Product Description
Two classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries told on audio cassette: "The Unfortunate Tobacconists" and "The Paradol Chamber". They are as entertaining now as they were when first broadcast in the 1940s. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Best of Holmes -- The Worst of Holmes
"The Unfortunate Tobacconist" showcases how well Anthony Boucher and Dennis Green can craft a Holmes mystery.The plot is well-constructed, the characters engaging, and Holmes is refreshingly humble.The story'sonly real flaw is that it suffers from a somewhat obvious solution--ashortcoming of many of the Boucher-Green collaborations."The ParadolChamber" on the other hand is as contrived and silly a piece of workas one could hope to imagine.In Boucher's and Green's defense, you mustadmit that Conan Doyle, who only wrote 56 Holmes stories, wrote severalstinkers himself.Boucher and Green cranked out over 200 stories, and theydid it on a much tighter schedule than Conan Doyle worked against. Regardless of the poor quality of "The Paradol Chamber," thechemistry between Bruce and Rathbone is perfect, and they never fail toentertain. ... Read more

Product Description
Two classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries told on audio cassette: "The Tell-tale Pigeon Feathers" and "The Indiscretion Of Mr Edwards". ... Read more

Product Description
Basil Rathbone reprises his role as Sherlock Holmes in an action-packed mystery featuring the famed detective and his sidekick, Dr. Watson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

wonderful!
I loved it! the first time I ever read a short detective fiction in English. I liked the "the woman's" cleverness. Sherlock Holmes is stopped by a woman, something he had not thought of it. I loved the Irene Adler's letter to Sherlock in the end.

Another wonderful Sherlock Holmes story
When the King of Bohemia himself comes to Mr. Sherlock Holmes with a case, how can he say no? A woman has an indiscrete picture of herself and the King, and is threatening to disrupt his wedding. Numerous attempts have been made to retrieve the picture, but now Sherlock Holmes himself is on the case. But, there is more going on than meets the eye, and Holmes soon finds that he is facing one of his most clever opponents.

This is the third Sherlock Holmes story that Arthur Conan Doyle ever wrote, and it was first published in 1892. This is another wonderful Sherlock Holmes story, with lots of mystery, adventure and disguises. Indeed, the woman of the story - Irene Adler - has become so popular, that a number of books have been written starring her! So, if you want to read a good Sherlock Holmes story, or you want to see the very first Irene Adler story, then get this book!

Interesting...
A Scandal in Bohemia was a nicely written short story. It was engaging and it is my favorite Sherlock Holmes tale. Its nice to see that for once he went up against someone whose mental capacity was in the same league ashis. At first I didn't really like Irene Adler for no reason I can think ofnow. But she grew on me and by the end of the story, she was my favoritecharacter. The King was an absolute idiot. ... Read more

Product Description
Includes color slides and 33rpm record by Basil Rathbone ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

"Excellent! I cried. "Elementary," said he.
I enjoyed these so much I named my Son after one of the Characters! Truthfully I can't get enough of it. I absolutely love the way they begin each Episode, Dr. Watson inviting us in as he stokes the Fire, tells us a bit about his Dogs and shares a glass of Perti Wine. You feel as though you're right there the sound(s), speech are very clear. For those who watch Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce in the Movies you'll enhance your appreciation for not only these Actors, but the Mysteries as well. The only thing mysterious about this and the other Discs in this Collection is...why you're reading my Review when you could have already ordered them!?

SHERLOCK HOLMS
I love radio and if you love radio this product is just for you.Sherlock Holmes has the best stories and drama.Love this item

"I thought we could spend a quiet evening by the fire"
"Murder by Moonlight" is the fourth and last of the CD collections of 1940s Sherlock Holmes radio episodes "Starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce".But in the case of this collection that phrase on the cover is somewhat misleading, since four of the twelve episodes included come from after Rathbone's departure from the series and feature his successor as radio's Sherlock Holmes, Tom Conway.Nigel Bruce is actually billed above Tom Conway on these episodes for his role as Dr. Watson.

"The Book of Tobit" is a hilariously predictable episode, which I don't actually mean as a criticism.It places Holmes in a rather unique situation, which leads him to take Watson's friendship for granted even more heartlessly than usual.Watson, of course, remains loyal."Murder Beyond the Mountains" is a story set during Holmes' travels in Tibet, when he was supposedly dead after the Reichenbach Falls incident; thus Watson appears only as narrator.Although the story is interesting, the logic of Holmes' solution of the mystery did not quite convince me.It's also morbidly amusing to note that writers Denis Green and Anthony Boucher resort for the second time on these CDs to the same ghoulish method of murdering a male Chinese character.

