Up of the news this evening is speculation
concerning a real fact
behind the department of health announcement about a
radioactive
spill who supposed to have occurred yesterday at
the state nuclear plant.
Die only to live again in a younger
body,
then you can tell me if the operation
was a success my functioning now.
But I'm determined to have your
You're listening to the really awful movies podcast,
the celebration of genre cinema.
From our downtown headquarters. Here's episode 4 70
of the really awful movies podcast. A look
back at murder by Decree.
This week was a confluence of factors here.
We had the
passing of Canadian
legendary
screen icon, Donald Sutherland, and a a social
media reminder that it was been
6 years, I guess, to the week, that
Jeff and I had did a
trip over to England and to visit London
where we actually did partake of
a jack the ripper tour as it's a
bit of a cottage industry actually in the
in the east end
and white Chapel. And there's
almost all these kind of
competing tours that are happening to this day,
and it's amazing the incredible stain power and
the
explosion continued
proliferation of theories and
suspect put forward as the the mystery is
on ending and un yielding and will likely
never be solved.
Those few months in 18 88
when the east side of London was terrorized
by the
knife wielding a assailant.
Who was, I guess, given the nickname of
Jack The ripper. Now, there been different
counts
and
portrayal
of the the killings throughout,
cinema,
and
there's 1... Something from the eighties with Michael
Keane that I hadn't had a chance to
check out. I did go to the premier
screening of from hell.
For of the 2000 and I wanna say
it's 2002,
Johnny depp vehicle,
and, of course, named after the,
infamous from hell letter.
Of course, there's hundreds of letters
sent to Scotland yard and
police and the vigilance committee
from p people with insights into the case,
and even from people claiming to be the
per himself, And I honestly,
can't for the life of me,
recall
too many details about the from hell movie
other than that I had bumped into a
friend
earlier on in the day and we decided
to catch up over beers on a patio,
and
we were pretty much in the bag, and
that probably accounted for the fact that there...
The film wasn't overly
memorable.
However,
I think,
I'm gonna have to probably
revisited at some point, although I think the
reviews bear out my my sort of a
anti to that 1. Now,
that's a completely different experience from my first
viewing of murdered by the decree, which was
when I was a kid
And between ages, if I wanna say like,
8 and 12
before your parents could really shuttle you off
to a summer camp, I spent summers at
my
grandparents place,
and it was outside of the city, and
they various had different farms in Southeastern
Ontario.
And at 1 point they're in this little
town.
And so I'd spent the summer over there.
And, of course, back in the day, you
weren't... It weren't gifted with some fu some
cable package, and I think various, they did
have a satellite dish
access to different channels. But for the most
part, it was 1 of those rabbit ear
scenarios where you just got whatever you got.
And whatever happened to be the local news
from, I guess, the closest city would be
Peter bro it's a little kind of Pod
university town about 2 hours from here. It
really is
not much or was not much at the
time. In terms of entertainment,
absent sent the, maybe 10 to 12 channels.
Now
1 of these channels happened to run
this late seventies film that caught my attention
because At the time, I had developed a
kind of a nascent interest in a true
crime based on the writings of Max Hai,
the wonderfully
named
he sounds like he's straight out of a
dash aisle ham novel or something. And I
think he he kind of took to that
as well with Fed fedora as whatnot. He
was a crime writer
for the Toronto Son, 1 of the local
rags here, in an author of several books
as well in which he detailed in the
con comp
compilation form a bunch of different
famous true crime cases, 1 of which
was jack the ripper of course. So I
even as a young kid had known about
the exploits of saucy jack well before I,
I caught any
film adaptations or a chronic link of the
life of the notorious killer, often, I guess,
the the man credited with
know, Dare say, putting serial killers on the
map even though obviously, it by no means
the first, but the confluence of of a
high degree of literacy plus the proliferation of
the penny dreadful falls and how popular mass
media was and and yellow journalism at the
time that he was definitely the most well
known and continues to be to this day.
So,
I happen to, on, through Tv guide or
some such source see that there was this
film called murder by Decree, which was about
the jack the ripper murders, and I watched
it and I was so filled with terror
that I couldn't sleep all night, and I
basically had to console myself with this kind
of a crummy little
tiny radio that I took under the covers
with me, and I just put it on
whatever happened to be the programming at the
time. I think it was
Peter Bro Pete's hockey game,
that which is a a lower level kind
of a minor league hockey,
league in in Canada, and and are my
province of Ontario. So I just put on
the play by play would have been around
I don't even know. I guess they must
have had this on Tv at around 8,
and maybe the game was still going at
around 10, and I'd gone to bed, and,
of course, Had my own room in this
you know, very off the beaten path, house
just basically surrounded by woods and and nature,
and I was just beyond mortified and terrified
because to the credit of director Bob Clark,
who many people know obviously through the Poe
shots and that iconic and and very, very
influential filming in its own right, Black Christmas.
