non sequitur

Surprise, Surprise

imdb, one of my favorite websites and the website I probably visit most often has just got a face lift. The new look looks cool and very soothing to the eye.

Captain Haddock's Prototype?

Despicable Creatures!! Suffering Samurais!! Seven Suffering Samurais!! Kamikaze! Seventy Suffering Samurais!! Bungling Blockheads! Flaming Fujiyama!!!

Curses, exclamations, alliterations - when one comes across them who does one get reminded of? Captain Haddock from Tintin indeed. Now brace yourself up for a surprise. All these expressions are not uttered by Captain Haddock. Much earlier to Captain Haddock making his debut in 'Crab with Golden Claws' Hergé allows another character of his, Mitsuhirato, the main villain in 'The Blue Lotus' mouth these colourful phrases. Don’t the permutations in the suffering samurai remind one of the same techniques employed with thundering typhoons? Clearly Hergé recognised the potential the harmless and amusing curses had and developed the theme into a full fledged character in Captain Haddock.

Literature always has instances of a minor character developed by its creator (most times) into a more significant one. At the moment, I can think of Reggie Pepper, the prototype of one of the most famous creations of Wodehouse - Bertie Wooster, as an example. In C. Auguste Dupin Edgar Allan Poe provided Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the prototype of what turned out to the most recognised detective ever. Caroline Sheppard, the narrator’s spinster sister in 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd' was later developed into a full length detective Miss Marple by Agatha Christie. Television over the decades, I am sure can provide a few examples too.

What do you think? Tell me.

On a completely different note, while reading 'The Blue Lotus', I came across the comic book equivalent of what Roger Ebert calls the 'Fallacy of the Talking Killer' or 'Talking Killer Syndrome' in his 'Little Movie Glossary'

The villain wants to kill the hero. He has him cornered at gunpoint. All he has to do is pull the trigger. But he always talks first. He explains the hero's mistakes to him. Jeers. Laughs. And gives the hero time to think his way out of the situation, or be rescued by his buddy. Cf. most JAMES BOND movies.

Getting didactic on the subject, there is a variant of the rule called 'Tuco's Advice'

Named for the character played by Eli Wallach in THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. It comes in the scene where Tuco is taking a bath, and a guy bursts in the room, promising Tuco how he plans to have his revenge, only to have Tuco kill him. Tuco then advises the corpse, "If you have to shoot, shoot don't talk."

Now take a look at this...

As expected, after this scene Tintin is rescued by his buddies.

Do you remember the talking killers in the movies you have watched or the books you have read? Tell me.

The Lion Roars!!!