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Morse
Aug 16, 2006 11:20:46 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Aug 16, 2006 11:20:46 GMT -5
I'm new to the show, but my mother has been a fan for years. I think I mentioned on "Inspector Lewis" thread that between Mom and Wikipedia I know the basics (health/alcohol troubles, the first name, dropped out of Oxford when his heart was broken). Truth be told I only caught the last two week reruns on "Mystery!" because I'm liking Lewis so much. But Morse could definitely be an interesting character, I'd love to track down more.
And I can definitely tell I need more to do, because I caught myself wondering Hey Oxford...what if Morse and Lewis had been investigating the disappearance of Elizabeth Hitchens? Crossover!. I may be off on the chronology, and I know there's no way they could do a true crossover with Lewis now what with copyright and all, but it's fun to mix your fictions. In my mind at least.
Any other fans?
--Catbird
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Morse
Aug 18, 2006 14:42:10 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Aug 18, 2006 14:42:10 GMT -5
Janethyland,
On the other thread you asked about the quiet times in Morse. I like them. Kind of a nice change of pace from a lot of modern shows. The obvious datedness for me is the 80s fashions and big hair, plus Lewis getting excited about the "new" computers. I did see one comment on IMDB that someone of Morse's rank would be much more likely to be an administrator than actually questioning people, but as I'm not familiar with British police practices that doesn't bug me too much.
In "Sins of the Father" I noticed the camera using a lot of reflections--showing the mirror or window rather than the person themselves. Was that common in Morse?
Honestly, I've just gotten into this in the past month so I haven't seen more than three episodes ("Deceived by Flight", "Sins of the Fathers", and "Ghost in the Machine"), plus "Inspector Lewis". And does the local library or the university video collection have them? No, grumble.
Mama noticed that Morse really played with the issues of social class. Not just the contrast between Oxford Morse and working-class Lewis, but in the cases and suspects themselves. I guess she's always been interested in that aspect, although as Americans of course it's not nearly as long-term or rigid over here.
She's much more likely to compare Goren on CI to "Cracker" than anything else. (And of course they're not showing reruns over here, I have seen none of those.) She explained Cracker as a psych profiler involved in criminal cases, very dark and he also had his own personal issues to deal with, but "Robbie Coltrane did it so much better than Vincent D'Onofrio". Like I said, I can't offer my own opinion, but wondered if you'd seen it and how you thought of those.
(OFF TOPIC: As to your other questions, no I have not read Eliade. Cultural Studies sounds a bit vague, but you can get bits and pieces from individual classes. I've been lucky, I've had good professors with interesting topics who try to blend in a number of approaches and disciplines. All about the primary sources--letters, narratives, art, etc. But my school is very compartmentalized with disciplines and general ed, so you have to make an effort to get stuff outside your major. I came in with a lot of general ed taken care of--AP courses from high school brought credit--so I had room for electives. I tend to go for literature classes when I can, although I love reading too much to do it as a profession.)
--Catbird
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Morse
Aug 23, 2006 20:49:10 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Aug 23, 2006 20:49:10 GMT -5
I know that one reason Kevin Whately appeared in The English Patient was because Anthony Minghella knew him from his work on Morse. (I haven't seen the movie, but I keep hearing bits about it.)
I went home Monday night for a doctor's appointment, and dug out a Morse tape. Mom and Dad had taped, back at the finale, not only "The Remorseful Day" but also the accompanying documentary "The Last Morse". Mom laughed in delight now that I'm hooked, so we watched the documentary. I highly reccomend it--I had caught most of the tidbits in print articles, but so neat to hear the actors and involved persons speaking.
Neither of us was up for "Remorseful Day", but the tape did have "The Masonic Mysteries" as well, so we watched that. It would help if I actually knew something about the Masons and The Magic Flute, but they did get the atmosphere spooky and intriguing. Boy Ian McDiarmid--best known in my family as the evil Emperor--was creepy in the end! Great scene with him and Morse, but that seemed a pretty glaring goof that Lewis would let him go in alone. I can definitely see why Morse is a character people latch onto. Mama cried at the book and film of "The Remorseful Day", and normally I'm pretty stoic but even I might get sniffly when I watch that.
And for any interested, Madelaine Newton, who played Beryl Newsome (Morse's lady-friend and the murder victim), is Kevin Whately's real life wife. Disappointed they didn't get any scenes together, but so it goes.
Bit of foreshadowing with the story of Morse's old partner, widowed, and Lewis just shrugs with "Those things happen sometimes." I know they didn't mean it as foreshadowing, but looking back you just sigh. It's also a slip that Sergeant Lewis, always so keen on computers and software, would be the technophobe in the spin-off. (Maybe he maxed out, got to a point and couldn't keep up, but that's a continuity error.)
Janet, I'm pretty sure "Cracker" (UK) came first, because Mama was making those comparisons back in season 1 of L&O:CI. I guess '80s or '90s, not sure.
