The haunted castle
 (orig. Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators in The Secret of Terror Castle ) |
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| Radio play from Germany | |
| publication | 1980 |
| genre | Youth series / crime thriller |
| Duration | 46 min |
| Publisher / label | Europe |
| Contributors | |
| author | Robert Arthur |
| Machining | HG Francis |
| Director | Heikedine Körting |
| music | Bert Brac |
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The three ??? and the haunted castle is the first installment in the book series Die Drei ??? as well as the eleventh episode of the radio play series . The episode was also the template for the film Die Drei ??? - The cursed castle .
content
After founding their detective agency, the three are looking for ??? a client for their first case. Peter knows from his father, who works in film and television, that Alfred Hitchcock (in new editions after 2005, Hitchcock was replaced by the fictional director Albert Hitfield ) is looking for a real haunted castle for a film . With a little skill and persuasion the three boys manage to win the reluctant Alfred Hitchcock as a client. You'll also find an abandoned castle that is said to have been haunted since its owner Stephen Terrill passed away. The three ??? set out to discover the secret of the haunted castle.
The resolution
Terrill had only faked his death and lived on for years in disguise under the name Jonathan Rex. With the help of his friend, Mr. Charlie Grant , he built a few things into the haunted castle that they used to frighten all the people who entered the castle. After the case was resolved, however, Alfred Hitchcock later found another lock that he used for his film. Nevertheless, he keeps in touch with the three ??? upright and at the end even gives them a piece of paper with the address of a friend whose parrot has disappeared (only available in the original edition). This then became The Three ??? and the super parrot .
Reviews
The radio play has mostly very good reviews in the Europa Shop.
It was criticized, however, that this was not the first episode that Europe set, but only the eleventh. This is how Jürgen Pern from Buchwurm.info wrote:
“The 'haunted castle' is [...] a striking curiosity, because the book is the first ever published case of the three detectives. In Germany, however, it was found to be unsuitable for the young audience in 1979 to start the series. For the presentation of the radio play series, the 'super parrot' was preferred - as a test balloon, so to speak - and the ghost castle slipped there to the ungrateful place 11. [...] Those who only know the radio play version are [but] urged to get it To take a closer look at the book, because due to the adjustments made there (one had to disguise, among other things, that it was the first case), many things change, especially with regard to the known discrepancies that Europe undermined. "
pads
- Kosmos does not disclose exact sales figures, but according to the information in the books it can be concluded that there were 17 editions between 1968 and 1989, of which there were a total of 247,000 copies from the first 16 editions (at that time the number of editions was in the books ). This makes it one of the best-selling books of the three ???. In 2009 the book was reprinted due to the film, but is now only available in the Collectors Edition , which includes all of Robert Arthur's works.
- The first two editions do not have a black design and the cover is not from Aiga Rasch , but from Jochen Bartsch . In total, only 11,000 of these copies appeared.
- When Alfred Hitchcock died and the license to use his name for books by The Three Investigators in the USA expired, volumes 1 to 30 were extensively revised. Hitchcock was replaced by the writer Hector Sebastian . But since a director was required for this episode, he is being replaced by Reginald Clarke .
Trivia
Introductions
In addition to the first encounter with Alfred Hitchcock and the founding of the detective agency, there are other important things in the further course of the series that were introduced in this episode. This includes:
- The famous business cards of the three ??? are printed.
- Justus wins a competition (how many beans fit in a pot that is in the car company's window) for a month of free rides in the Rolls-Royce with chauffeur.
- Due to a broken leg, Bob was assigned the research and archive department. His leg healed quickly, but this is still his area to this day.
additional
- The Ghost Castle is one of two books in the first 40 episodes that Kosmos has reissued as a single hardcover in this millennium. The other is ... and the ghost island . Both were the books for the films.
- There are actually no castles and palaces in the USA . However, Terrill had his castle rebuilt.
- The radio play does not explain how Terrill and Rex could be in a photo together. It was a photo montage .
- In addition to the USA and German-speaking countries , the book was published in Great Britain , Spain , Catalonia , Portugal , France , Italy , Greece , Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Finland , Poland , Slovakia , Lithuania , Croatia , Israel , Indonesia and Vietnam . So it was translated into 18 different languages. In addition, a radio play adaptation in Swiss German was published in Switzerland in 1989 .
- The episode was awarded a platinum record .
filming
Except for the haunted castle and the name Stephen Terrill , the film has little in common with the original.
Web links
- Transcript of the radio play (PDF; 88 kB)
- Information, reviews and the opportunity to buy the radio play
- Interesting facts about the book
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.hoerspiel.de/dstore/shop/Serien/Die+drei+Fragezeichen/Die+drei+Fragezeichen+und+das+Gespensterschloss/348857?gn210=H%F6rspiele
- ↑ http://www.rocky-beach.com/misc/translation.html
- ↑ http://www.hoerspiel.de/dstore/shop/Rezensions/348857/
- ↑ http://www.rocky-beach.com/cover/auflagen/001-auflage.html
- ↑ http://www.rocky-beach.com/cover/001-cover.html
- ↑ http://www.rocky-beach.com/cover/auflagen/guide/cg-tv-us-rh-revisededition.html