Les aventures du Colonel March

So far as I am aware, Episode 4 ("At Night All Cats are Gray") was the only occasion during which Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee ever appeared together. For that reason alone this series is worth a look.

It is also a very cleaver detective series featuring the inimitable Boris Karloff as a brilliant and unconventional one-eyed Scotland Yard sleuth. That is not the sort of role with which Boris Karloff is generally associated. However, he was actually a highly accomplished actor who was quite capable of playing all sorts of parts. It was no fault of his that he ended up being type cast as a "monster. For example, prior to his memorable performance the 1931 production of "Frankenstein", Karloff frequently appeared in gangster roles.

Karloff plays the erudite, one-eyed Colonel March who single-handedly runs Scotland Yard's "Department of Queer Complaints". Being the 1950s, that title has nothing whatever to do with homosexuality. Instead, it simply means that March is assigned all of the unusual cases that nobody else can manage to solve.

A cult classic TV serial wherein we take a rare look into the manifestly mysterious machinations of 'The Department of Queer Complaints', arguably one of the more esoteric echelons of Scotland Yard's most august estate, a shadowy, secretive section being largely the sole purview of that inestimably astute puzzle-solver, the slyly sardonic, unerringly triumphant, fiendishly inventive, and all-round clever clogs Colonel March of Scotland Yard. The more deviously confounding crime that he is tantalizingly confronted with, the greater relish with which our dutifully dogged, uncommonly tenacious, profoundly unconventional public servant attacks the apparently impenetrable case! This charmingly erudite, witheringly witty, larger-than-life super-sleuth of dastardly eldritch, murderous malfeasance, and supernaturally sympathetic crimes becomes embroiled with a bafflingly bizarre bank robbery, which very soon throws up more dizzying twists and turns than a permanently pixelated ice-skating puddy tat! The second, no less audaciously trick-headed, preternaturally puzzling crime concerns the especially unpleasant demise of a physically gifted exotic Javanese dancer, a darkly fascinating crime of deadly amorous duplicity that almost pushes the redoubtable March's legendary perspicacity to its not inconsiderable limits! And this greatly obfuscated tale of callous capital murder is bound to have the mentally flummoxed viewer frustratingly scratching their beleaguered bonce like a lice-ravaged chimp!!! The final fright-packed tale in this creepy celluloid triptych of delectably strange criminality, is the mystifyingly mad, cryptically confounding case of an altogether hallucinatory, phantasmagorically-inclined shooting by a pair of 'murderously disembodied gloves'???!!! A rabidly perplexing, reality warping, logic defying misdeed so insanely implausible, so desperately vexing that the usually ironclad, indefatigable modus operandi of Colonel Marsh is momentarily undone by the singular ingenuity of this inventively invidious villain's criminally convoluted cunning! Master filmmaker Cyril Enfield's 'Colonel March Investigates' is a crime buff's brainbox baffling bonanza, this vintage small screen serial is considerably enlivened by yet another exquisitely enigmatic performance from the iconic, ghoulishly glamorous fright-master Boris Karloff, this engaging crime series is highly recommended, a definite must-see for the more refined murder mystery unravelling epicureans out there! For a sleuth with only one eye, the visionary detective Colonel Marsh sees far more than most!

John Dickson Carr was a mystery author who specialised in locked-room whodunnits and other 'impossible' crimes: murder mysteries that seemed to defy possibility. Under the pen-name Carter Dickson, he published a series of tales called 'The Department of Queer Complaints', in which a master criminologist is called upon to solve 'X-Files'-type murders.

'Colonel March of Scotland Yard' was a syndicated series, starring Boris Karloff in episodes based on Dickson Carr's 'Queer Complaints' stories. The production budget for this series was laughably low; walls and furniture are clearly flimsy sets, and the actors are obviously taking care not to break anything. When a door opens, the doorframe wobbles. Karloff's splendid professionalism and innate dignity do much to offset this problem.

As the tweedy Colonel March, Karloff wore a patch over his left eye, although the scripts never explained how March lost this eye. I found it plausible that Scotland Yard in the 1950s might retain a one-eyed detective. On the other hand, watching Peter Falk in episodes of 'Columbo' in the 1970s, I find a similar circumstance very implausible. Falk is a brilliant actor, but he clearly has a prosthetic eye ... and I can't believe that the Los Angeles police force in the 1970s would retain a one-eyed detective. In 'Colonel March', the eyepatch obscuring Karloff's vision causes him just occasionally to bump into one of the wobbly sets.

It's no surprise that each episode of 'Colonel March' ends with Karloff tidily solving the mystery. Unfortunately, in some cases the explanation verged on the supernatural. This violates the spirit of the 'impossible' crime, in which the solution (however implausible) must still remain within the laws of scientific possibility.

Karloff was ably abetted by Ewan Roberts, and by veteran character actor Richard Wattis ... who wore hornrimmed glasses here, and gave a performance less effeminate than usual for him. For all its many flaws and its very dated appearance, 'Colonel March' remains enjoyable for mystery fans in general and fans of Boris Karloff in particular.

From the first frame Karloff professionalism shines through. I stumbled across these whilst looking for something to watch.The Department of Queer Complaints could never be made today in this day an age of PC and Odd Complaints doesn't have the same ring to it. I have watched 11 episodes thus far and am enjoying them immensely. On on Death and the Other Monkey at the moment and they are not even 20 mins in length so invest a little time, especially if you like Boris Karloff.

A few years ago I acquired 20 episodes of the series from an online seller. I was mildly impressed at first. I though the series was well done. Karloff's character, Colonel March, was well defined, and the stories were generally pleasing. However, over the years I have come to really love this modest little series.

The many reviews I've read on the series usually fluff it off as a low budget British TV series. That is most unkind. The productions values are very standard for the time. The mystery elements are not the draw of the series. Rather, it is Karloff's wonderful performance, mixed with the quirky elements of the stories. Karloff's Colonel March is an intelligent, slightly egoistical maverick. He works for Scotland Yard in the aptly named Department of Queer Complaints. Yet March is basically an acknowledged genius who works on his own and he has no supervisor. The toughest, most bizarre and whimsical cases are all thrown in March's lap.

My favourite episodes include; 1. The Abominable Snowman, where the snowy legend threatens members of March's own mountain climbing group. 2. Death and the Other Monkey, where March probes the murder of a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough. 3. The Sorcerer, March investigates the murder of a psychologist.

If you watch an episode and it doesn't impress you, try another. The series might grow on you, like it did with me.