THE HARDY BOYS: THE GHOST AT SKELETON ROCK

THE HARDY BOYS: THE GHOST AT SKELETON ROCK. Franklin W. Dixon. Grosset and Dunlap; 1957.

In this classic Hardy Boys tale they get involved with more intrigue when their rotund pal Chet Morton develops an interest in ventriloquism. He buys a famous "Hugo" dummy with a purple turban that some desperadoes try to steal because the dummy's eyes supposedly hold diamonds. In one exciting scene the boys are shot at in their plane -- causing the engine to burn as depicted on the cover -- by a confederate of a crooked psychic also known as Hugo and who also wears a turban (coincidences abound in the Hardy Boys stories)! It isn't long before the action switches to Puerto Rico, where the boys have to contend with Abdul with the Big Head, as well as a gang member who looks just like Joe Hardy and causes a lot of mischief. At one point the fellows nearly fall into some sugar-crushing machinery. There are sequences at the fort called El Morro and at pineapple plantations, as well as a climax at a sinister island which has a spit of land known as Skeleton Rock, where natives worship a giant god that comes out from below and hovers over the rock. The Boys and Chet are guests at a fancy estate on this island, but aren't certain if their pleasant, corpulent host is part of the gang or not. Before this adventure is over, they'll get their answer and also learn the secret of the god -- or ghost -- of Skeleton Rock. 

Verdict: Dig out your old Hardy Boys books and dig in! You know you want to! ***. 

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE CHINESE JUNK

Rick Gates as Frank and Tim Matheson as Joe

THE HARDY BOYS: THE MYSTERY OF THE CHINESE JUNK (1967). Director: Larry Peerce. 

Frank (Tim Matheson) and Joe (Rick Gates) Hardy of Bayport decide to start a ferry service to Rocky Island with their pals Biff (Rickey Kelman) and Chet (Stephen Jahn). Another friend, Jim Foy (Brian Fong), directs them to an old Chinese junk that they can buy, and they do so. But there seem to be others who have an abnormal interest in the junk -- including George Ti Ming (James Shigeta) -- and another ferry boat operator, "Clams" Daggett (Malcolm Atterbury) is a bit put out that he might have competition. The boys encounter the secretive Dr. Montrose (Edward Andrews) as part of their investigation. Then the Hardy Boys' father, Fenton (Richard Anderson), trying to find a criminal called The Chameleon, is attacked and disappears. It all comes to a head in a dank cavern on Rocky Island.  

Mystery of the Chinese Junk is based on the novel, which was published around 1960. Although there were some changes made -- Chet doesn't take up spelunking, for instance -- the telefilm, a failed pilot, apparently, is pretty faithful to the story. For inexplicable reasons Frank is made a blond and Joe becomes a brunette, although it was the other way around for about fifty years. Fenton Hardy doesn't appear to have a wife in this -- perhaps he's been turned into a widower -- but Aunt Gertrude is around, played in so-so fashion by Portia Nelson. Anderson makes the perfect Fenton Hardy, Atterbury is a reliable Clams, and Andrews is, as usual, quite good as Dr. Montrose. Shigeta is pretty much wasted as Ti Ming but is good. Jan-Michael Vincent appears briefly singing a rock number as Tony Prito. Chet is not as lovable as he is in the books, and there is the addition of a dog for the Hardys, a Great Dane named Tiny who is probably borrowed from the book The Secret Warning, wherein the dog was named Tivoli. The cinematographer, Joseph Biroc, also shot Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte and many others. Aside from the serials on the old Mickey Mouse Club show, the Hardy Boys did not get a weekly series until ten years later and then they were played by Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy. 

Verdict: Much better than one would have imagined. ***. 

NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF

NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF. The Hardy Boys # 59.(1979). Franklin W. Dixon (house pseudonym). 

In this excellent adventure story for kids of all ages with many interesting facets, the boys investigate a supposed werewolf curse affecting the son of a construction contractor. At the same time some of the man’s buildings have been sabotaged, meaning he could go out of business. One of the fellow's employees is a native American who is hoping to find a missing bejeweled axe that belonged to his ancestor. A phosphorescent wolf – shades of Hound of the Baskervilles  -- appears at different times to menace assorted characters. There are many suspenseful and exciting sequences that range from dark forests to isolated mansions to high beams on skyscraper frames. In addition to Frank and Joe Hardy, we have lovable, chubby Chet Morton, who develops a crush on the contractor's pleasingly plump daughter. 

The first 58 books in the Hardy Boys series were published by Grosset and Dunlap, who lost the contract to the Wanderer books division of Simon and Schuster. The series continued in both paperback and hardback format for quite a few years. It was then replaced with The Hardy Boys Case Files, a somewhat edgier series for older readers. When that series wrapped up its run, we had The Hardy Boys, Undercover Brothers, where they became agents and the stories often were turned into trilogies. Currently Frank and Joe still have their own series in "The Hardy Boys Adventures" (as well as a new television program). The cover of Night of the Werewolf is typical for the time as if portrays the boys as looking a little too young and much less tougher and competent than they actually are in the stories. 

Verdict: One of the better of the post-58 books in the series. ***.