Yes, Morse as atypical cop. It's odd, Morse should be one of the upper-class, but he seems to have rejected aspects of it. In just the few episodes I've seen he's made comments about "I never like obliging the nobility", getting snippy when asked his rank, and sarcastically advising Lewis to "keep touching your forelock". But of course he didn't reject all of it. They did talk about that in the documentary--not specifically class, but that he is so aloof and arrogant and lording his culture in front of everybody. Of course I know that opera and such doesn't make one a snob, but Morse definitely uses it to feel superior.
They talked about how that made Lewis really crucial--he's the everyman to help the audience relate to such a guy. Lewis was not educated nearly to the level Morse was--and wasn't exposed to half the "classy" stuff as Morse, and Kevin Whately himself said at times Lewis was a bit "thick." I'm not sure though--of course he wouldn't pick up on a lot of opera or literature, but in bits I've seen he gave the impression of, if not playing dumb, definitely using his ignorance to goad Morse. Regarding Callas: "Then it's not from Cats? Me wife wants to see Cats, I don't know why, she's allergic." To me that's just egging Morse on to get him riled up. (Also convenient exposition for the audience, but whatever works. In books you can get a character's internal monologue--difficult to do in TV without a million voiceovers.)
Reminded me of Eames and Goren. D'Onofrio himself has said "Eames humanizes Goren; if we didn't have Kate Erbe we wouldn't have a show." I doubt the writers were drawing on Morse/Lewis specifically, but it's fun to pick up on parallels. What can I say? I like the supporting roles.
--Catbird
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Morse
Aug 25, 2006 8:37:42 GMT -5
Post by Patcat on Aug 25, 2006 8:37:42 GMT -5
I always admired the MORSE TV series but never loved it, although I have great affection for John Thaw's performance. And I tried but couldn't get into one of the books.
The director who loved the mirrors also directed a couple of the later Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes episodes, and the mirrors are there as well. And they're terribly distracting.
My view of Morse may well be colored by the fact I had the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had (fortunately, I've only had a couple) start during one of the programs.
Patcat
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Morse
Aug 25, 2006 14:23:15 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Aug 25, 2006 14:23:15 GMT -5
Janethyland, I took a course about Modern Britain last semester so I knew about the prevalence of class distinctions, but I'm not terribly familiar with alot of the regional differences. (We did more of the Irish-English-Scottish-Welsh distinctions.) In "Sins of the Fathers" Lewis did roll his eyes over some business man moving north as a wealthy high roller with his "posh Southern accent". And in one of the clips from the documentary Lewis picked up on a Orpheus reference, leading to Morse's surprised "Very good Lewis, they did teach you something up in the frozen north." I know that John Thaw was from Manchester and had to lose his accent when he got into theatre work starting out, but I didn't know Morse himself was a northerner.
Patcat, Food poisoning? Yuck. No wonder the show fell back! I've read one of the novels, Service of All the Dead, just in the last two weeks. Like I said, our university doesn't have the films in the library, so I'm having to make do with the handful of paperback novels we got. Bit of a hassle to get off campus to the city library, but I looked in their online catalog and even they don't have that much.
I have a hard time reading mystery novels. I enjoyed The Moonstone, but that was cause Collins played so much with the people. I'm lousy with the little details of timing and place--you know, the things that turn out to be clues. Watching film adaptations is easier, if anything just to have a face and voice distinguishing the characters. In mystery novels I have to keep flipping back. "Who is this guy again?" (And, voice sap that I am, I do love the British accents--any region! Sorry, had to be shallow that once.)
--Catbird
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Morse
Sept 9, 2006 23:17:02 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Sept 9, 2006 23:17:02 GMT -5
Well, I just watched the tape of "The Remorseful Day". I finished the book last night, and of course the TV film left bits out and made it choppy. (While it helped simplify the mystery, I missed the role of Strange.) I didn't cry, but I did squeeze my stuffed cats tight while I watched. The book is deeper, sadder, more internal monologues and such.
And yes, I'm a college student who occassionally lapses to the maturity level of a 12 year old. Lewis used the phrase "kinky rumpy pumpy" and I've been giggling for the past several hours. Even better when Morse quoted it to the jerk doctor Sir Lionel. (Oh shut up, I'm just waiting to spring that in conversation.) Say it out loud, you can't help but smile.
In the past month I have read the 6 novels available from the school library. "Death Is Now My Neighbor" was the easiest plot for me to follow, although "The Way Through The Woods" was pretty interesting. I love the quotes and the very British turns of phrases.
If only I had access to the videos! Maybe when I'm home at Christmas I can tear through our public library.
--Catbird
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Morse
Sept 10, 2006 11:12:42 GMT -5
Post by janetcatbird on Sept 10, 2006 11:12:42 GMT -5
Normally I groan at puns, but this one works! It's a quote from Housman, one of Morse's favorites and frequently cited in the novels, so it is appropriate. I need to hunt up his work.
I was just excited because the tape Mama and Daddy made was from back when "Mystery!" still showed the introductions hosted by Diana Rigg. So for the first time in a long time I got to hear the little blurbs at the beginning and end; a bit schmaltzy writing, but sweet. A retrospective on Morse, and then a quote from somebody on the death of Beethoven, but the words did fit Morse very well.
--Catbird
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