And he gives us that kind of twist
as well.
And gives us this really incredible San and
then the cobb stones and just the cl
closeness of that part of London. And And
it it's funny. Like, how impactful that was
at the time,
even though I was only even just barely
diving into a so called ripper,
and it was prior to me knowing really
any of the major
particulars or the specifics about the case other
than knowing perhaps maybe the canonical 5 victims
and the fact that maybe prostitution was prevalent
and the... And then I... Actually, I think
mis a bunch of things as so many
of the jack the ripper Lore is as
well, is just that. It's just myth. There's
so many things actually that this film
gets wrong. It's kind of shocking to behold,
and it makes you sort of question
the notion of artistic license and
how far you can get away from the
facts, you know, just the facts, man as
a, like, a nineties forties detective would say.
And
how far you get away from what actually
transpired back in those those times.
And my god, is is there a lot
of deviation from what to happened. I mean,
this is prevalent to this day with the
the kind of proliferation of of
non fiction books
around
this subject matter. And
invariably, the probe is depicted with a top
hat or a copy, as they called them,
which was the
a calling cart for a, an established gentleman
or a doctor or a professor or an
accountant or some sort of professional person and
it's the last thing,
someone would wear in a poor part of
town unless they were looking to be upward
mobile and maybe
procured 1 of these
items in order to look rich. But is
it certainly would not be something common to
wear. And it's funny of all things
that the deer stalker had is what
Jack the ripper that's as close as we
can get from by all accounts to what
he probably did wear, according to eye witness
accounts and the 1 person who possibly may
have, you know, stumbled upon them because, of
course, what murder by Decree is is an
imagining of Sherlock Holmes himself and doctor Watson
on the hunt for the killer at the...
At the the in the fall of 18
88. And it's it's it's quite interesting. I
mean, I think Christopher Plum is amazing.
In the role. It's just so effortlessly charming,
and we're introduced to the twos some having
this dialogue as they're waiting for the prince
of wales to show up to some sort
Opera or theater event. I can't remember which,
and it is
really the the banter between, but, I believe
it's James Mason is the actor. Who was
a a close friend of plumbers as well,
and and they give so much joy to
the role, and it... It's it's... And I
think something like a hound of the Ba
people often point to Peter Cushing is the
man who really was the 1 who wholly
embodied Sherlock Holmes, But I think plumber gives
gives really
the sinks his teeth into the role and
does does so effortlessly and makes this despite
all its historical flaws, so eminent watch as
does the director flare of bob Clark who
gives us all this.
Kind of what has become a trope of
the genre in a way is all this
fog and dry ice. And that's come to
be part and parcel of so many accounts
of the ripper murders when in reality, it
was just your typical cool fall night, and
there wasn't anything,
if particularly foggy, there wasn't any snow. It
wasn't any any of these things that are
just there to enrich the experience like some
sort of a Maria Ba film or, some...
Something like that. Just to add this air
of men and in intrigued that wasn't particularly
necessary, but definitely appreciated even if it made
it look like some sort of. Eighties metal
video or or or something like that. And
it it's just funny again, the proliferation of
of
mistakes in this film and no doubt because
it was based on this book with the
very unfortunate title of Jack Ripper the final
solution.
