Subject
Re: Boston Strangler (fwd) The 1968 film
From
Date
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EDNOTE. Akiko Nakata mentioned the 1968 Fleischer film "The Boston
Strangler" starring Tony Curtis and wondered about it. I was dubious that
it could have influenced TT since VN was already in Switzerland when the
murders and film came out.
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: "Akiko Nakata" <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 2:42 AM
Subject: Boston Strangler
Dear Akiko,
I watched the film yesterday morning and
it seems more promising than I expected. The theory is that Mr. DeSalvo was
literally a split personality--each one unaware of the other and his
actions. There is, however, no suggestion of a dream state for either.
There is an ESP note when the police bring in a psychic who indeed seem to
have real powers but is wrong in identifying the Strangler.
The murders were 1962-Jan. 1964 and the Gerold Frank book from which
the film came was 1966. VN was already in Switzerland and it is unlikely he
saw either book or film -- he did not own a TV, although he sometimes
rented one for special events. I tried to find the 1966 Gerold
Frank book the film was based on but haven't located it yet. It will
doubtless provide more detail.Also, it occur to me that VN refers to a
well-known German serial killer of the twenties in Despair---the Dusseldorf
Vampire who, aside from his "quirks," was among the mildest of men.
Although it is unlikely that VN would have seen either book or film in
Europe the case might have been covered in the International Herald
Tribune (Paris) that he saw. (The online archive does not go back that far.)
>
> Best, Don
> -----------------------------
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > To: "Akiko Nakata" <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
> > Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 1:31 AM
> > Subject: Re: Introductory notes to TT-7 (query: Bellino's article)
> >
> >
> >> Dear Akiko,
> >> I confess I fell asleep before the Fleischer film was over. I will
rerun
> >> the last part. My feeling so far is that the VN connection is limited
to
> >> newspaper reports. There was a psychic involved though. I'll do a more
detailed report a little later. Best, Don
> >> P.S. The TT reading seems to be going well -- thanks to your knowledge
> >> and contributions.
> >>
> >> --On Friday, July 30, 2004 11:22 PM +0900 Akiko Nakata
> >> <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp> wrote:
> >>
> >> > This message was originally submitted by
> >> > a-nakata@COURANTE.PLALA.OR.JP to the NABOKV-L list at
> >> > LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU. If you simply forward it
> > back
> >> > to the list, using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields
> >> > (ask your local user support or consult the documentation of your
> >> > mail program if in doubt), it will be distributed and the
> >> > explanations
> > you
> >> > are now reading will be removed automatically. If on the other
hand
> >> > you edit the contributions you receive into a digest, you will have
to
> >> > remove this paragraph manually. Finally, you should be able to
contact
> >> > the author of this message by using the normal "reply" function
of
> >> > your mail program.
> >> >
> >> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (25 lines)
> >> > ------------------ Don, thank you for your comments.
> >> > Looking for Mary Bellino's references to SPR, I reached her notes on
> >> > Nabokv-L and your paper "Nabokov and de la Mare," in which you noted
> >> > her findings. Has she published something on it?
> >> > And . . . how was the Fleischer film you watched for the group
reading?
> >> > Akiko
> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> --------------------------------
> >> >> EDCOMMENT. The "little three-legged table" that dreaming Hugh
> >> >> strangles obviously suggests the planchette used with the ouija
board
> >> >> in some seances. Akiko's connection to "The Vane Sisters" is
> >> >> invaluable. Mary Bellino, among others, has traced some of the "Vane
> >> >> Sisters"' seance material to publications of the Cambridge (UK)
> >> >> Society for Psychical Research (SPR). It seems not unlikely that
some
> >> >> may also occur in TT.
> > The
> >> >> Society was very active at Cambridge during VN's time there. Some
> >> >> branches of VN's family had an active interest in such things and
> >> >> their names
> >> > figure
> >> >> in Russian reports to the SPR.
