Sept. 16-22, 2012 TV Club- The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries- Season 1-Ep. 3

[MacGyver]

Leave your thoughts, comments and reviews of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries episode, "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" (featuring The Hardy Boys) here.

[MacGyver]

I think this may be one of my favorite episodes from Season 1 just because it is really the only episode of the entire series that is actually based on one of the books! (For The Hardy Boys, that is. There is at least one episode for Nancy Drew that's at least partially based on one or two of the books, from what I hear- but I'll talk about that when that episode comes around.)
     Anyway, though it doesn't actually use the title of the book, "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" episode is definitely based on The Hardy Boys #41 The Clue of the Screeching Owl. It's been a long while since I've read the book, but I always remember it as a favorite of The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories for me- I think this is one I may have read more than once as a child.
       It's a shame that The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries series didn't do more adaptations of The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books. However, I'm thankful for the ones we got and I also love all the original stories too, so I'm glad we got those as well. If the show had continued past three seasons though, I would have loved to have seen some more book adaptations here and there.
In any case, this adaptation of The Clue of the Screeching Owl is quite good, though there certainly are some changes throughout. This book has also been adapted once before this series did it, as an episode of The Hardy Boys cartoon. Since the format of that cartoon only allowed for about 15 minutes worth of story time, I would be really interested to compare the cartoon adaptation with the live action version, though obviously the live action version would be much more detailed- and even so, neither one can really encompass all that goes on in the book of course.
       But let's look at what we've got with "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow". First of all, and I know this really isn't a huge thing but I thought I'd point it out anyway, I noticed that the credit for the episodes being based on "The Hardy Boys" books by Franklin W. Dixon has now been moved to the start of the episode. I suppose it was just for the pilot episodes for The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew episodes, respectively, where it was put at the end of the episode. (The next episode, a Nancy Drew adventure, "The Mystery of the Diamond Triangle", also has the credit for the episode being based on the "Nancy Drew" books by Carolyn Keene at the start of the episode. I'm pretty this continues from this point throughout the rest of the series.)
        Once again, another Hardy Boys episode starts at night and with a thunderstorm going on to boot. I love those settings- it always make everything more mysterious, exciting and scarier. And we have Frank and Joe Hardy, Callie Shaw and Chet Morton riding in the Hardys' van! As many times as The Hardy Boys' chums show up in the books and accompany them on adventures, it was great to see both Callie and Chet involved in this mystery. Now first off, I must point out that Callie Shaw does not appear in the book this episode is based on. Both she and Iola Morton are briefly mentioned as Frank and Joe's girlfriends, respectively, when Frank and Joe call home to talk to their mom. Even so, I'm still glad Callie was included. Lisa Eilbacher was part of the supporting cast for The Hardy Boys half of the show (along with Ed Gilbert as Fenton Hardy and Edith Atwater as Aunt Gertrude) and so I'm sure they wanted to make use of them as much as possible. Or maybe they just felt it better to have her in this episode in the role that she played. (Random fact about Lisa Eilbacher- she was born in Dharan, Saudia Arabia! She's the daughter of an oil company executive, so it makes sense. I just saw this on IMDB.com- who knew?) In any case, it was very welcome to see her closer to her book counterpart, rather than just an assistant to Fenton Hardy as she is on this show. (Though that fact does come up in this episode, as Fenton relays some information about the case to her on the phone and takes her along with him to talk to the sheriff, though he does say she may be needed for her feminine charms to repair relationships with the sheriff- but I'm getting ahead of myself.)
They are all headed to Captain Maguire's cabin in the woods to check on him when he hasn't been heard from in a while. In the book, he is a retired police captain, just as in the episode. However, while he is an old friend of Fenton Hardy's in both the book and episode, the episode actually makes him Callie's uncle, which is certainly not the case in the book.
