Harold MacGrath (1871–1932)

From Manila to upstate New York is the setting for this World War I era adventure/spy novel. Penned by the prolific Harold MacGrath, The Yellow Typhoon, alas, has begun to fade into the lost memories of bygone generations. Too bad, because not only is MacGrath a sure-handed prose stylist but he plots out an intriguing story that is almost impossible to put down without finishing.

One-fifth of the book is set in the American colony of the Philippines right at the beginning of America's involvement in the Great War. Written right after the war, in 1919, MacGrath's picture of the German enemy is similar to that found in other adventure stories of the era. (Having just finished Talbot Mundy's description of German treachery in India and Arthur O. Friel's narratives of German enslavement of the Amazon, I can say that MacGrath tops them both in making for one of the most villainous images of the Prussian "Hun" imaginable.)

But what makes the story work is the extent of it. Not only does it begin in the lush tropics of Manila, it then literally sets sail across the Pacific, landing in San Francisco, then traveling by train to New York City, and then finally ending in upstate New York. All the time, MacGrath's hero, John Mathison, a naval lieutenant commander, works to bring the blueprints describing a new feat of naval engineering to the proper authorities before the Germans steal it. The kink in the plan is that Mathison cannot merely turn over the blueprints. He also wants revenge on the German spies for a murder they have committed. His mission, then, is twofold, get the blueprints home and lure the Germans into revealing their part in the murder.

Quite a good read, this. MacGrath is worth looking at in more detail, I think.… (altro)

Looking at the publication date, 1915, it's clear that this novelization of a film scenario was greatly influenced by Pearl White's The Perils of Pauline and, perhaps, White's follow up, The Exploits of Elaine. Just call MacGrath's book, "The Foolishness of Florence." For like the White cliffhangers, Million Dollar Mystery reproduces a damsel in distress so stupid she seems to try to put herself in danger. And the stereotyped villains are there as well, a secret organization of Russian master criminals, the Black Hundred. Oh, and one of the heroes is actually tied to the train tracks with an approaching locomotive bearing down on them!

MacGrath has written better works. This one falls prey to its own mysteries and even confuses itself. All this is readily apparent at the end of the next to last chapter and the beginning of the last, where the author actually forgets the action he is carrying over from one chapter to the next.

All of that should have been expected. My copy of the novel had an additional "sketch" of MacGrath's career and his way of working. It appears that Harold was in the habit of completing his first chapter, then composing his ending, and filling in the rest of the book to connect to the two. It shows. In his haste to create a fast moving action piece, MacGrath often simply forgets to make sense in this mystery. As I say, he has done better--I'm thinking of The Yellow Typhoon.

By the way, at the end of the novel, the reader will discover that, yes, the butler did it. But just what he did precisely, I'll leave to readers to find out for themselves.… (altro)