Paul Green - Encyclopedia of Weird Detectives: Supernatural and Paranormal Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media

Also by PAUL GREEN AND FROM MCFARLAND

Encyclopedia of Weird War Stories: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media (2017)

Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games, 2d ed. (2016)

Pete Duel: A Biography, 2d ed. (2015)

Roy Huggins: Creator of Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, The Fugitive and The Rockford Files (2014)

Jeffrey Hunter: The Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances (2014)

Jennifer Jones: The Life and Films (2011)

A History of Televisions The Virginian, 19621971 (2006; paperback 2010)

PAUL GREEN

Foreword by Frank Price

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3837-9

2019 Paul Green. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

On the cover: shown from left: Jude Law, and Robert Downey Jr., in Sherlock Holmes, 2009, Warner Bros./Photofest

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To Bev and Simba

by Frank Price

The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.H.P. Lovecraft

In 197273, the ABC Television Network had aired two highly rated 90-minute made-for-television movies starring Darren McGavin. They were titled The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler. They decided to order a series based on these movies, but because of the anticipated risks in production costs, they wanted the series not based at an independent producer but at a major studio, which would have the financial resources to cope with any deficits. I was the head of Universal Television and we were the largest and most successful production company. ABC approached us, and I responded with immediate interest. Universal was the studio that saved itself in the 1930s Great Depression by mining the horror genre with profitable hits like Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman. In difficult financial straits in the 1950s, once again Universal turned to horror with the Creature from the Black Lagoon and It Came from Outer Space. Universal was the natural home for horror pictures. Horror was in the studios DNA. When I first worked on the Universal lot, as a very young writer-producer, I had great fun visiting Stage 17, nicknamed the Phantom Stage, where the elaborate interior of the Opera House for the 1925 Phantom of the Opera had been built as a set, with stage and balconies included.

Frank Price

But what also stimulated my interest was that in my own teenage years I had discovered the chilling stories of H.P. Lovecraft and read them all. The Rats in the Walls, The Dunwich Horror, Pickmans Model were favorites. So Kolchak the Night Stalker was a natural for Universal Television.

Since the original Night Stalker writer-producer Dan Curtis did not wish to produce a weekly series, I interested Cy Chermak in taking the reins as executive producer. Cy had been with me as a producer on several series, including The Virginian and Ironside. Dealing with Darren McGavin was like a trip to the past. He had been the star of a 1952 CBS television show called Casey, Crime Photographer. The first story I ever sold was to that show.

Some very good episodes were created for Kolchak but our ratings were held down because of the hit NBC show airing opposite Kolchak. It was Jim Garners Rockford Files, another of our Universal TV series. That competition meant Kolchak unfortunately played only one season.

Kolchak was an investigative reporter whose job crossed paths with detective work. Whereas Jim Rockford investigated traditional cases with his own unique personality, Carl Kolchak investigated the paranormal and downright weird. Two detectives with their own spin on life. Jim Rockford won out in the ratings, but Kolchak has survived to become a cult favorite among devoted fans. So much so that producer-writer Chris Carter cites Kolchak as the inspiration behind The X-Files. Some series last one season but their influence extends through generations.

In contrast, some years later, when I had changed studios and moved from television and become head of motion pictures at Columbia Pictures, I had the authority and desire to green light a controversial motion picture tentatively titled Ghostbusters. It was controversial because there had never been a comedy produced with a sky-high budget of $27 million. It was expensive because it required comedy stars like Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramos, plus it needed expensive special effects. The combination made for a big budget. Columbias corporate officers tried to talk me out of going ahead, but I was firm in my intention to make it. My worst-case calculation was that we wouldnt lose money on it.

When it opened, audiences enthusiastically adopted our paranormal investigation and elimination heroes. Who ya gonna call? blared from every radio and Walkman. I had never been part of such a huge hit before and I felt like a character in Boomtown where they struck oil and black gold gushed into the air and rained down on them. The mixture of comedy with fearsome monsters drawn from the unknown was instant box office magic. H.P Lovecraft would have loved our movie.

I am a fan of Paul Greens books. He deals with subjects that he likes and uniquely appreciates. Every sentence of his is backed with thorough and painstaking research. Combine that with the sensitivity he has for each subject or the subject matter, and each of his books becomes the definitive statement in that field.

Frank Price is the former president of Universal Television, chairman, president and CEO of Columbia Pictures, chairman of MCA Motion Picture Group and president of Universal Pictures.

This book covers the history of the weird detective in literature, film, television, radio, pulps, comic books and video games.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the origin of the word weird as follows:

Old English wyrd destiny, of Germanic origin. The adjective (late Middle English) originally meant having the power to control destiny, and was used especially in the Weird Sisters, originally referring to the Fates, later the witches in Shakespeares Macbeth; the latter use gave rise to the sense unearthly (early 19th century).

Many weird detectives investigate the unearthly. Sometimes by choice, sometimes by chance. Others have unearthly qualities that give them an advantage in their investigations. They can be divided into various categories that often cross over.