Normally, when Christmas rolls around and my family asks, What do you want for Christmas? I ask for books (or gift cards to bookstores). I’m pretty simple and the way to my heart involves chocolate and mysteries. However, 2020 hasn’t been a normal year and I decided to mix things up a bit. So, this year, rather than asking for books, I asked for DVDs. What do you do on a long holiday weekend during a pandemic when you can’t be with family? Well, I don’t know about you, but I chose to eat (a lot) and watch old murder mysteries. I asked for THE SNOOP SISTERS (starring Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick) and NERO WOLFE (starring William Conrad and Lee Horsley).
THE SNOOP SISTERS was a TV series that played on NBC in the early 1970s. The series features two elderly sisters, Ernesta Snoop (Helen Hayes), who is a mystery writer, and her sister, Gwendolyn Snoop Nicholson (Mildred Natwick). The adventuress duo stumble across multiple murders which they are compelled to solve, to the utter consternation of their nephew, Lt. Ostrowski (Bert Convy). Ernesta and Gwendolyn (G for short) were gutsy, adventurous, and entertaining. I enjoyed watching these well dressed elderly sisters don disguises, confront killers, and solve murders while wearing pumps and without mussing a hair on their well-coifed heads. Can you imagine either of these sisters with Alice Cooper at a coven? Neither could I, but I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud.
NERO WOLFE was the creation of Rex Stout and I’m a big fan of the books. I also loved the television rendition starring Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin which adheres to the familiar plots from the books. That series was great fun with the feel of a community theatre, in that many of the actors were regulars who played different roles in each episode. The 1981 version featuring William Conrad as the portly, gourmet food, orchid loving, genius detective, wasn’t my favorite. Few of the plots resembled the books and at times the Nero Wolfe on-screen bore very little resemblance to Stout’s creation. I nearly spat out my popcorn when a woman not only kissed Nero Wolfe but embraced him (Rex Stout probably rolled over a couple of times in his grave). However, once I let go of the fact that the movies needed to follow the books, I could enjoy them as the 1980’s TV dramas they were created to be. This was actually easy because out of the 14 episodes, less than a third were based on the books. So, these were completely new mysteries.
Hopefully, the pandemic will end soon and next year, I’ll spend the holidays with family. Regardless of what the future holds, watching mysteries will definitely be part of my new tradition. I’ll have turkey and dressing for Thanksgiving. I’ll eat black-eyed peas, collard greens, and pork for New Year’s Day. And, from now on, I’ll be spending Christmas with Ernesta, G, and Nero.