“Murder to Music”: Helene Hanff Writes for Ellery Queen

In 84, Charing Cross Road (her compilation of correspondence with a London bookstore over two decades), New York writer Helene Hanff describes a new project that may earn her enough money to finally visit England: writing for Ellery Queen, which was being adapted to television. The name was only vaguely familiar to me from long-ago newsstand magazines, but Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine is still in print, well into its ninth decade of publication. The current editor has been in place since 1991.

“Ellery Queen” himself was, in fact, “the two-cousin writing team of Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee.” Rather confusingly, they share their authorial name with their main character, a New York crime fiction writer who assists his police-detective father with some of his cases. According to Wikipedia, “They decided to use as their collective pseudonym the same name they had given to their detective as they believed readers tended to remember the names of detectives but forget those of their creators.” Dozens of novels and short story collections describe the adventures of Ellery Queen.

And then there are the TV serializations, including the early-1950s one that Helene Hanff was invited to contribute to. As she explained, she became the show’s “special writer of arty murders,” setting her episodes at art galleries, concert halls, operas, ballets, and even a Shakespeare festival. Hanff, a struggling playwright who read scripts and babysat to make ends meet, was a firm believer in Flanagan’s Law. ”Its basic premise is that no matter what happens to you in your career, it’s unexpected.“

Before its television incarnation, The Adventures of Ellery Queen was a beloved radio programme. The earliest TV series–there were two, just in the 1950s–was shot on Live Kinescope. When television production shifted to scripted, filmed, and edited shows, Hanff lost interest in participating, feeling she didn’t know how to write in this format. That’s a pity because the episode I just watched, “Murder to Music,” is a lot of fun. It’s easily available on YouTube and via the Internet Archive.

Dated, of course. The ambitious pianist determined to make her concert début is thwarted by the conductor’s invalid wife, who doesn’t think she’s ready. “This is my first vacation in five years, Martha, so behave yourself until I get back . . . There you are, my dear,” he reassures her, handing the wife her medication.

“You give me sedatives to keep me quiet,” she replies tartly.

“Next time I’ll beat you!” he chuckles. Oof.

She reminds him that a steady stream of attractive young women have come through the house, but this one scares her; the wife feels a sense of menace. The pretty pianist tries to have her committed. When that fails, she kills her, relying on her victim’s weak heart for the murder to pass as a natural death. The show must go on, and she’s determined to play the Brahms Concerto in front of an appreciative audience. There’s no real suspense, but the acting is strong, and the dialogue has some cracking moments. “It’s hard to believe. She looked so sweet.” “So did Lucrezia Borgia.”

Hanff’s career was challenging, with lots of ups and downs. 84, Charing Cross Road didn’t make much of a ripple in America, but she became famous with its UK publication. She said she valued her success more because it was so long awaited, and in such an unexpected form.