Tuesday, 17 January 2023

ICE BLUES: A DONALD STRACHEY MYSTERY (2008, HERE TV)

Donald Strachey is the quintessential private eye, a worthy heir to Philip Marlowe, but with a difference... He's gay. Ice Blues (2008) is the last of four excellent made-for-TV movies based on a literary series.

Donald Strachey was created by American journalist and author Richard Lipez, who died in March 2022. He was openly gay and wrote 16 Donald Strachey Mystery novels (published between 1981 and 2019) under the nom de plume Richard Stevenson. A posthumous 17th book will be published this year (1). Strachey lives in Albany, N.Y. with his longtime partner Timothy "Timmy" Callahan, the assistant to a New York state senator, and his cases often concern the local gay community. From 2005 to 2008, U.S. premium LGBTQ (2) channel Here TV shown four films shot in Canada and starring Chad Allen (Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman) as Donald Strachey and Sebastian Spence (First Wave) as Timothy Callahan: Third Man Out (2005), Shock to the System (2006), On the Other Hand, Death (2008) and Ice Blues (2008). The last two were filmed back-to-back but Ice Blues is actually the third movie. All were helmed by director Ron Oliver (Queer as Folk, Psi Factor), who brought a substantial dose of his creativity to the TV versions of Richard Stevenson's books (3).
 
Ice Blues is based on the third novel (published in 1986) and was written by Ron McGee. A lawyer gives Timmy 3 million dollars in untraceable Eurobonds for a youth project but he's found dead in Donald's battered car and someone wants the money back. The name of the victim is familiar to Detective Bailey, who faces a ghost of his past. Strachey must protect Timothy from a trio of nasty adversaries composed of the sinister Frank Zaillian, his henchman Somerville and the unscrupulous attorney Brian Lenigan. Ice Blues has some effective action scenes, great comedy moments and excellent dialogues. Chad Allen returns as Strachey with talent, class and a bit of self-derision. The chemistry between the gay actor (outed by a tabloid in 1996) and Sebastian Spence, who's straight and plays his role with ease, is essential to these adaptations where mystery and a film noir atmosphere are combined with romance. This romantic aspect is influenced by the Thin Man movies (1934-1947) and their husband/wife sleuth duo Nick and Nora Charles (4).
 
Another pleasant element of the Donald Strachey Mysteries is the presence of the irresistible Nelson Wong as the enthusiastic and irreverent Kenny Kwon. The role was a bit part in Third Man Out but Kenny returned in Shock to the System to be Donald's secretary ("office manager") and now he's training to be a private detective. Since the last Donald Strachey film, Nelson Wong played characters named "Kenny Kwon" in a long list of Hallmark TV movies directed by Ron Oliver. Fans of both Hallmark Channel and Wong call these participations "the Kennyverse". Daryl Shuttleworth, who plays Albany Police Detective Bub Bailey shows a different side of his role in Ice Blues. P. Lynn Johnson, who  played Timmy's boss in Third Man Out, is back but here the senator is called Lauren Platt instead of Dianne Glassman. Also with Brittney Wilson (Lilah), Sebastien Roberts (Frank Zaillian), Sherry Miller (Queer as Folk, E.N.G.) as Joan Lenigan, Myron Natwick (Brian Lenigan), Adrian Holmes (Philip Banks in Bel-Air) as Somerville, Gordon Tipple (Doctor Who: The Movie) as Arnie Targeson, Spencer Maybee (Eric Lenigan), etc.

Produced by Shavick Entertainment with Here!. Exec produced by Barry Krost and Brad Danks. Produced by Paul Colichman, Stephen P. Jarchow and James Shavick. Philip Webb is the supervising producer. Music by Peter Allen. Cinematography by C. Kim Miles, CSC. Editing by Tony Dean Smith. Production designed by Rick Whitfield. Costumes designed by Karen Munnis with Katie Quinn. The superb title sequence was designed by Krista Lomax. Filmed with the participation of The Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the  Province of British Columbia Film Incentive BC. Chad Allen retired from acting (and production) in 2015 to become a psychologist. The versatile Ron Oliver is celebrated today as the king of Christmas movies. The Donald Strachey Mysteries are one of the most important contributions to the P.I. genre on television.

(1) From ReQueered Tales (https://requeeredtales.com/).
(2) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Questioning.
(3) (4) See Bonnie Jean Mah's excellent documentary Martinis & Murder: Inside the Donald Strachey Mysteries (2009).
 
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