Customer Reviews

Inspector Morse: Wolvercote Tongue [VHS]

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The Inspector Morse series is one of the great British TV mystery programs of all time. "The Wolvercote Tongue" is a decent adaptation of Colin Dexter's "The Jewel That Was Ours," although the book is better. The stereotypical American characters are grating, but this episode is still worth watching for the wonderful performances of --and chemistry between-- actors John Thaw and Kevin Whately. My real complaint about this DVD, however, is with the overall presentation. While I'm grateful to BFS Video (an apparently low-budget operation in Canada) for finally bringing the Morse series to DVD in the US, they've done an incredibly poor job on the DVD transfer and with the packaging of the handful of Morse DVDs that they've released to date. Among other things, the video quality is poor. It looks something you'd get when you put your VCR to the lowest recording grade possible. Second, the unbelievably cheesy BFS Video logo and theme song that assaults the eyes and ears at the start of each DVD is an embarrassment. BFS can't seem to even get the cover photo of their products right. On some of their other Morse DVDs, they use photos that have nothing to do with the particular episode and/or are printed backwards. For this early Morse program, however, they go one further and use a photo that was not only taken many years later, it's from a DIFFERENT SHOW ENTIRELY, namely John Thaw's barrister series from the 1990s, Kavanagh QC. BFS- if you're reading this, kindly fire your products marketing people, as they clearly don't know anything about Morse. There are dozens --if not hundreds or thousands-- of fans out there like me who will gladly help you do things properly, and for no charge! There's no excuse for such shoddy work. Morse fans deserve better.

The WOLVERCOTE TONGUE is a pin that fits into a buckle-an elaborate and beautiful Anglo-Saxon buckle of the sort excavated at Sutton Hoo. The bejeweled tongue is the most beautiful part of the buckle that once clasped the waist of a mighty lord. The matching buckle is on exhibit in the fabled Oxford University Ashmolean--the oldest museum in England.

The tongue, long ago separated from the buckle, is owned by a rich American woman who has traveled with a group of tourists to Oxford, where she plans to present the pin to the Ashmolean. The afternoon of the presentation, after too much touring about the city has tired her, the woman goes to her hotel room to take a nap from which she will never awake. Her husband discovers her body and that the Wolvercote tongue has gone missing. Never fear, Endeavor Morse, Detective Chief Inspector of the Thames Valley Police and his trusty sidekick Sgt. Lewis are soon on the case.

This is a lovely film, and a vicarious thrill for Anglophiles who have spent hours and hours in Oxford or wish they had. The colleges, the shops, walking along behind Merton, the Botanical garden, punters on the Thames, the Ashmolean-it wouldn't matter to me if the plot made sense or not (it does), or whether the characters were fully developed or not (they are). Oxford's gleaming spires in the dying light of the afternoon sun and John Thaw-who could ask for anything more.

This entry in the Morse series represents a blend of various ingredients--- a suspicious death, suicide, homicide, adultery, possible theft, and attempted insurance fraud. Despite the serious nature of these events, however, this mystery is unexpectedly humorous. The plot basically revolves around a group of wealthy American tourists who visit Oxford as a part of their itinerary. Arrangements had been made previously for one of the lady tourists to donate "the Wolvercote Tongue" to an Oxford museum. Shortly after the group arrives in Oxford, however, the lady is found dead in her hotel room and the valuable artifact is missing. Despite evidence to indicate that the lady suffered a heart attack, Morse becomes convinced that some form of foul play precipitated the death. His position seems to be strengthened by the fact that shortly after the lady's death, the body of the museum director is found floating in the river under circumstances which point to homicide. Morse is fairly certain that the same person may have had a role in both deaths and that both deaths are connected to the missing Wolvercote Tongue; however, one characteristic of this episode is that Morse reached several conclusions regarding the identity of perpetrators and the nature of their crimes which proved to be mistaken in the final analysis. Ultimately, of course, all these mysterious questions are answered--- but not until one more homicide occurs late in the episode. Actually, the guilty party inspires a certain amount of sympathy, considering what he experiences at the hands of his wife and colleague. Once more, Morse demonstrates his ability to focus on small details (a suitcase, window draperies, and a left luggage receipt) which help to clarify the issues and solve the case. As stated above, despite the serious themes which characterize this episode, this entry in the series is quite humorous at times. The group of tourists is somewhat stereotypically presented-- with at least one of the group portraying the usual obnoxious know it all type person. There is a great deal of humor derived from watching this tiresome lady interact with other people--- especially since she gets what she deserves at the end of the episode. All things considered, this is one of the best Morse episodes in my opinion.

Extremely well written, this mystery has Morse and Lewis on the trail of a murderer when all the evidence points to death by natural causes. In the course of the story Morse must deal with all sorts of wealthy American tourists, and one wonders whether this film had any impact on the screenwriters of GOSFORD PARK. Whether it did or not, and whether the actors are really Yanks or not, the cultural clashes are more overtly funny than this series usually gets, Morse is very nearly Basil Fawlty in several scenes.
By this time in the series, Whatley and Thaw were really hitting their stride and their natural ease with each other made these films entirely believeable. Dexter set out to write these stories because he thought he could do a better job than what he had read in the genre, and he did just that. Morse and Lewis are every bit the match for Holmes and Watson.
Anyway, this is a great story, brilliantly written for the screen, and one in which Morse's caustic humour is let run rampant over each and every person with whom he collides. Oh yeah, a jewel is stolen and a woman is dead. Who done it..... that would be telling.