"The Manor House Case" is based on a reference to an unchronicled investigation in Conan Doyle's "The Greek Interpreter", and is commendable for its precise faithfulness to the Canonical reference to the incident, a characteristic not always found in Holmes pastiches.This story also once again places Holmes and Watson in an amusingly novel situation as Watson attempts to investigate a mystery himself (and, gratifyingly, makes a somewhat better job of it than one might expect of Bruce's Watson)."The Adventure of the Stuttering Ghost" was the very first Tom Conway episode.Conway's portrayal of Holmes, while completely professional and convincing (much more than can be said of some actors who have tackled the role), seems very much like a slightly inferior version of Rathbone's interpretation.

"The Great Gandolfo" is a story set in Holmes' retirement, involving a stage magician and his assistant, as well as Holmes' brother Mycroft.It is an extremely frustrating episode because it seems obvious that there should be a further plot twist at the end which Holmes and Mycroft have missed.It seems to me that they end up letting a very clever woman get away with murder and espionage."The Adventure of the Original Hamlet", another Tom Conway episode, is an effectively melodramatic Moriarty story.

"Murder by Moonlight" finds Holmes and Watson on a steamship to India in 1894.It is interestingly integrated with an earlier episode, "The Vanishing White Elephant", by Watson's telling us that this adventure happened while he and Holmes were on their way to that one."The Singular Affair of the Coptic Compass" is another Tom Conway episode involving Moriarty.I found the significance to the story of the eponymous compass to be an interesting plot twist, but some listeners may well feel cheated by it.

"The Gunpowder Plot", a particularly memorable episode, takes place on Guy Fawkes Day and sees Holmes and Watson attempting to avert a latter-day version of Guy Fawkes' intended crime.Especially amusing is the sequence in which Holmes and Watson pretend to be building inspectors, with Rathbone utilizing his flawless Cockney accent."The Babbling Butler", another Tom Conway show, features a memorable guest character in the form of a cruelly biting society wit.

In "The Accidental Murderess", Holmes and Watson are walking through the woods of Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's hometown, when Holmes is shot and slightly wounded by a married couple, the wife of which has previously been accused of murder.This one will keep you guessing for a while."The Adventure of the Blarney Stone" ends this CD set, and Simon & Schuster Audio's Holmes-Rathbone series, very disappointingly.As an American of Irish descent, I was actually deeply offended by this story's stereotypical depiction of the Irish as drunks who talk constantly about "the little people", and whose police refuse to conduct a murder investigation on St. Patrick's Day!

Go back in time and listen to an original radio broadcast
I love to listen to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and how they figure out "who done it".This audiobook was especially good since it allowed you to "go back in time" to when you parents and grandparents listened to his stores on the old RCA Radio.

I learned several things by listening to this.
1. Sherlock Homes had a brother.I had never heard about any family of his in any of the stories I had listened to or read.
2. Two different actors portrayed Sherlock Holmes.I never knew there was any other actor than Basil Rathbone.
3. Radio is no different from TV today when it comes to commercials.They are all LOUD!I had to turn the CD player down when the story broke for commercials.
4. I learned about Petrie Wine and Kreml Hair Cream until I felt I could sell for these companies.This, of course, was because I was listening to one program right after the other rather than as the original broadcasts which were one a week.

The music and sound effects were very well done.The actors were exceptional because they only had their voices to portray the story.As we all know, radio is an audio media without video to lend to the acting.I could picture them as if I was watching them on stage.

This CD contains 12 of the Sherlock Holmes stories.I may just acquire another CD of these remastered, original broadcasts because this one held my attention to the very end.

