Director:
Jeremy Kagan
Year: 1974
Rating: 5.5
Year: 1974
Rating: 5.5
I came across what struck me as a real oddity.
An American TV movie about Judge Dee from 1974. How many Americans back in
1974 had a clue who Judge Dee was? How many now? Perhaps more than I would
have thought thanks to the fictional mysteries written by Dutch author Robert
van Gulik. In 1949 van Gulik first published a translation of an 18th century
Chinese novel about the cases of Judge Dee. Van Gulik published it as The
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. He then went on to write 16 mysteries about
Judge Dee aka Di Renjie from 1950 to 1968. So I guess it is possible that
back in 1974 a number of people did know who Judge Dee is. Maybe more than
today since these books have fallen between the cracks. I actually have eight
of them that I picked up in a used book store but admit I have not read any
of them. A sad example of someone who buys more books than he can read. There
was also a British TV series of five Judge Dee episodes back in 1969 and
in China there was actually a TV series of the van Gulik novels as well as
other shows and films - the best known to Hong Kong film fans are the Detective
Dee films. That is Judge Dee as an action hero.
For those who have no idea what I am talking about, Judge Dee was a historical character who lived from 630 - 700 during the rule of Empress Wu - Carina Lau in the Detective Dee films. He began as a judge out in the sticks and worked his way up and worked his way to the capital and became a very close advisor to the Empress. In those days the Judge Magistrate both investigated and judged the crime which put the accused into hole I expect. But Judge Dee got a reputation as an incorruptible and fair judge. As in this TV show, he had three wives and was known to hire ex-criminals on his staff.
This TV show is based on van Gulik's The Haunted Monastery in 1961. It is a good mystery but told in a stodgy TV movie of the week way with little flair or style. But what is also surprising to me is that the entire cast is played by Asians - except for Judge Dee who is played by Khigh Dhiegh who claims ancestry from about every ethnic group in the world. But he certainly looks Asian enough to have been the villain Wo Fat on Hawaii 5-0 and the brainwashing Communist in The Manchurian Candidate. Some of the characters are played by familiar names - Mako as his assistant, James Hong as the Prior, Keye Luke as a Lord staying at the monastery, Oh Soon-tek who was in hundreds of TV shows, Irene Tsu as one of his wives - she also was in a lot of TV and also had a small part in Comrades, A Love Story (perhaps the best romance of all time), Miiko Taka also a wife - she was the female lead in Sayonara and others. I was expecting to be awash in Yellow-face so this was a nice surprise.
Judge Dee and his three wives - at one point in the film he ironically tells a woman that the intimacy of marriage is beautiful - are on their way to the capital when a downpour forces them into a nearby monastery. Clearly there are strange going-ons in the place. The former abbot just recently died, three women who were there to become nuns also died, Dee thinks he saw a man chasing a naked women from his window and he gets conked on the head. He decides to open an official investigation. Certainly different from most TV fare at the time. It was a one-time thing so I wonder if ratings killed that chance. The script was written by Nicholas Meyer.
For those who have no idea what I am talking about, Judge Dee was a historical character who lived from 630 - 700 during the rule of Empress Wu - Carina Lau in the Detective Dee films. He began as a judge out in the sticks and worked his way up and worked his way to the capital and became a very close advisor to the Empress. In those days the Judge Magistrate both investigated and judged the crime which put the accused into hole I expect. But Judge Dee got a reputation as an incorruptible and fair judge. As in this TV show, he had three wives and was known to hire ex-criminals on his staff.
This TV show is based on van Gulik's The Haunted Monastery in 1961. It is a good mystery but told in a stodgy TV movie of the week way with little flair or style. But what is also surprising to me is that the entire cast is played by Asians - except for Judge Dee who is played by Khigh Dhiegh who claims ancestry from about every ethnic group in the world. But he certainly looks Asian enough to have been the villain Wo Fat on Hawaii 5-0 and the brainwashing Communist in The Manchurian Candidate. Some of the characters are played by familiar names - Mako as his assistant, James Hong as the Prior, Keye Luke as a Lord staying at the monastery, Oh Soon-tek who was in hundreds of TV shows, Irene Tsu as one of his wives - she also was in a lot of TV and also had a small part in Comrades, A Love Story (perhaps the best romance of all time), Miiko Taka also a wife - she was the female lead in Sayonara and others. I was expecting to be awash in Yellow-face so this was a nice surprise.
Judge Dee and his three wives - at one point in the film he ironically tells a woman that the intimacy of marriage is beautiful - are on their way to the capital when a downpour forces them into a nearby monastery. Clearly there are strange going-ons in the place. The former abbot just recently died, three women who were there to become nuns also died, Dee thinks he saw a man chasing a naked women from his window and he gets conked on the head. He decides to open an official investigation. Certainly different from most TV fare at the time. It was a one-time thing so I wonder if ratings killed that chance. The script was written by Nicholas Meyer.