. Leads suggest two other written-off stallions stolen from this friend years previously might still be recoverable. In the second half, attempts to recover these two stallions also explain the earlier attempted murder. The TV adaptation collapses these two halves into one, focusing efforts on the first stallion with key second-half events grafted on. Gone are the book's gripping opening chapters of a treacherous Thames lock system, the vicious undercurrents negotiated with punts greatly facilitating the obscure attempted murder that almost succeeds killing both Gene and the friend. Substituted is a placid Canadian lake with speed boat. And instead of a daring, almost fatal rescue from drowning with life-threatening injuries, the non-swimming friend jumps into the placid water and is routinely rescued by Dave. Gene's imaginative midnight flight with the stallion over treacherous Teton (Wyoming) passes is also mucked-up, location- and event-wise, with unrecognizable events from the novel's second half stitched in. Annoyingly Walt, the savvy insurance investigator helping Gene, is converted into a fat, dumb comic relief character always stuffing his face with donuts.

In the "Twice Shy" adaptation (strongest of these episodes, weakest of the novels), protagonist Jonathon Derry, physics teacher and Olympic marksman, becomes Dave Cleveland, racetrack security consultant. Were this the first Dick Francis book this reviewer had read, it would also have been the last. Francis is a bit computer-challenged, corrected in the TV adaptation. Excepting one colossal blunder, the adaptation is superior, collapsing the awkward two-part novel (separated by 15 years) into one brief period. In the book, Peter is killed early-on in his boat's fuel-line fumes explosion, and despite suspicious timing the police determine it was an accident, not murder. In the adaptation's opening scene, PETER IS MURDERED, his safety line cut during a solo climb by someone he knows but is surprised to see. (Viewers see only hands, knife, boots, climbing gear, Peter's reaction). Incredibly, THIS MURDER IS LEFT UNRESOLVED! Ted Pitt, Peter's old climbing buddy and computer colleague (with adjacent office), is stucking Peter's wife Donna. (In the book, Ted and Peter/Donna never met, Ted being a math teacher colleague whose involvement occurs later helping Jonathan.) Peter was commissioned by bad guys Liam and Ed to develop computer software from notes they stole from a race-betting genius' widow. Peter employed a moonlighting Ted to develop the software. Ted surreptitiously modified a copy of the completed program discs to lower the success rate from 65% to less than 50%, then returned the modified copy to Peter, thence to Liam who got really PO-ed when he found out. In the book, Angelo (TV's Liam) and Eddy are crude and dumb blunderers with no computer savvy whatever. Their TV replacements are intelligent, computer-savvy and credible sociopaths who know very much what they are doing.

In the "In the Frame" adaptation (weakest of the three episodes), protagonist Charles Todd, painter, becomes Dave Cleveland, racetrack security consultant. Having only read a plot synopsis of the book, this reviewer can only imagine the liberties taken!

The problem with such TV adaptations (even with marginal novels like these) is that collective compromises in the interests of time and budget destroy the originals' ambiance, becoming like run-of-the-mill sit-coms. TV picture-sound (from video tape) is adequate, excepting video artifacts in "Blood Sport" by rolling VHS distortion bands. If you want real craftsmanship, spend your bucks on the recently-released Rex-Stout-created Nero Wolfe TV series, a brilliantly original near-masterpiece of adaptation, everything this one isn't, and worth every penny! And they would make great gifts.

Four stars may be a little generous, but these are good entertainment. While a close inspection of the novels' main characters over the course of these three stories would be unlikely to yield serio-comic actor Ian McShane, exactly, you need to remember that this is the movies. The silver screen with booming sound, with (British-) Hollywood cliche writ large. Which by definition means license.

There are similarities in both versions of each tale--the written and the filmed--enough to make the latter effort worth watching. Often key scenes are re-located, possibly for the sake of budget or regional availability of preferred actor. Likewise the screenplay often omits what I consider crucial links in plot development (though a veteran of the related novel may grudgingly connect the dots well enough).

The point of this little essay, with its somewhat kvetching praise, is to encourage you to enjoy this video production. But enjoy it as three pretty good films with intrigue and plausible character development, not as really accurate renditions of the novels whose titles they bear.

I was very pleasantly surprised with these mysteries. The country scenes, the plots and the acting all lent to fine entertainment. Too bad there were not more of these.

My wife has been doing a complete read through of the Dick Francis novels. She was thrilled when I gave her the set for Valentine's day. We have enjoyed watching them.

While the writers lifted one character from one book,
David Cleveland, and made him the main character of all three of these, they did it without damaging the plot too badly.

Enjoyed reading the Dick Francis mysteries more than the videos. Thought Ian McShane would make it a good thriller but was disappointed. The cast didn't ring true.

I guess I was late getting to the Ian McShane fan club. I fell in love with him during his raunchy turn as Al Swearengen in HBO's Deadwood series. I don't apologize for that; he made that role. He was absolutely brilliant and 100% convincing. He's also fun to watch as David Cleveland, a Jockey Club investigator in these 3 Dick Francis mysteries. Cleveland is a far cry from the booze-swilling, whore-mongering, potty-mouthed Swearengen, but he still has the "lady's man" thing going on. These mysteries are a bit dated (hairdos, clothing styles), and a bit corny, but they're enjoyable enough on a rainy Sunday afternoon when the track at Aqueduct is too sloppy to watch on TVG.