THE FINAL EPISODES OF RATHBONE AS SHERLOCK HOLMES
This is the was the last of the set of radio programs where Rathbone and Bruce team up one last time.Rathbone was concerned about being typecasted and left radio for the newer medium TV. Bruce remained with another actor on radio, but it wasn't the same; ever again. Bruce died sudddenly in 1953 of a heart attack. Rathbone was in an almost constant state of mourning formore than 2 years after Bruce passed. The two had become the best of friends, playing pranks on the radio show, often during the live performances. One of the best was in character during a scene, Bruce/Watson) speaks after a "gunshot" "Look Holmes, there!" By mistake was heard the breaking of glass, Bruce/Watson adlibed to his line, "Holmes, the poor fellow, someone shot him and broke his glass of Perti wine."Rathbone/Holmes) chuckled his line trying regain composure. These are some great radio shows as timeless as the actors who portrayed them.Get the final set, you'll be glad you did. ... Read more

Product Description
This dark and eerie story is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most popular. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Not the best print quality
I am sure all the words are in there but low quality print. They make it look like a penguin classic but don't be mistaken.

Best Book
Chelsea Hall
October 13, 2005


This year I read The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allen Poe. It's about a guy who is captured and tortured by a pendulum, but shortly after is thrown into an abyss. My favorite artist, Griss Grimly makes drawings from Poe's stories. So since I love Griss so much I decided to check Poe out. I'd recommend this story to any one who likes Griss Grimly's art who is over the age of thirteen. If you don't like guar, crazy, magical, scary, mystery books you wouldn't like this story, but if you do like everything I said you like this book.
This book was wonderful because of all the torture. The guy in this book was hearing people that really weren't there.For example he said "I saw the lips of the black robed judges. They appeared white whiter then this sheet upon which I write these words and thin even grotesquely. Also another scary moment in this story is when the pendulum gets closer and closer to his rob, it was very suspenseful. It said "down steadily down it crept. Down certainly, relentlessly down". The only thing wrong was it was a little hard to understand. Like "it enveloped my limbs and body close in all directions, save in the path of the destroying crescent".
My over all opinion was a wonderful experience. It was fun and not boring, unlike all the other books I've read. Anyone looking for horror stories, which love terror scary and fun you will like this book.

Great!
Edgar Allen Poe (1809-49) is one of the most famous of American authors of mysterious and macabre stories, certainly the most famous 19th century one. The Pit and the Pendulum was first published in 1843, and is one of his best known works. The early part of the story has a diffuse, dreamlike quality, but before you know it, the story quickens and sharpens as it descends into hair-raising horror. The hero must strain and struggle to stay alive, but will the Inquisition let him live, can nothing save him?

OK, it sure is easy to see why this story is recognized as a classic work of American literature! It is scary, in the older way, without recourse to blood and severed limbs, and keeps you glued to your chair reading it. I am now quite sorry that it took me so long to get around to reading this story, it's great, and I highly recommend it.

SPOILER BELOW:

By the way, is it true that this story is a Christian allegory? It is inevitable that, regardless of what the hero does, he will end up in the pit (Hell). When he avoids it early on, you see the figure of time with its pendulum slowly moving towards taking his life away, and afterward the pit is still inevitable. And then, when all hope is lost, and his efforts won't save him, it is the hand of God that reaches out to save him. Read this story and decide for yourself!

One of Poe's best
I really enjoy very much Poe's short stories, mainly those where he gives us only a glimpse in some part of his main character's life.

"The pit and the pendulum" has almost no begginig and no end. It's the story of a man condemned to death by the Inquisiton. This death is not a simple one, since he is thrown in a dungeon with no light and lots of dangers.

This short story is full of anguish and told in an almost hysterical way. The reader discovers the horrors of the dungeon together with the main character. We don't know his name, we don't know what he did to be condemned, we don't know where he came from, we don't know nothing at all about him. And yet we keep turning the pages to see whet's going to happen next.

Poe had a dark style of writing; he could toy with his reader's minds as well as with his character's minds, and that's what makes him a master of romantic-gothic storytelling.

Read with the lights on.

Grade 9.6/10

Great book!
I think that this was a very exciting book. It's one of those books where you need to keep reading to find out what happns next and it's like you can't stop. The narrator is stuck in the Spanish inquisition and he discovers a pit--no one knows whats down there, but you can guess by context clues. Then he awakens to a pendulum swinging over him, that comes down so slow. Will he be cunning enough to escape? Read and find out! ... Read more

Product Description
Box set, contains 8 original Sherlock Holmes radio broadcasts (1939-1946). These are the American broadcasts, which include original commercials, war-time public service announcements, and more. Programs include: A Scandal in Bohemia; The Second Generation; In Flanders Fields; The Eyes of Mr Leyton; The Tell Tale Pigeon Feathers; The Indiscretion of Mr Edwards; The Problem of Thor Bridge; and Double Zero. ... Read more