That was penn by Stephen Knight and became
a sort of a d facto bible of,
of, of apology, at least for the time
before they figured out that a lot of
what... A lot of its contents were just
sheer
speculation and and, mistakes and
not exactly the most thorough or or or
scholar production ever committed to film, but it's
something I think from hell
actually dives into as well. So you have
all these little mistakes that make its way
into the film,
the connection between this
I think Duke Clarence, which is a Gods
son of Queen Victoria. But on whom they
pinned the the murderers despite him being, I
think, in actual history
potentially,
homosexual and not the kind of in cell
that people
suspect to Jack the ripper was, and maybe
someone who contracted a v entrepreneurial disease, someone
who was rejected by women, 1 of these
people
that he doesn't really fit the profile, but
it's just idle speculation because there's very little
really tying him to the scene, but Bob
Clark and Company and the screen play writers
I believe a noted play right. His name
escapes me, but they can cock this big
Masonic connection and infuse this thing with the
all sorts of cons
Mum jumbo, and, particularly in the case of,
speaking of the late great, Donald Sutherland as,
historical footnote Robert Lee. Who as a teen
claimed to have
relayed post messages from Prince Albert to Queen
Victoria. So he was a bit of a
nut job and
actually, in real life looked a bit like
a segment freud, but he's got this mutton
chops and
sutherland is so over the top in this
role. And he believes to be experiencing these
visions of the killings, and he was p
reportedly bringing these to Scotland Yard attention or
whoever the the attending detectives were... And there's
very scant to the non existent
mention of his involvement in a case to
the point that it it was non existent,
but they still ran with this, and he
actually appears I think from Hell as well.
Even though he's
basically
a non entity. And for whatever, his spiritual,
medium,
credentials, they didn't
if they even crossed the desk of an
inspector at all, but would never went further
than that. And, in fact, I think a
an account set that, his name was actually
a miss spelling,
in in referenced in 1 of the p
reported jack, the ripper letters, which I think
was referred to as decks and not leaves,
but it looked kind of similar at 4
letter word and it was actually turned out
to be a reference to detectives or slang
at that point. And speaking of the letter...
Like, when you have really hundreds of letters
taunting the police or crack pots or cranks
or whoever I was trying to just... This
was, like, trolling
hundred 50 years before
online trolling. It's
kind of
ridiculous,
but
well, actual
experts in the subject matter only really attribute
1 letter, and
to the potential per who we all know
is Jack the ripper, and that's largely because
it came complete with a human kidney. And
1 has to imagine even with grave robbing
being so, prevalent at the time that the
human kidney wouldn't exactly be easy to come
by necessarily. And Certainly,
the type of person who would be able
to
you know, procure 1 of these things plus
the tendency to write a letter and do
that. I think is a is a little
bit much for a prank. So... And I
think, some accounts anyway,
believe that that the equivalent
investigators
did link a disease kidney that was taking
taken out of 1 of the victims. So
It's it's also funny too. I mean, this
is a movie that features the top hat.
It also features a stage coach, and
experts of course, point out that there's no
way that the cl cl of of of
horse hoo would have been a thing at
around at the time that,
the murders took place, which is in the
early hours of the morning when people were
settling in to bed. There's no way people
would put up with a horse coming through
a 2 and 3 in the morning. Because
as
today, no 1 would wanna hear that, especially
with hundreds of people trying to get the
a little bit of sleep that they could.
It's just not something
that would
take place, especially given that, you're going into
a very impoverished area and it's almost like
driving around with a ferrari at some point.
If you're gonna go dressed to the nines
in this fancy,
fancy mode of transportation and to go around
and and talk about a way you would
be recognized is if this was your vehicle
as in the case of murdered by decree
where you see this. I believe at some
point the body is dumped out of the
the carriage. So I think they even played
with
with facts there because only 1 of the
5 canonical victims was actually killed indoors. The
rest were killed outdoors. So it they have
there... They're playing fast and loose with the
facts. So not just the facts, man. This
is really, really you know, craziness
and a lot of just
you know, artistic license up the Yin, but
there's no denying how accurately they at least
tried to reproduce these streets and getting back
to Jeff and, we were on this trek,
and we actually did a tour and we
visited Mit Square, which is not even designated
thus anymore. And is where I wanna say
Catherine Ed was found or Mary Kelly. I
can't remember which. You know, this is the
the financial part of London, at least depending
on where you are,
with the the mile spanning the where the
5 different bodies were found. 1 is on
the edge of London it's very, very
corporate and then easy to go out, it
becomes a lot more
well, as it was back then, new immigrants
and more
more gritty. And as you go... As you
travel further east. But it was interesting to
see
the spots where these things took place. I
have some photos on Facebook.
And Buck Rowe has subsequently been renamed to
something else. 1 of the other major streets.
I believe it was Do was renamed to
Now, I think I think Enrique Street, I
don't know. It's...
The the neighborhoods changed so much, but there's
still a few points of interest. Like a
school that was founded in the,
mid nineteenth century that's still there where 1
of the victims was. And it really is
a fascinating case to say the least. And
just by virtue of the fact that there's
been an explosion in suspect, and everyone p
reports to have Oh, now I have the
definitive
answer, and they've claimed to have Dna that's
fail safe and a slam dunk meanwhile. When
you have women who are living in dos
housing, what they call it or what we
would call in these shores, flop house,
or even something as as
barren and basic and and d demeanor as
coffin housing
which is exactly as it sounds, or
I think it was called a a penny.