           I think Gary Springer played Chet Morton really well- the opening scene with Frank and Joe mentioning seeing a hex sign and scaring Chet by talking about "witches and goblins" is a good mirror of the book's opening scene, though the book has just Frank, Joe and Chet driving in the Hardys' convertible during a June afternoon. Gary Springer's scaredy-cat reaction is also a good reflection of Chet's response in the book. He plays the part of the Hardys' best friend who is reluctantly pulled into this camping trip/mystery investigation very well. This is very much in keeping with Chet Morton in general, and specifically in the book, who also complains about getting sucked into the Hardys' mystery investigation again. And of course, we see Chet eating throughout the episode as he's well known for his voracious appetite in the books. The first thing Chet does when they get to the cabin is head for the refridgerator to get some food. Most times when he's seen in the cabin, he is eating- as expected for Chet Morton.
            Fenton Hardy also makes an appearance, as Frank and Joe give him a call and we see him in his office at the Hardys' home. He is fending off Chet's dog, who he is watching for the Mortons, who are picking him up the next day. Though this scene doesn't happen in the book, it is a nice acknowledgement of the role that dogs play in the book (as there is a bit of dognapping that goes on in the book- and Chet does actually gain a dog in the course of the book, appropriately enough named Mystery.) Aunt Gertrude is also briefly mentioned but does not make an appearance, which is fine since she didn't show up in the book either (and isn't even mentioned, I don't think. However, since Edith Atwater was on hand as a supporting cast character as Aunt Gertrude at this point of the show, I'm glad for the mention of her character in the episode anyway.)
Other characters from the book include Captain Maguire of course, and Simon, the mute boy who helps the Hardys solve the case. The Hardy Boys also have an encounter with a local sheriff who is reluctant to form a search party for Captain Maguire, even after the Hardys' find a bloody scrap of a hunting jacket and spent shotgun shells and present it to him- which is in keeping with the book. (They find a few other things in the book as well- like Maguire's flashlight with his initials on it.) Also, one of Maguire's rifles is missing, in both the episode and book. However, the sheriff's name in the episode and the book are different, but that's not a huge deal. Also, the main villian, Donner, is there- though again, his first name in the episode is different from his first name in the book, but since he's primarily addressed by his last name anyway, it's not a huge deal.
     And for the record, there is at least one thunderstorm going on during one of the Hardys' encounters with Simon in the book, so there is some continuity with the episode there. And the chase after Simon is very much in keeping with the book as well. And Joe does take a tumble into a brier patch at one point in the book, so there's some sort of similarity to him falling off a cliff and holding to a bush in the episode, to be rescued by Frank.
And Fenton Hardy is off on another case in the episode and then is able to join the Hardys' at the end, much like the book, though in the book Fenton's case is of course tied into the mystery Frank and Joe are working on, as standard for many of The Hardy Boys books. As to the run-ins with Simon, he does do some drawings for The Hardys to communicate who the villian is and he also employs pantomime, so that's certainly in keeping with the book. (Though the drawings in the episode are a bit different from the book of course.)
      The names of the areas are one other thing worth mentioning. The area the episode takes place in is called Witches' Hollow, where the Hardys and friends are warned about the devil and his workers that haunt the area, most notably the witch of Witches' Hollow. This scene with Mrs. Thompson in the episode is very similar to the scenario with Mrs. Thompson in the book- though the bit about her being Maguire's housekeeper is just for the episode, as she is only a neighbor in the book. The name of the area is actually called Black Hollow in the book though, and it is also said to have a witch that haunts it. The supposed screams of the witch are heard in both the book and episode and the source of the screams is the same in both the book and episode.
     However, the town the sheriff is located in, Forestburg, is kept the same in both the book and episode. Frank and Joe's encounter with Donner is fairly similar in the book and episode, though there are more things going on in the book, including an animal circus that is not mentioned at all in the episode. But the illegal activity going on is similar in both the book and episode, though not exactly the same. The method however and the plot to keep people away from the area is very much the same in both the book and episode.
    The part about the Hardys' thinking the cabin is on fire is very much in keeping with the book as the cabin actually is set on fire in the book. Frank and Joe discovering Maguire being held as prisoner and the encounter with the puma is very similar to events in the book. (Though in the book, it's Frank who does more of the puma-taming than Joe.)   

