This
Weekend’s LRPA After Dark Feature:
1956’s “Please
Murder Me!”
Join Lakes Region Public Access
Television at 10:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday night (August
19 & 20) for our “LRPA After Dark” presentation of 1956’s crime
drama “Please Murder Me!” starring Angela Lansbury and Raymond
Burr.
Told in flashback, “Please Murder Me!” is the story of a deadly
love triangle involving attorney Craig Carlson (Burr), who’s
fallen hard for Myra Leeds (Lansbury), the wife of Joe (played
by character actor Dick Foran), Craig’s close friend and WWII
buddy. Craig owes Joe his life and so is tormented by his
feelings for Myra. Joe tells Craig in confidence that he
suspects Myra of having an affair. It’s too much for Craig to
bear, so he confesses to Joe that he’s “the other man.”
Surprisingly, Joe isn’t angry – he asks Craig for a few days to
think things over. Craig is mystified by Joe’s behavior. When he
asks Myra about it, she advises him to do nothing until Joe
responds. A few nights later, Myrna shoots Joe, claiming
self-defense. Craig, while shocked by his friend’s alleged
behavior, agrees to serve as Myra’s attorney. He defends her
superbly, even putting his own reputation on the line,
anticipating a happy and peaceful life after the conclusion of
the trial. But there is more, it seems, to Myra than meets
the eye.
“Please Murder Me!” is one of the
least-known entries in the film noir genre. While it certainly
is a small, low budget thriller, it is a thriller nonetheless,
and features some wonderful plot twists wrapped up in a bracing
78-minute film. Angela Lansbury is terrific here, playing, as
she often did early in her career, the heartless femme fatale.
Classic television fans will likely recognize minor character
actors including Dick Foran as the cuckolded husband and Denver
Pyle (best known for shows such as “The Dukes of Hazard” and
“The Doris Day Show”) as a police lieutenant. But the standout
is Raymond Burr, who ironically, up until that point in his
career, usually played the bad guy (who can forget him as the
ruthless killer in Hitchcock’s “Rear Window”?). Burr’s
intelligent and earnest lawyer, who is more than slightly
unhinged by the film’s end, was likely the model for his
biggest, career-defining role -- that of TV lawyer Perry Mason.
“Please Murder Me!” deserves to be better known by film fans
everywhere. So grab your popcorn and meet us after dark for this
seldom-seen thriller from the past.
Letter To
The Editor
To the Editor,
A lot of thank yous, well deserved.
*Thanks to all of you that donated
“junk” to the Bean Hole Bash auction. We sold almost all of it.
Great fun was had by all of us who participated, money was made
that will stay here in Northwood and some very good sports put
up with me.
*Thank you to the Congregational
Church for their community service in allowing part of the Bash
to be on their property. You really made it easy for the
committee.
*Thank you to Coe-Brown, also, for
letting us use their grounds. Its really nice to always be able
to count on you.
*A very special thanks to DR Dimes.
Your furniture is exquisite and your yearly donation is over the
top.
*It wouldn’t have come off without the
cooks, Crankpullers, fire department, and the yearlong hard work
from the Bean Hole Bash Committee. Thank you one and all.
*And while I’m at it, thanks to all of
you for the calls and emails concerning my last letter. My role
on the Northwood School Board has been clearly defined. I
absolutely believe in transparency in government. As you can see
they hate the concept. I will not go along to get along.
For far longer than I’ve lived in this
town, you have been paying for a Maserati but getting a Yugo. I
will try to show you where every misspent dollar goes. 40% more
of your taxes go to the school than the average NH town, yet we
are well below the average town in educating our students.
Enough.
Tim Jandebeur
Northwood
Letter To
The Editor
Mike Smith for
State Representative
My name is Mike Smith. I am running
for state representative in Northwood, Rockingham District 1.
My wife and I moved here 5 years ago. We are both retired,
so we have time to devote to volunteering. Betty holds 3
elected positions in Northwood. I am on the Bean Hole Bash
committee, a driver for ready rides, a Northwood Food Pantry
volunteer, a trustee at the Northwood Congregational Church,
chairman of the Northwood Democrats committee. I served
our country for 20 years in the U.S. Navy, worked in management
of three privately owned companies, before taking the position
of Airport Maintenance Supervisor at the Portland International
Jetport.
Since I moved to Northwood, I have noticed that the
legislature is split party-wise. The operating system used is ,
“Us against them.” This is wrong! I propose and will work for a
bipartisan method of working through the problems at hand. We
need to talk to each other, not at each other, reach across the
aisle, find the common ground and make it work. I want a chance
to work for you, and facilitate the smooth and functional
operation of our legislature.
I can be reached at Mike Smith, P. O. Box 14, Northwood, N. H.
