"Private Beak"

Season 3 Episode 1 (episode 46 overall) 

Nairb Nameurt is a really great writer too.

Original broadcast date: 22nd October 1990

Writer: Brian Trueman
Additional voices: Dame: Ruby Wax

                           Thugs/Cop(voice): Jimmy Hibbert

                             Wilberforce: David Jason  

Travel location: Chicago

Joke Credit: Stunt Co-ordinator - .....

Castle transport visual used.

After getting hooked on private eye novels Duckula flies the castle to Chicago to have a go at being a hard-boiled gumshoe.

As mentioned in other entries here, the series took it's cues from classic literature and cinema as much as the more 'pulpy' stuff, both in terms of horror and various other adventure-driven themes. Since it was no stranger to the detective-inspired genre, perhaps it comes as no surprise that film noir style private dick (or duck?) themes would show up eventually. This is also just a good, solid and funny episode. It acts as less of an outright A-B plot and more of a checklist of film noir tropes with a great cadence to the dialogue and pacing. A lot of Trueman's best scripts tend to do this, like a football match between the characters, everyone getting good chance with the ball and with the humour and story not letting up for a minute. You might need a second or third watch just to catch all the nuances, as well as the actual jokes. This is what, in my view, makes the series stand up to repeated viewings, all that lovely artwork aside. My favourite is the running gag of 'private investigator' being said backwards (it'll make sense soon) and Nanny's misinterpreting everything in the whole adventure as something far less sinister, but irresponsible at best.

In the library, Duckula finishes reading his latest detective novel and after a few groaners about which ones are read (or green) Igor rings for Nanny to break the monotony. Just for this episode Nanny is attached to the bell pull itself by a very long cord, which helps Igor do his Quasimodo impression. The bookworm Count, impressionable as ever, decides that he now wants to be a hard-boiled-egg flatfoot. Well he has a head start with those webs I guess. Since he's been reading that specific genre, he decides, with the logic of youthful optimism, that he must start the business in Chicago because that's where Philip Marlowe and his ilk ply their trade. This was exactly the same logic he applied in "All In A Fog" where he went to London to be a Sherlock Holmes type of detective. This is where any parents watching with their children will get a bonus smile, as this is just how a lot of children think, wanting to emulate their favourite people and things. It's been shown before that Duckula represents the child and Igor and Nanny the parent figures, which is amusing in its own right anyway. Of course, he's also worried that the grocer's wife may want to find out what happened to half her husband who was attacked by the pet werewolf. So, its off to the magic coffin in the dungeon cellar, although no rhyme this time, with the next stop being the windy city itself. No, not Leeds, Chicago.

Being that this is a cartoon (and also because this is, unusually, one of the Count's more successful endeavours) a client shows up almost immediately. Perhaps they were attracted by the sight of an Eastern European castle in downtown Chicago. It's a strong advertising point for certain! Before we get to the case itself though, we get a few laughs from Igor's misunderstanding of painting lettering backwards on the door, to appear forwards from the outside (doesn't help that the door has no glass) and Duckula's voice-over narration, which will run throughout the remainder of the episode. Duckula also insists that Igor refer to him as Mr. Mallard which causes more confusion with his usual address of (master) milord. I like how Igor is occasionally portrayed as being a little out of touch. He's normally the one who knows exactly what's going on, whether or not he can or even wants to do anything about it, but in this scene he comes across as an old fashioned father not quite getting his son's latest game. 

Next we get some more film noir clichés when the dame (who is markedly less intelligent than the usual femme fatale of this type) explains her case to Duckula and Duckula narrates a little more. This is also the start of the Etavirp Rotagitsevni joke that will run through the rest of the episode. It's all Igor's fault for painting Private Investigator backwards! I love jokes like this, where all the characters seem to be in on it, for no logical reason other than that it's amusing. Even Mallard gets the backwards treatment a few times. There's also the first use of a 'what's your problem?' exchange that will come back to bash them on the head later on.

Duckula: What's the problem?
Dame: Your lettering's the wrong way round.

Duckula: No I mean shweetheart, what's your problem?

Dame: I'm worried about my husband.

Duckula: What's HIS problem?

There's also a resurgence of that frankly pretty grisly joke from earlier on, involving the half-eaten grocer. Somehow that's worse than a fully eaten grocer, come to think of it! After giving some advice on the care of fibrous rooted begonias, Duckula accepts the case to find the woman's missing husband (the huge amount of money helps) and they set off. Nanny, as usual is concerned for Duckula running off with a flibbertigibbet, so she and Igor set off in pursuit. Fair point actually, this episode has a distinct air of menace about it and the constant gunshots heard in the background don't help. At least Duckula's servants always have his best interests at heart, even if they don't always agree.