[MacGyver]

        I also love the scene where Chet freaks out at hearing presumably a screech owl (or perhaps a barn owl- as the book points out, despite the seeming misnomer of a name, screech owls are famous for making a wailing noise and barn owls make a screeching noise- they have been associated with witches and ghosts for centuries, according to Joe in the book.) and they show a shot of the animal on screen. This was an excellent nod to the title of book this episode is based on and of course, an important clue for the Hardy Boys in the book. Chet specifically mentions the owl giving him the willies on more than one occasion in the book, so I appreciated that homage scene in the episode.
         And I also liked the mention of the reward money that the Hardys receive at the end of the episode, which they make sure goes toward getting Simon the educational help he needs for his speech impediment as well as art classes, which is also in keeping with the book.
There may be other things that I missed, but I think that wraps up the main similarities to the The Clue of the Screeching Owl in "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" episode. Of the few live action adaptations of Hardy Boys books that we've seen through The Hardy Boys' various media appearances (The Mystery of Applegate Treasure serial from The Hardy Boys' first serial on The Mickey Mouse Club, based on The Tower Treasure and The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Chinese Junk 1967 pilot based on the book of the same name and of course, "The Mystery of Witches' Hollow" episode of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries based on The Clue of the Screeching Owl- I'm pretty sure those are the only ones thus far)- this is definitely a good one in my opinion. Actually, I've enjoyed all three of those book adaptations. It's a shame we haven't had more in live action, but at least The Hardy Boys cartoon series primarily did just book adaptations, so there are plenty of animated versions of the books that were made. (Unfortunately, all of those adaptations are incredibly super-rushed and hard to follow without a prior knowledge of the book- and even then, still hard to keep up with the frenetic pacing. But oh well- something's better than nothing. The comic books based on the cartoon series are a little bit easier to follow, but even those keep things moving at a pretty fast clip too, in keeping with the cartoon's format.)
      Anyway, I particularly enjoy this episode for its adaptation of The Clue of the Screeching Owl and for the live action appearance of Chet Morton, who I really think Gary Springer portrayed well. Sure, there were things changed in order to condense the book into a one hour format, but it still kept many things intact and paid homage to other things, so overall I think it was well done.        

[MacGyver]

Oh yeah- and this hasn't even necessarily been planned this way (though I did decide after church Sunday morning to wait until evening rather than afternoon to watch this episode)- I've been rewatching the series for these reviews on the original airing date and time of Sunday evenings. This time I wound up watching it at 8 pm, so I was only an hour off from the original air time. (The show originally aired on Sunday evenings at 7 pm.) Maybe eventually I'll make it for that original time slot and recreate the original airing schedule- though of course, I would have to wait for the winter to perfectly align Season 1's airing, as it originally started on January 30, 1977. 

[MacGyver]

Oh yeah- and I wanted to mention one other quick thing on Callie Shaw. I noticed that after she was scared by the puma in the woods and ran back into the cabin, when Frank and Joe rushed back in to make sure she was all right, she ran over and hugged Frank! That was nice to at least perhaps have a slight acknowledgement of their couple relationship in the books, though Frank and Callie are not generally portrayed as boyfriend and girlfriend on this series. But I'm happy for even little things like that.

[tomswift2002]

Between the two stories, there are a couple of differences.

1.  The TV version doesn't actually start til about Chapter 2 in the book, so the whole puma scene is gone.

2.  Callie Shaw doesn't appear in the book.

3.  Captain Maguire and Callie Shaw's family relationship is only mentioned on TV. 

4.  The boys have their yellow convertible in the book, whereas the TV series has then driving their brown GMC van.

[MacGyver]

Nice neat breakdown, Tom. Of course, the opening scene of the TV series mirrors some of the conversation from the first chapter though. But that's what happens with any adaptation- the key highlights are in there, but the source material has to be tailored to fit the format, and inevitably some things wind up getting left out. I enjoy it for the effort made in any case.