03261, or [email protected]
Harvey
Lake Watershed Association To Meet
A membership meeting of the Harvey
Lake Watershed Association is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 18,
2016, at 6:30 p.m., at the Northwood Town Hall, Route 4,
Northwood.
The association is a small group of
volunteers consisting of lake residents who were formed 13 years
ago to protect the watershed of Harvey Lake, which consists of
the 116-acre lake behind Coe-Brown Academy and the immediate
area of the lake.
The association sponsors the annual
Lake Host program for Harvey Lake through the N.H. Lakes
Association and conducts water testing through the state’s
Volunteer Lake Assessment Program. Volunteers also conduct an
organized weed watching program to be on the lookout for
invasive aquatic plants.
The annual meeting will be to hear
reports and organize the association’s activities during the
upcoming year.
All members and those interested in the continued vitality of
the lake are welcome and urged to attend. For more information,
contact HLWA President Bob Charest at 892-3488 or by email at
[email protected].
Letter To
The Editor
Silly Slogans
In spite of the drought, the political
yard signs are beginning to sprout up in yards. John Reagan is
once again a “tax fighter.” Jim Adams again wants to “stop the
spending,” which I think is, technically, unconstitutional – and
it didn’t keep Executive Counselor Chris Pappas from winning
last time.
I have inveighed against this
silliness before, so let’s address the “less regulation” mantra
of the Republicans – from the Trumpster on down.
I read in last week’s Monitor that 3
children had fallen 40 feet to the ground from a Ferris wheel in
Tennessee. It turns out that “after a 2014 audit found
shortcomings in Tennessee’s regulatory program for rides at
fairs and amusement parks, state officials decided to get out of
the inspection business altogether… Funding for the Amusement
Device Unit … was denied.”
In the same edition, reporting
continued about a 10-year-old boy who had been killed riding the
world’s tallest waterside in Kansas City.
Seems that the Velcro shoulder straps
often fell off. The fact that the boy is the son of a Republican
state representative adds irony to tragedy.
Maybe more regulation wouldn’t have
helped in these specific instances.
It didn’t help a maintenance worker
who was sucked into a meat-processing machine. NPR reported that
regulations required that the machine should have had a safety
screen. But OHSA only has enough inspectors to visit the plants
they have to inspect ONCE every 100 years.
So if you learn that a candidate wants
“less regulation,” ask for more specifics. And don’t vote for
them if they can’t – or won’t – give them. And as Sergeant Phil
Esterhaus said, “Hey, let’s be careful out there.”
Tom Chase
Northwood
Letter To
The Editor
Police Night Out
I enjoyed attending the Northwood
Police Department’s National Night Out program at Coe-Brown
August 2nd. It was an opportunity to express appreciation to the
police for their courage in taking on such a difficult job in an
ever more dangerous country.
In these perilous times it’s important
to show our support for those who put their lives on the line to
defend us. Recent events in Dallas, New Orleans, and elsewhere,
where police have been targeted by criminals and terrorists,
show how risky their profession is. Meanwhile, the NY Times
reports an overall “sharp spike in homicide rates in more than
20 cities.”
Further pressure on local police departments comes from the
Justice Department which is increasingly attempting to manage
town and city police. Just as in housing, land use, and
education, we’re seeing growing encroachments by the Federal
Government in police matters.
This policy has received praise from the United Nations Human
Rights Council, which reported, “The Civil Rights Division of
the Department of Justice has provided oversight and
recommendations for improvement of police services in a number
of cities with consent decrees. This is one of the most
effective ways to reduce discrimination in law enforcement and
it needs to be beefed up and increased to cover as many of the
18,000-plus local law enforcement jurisdictions.”[sic] Consent
decrees usually follow the threat of litigation. The town
or city is then forced to agree to Federal supervision to avoid
years of expensive court costs. Another government tool is
the threat to withhold Federal grants. So here, too, local
control is diminishing.
As a result of all this, the police
officer often has the Justice Department as an additional, and
all-powerful, supervisor.
Thank your local police officers. Their job is getting
tougher and tougher.
Michael Faiella
Northwood
Letter
Dear Northwood Friends and Neighbors:
Well, the “Bean Hole Bash” has come
and gone. It was a great success. On behalf of Greg Bane,
committee president, myself, and the rest of the committee, we
want to thank all those who unselfishly gave time and effort to
make the event a resounding success. There were so many who made
the event work that I can’t name without missing some. But the
“Bash” went well and we thank you very much.
Last year some of the profits went to
purchase a safety vest for “Thor” Northwood’s police dog. This
year we are going to purchase a cardiac difibrillator (AED), for
the Chesley Library, in Northwood. Our goal it to pass it back
to the town.
So, on behalf of Greg and myself and
the rest of the committee I want to thank you all for a job well
done. We look forward to doing it again next year. Keep July
28th and 29th, 2017 open for the 5th annual “Bean Hole Bash”.
Mike Smith
Committee Vice President