First (and as it transpires, last) port of call is 'Ye Tudor Tea Shoppe.' I like how they got round the idea of depicting a seedy bar, by using a twee old-fashioned tea shop and depicting that as a hard, tough place to hang around. Although I doubt this was done for censorship reasons and more for humour. It's not as if this series shied away from using pubs and inns anyway. Lucky the dame seems pretty well-heeled, in case the prices are comparable with Betty's Tea Rooms. I love Duckula's drink order.

Duckula: Make mine Darjeeling, orange pekoe, tipped with skimmed milk and nine sugars. No, make that eleven. But don't stir it 'cause I don't like sugar.

'Waitress': Oh, tough guy huh?

The air of latent threats and mystery surrounding the tea shoppe is prevalent throughout the rest of the episode. It seems that it's either a speakeasy, a cover for a drugs ring, or something equally nefarious, complete with concealed wall openings for ease of kidnapping. In any case, the shady proprietor doesn't want 'the dame and the duck' hanging about so he sets some of his thugs in motion. While this is going on, Igor and Nanny have already arrived at the shop, narrowly missing Duckula and the femme fatale as they get knocked out and tied up in the back store-room.

With both dame and duck are bounds to chairs, Duckula attempts to free himself. This bit plays out almost like a survival film or a video game ('Saw' comes to mind) as he manages only to saw the leg off (not his own one, one of the chairs) with the sharp radiator and then has equally bad luck on the telephone trying to contact the police. Back in the tea shoppe, Nanny is the only one who can't be knocked out - neither black jack nor chloroform have any effect on her! She also mistakes one of the thugs as Mister Igor in disguise and doing a silly voice! No disrespect to the star, but I really do like scenes were it's just Igor and Nanny. They're just like a older married couple at times. Is this rare nowadays? To get cartoons that feature characters that aren't just children or younger people?

Duckula and the dame's escape attempt is thwarted by another of the boss's thugs, who is set to send the heroes to sleep with the fishes in concrete overshoes. That's them that are wearing concrete overshoes, not the fishes. Fishes don't have feet. Nor fingers come to that. But this murder attempt is in turn thwarted by Nanny breaking through the back wall trying to locate the toilets. There's a nice call-back to the start of the episode where Igor summoned Nanny with the bell: The thug chuckles at the mention of a funeral bell ('DING DONG!') which naturally attracts Nanny's attention ('I'll get it!) and she ends up crushing him under the broken wall. Perfect. Or should I say poifect.

Nanny rescues Duckula (but not the flibbertigibbet!) and they survey the damage. With the walls half missing, the previously also missing husband is now exposed. Duckula leaves him to patch things up with his missus and then leaves, disenchanted with the whole detective game.

Back at the castle, Igor has made his own way home. Thankfully for him all he sustains from the adventure is a bad headache. He indulges in a little bit of voice-over narration himself as the castle heads safely home. The mystery of the missing husband may have been solved (he isn't a grocer) but there's still some ambiguity. Just what exactly was he up to? My guess is he's some sort of crime lord trying to keep it secret. He wasn't murdered himself, but he seemed to have no problem trying to murder his wife! Perhaps he was fed up of hearing about fibrous rooted begonias. Who wouldn't be?

"Ooooh, uh....dahlin'."

'Private Beak' is an all round good and really funny episode. I admit I am a sucker for film noir spoofs (possibly more than actual film noir itself) so I would shay that shweetheart, but this is one of the best I've seen in a cartoon. It plays out like a sketch show skit allowed to grow to a fuller length, but with no filler. More than recommended. 

When I went to meet Brian Trueman at a animation expo, he acted out the part where Duckula tells Nanny to use the door, to which she responds 'you're so clever!' It was funny to hear his take on the Duckula voice though, since we're all so used to David Jason! When I got the UK-released DVD set in 2007, this episode was difficult (though not impossible) to play without the disc making a noise, including the menu. Did anyone else have this issue? There's the real mystery.

Music

"Shadow Link No.2" (Paul Ferris) Ring for Nanny.

"Blood in the Gutter" (Laurie Johnson) A private eye!

"Romance at Midnight" (Johnny Pearson) - Voiceover and other scenes - used several times.

"Mists of Illusion" (Gilbert Vinter) Banana sandwich.

"Calling All Cars" (H.M. Farrar) "No, I've sawn the leg off!"

"Dramatic Impact" (Ivor Slaney) Chloroform.

"Death in the City" (Jack Beaver) - Making a 'phone call/ending.

"Playout" (Oliver Armstrong) Sleep with the fishes.

Pans and backgrounds

Unsurprisingly, we get a lot of film noir style settings. This includes the castle itself, since the store-room area is transformed into an office. Of course there are Venetian blinds. How do you make a - (shush Penfold) The scenes in the tea shoppe's main area aren't as particularly hardboiled, but then that's the joke. Nice solid blacks on the tall buildings, similar to "Manhattan Duck." Two different skylines appear, or perhaps two shots of an even longer one. There's another bookmark for you all up at the top. Use it for your Ricky Spittoon novels.

