Tag: Radio Classics

Chicken Heart

I was driving home from work this morning and I was listening to some old time radio shows. Suspense has always been a favorite of mine. Around Halloween, Radio Classics on Sirius XM starts playing some classic “spooky” radio shows. One of the shows that almost always gets played is from Arch Obler’s “Lights Out” – Chicken Heart.

I became familiar with the Chicken Heart as a kid, but it wasn’t because of the show. I knew it as a classic comedy bit from Bill Cosby’s 1966 Wonderfulness Album.

This, along with many other Cosby albums, was something that my dad and I used to listen to all the time. In Cosby’s bit, he talks about being left home while his parents went out. He was supposed to stay in his room, but he would leave the room and listen to scary shows on the radio. He used the Chicken Heart as his example.

The original bit from Lights Out is only about 8 minutes long. Honestly, it’s not that scary. It’s actually kind of silly. Cosby, however, takes the bit and makes it hilarious. As someone who was more familiar with the Cosby version, when I heard the original on Sirius XM, I remember thinking, “Wow! That was really the premise for a show!!”

There is some uncertainty as to the date of the original broadcast, some say 1937 and some say 1938. Here for your listening pleasure is Chicken Heart from Lights Out ….

https://youtu.be/XuSzhsuofik

Now, compare it with the much funnier version as presented by Bill Cosby…

As I listened back to this bit before writing this post, it made me think of all the great comedy albums we used to listen to growing up. So many laughs ….

Elementary, My Dear Reader

I believe I have blogged in the past about Sherlock Holmes. I guess it is interesting that while I have never read a Sherlock Holmes book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I have read books loosely based on the character. There was a series out not too long ago called The Baker Street Mysteries, that focused on a lawyer who resided at the famous address of Mr. Holmes. It seems they would get letters addressed to the famous detective all the time. I read a few of them, but the last one was quite boring to me, so I stopped.

I always enjoy when the Radio Classics channel on Sirius XM plays old Sherlock Holmes shows. Some of them even featured the Sherlock Holmes I was most familiar with as a kid – Basil Rathbone. He and Nigel Bruce did many Sherlock Holmes films, too.

Over the years, many actors have played the great detective. In the theater recently, Robert Downey Jr. teamed up with Jude Law to play Holmes and Dr. Watson. The first movie was in 2009 and followed by the sequel (Game of Shadows) in 2011. In May of this year, it was announced that Downey and Law will reprise their roles in another sequel.

In 2015, Sir Ian McKellen played a retired Sherlock Holmes in the very touching film, Mr. Holmes. This was very well done and I recommend it if you haven’t seen it.

Without a doubt, my favorite incarnation of the character was in the British series Sherlock. Set in modern times, Benedict Cumberbatch takes on the role of Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman is Dr. Watson. I loved everything about this show! I really wish they’d make more episodes.

This brings me to the main reason for this blog. Over the weekend, my wife said she had seen something while surfing Netflix that she thought I’d be interested in watching. We watched Sherlock together and so when she saw the post about Elona Holmes, she saved it on her “to watch” list.

When she mentioned it, she thought it was a series, but it was actually a movie. It is based on a novel by Nancy Springer. It seems that there are actually 6 books in the Enola Holmes series. I’d never heard of these books, and it seems the reason is that they are written for young adults.

The movie is based on the first book in the series, The Case of the Missing Marquess, which was first published in 2006.

The movie focuses on the teenage sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, Enola. Her mother turns up missing and she’s on a mission to find her. I found the movie to be quite enjoyable. Enola is played by Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown. Her mother Eudoria is played by Harry Potter’s Helena Bonham Carter. Mycroft and Sherlock are played by Sam Claflin and Henry Cavill. The basic plot: when Eudoria mysteriously disappears, Enola undertakes her first missing persons case and reconnects with her estranged detective brother along the way.

It is currently on Netflix and has been well received. There is talk of further sequels based on the other books.

As far as Sherlock’s go, Cavill is ok……but he’s no Benedict Cumberbatch.

Check it out on Netflix.