Van Der Valk Mysteries – Series One (1972/Acorn Media DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: C- Episodes: B-
Barry
Foster may still be best-known to U.S. audiences for his turn as The Neck-Tie
Strangler in Alfred Hitchcock’s Frenzy
(1972), but he was also good at playing the good guy as police commissioner in
Amsterdam as Van Der Valk (Valk as
in “Val”) and did so for 21 years, though this only included five seasons. After seeing DVD release elsewhere, Acorn
Media gives the show its U.S. DVD debut with a Series One set.
Here are
all six hour-long episodes from the first season (32 episodes over 21 years,
all with Foster) joined by Michael Latimer as Inspector Johnny Kroon and Susan
Travers as wife Arlette van der Valk.
Episodes include:
1) One Herring’s Not Enough (Colin
McCormack, Clifford Rose, Michael Turner) – Why has a teacher confessed to
killing his unfaithful wife and her lover before anyone has been killed?
2) Destroying Angel (Richard Hurndall.
Artro Morris) – Van de Valk suspects a woman when a man turns up dead from
poisoning, but something darker is going on that is not so obvious.
3) Blue Notes (Geoffrey Bayldon, Matthew
Guinness, Hilary Heath, Peter Pratt) – Why is a famous violinist receiving
death threats and who ahs destroyed his Stradivarius?
4) Elected Silence (Michael Lees, Michael
Sheard, Damien Thomas, Martin Wyldeck) – The daughter of a Right Wing official
(who Van der Valk is not very fond of) is nabbed and ransom may be the next
part of the ordeal. Who is doing this and
why?
5) Thicker Than Water (David Leland,
Pauline Letts) – When a wealthy Brit visiting is found dead, his mother is not
so anxious to find out why, but it turns out he was visiting the town for its
underground scene and the case gets increasingly disturbing.
6) The Adventurer (Paul Eddington, William
Ellis, Norman Scace) – An ugly car crash and stonemason threatened makes for an
unusual case. The target is not worried
about the threats, but Van der Valk knows something is going on and intends to
find out what is really going on.
Everyone
is pretty good in these here and the mysteries not bad, but it is not as strong
as the best such shows from that time or now, yet it has some very appealing
aspects including Foster doing the refined version of the kind of hardboiled
police character you would find in either version of Life On Mars. Michael
Chapman and Geoffrey Gilbert wrote all the teleplays and they flow nicely,
while Graham Evans and Douglas Camfield handle directing chores. Still better than most such shows we get
today, Van Dek Valk is a must-see
for serious mystery fans just the same.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot in 16mm in outdoor shots and analog PAL videotape for indoor
shots and this is a weaker copy of the final edit. Too bad because the weakness of the transfers
betray how good looking the show is.
Wonder if the 16mm footage still exists?
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo boosts the old TV monophonic sound but
still sounds weak and one wonders if the boosting was such a good idea. The theme song, a hit instrumental theme song
“Eye Level” is featured prominently throughout.
The only extra is text on creator Nicolas Freeling.
- Nicholas Sheffo