No, I I forget what it was a
an
penny.
It's it's
some... I think there's a reference to how
the, et ideology or origin of hangover could
have been. That it's
this
basically a bench that you can sit at,
and I think a penny sitter. Something like
that where you... There's a rope drawn across
and your...
You can just sit there and catch some
z's, and then at the end of your
stint after you've paid your 4 or 5
pence. Then they release the rope, it's almost
like some bad night nightclub, and then your
fall down and you wake up. So you're
basically sitting there almost like a bad coach
seat on an airplane or whatever you're sitting
there and this rope is prop you up,
a penny sitter or a hangover,
and this is what the poor w or
as they were called at the time, the
unfortunate
were referred to and that's all they had
to
do to survive is come up with a
4 pens to to state at dos housing
or some sort of lodging or in the
case of all these victims
turning to the world's oldest profession. And
there are some London ce
where you can see
markers of grave sites where people have left
pennies as a tribute the victims who didn't
have
enough... Didn't have the requisite forfeit to be
able to find safe if very demo and
crowded lodging at the times. So anyway, a
murder by decree is so, you know, full
of
atmosphere, and, there's a scene by the T
that's a I really remember as a kid
that was really impactful as well with,
I think
sherlock holmes trying to command boats to try
and, catch up to a suspect. I don't
remember the details exactly, but
Bob Clark gives us,
hefty atmosphere and the performance is a great.
I mean, you got John Gill good in
this thing. You've got Jean vie B y,
who is from a dead ringer, a Canadian
actress from Montreal,
the appointment I mentioned James Mason, Christopher Plum,
And, of course, the lake Great Donald Sutherland,
who was the star of 1 of my
favorite horror movies of all time.
Invasion of the body snatch is, of course,
the 78 remake, which is
maybe the second best remake of all time
after the fly, But I mean, my god,
the this was... I mean, it's always a
joy to revisit this 1 and it still
gives me the chills to see that opening
scene and amidst the fog, and it really
is like, the
cinematography is weird. It's like, it's a bit
hard to make things out, and I think
that's by design. And I think it's
quite interesting,
especially how Sherlock Holmes is tasked to be
called into action by the the citizens committee,
who's
in whose membership included mister Lu.
To whom 1 of the famous letters was
addressed.
Catch me if you can. Right? So the
taunting, almost Bt k style. Of of detectives
and and maybe you could throw in the
Zodiac killer as well. So
really a a fascinating
character from history, a fascinating
part of the city to visit, and it's
it's so funny. Like, I mean, it was
Jeff first time to the city, but there's
was a few key things that we didn't
even get a chance to see.
I wanna even say it was maybe
Saint. Paul's Cathedral. There... There's a few
key things that we may have overlooked in
the city of London as we're just busy
going checking out Camden and the electric Avenue
and all these different kinds of places that...
Like,
this is a city that requires just, you,
you know, maybe a month or 2 months
to to visit to get a more drawn
out understanding of it. And at the time,
we podcast hands of the ripper from the
seventies other fun and very, very artistic license,
well, creative interpretation of what happened way back
when. And
quite compelling in its own right, but I
have a special connection to this 19 79
effort.
Of course, due to my fondness of for
Bob Clark and Black Christmas, which was film,
not a 15 minute drive North of may
here, but, yeah, you gotta you gotta love
neurology. It shows no signs of ab bait,
so much in into, so much
excitement and
it really is
re... It resonates through time because the issues
that resonated and affected them that then
racial tensions, poverty, wealth and inequality, police in,
extreme poverty, all these things are probably gonna
be with us. For time memorial. So if
it's fascinating to see how this was tackled,
but I would certainly like to see a
straight
Jack the ripper filmic
adaptation that just plays with everything right down,
you know,
Donald Rumble below, I believe is 1 of
the the
the... 1 of the foremost authors, maybe follow
1 of his books and and speakers or
someone who that was bona fide. Can't be
a questioned.
Someone with a really solid understanding and not
veer into this miso masonic
royal mum jumbo and just sticking
to the basics and maybe incorporate a little
bit more about the victim's life. I think
that'd be very impactful and I think it'd
be very interesting to see on the silver
screen. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the show. We'll
talk you soon. Take care.