If you haven't read the book this DVD version is fine if not the best of the series. If you've read the book, titled The Jewel That Was Ours, you probably will find this version of the story disappointing. You'll certainly find it simplified. The author apparently was very unhappy with much of the plot, and how poorly his puzzle pieces fit together. And there are some jagged edges indeed. The new upgraded book version entertains an entirely new emphasis, as convoluted as possible and luxuriating in the expansive - Dexter throws out more red herrings than a Danish fishmonger. Moreover, the book offers far more of Morse and you have a much more tightly written (and much more surprising)detective story thrown in for good measure.
The Kirkus reviewer must have gotten out of the wrong side of the bed prior to reviewing the book - missing a gaggle of charming little touches, from curious and deceptive chapter quotes, to vastly improved charaters. At least from the point of view of the television model - the novel raises the bar a great deal.

A heart attack, murder #1, a suicide, murder #2 - a lot of activity to sustain the action in this "who done it?" We do not see much of the personal Morse: a few very short musical excerpts as well as several visits to local pubs. Max suppplies the humor, while Morse and Lewis provide excellent sparring throughout. Add in a couple of vignettes from the tour group's participants as well as a minor mystery surrounding an antique and historic piece of jewelry "The Wolvercote Tongue" and we have a very good episode - well worth our time. One wonders how much better it could have been if they had been able to devote more time to Morse's idiosyncrasies.

John Thaw is one of my all-time favorite actors in investigative dramas. Thaw's Morse is compelling to watch - he loves listening to operatic music, enjoys his quality pint of ale, is addicted to crosswords, easily smitten by a pretty face and intelligence, and is meticulous and astute in his deductive reasoning. All in all, Morse exemplifies the consummate detective, and most of the Morse episodes are of superior quality in terms of writing and acting.

In The Wolvercote Tongue, an American tourist is found dead while resting in her hotel room. Though her death is initially ruled as the result of a coronary attack, Morse is convinced that something must have brought about her death, especially since the dead woman was about to present a prized jewel called The Wolvercote Tongue to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. When another body turns up soon after, Morse is convinced all is not right, and sets about solving the murder mystery with his long suffering detective sergeant, Lewis.

Anglophiles will delight in the scenes of Oxford, and the story is well-written with superlative performances as always by John Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as Lewis. This is vintage Morse, and is sure delight viewers. Here is the episode listing for the Inspector Morse series:
First Series (1987)
The Dead of Jericho
The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn
Service of All the Dead

Second Series (1988)
The Wolvercote Tongue
Last Seen Wearing
The Settling of the Sun
Last Bus to Woodstock

Third Series (1989)
Ghost in the Machine
The Last Enemy
Deceived by Flight
The Secret of Bay 5B

Fourth Series (1990)
The Infernal Serpent
The Sins of the Fathers
Driven to Distraction
Masonic Mysteries

Fifth Series (1991)
Second Time Around
Fat Chance
Who Killed Harry Field?
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Promised Land

Sixth Series (1992)
Dead on Time
Happy Families
The Death of the Self
Absolute Conviction
Cherubim and Seraphim

Seventh Series (1993)
Deadly Slumber
The Day of the Devil
Twilight of the Gods

Specials 1995-2000
The Way through the Woods
The Daughters of Cain
Death is Now My Neighbour
The Wench Is Dead
The Remorseful Day

When Inspector Morse utters these words, the viewer may be wishing the same thing. Laura Poindexter, an American on a mission to rejoin the "Wolvercote Tongue," which she owns, to the Anglo Saxon "Wolvercote Buckle" from which it has been separated for centuries, plans to donate it to the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford so that the two pieces can be displayed together. Before she is able to do this, however, she dies in her hotel room of a "heart attack," and the Wolvercote Tongue goes missing. Morse is convinced that this is a murder.

Featuring a large cast of characters, most of them wealthy (and obnoxious) Americans on a tour of England, the list of suspects is very long, as are the complications. All the characters have alibis, many vouch for each other, and those who may be guilty of some parts of the crime could not possibly have committed other parts of the crime. Adultery pervades the case, with tourists, tour agency employees, and Oxford lecturers engaging in relationships with each other--and sometimes creating heartbreak. Morse (John Thaw) and Lewis (Kevin Whately) are hard pressed to keep on top of the various investigations as the red herrings keep appearing.

Characters are stereotypes, for the most part, and as the viewer and Morse try to keep track of everyone as they move in various directions, other deaths are taking place. A nude body is found in the river, and a suicide and an additional murder soon take place. If dealing with all these complications were not enough, new characters keep being added to the plot, one of them in the last scenes of the episode to explain, in part, some of the thinking behind the theft of the jewel and its continued disappearance.

Lewis and Morse are often going in different directions, and their relationship with each other, usually a high point in the series, gains little ground here. As always, the photography by Clive Tickner is outstanding. One of the more complex episodes in the series, the Wolvercote Tongue features a large number of seemingly interchangeable characters with a variety of motives for evil in a plot overly filled with red herrings. n Mary Whipple