DC Larson is one of my favorite authors: a connoisseur of classic movies and television shows. He knows what makes them tick (why the newer stuff often falls short), which makes his reflections the most accurate homages.
Larson's latest anthology is "Movie Palace Evening". Its contents create an old-time, Bijou-movie experience. That means he establishes an atmosphere of consistent, nostalgic fun, covering comedy, scares and rollicking thrills: the ingredients that once made movie-going a major highlight of any night, afternoon or weekend.
He introduces us to the Bijou world through a nifty, golly-gee short called "Two Scoops for Tubby Barvin", where an ice-cream lovin' lad is carried away by the titular, space-age reporter's engrossing broadcast. The fictional transmission becomes ever more consuming as young J. Cecil listens with growing intent, to the point where Barvin's details adapt exciting, three-dimensional sustenance. Ah, the uplifting power of old-time radio, not to mention big-screen shorts...
To further warm one's chair, Larson follows the tasty "Two Scoops" with a crafty detective tale, "Cosmo Jones Nabs the Vaudeville Strangler". In this story, the shrewd Professor Jones interrogates stage suspects to reveal the killer of the Seer of Decopolis. Jones' process of elimination allows Larson to spotlight the story's quirky performers and their splashy specialties, giving this mystery not only a mini-movie panache, but a glimpse into those gutsy stage-show personas who once populated towns. An excellent romp that teems of gleeful tension and seasoned, pop-cultural know-how...
"Cosmo" is joined by the fanciful co-feature, "Pennsylvania Avenue Capers", hosted and influenced by (hold onto your seat) White House ghosts! The "Canterville"-feeling story dispatches ample pomp and circumstance, frivolous and superfluous debate to make one's head spin, though in the best possible way. (Breakfast menus and house redecorating for any new Pres and First Lady are paramount, especially when whispering spirits are near.) Larson proves with "Pennsylvania" that he can kick it with the best satirists, though who dares to engage in clever, ghostly comedies these days? Larson--that's who! (Give that man a cigar!)
Next in line is "Movie Palace'"s headliner, "The Beleaguered Reascendence of Conrad Mayflower": a moving tale where the eponymous thespian (cut from the same cloth as John Barrymore/Douglas Fairbanks) gains a chance for cinematic resurgence through an ambitious, low-rent production called "Center of Gravity".
Mayflower's questionable circumstance brings to mind "Dinner at Eight" and "The Trouble with Templeton", at the same time giving readers a swell slice of behind-the-scenes history that never occurred, but thrives with starry sophistication per every page turn. A literary, it-shoulda-been-a-movie gem, if ever there was one...
Larson's euphoric endeavors will leave one exiting his imaginary odeum with pep in one's step and no doubt yearning to check out a few favorites on TCM.
If one can't get enough of the sweet tidbits of the past, check out Larson's fruitful work. The sentiment beckons at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S9T9JTZ.
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