> >> >> As for the film of "The Boston Strangler", I have located a
> > copy
> >> > here and
> >> >> will watch it this evening----ad majoram gloriam Nabokov Studies.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> D. Barton Johnson
> >> NABOKV-L
> >
> >
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
Strangler" starring Tony Curtis and wondered about it. I was dubious that
it could have influenced TT since VN was already in Switzerland when the
murders and film came out.
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: "Akiko Nakata" <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2004 2:42 AM
Subject: Boston Strangler
Dear Akiko,
I watched the film yesterday morning and
it seems more promising than I expected. The theory is that Mr. DeSalvo was
literally a split personality--each one unaware of the other and his
actions. There is, however, no suggestion of a dream state for either.
There is an ESP note when the police bring in a psychic who indeed seem to
have real powers but is wrong in identifying the Strangler.
The murders were 1962-Jan. 1964 and the Gerold Frank book from which
the film came was 1966. VN was already in Switzerland and it is unlikely he
saw either book or film -- he did not own a TV, although he sometimes
rented one for special events. I tried to find the 1966 Gerold
Frank book the film was based on but haven't located it yet. It will
doubtless provide more detail.Also, it occur to me that VN refers to a
well-known German serial killer of the twenties in Despair---the Dusseldorf
Vampire who, aside from his "quirks," was among the mildest of men.
Although it is unlikely that VN would have seen either book or film in
Europe the case might have been covered in the International Herald
Tribune (Paris) that he saw. (The online archive does not go back that far.)
>
> Best, Don
> -----------------------------
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > To: "Akiko Nakata" <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
> > Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 1:31 AM
> > Subject: Re: Introductory notes to TT-7 (query: Bellino's article)
> >
> >
> >> Dear Akiko,
> >> I confess I fell asleep before the Fleischer film was over. I will
rerun
> >> the last part. My feeling so far is that the VN connection is limited
to
> >> newspaper reports. There was a psychic involved though. I'll do a more
detailed report a little later. Best, Don
> >> P.S. The TT reading seems to be going well -- thanks to your knowledge
> >> and contributions.
> >>
> >> --On Friday, July 30, 2004 11:22 PM +0900 Akiko Nakata
> >> <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp> wrote:
> >>
> >> > This message was originally submitted by
> >> > a-nakata@COURANTE.PLALA.OR.JP to the NABOKV-L list at
> >> > LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU. If you simply forward it
> > back
> >> > to the list, using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields
> >> > (ask your local user support or consult the documentation of your
> >> > mail program if in doubt), it will be distributed and the
> >> > explanations
> > you
> >> > are now reading will be removed automatically. If on the other
hand
> >> > you edit the contributions you receive into a digest, you will have
to
> >> > remove this paragraph manually. Finally, you should be able to
contact
> >> > the author of this message by using the normal "reply" function
of
> >> > your mail program.
> >> >
> >> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (25 lines)
> >> > ------------------ Don, thank you for your comments.
> >> > Looking for Mary Bellino's references to SPR, I reached her notes on
> >> > Nabokv-L and your paper "Nabokov and de la Mare," in which you noted
> >> > her findings. Has she published something on it?
> >> > And . . . how was the Fleischer film you watched for the group
reading?
> >> > Akiko
> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> --------------------------------
> >> >> EDCOMMENT. The "little three-legged table" that dreaming Hugh
> >> >> strangles obviously suggests the planchette used with the ouija
board
> >> >> in some seances. Akiko's connection to "The Vane Sisters" is
> >> >> invaluable. Mary Bellino, among others, has traced some of the "Vane
> >> >> Sisters"' seance material to publications of the Cambridge (UK)
> >> >> Society for Psychical Research (SPR). It seems not unlikely that
some
> >> >> may also occur in TT.
> > The
> >> >> Society was very active at Cambridge during VN's time there. Some
> >> >> branches of VN's family had an active interest in such things and
> >> >> their names
> >> > figure
> >> >> in Russian reports to the SPR.
> >> >> As for the film of "The Boston Strangler", I have located a
> > copy
> >> > here and
> >> >> will watch it this evening----ad majoram gloriam Nabokov Studies.
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> D. Barton Johnson
> >> NABOKV-L
> >
> >
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L