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Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series
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Genre | Mystery & Thrillers |
Format | NTSC, Full Screen, Color, Multiple Formats, Box set |
Contributor | FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES: THE COMPLETE SERIES PACK |
Language | English |
Number Of Discs | 10 |
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Product Description
Father Dowling My Com
Product details
- Product Dimensions : 1.7 x 5.4 x 7.6 inches; 0.01 ounces
- Item model number : 54091952
- Media Format : NTSC, Full Screen, Color, Multiple Formats, Box set
- Release date : February 18, 2014
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Paramount - Uni Dist Corp
- ASIN : B00AMU8K8C
- Number of discs : 10
- Best Sellers Rank: #106,861 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #5,730 in Mystery & Thrillers (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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F.D.M. is the story of Father Francis Dowling (Tom Bosley) and Sister Stephanie (Tracy Nelson), of rough-and-tumble St. Michael's Parish in Chicago. The cuddly Dowling is an amateur sleuth with a keen deductive faculty, and the fiesty Stephanie ("Steve" to her friends) is a former reprobate who still knows the streets and is as comfortable with a lockpick (or lipstick) as a rosary. Together they make a habit of aggravating the local cops by butting their noses into murder mysteries, usually for the purpose of trying to prevent the dull-witted Chicago PD (usually represented by Regina Krueger a.k.a. "Sgt. Clancy") from arresting the wrong man. In this task they are supported by Marie Murkin (Mary Wickes), the irascible parish cook/housekeeper, and the bumbling, self-centered and comically ambitious Father Philip Prestwick (James Stephens), who is usually more of a hinderance than a help. These four actually make a family unit: Dowling is dad, Marie is mom, Steve is the daughter and Prestwick the unwanted relation nobody is willing to throw out into the street.
The show usually follows a formula taken partially from the "Perry Mason" catalog, and "Murder, She Wrote" playbook, which is no surprise, as Bosley left that show to head up this one. It goes like so: A murder is committed, an innocent person is on the hook for it, and our heroes must not only prove the accused didn't do it, but find out who did. This usually involves some derring-do and undercover work, and often culminates with Frank talking the bad guy into a confession while the cops lurk just around the corner waiting to spring. Because it's set in Chicago, there are many mob stories and plots that center around corrupt officials, bad cops, etc., but the basic atmosphere of the show is "cozy mystery" and so with a few notable exceptions the murders and rough stuff are handled in a pretty tame fashion, and a woman in a bikini or a tight cocktail dress is as sexy as things will ever get. Also, although Dowling is a priest and Steve a nun, religion here is often a backdrop and not foreground material: if the series has a theme, it is that faith is great, but good works are what save the day and the soul.
From an objective standpoint, DOWLING has a lot wrong with it, even grading on a curve. The storytelling is generally full of cliches and tropes, and while some of the stories are inventive and a few very cleverly plotted, most of the twists are easy to spot from far away. The dialog varies enormously, from sharply witty and clever to the usual TV dreck of that era. The show is set in Chicago, but actually filmed in Denver (as was "Perry Mason" when it returned), and it certainly looks nothing at all like Chicago, to the point that they may as well just have set it in Denver and been done with it. What's more, like Tracy Nelson herself, the guest actors are usually New Yorkers with heavy New York or Jersey accents, which makes further nonsense of the setting. As for Tom Bosley, he is extremely believable as a priest, but not so much as an amateur sleuth/deductive genius. Unlike Angela Lansbury's Jessica Fletcher, Dowling's deductive faculties never really ring true. There were also times the show also struggled with its identity: three or four episodes are purely supernatural in character. As a general rule, you can do that all the time or none of the time, and if you want to work the middle, you'd better have a very deft touch (like "Magnum, P.I."). I'm not sure Dowling talking to the devil is a light touch.
What makes DOWLING rise above its flaws is its wholesome attitude. In this day and age, every protagonist is either an outright criminal or so tortured, troubled and morally ambiguous it's hard to tell the difference. There's a place for Noir-type storytelling, but it should not RE-place conventional protagonists and yes, even heroes. Dowling represents the radical idea that there are good and selfless people out there who want to do mostly good and selfless things -- period. Steve represents the idea that people can overcome their past without pretending it never happened -- period. Marie is caring and kind beneath her crusty exterior, the “stepmom with the heart of gold,” and even Prestwick, who is venal, shallow, clueless and annoying, is curiously likeable, because he contains no malice. There's something comforting about all of this, a sort of emotional atmosphere which I found myself strongly responding to. What's more, while the show is necessarily steeped in Catholic iconography and ritual, it is not preachy: Bosley himself was Jewish in real life, and I think the main message is not religious per se, but moral: good must fight evil, and must not expect a reward for doing so. The fight is as much reward as you're going to get.
[One last note: despite its short tenure of existence, this show features a trove of seasoned character actors and up-and-comers in guest appearances.]
In short, I greatly enjoyed this series despite its flaws, and the price is as modest as Sister Stephanie's habit. If you're in the mood for a mystery that isn't drenched in blood, full of torture and cursing, and entertains reliably while reminding us that it's good to do good, good to feel good for goodness' sake, this is for you.
I did not have any problems with these DVDs unlike most of the other older shows available to buy now. If you don't have any of the seasons then you should hold out for all three at once and make sure it is a good price. The prices fluctuate here on Amazon but I think the seasons by themselves run around $15 to $18 per season normally. So if you can get all of these for $25 to $35 then you can save some money!
As with most of the older tv shows, there didn't seem to be a final episode because they probably didn't know they were getting cancelled. Oh, I should also mention that you should be watching this for pure entertainment instead of information on any religion. Although there is obviously going to be religious talk in these shows, I didn't really feel like it was trying to push the Catholic religion onto anyone. That is purely based on personal perception, though. I was only watching the show with the intentions of entertainment!
Top reviews from other countries
The main characters have charm and the stories are action filled and amusing.It plays just fine on a multi region player .I recommend it as relaxing entertaining viewing
PS: pour lire ce coffret dvd, il faut bien entendu posséder un lecteur dvd zone 1 comme c'est mon cas, justement.