Afbeelding van de auteur.

David Dodge (1910–1974)

Auteur van To Catch a Thief [dvd]

35+ Werken 1,138 Leden 51 Besprekingen Favoriet van 3 leden

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Bevat de naam: David Dodge

Fotografie: David Dodge (1910-1974).

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Werken van David Dodge

To Catch a Thief [dvd] (1955) — Auteur — 282 exemplaren
Plunder of the Sun (1949) 220 exemplaren
The Last Match (Hard Case Crime) (2006) 164 exemplaren
To Catch a Thief (1952) 108 exemplaren
The Long Escape (1948) 46 exemplaren
Bullets for the Bridegroom (1948) 45 exemplaren
Death and Taxes (1941) 38 exemplaren
Shear the Black Sheep (1942) 33 exemplaren
Angel's Ransom (1956) 27 exemplaren
The Lights of Skaro (1954) 26 exemplaren
It Ain't Hay (1946) 18 exemplaren
The red tassel (1950) 15 exemplaren
The poor man's guide to Europe (1955) 14 exemplaren
Plunder of the Sun [1953 film] (1953) — Writer — 8 exemplaren

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Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1910-08-18
Overlijdensdatum
1974-08
Graflocatie
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Geslacht
male
Nationaliteit
USA
Woonplaatsen
San Francisco, California, USA
Princeton, New Jersey, USA
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Beroepen
Certified Public Accountant
Korte biografie
David Francis Dodge was born in Berkeley, California. His career as a writer began when he made a bet with his wife Elva that he could write a better mystery novel than the one she was reading. He drew on his professional experience as a Certified Public Accountant to create his first series character, San Francisco tax expert and reluctant detective James "Whit" Whitney. "Death and Taxes" was published in 1941 and he won $5.00 from Elva. Three more Whitney novels were published between 1943 and 1946. After Pearl Harbor Dodge was commissioned in the U.S. Navy and emerged three years later as a Lieutenant Commander. On his release from active duty, he set out for Guatemala by car with his wife and daughter. His Latin-American experiences produced a second series character, expatriate private investigator and tough-guy adventurer Al Colby, and launched Dodge's second career as a travel writer. Dodge was fond of explaining that while many writers traveled in order to gather material to write about, his goal was to write in order to gather money to travel. David Dodge also wrote short stories, magazine articles, and plays. He is best known as the author of "To Catch a Thief," which Alfred Hitchcock turned into a film (1955) starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. His final novel, "The Last Match," remained unpublished and hidden among his personal papers until 2006, when it was published by Hard Case Crime.

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To Catch a Thief author David Dodge had such an easy narrative style that his well-plotted mysteries set in colorful locations almost read themselves, and feel much less dated than other writers of his era. Somerset Maugham once commented that the reader should be unaware of the writer in a good story, as if everything was simply happening by happy coincidence. David Dodge was one of the best at this. Despite the first-person narration of his Al Colby novels — sadly there are only three — the reader is swept along as though a writer doesn’t exist, because they are living as Al Colby during the adventure, this one titled The Long Escape.

In the first of the three books, which do not need to be read in order, Al is hired to discover if a man who left his wife is dead, so that his unpleasant ex-wife can get hold of his properties in Los Angeles. From Mexico to Chile and Spanish spots between, Al Colby’s search is imbued with a spicy flavor the reader can almost taste. It moves so quickly, however, there isn’t much time to soak it in before you’re off for answers somewhere else. Once Al is told the man is actually dead, he begins to feel it might have been murder, or perhaps something even more involved.

There’s a lovely girl named Ann “Idaho” Farrell who helps him out, and with whom Al has a romantic involvement as he attempts to sort out what happened. The crux of the mystery centers on the surviving family of the deceased in Chile, a powerful family which doesn’t want the body exhumed to confirm who is in the grave. One of them is the stunningly beautiful Teresa (Terry), who may not be as warm as Idaho but has a higher voltage. She may be protecting more than her impulsive brother Frito. Soon, the secrets being hidden lead to someone taking a shot at Al. An old murder, and a cunning deception is finally uncovered by Colby, but realizing to expose it will literally end a life, and damage others, Colby must wrestle with his next step.

The Long Escape, released in 1948, seems startlingly fresh when read today, in spite of its age. Dodge was terrific at atmosphere, using a modicum of words to describe the colorful surroundings during the goings on, placing the reader there in Al Colby’s shoes. The conversational narrative style can almost be coined as breezy, and before you know it, you’ve read half the book. A blending of adventure story and detective mystery, this will appeal to anyone who loves either.

Dodge is most famous for To Catch a Thief because of the Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant and the lovely Grace Kelly, but he wrote other novels, and I’ve always found the Al Colby series some of his best work. Two of the three Colby stories are now available on Kindle, and I'm hopeful the third will be at some point, as interest in Dodge's work is renewed. My highest recommendation.
… (meer)
 
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Matt_Ransom | 2 andere besprekingen | Oct 6, 2023 |
David Dodge’s writing style often reminds me of Montgomery Clift’s acting style; five minutes into the film or the narrative, you forget either exist. Clift’s fine performances were sometimes overlooked, because he became the character he was portraying so completely, that Clift no longer existed. In a David Dodge novel, the writer no longer exists, just the character and the story. In this case the character is John Robie, or Le Chat, the retired thief. As Somerset Maugham noted, the reader should never realize the writer exists if a story is told properly. Everything should happen as if by some magic happenstance where we are privy to a great story. That style isn’t showy, it doesn’t call attention to itself, but when it’s done to perfection, as Dodge so often did, it’s a heck of a read.