This looks like a doctored photograph, a la Danger Mouse, but the cars are mostly the same as the prior example.

Private is spelled the right way round on this door!

Trivia

• 

  Is that their kid on the wall? The unbroken one that is.

  The title card spoofs Brian Trueman's name as Bugsy Trueman. The book is solid blue. The ones Duckula reads are red and green, including the pages. The colour red resurfaces again when Duckula describes his bank account. The opposite (being in the black) is mentioned in "Astro Duck."
• The title is a pun on private eye. Brian also scripted an episode of Victor & Hugo entitled "Private Ears" about spying, rather than detectives.
• Episode opens and closes in Transylvania but no screams either time. Perhaps this reflects the happier ending.
• Nanny refers to Duckula once as 'milord.' Usually this is reserved for Igor.
• Another appearance of the library and the magic coffin. No verse used to get the castle moving this time though.
• Spoofs on detective novelists' names appear as Ricky Spittoon (Mickey Spillane) and Desmond Panhandler (Desmond Bagley). Duckula's detective name is a pun on fictional detective Phillip Marlowe as well as a reference to a mallard, which is a kind of duck. He refers to Nanny as Nancy, since she takes on the secretary role.
• Duckula alliterates a couple of times. "Oh drat, darnation, dagburn it and don't tell me -" and "mobs, moonshine, machine guns and Merry Christmas Mr. Capone." 
• This marks the only time Igor breaks through a floor/ceiling upwards! The Crow Brothers do the same in "The Show Must Go On."
• The werewolf is mentioned and Duckula questions its existence. 
• Pay close attention to when Nanny bursts through the library door and you'll see that the letters fly off. At one frame it looks like it says 'Libra' and 'Bar'. This obviously includes the letter B, which ties into...
• The letter B looking like a fat man with a big tummy observation is also done by Penfold in the Danger Mouse episode "Penfold Transformed" also written by Trueman. Nanny does it here.
• Gunshots can clearly be heard in the background several times.
• One of the buildings in the streets simultaneously reference McDonald's and Donald Duck. Sears is also depicted, a department store chain which was founded in Chicago. The hotel chain Ritz is also shown as is Howards, which is a clothing store. King is Queen may be a reference to King & Queen but I can't be certain. Same goes for Bethel. Unsure about Bond too. The A.P. on the van most likely stands for Associated Press. There are several Juke's Pizza places in existence and at least one Jake's Pizza in Chicago, but that was founded in 1996, several years after this episode.
• Both David Jason's characters sit behind desks with candlestick 'phones on them. He will also voice a hard-boiled detective who does narration in the Victor & Hugo episode "Artful Dodgers."
• The dame is never named in-show. She has a similar design to the spy from "00 Duck."
• It's purely done for humour, but according to Duckula's estimate, the dame is 7 foot 4 inches tall (in high, high heels) which makes the thug about 6 foot 5 inches and roughly 4 to 5 feet wide!
• Duckula knows his flowers. You should not water fibrous rooted begonias too much, especially in winter when they enter dormancy.
• Igor paraphrases "Casablanca" when he wonders why Nanny walked into his castle. Which works as a pun, as Nanny literally does walk into the castle on a regular basis.
• The 'waitress' is another guest character who uses the term 'Duckyboos' in confusion or disbelief. He's also the second character voiced by Jimmy Hibbert to disguise as a maid. Von Goosewing does the same in "Restoration Comedy."
• The name of the shop is "Ye Tudor T" which is either a whimsical naming convention, or some of the letters fell off. Types of tea mentioned include Lapsang Souchong, which Duckula puns as a Llasa Apso, a breed of dog. American viewers may miss Duckula's pun about 'a lead' since the American English for a dog lead is usually 'leash.'
• One of the thugs is a recoloured version of Mr. Schussboomer from "Manhattan Duck."
• Duckula mentions broadloom as Nanny did in "No Sax Please, We're Egyptian." Brian Trueman sure knows his carpets! He used related terms for some villains in Victor & Hugo too.
• Igor references Eastern Transylvanian standard time, although he says it as "Eastern standard Transylvanian time."
• This episode marks one of the Count's rare success stories, since he not only solves the mystery but gets to keep the money. 
• The joke credit is either a mistake, a censor or a riff on how none of the stunts were arranged at all.
• This episode was released on VHS along with other mystery-themed episodes "The Great Ducktective" and "Whodunnit?" 

Goof and Nitpicks

• The store-room door (appropriately) goes backwards after Igor paints on it backwards. Unless it's a different door.
• Nanny's collar is miscoloured once at her desk and Duckula's legs are miscoloured briefly near the end when Nanny unties him.