Product Description
Box set, contains 8 original Sherlock Holmes radio broadcasts (1939-1946). These are the American broadcasts, which include original commercials, war-time public service announcements, and more. Titles include: Murder in the Casbah; The Tankerville Club; The Guileless Gypsy; The Strange Case of the Murder in Wax; The Man with the Twisted Lip; The Camberwell Poisoners; The Terrifying Cats; and The Submarine Cave. ... Read more

Product Description

WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE OF RADIO, AND THE BEST IN CLASSIC MYSTERY...

From 1939 to 1946 Americans gathered around their radio to listen to The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes -- featuring Basil Rathbone as the high strung crime-solver and Nigel Bruce as his phlegmatic assistant. Witty, fast-paced, and always surprising, these great radio plays, written by the prolific writing team of Anthony Boucher and Denis Green, are as fresh today as they were then, and feature perfect sound along with nostalgic wartime announcement, original narrations and radio commercials. This special collector's edition includes:

TAPE ONE:
THE LIVING DOLL and THE DISAPPEARING SCIENTISTS

TAPE TWO:
THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND and THE PURLOINED RUBY

TAPE THREE:
THE BOOK OF TOBIT and MURDER BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS

TAPE FOUR:
THE MANOR HOUSE CASE and THE ADVENTURE OF THE STUTTERING GHOST ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Old-time radio brings new life to Sherlock Holmes
The new advantages of Sherlock Holmes is absolutely fabulous this is only one of the sets available for this series. I'm only 26 years old, but the new adventures of Sherlock Holmes has given me a great appreciation for old-time radio. These are true collectors items. If you think you know Sherlock Holmes, I challenge to to listen to the new adventures. I guarantee you'll discover subtle nuances that you didn't know about before. The new adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a fresh approach to this wonderful fictional detective.

Vintage Radio Holmes
Although Edith Meiser was the most prolific author of Holmes radio pastiches, the team of Dennis Green and Anthony Boucher was the best.This collection contains one original Conan Doyle story ("The Speckled Band"), one story from Holmes' retirement days as a beekeeper ("The Living Doll"), and one from the time while he was in hiding after the fight at Reichenbach Falls ("Murder Beyond the Mountains").Nigel Bruce and Basil Rathbone star as Holmes and Watson, but the final tale in the collection ("The Stuttering Ghost") is the first broadcast starring Tom Conway as Holmes.When Rathbone left the series at the end of the 1945 season, Tom Conway stepped into the breach, and the Green-Boucher team wrote the series for one more season.Conway does a creditable job as Holmes, but after Rathbone's departure, they gave Nigel Bruce top billing. ... Read more

Product Description
The perfect gift for mystery lovers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Careful! Not Complete!
Amazon says this is a volume of Poe's complete works.Uh-uh.Only the poetry.

Edgar Allen Poe for Young People
The poetry of Edgar Allen Poe is often taught in school because kids enjoy the horror aspect and the fact he is one of the first major writers in the US.This is a great guide for the poetry of Poe.The book explains the background of the poem nicely and provides a good introduction to his writing.Highly recommended.

Homework review
This is a great book by Edgar Allan Poe that is filled with great "Poe"ms.My favorite is the poem called "The Raven." Some of the poems are a bit scary, and there are some scary pictures. I would recommend it for ages 8+. There are also poems that you can't find in any of Poe's books because they are shortened versions of larger, unabridged poems. Also, some of the poems have to do with death. Thanks to Brod Bagert, (editor) Carolynn Cobleigh, (illustrator) and of course, Edgar Allan Poe.

the dreaded poetry book
I would not recommend this poem book to people unless they like reading this type of poetry, or poetry in general.While I was reading these poems, I found it very hard to concentrate on the poem I was reading, because the poems didn't really catch my interest.I don't think I would enjoy reading another poetry book bye Edgar Allen Poe because I don't really like his type of poetry.My mind wandered a lot while I was reading Poe's poems because they weren't exciting, they were sad, scary, and gloomy.