I love the film based on the book, but since it has been many years since I’ve viewed it, I’ll only state that a few differences certainly exist. Francie here is a blue-eyed brunette, for example, and the romance more intellectual. Robie, in fact — or Jack Burns throughout much of this book — doesn’t even realize romantic feelings toward him exist inside Francie. He believes — for good reason — that she in fact dislikes him. Only Robie’s friend Bellini is emotionally aware enough to realize Francie’s reason for living.

In many ways To Catch a Thief is the quintessential thief story. The colorful locations along the French Riviera make it all sparkle with glamor and elegance. Yet there is something more going on here, as Dodge subtly explores Robie’s own nature, and the world of the classic high-end thief. Beneath a fast-flowing and entertaining narrative are insights into Robie’s psyche, which encapsulates all those to whom he is loyal, and who are loyal to him. In Robie’s world, there is indeed honor among thieves, most of whom served beside him in a kind of Resistance during the war, called the Maquis. Once the war was over, the Sûreté looked the other way in regard to their prior crimes, and the great Le Chat — The Cat — simply ceased to exist. But someone has made it seem as though he has returned, their acrobatic feats as they plunder priceless jewels across the Riviera pointing to one man — Le Chat. If the American Robie is to remain a free man in France, rather than leave all he loves behind, and flee, he must gather his old loyal confederates and try to capture the imposter himself.

What follows is fun and exciting, as Robie changes identities, sets up surveillances, and hires an escort in Danielle, who it turns out mirrors the dead wife of his loyal friend Paul. It is Robie’s loyalty, however, which causes him problems, making him reluctant to reveal his predicament, and explain why he’s pretending to be Jack Burns. In Paul’s case, he doesn’t want to involve him on the chance that something will go wrong. But in Francie’s case, it is because she is not a thief, therefor she cannot be trusted. It is an interesting psychological insight, and is fully explored in a swiftly-moving narrative full of color and elegance. Francie does at first appear to warrant Robie’s reticence to allow her in, because she appears to be a very strange girl only out for kicks. Robie is chained to her by blackmail, because she’s guessed who he is, even wants him to steal her mother’s jewels.

A big party, an exciting and dangerous chase across rooftops — which is also how the book begins — and the startling discovery of who has been mimicking Le Chat, brings about a truly unconventional solution that once again, plays into the loyalty and psychology of thieves.

Is the ending of the book as romantic as the film? Does Robie finally realize what his pal Bellini has known all along? You’ll have to read it to find out. There is no existential, stream-of-consciousness, experimental nonsense here. This is simply an elegantly atmospheric narrative of crime and romance, wonderfully told by a writer who understood that the best way to tell a great story, was just to tell it. It makes for a smooth, enjoyable ride along the French Riviera.
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Matt_Ransom | 8 andere besprekingen | Oct 6, 2023 |
This is the book on which Hitchcock's movie of the same name is based, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, one of my favourite movies.

The movie follows the plot of the book mostly faithfully, and each of them capture very well the dilemma of John Robie (the retired cat burglar) wanting to enjoy his retirement at the time that a copy-cat burglar is on the loose, though the police do not accept the copy-cat theory, and continue to try to capture John Robie in the act.

Robie, had some years before, been captured and tried and sentenced to jail for previous thefts but was, along with many other prisoners in France, released by the invading Germans during WW2. Many of these, including Robie, joined the French Resistance, and following the end of the war, enjoyed an informal pardon and were not sent back to prisons for the remainder of their sentences.

But with these new thefts, with the police under pressure to solve these crimes, Robie and his colleagues are under pressure and threatened with being sent back to prison if they did not spill what the knew about those thefts (indeed if they did not deliver Robie up).

This led Robie to re-enter the fray, not to steal but to try to trap the new culprit.

A cat and mouse chase ensues.

And this is against the background of a potential romance between Robie (Grant) and Francie (Frances in the movie, Kelly) an American heiress. Hence the second cat and mouse (which is played up even more in the movie).

There are some differences between the book and the movie:
- as already noted in passing, the name of the Kelly character is Francie in the book and Frances in the movie. Not a big point and perhaps revealing a personal opinion only, but Frances seems more akin the American heiress trope;
- the book has a relatively minor (in scenes/words etc) character (Paul) who nevertheless has an important role to play at the end of the book. I cannot remember him in the movie (or if it existed there it was as to his interactions/relationship with Robie, as opposed to another central character).

As a fan of the movie, I quite enjoyed reading for the first time the book. In an odd way, reading/seeing both adds to each other.

But there is certainly no need to see the movie first.

So go off and read/ see what you can get to first, and then turn around and do the other!

Highly recommended

Big Ship

22 September 2023
… (meer)
½
 
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bigship | 8 andere besprekingen | Sep 22, 2023 |
Strange that the narrator of this story doesn’t speak French, but the narrative of the story is overwhelmingly filled with French words! Umm, how does that work? Would he understand what he wrote? I know that I sure didn’t…
This book is kind of a hot mess. Too many irons in too many fires to form one cohesive plot line. He’s a con man, then gigolo, cigarette smuggler, grifter, parolee, chauffeur, etc. With all of that, and all of the French vocabulary, I found little enjoyment in the story itself. A rare miss in the Hard Case series.… (meer)
 
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Stahl-Ricco | 5 andere besprekingen | Apr 20, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
35
Ook door
6
Leden
1,138
Populariteit
#22,561
Waardering
3.8
Besprekingen
51
ISBNs
55
Talen
4
Favoriet
3

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