Life of Edgar Allan Poe
I use this video in my composition two literature classes.We read "Fall of the House of Usher," "The Raven," and "Hop Frog" and look for similarities between the lives of the characters Poe created and Poe's life.The video brings a great deal in insight to poe's work by revealing that his characters are not too far removed from his own circumstances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (35)

AN ASTONISHING LIFE

.....If only one half the episodes in Flynn's book are true then his adventures were as exciting as any fiction writer could conjure.

.....His journey from Tasmania to the King of Hollywood was as improbable as any rags to riches story ever told.

.....A Hollywood actress once said that Flynn's main problem was that he liked the ladies and the ladies liked him.Olivia DeHavilland, his co star in eight pictures, said that she had a crush on Errol but that their relationship was platonic and confined to the screen.She claimed that he asked her to marry him while he was still married to Lilly Damita but as loveable as Errol was she could never marry a man who was likely to be in another woman's bed whenever he got the chance.

.....She told a story of shooting a scene with Errol in "Robinhood" where they had to kiss and she didn't want the scene to end so she kept flubbing her lines so that they would have to shoot it over.She said that by the sixth take Errol began to have a problem with his tights.Olivia was in her eighties and white haired when she gave that interview and she delivered it deadpan.She was hillarious.

.....I am on my second reading and I think I could read this book at least once a year and still find it entertaining.Flynn was one of a kind and we are not likely to see another.I highly recommend this book.

By far the most entertaining autobiography I've ever read...and reread
4.8 stars

Easily my favorite memoir.

Flynn is an excellent writer and lived a truly epic, fascinating life. This book rarely flags, and only then towards the end. The rest is absolutely hilarious, and surprisingly insightful and self-effacing. I expected nothing when I found this on a library shelf some years back in Colorado, never having heard of it, and never have I been more pleasantly surprised by a book of any sort.

Flynn was a star like we can't imagine. He almost invented the devil-may-care movie star type, and no one has surpassed him since. Movies back then were everything; there was no tv, only books and radio, neither of which show a face, so when a perfect mug like Flynn's arrived on screen, attached to an athletic, daring scamp of an adventurer, he was, well, in like Flynn.

The only memoir I've found worth reading more than once (three times to date), Wicked Ways succeeds not only due to its great humor but Flynn's extraordinarily exciting early life. By far the best part is his adventures through the Orient with one of the wildest characters I've ever encountered in fact or fiction, Koots. This guy is something else, and deserves a movie and book of his own. I won't spoil this section, but suffice to say that few films pack the fun, humor and suspense that those chapters do. They're some of my favorite tales of all time, in fact.

The later years of Hollywood stardom and the fall therefrom get a bit wearing for both author and reader, and one feels that details may be missing but doesn't really care. Flynn may have a been a rogue in every sense of the word, but he also comes across as a decent man, with a sense of honor and fair play. He may have slept around with every starlet in Hollywood, many of them quite young, but it seems assured that none of them did so except very willingly. He's a charming bloke to the nth degree, and you'd be hard pressed not to smile and wave goodbye as your daughter gets into his Bentley and rolls away.

If you need humor and adventure in equal doses, both very large, this is your book.

Highly recommended.

In like Flynn
Great read, though his style of writing and lopsided story line is from a whole other world. Easily one of the best read's for a while. Helps to understand one of Australia's greatest hollywood star's of all time.

A Guide For Living...no...REALLY LIVING!
This is hands down the best autobiography I have ever read.I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who wants to make the most of life.Sure, it may contain exaggerations, embellishments, and flat out lies.It doesn't matter.It is beyond inspirational, not to mention suspenseful, insightful, and shockingly intimate and revealing.Funny too!In short, I knew almost nothing of Errol Flynn before I read this book.Now, I love this guy!Pity him too, because there is an element of truth in this book that really puts the life of fame and fortune into perspective.Despite his so called 'shortcomings,' one cannot help admiring this guy's courage, wit, will, and yes, honesty.Whether he had a ghost writer or not, it was Flynn's voice I heard narrating.And I think its important to remember that some stories are true that never happened.Throughout the book, Errol demonstrates how the philosophy of 'acting as if' can take a man from obscurity to the extraordinary.A beautiful book to document a great life, and I dare say it should be a 'must read' for any young MAN setting out to live life to the fullest!Or, at the very least, a 'must-read' cautionary tale.

View on Errol
This is a great book, really gives insight into the real Errol Flynn, the scoundrel, the adventurer, the pirate, the swashbuckler, the human. He was everything in real life and more what he was in the movies. ... Read more