With the fifth entry of the Parker series, The Score, Richard Stark aka Donald E. Westlake puts his career criminal anti-hero in charge of his most ambitious heist yet: the 12-man robbery of a North Dakota mining town. This allows the author to expand the violent world of Parker by introducing a slew of fresh characters, including thespian-thief Alan Grofield, who would go on to star in four solo novels of his own.
We discuss the series' change in scope and structure in a book that would set the scene moving forward, the first of several to make the spectacular job the whole show. We also talk about the little-seen French movie adaptation, the introduction of this goofball Grofield and why Parker insists on taking jobs with such obvious risks.
The Score artwork by Tony Stella.
The Pink Smoke on Twitter:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on Twitter:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music:
Unleash the Bastards / "Tea for Two"
Outro music:
Marcus Pinn / "Vegas"
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With the fifth entry of the Parker series, The Score, Richard Stark aka Donald E. Westlake puts his career criminal anti-hero in charge of his most ambitious heist yet: the 12-man robbery of a North Dakota mining town. This allows the author to expand the violent world of Parker by introducing a slew of fresh characters, including thespian-thief Alan Grofield, who would go on to star in four solo novels of his own.
We discuss the series' change in scope and structure in a book that would set the scene moving forward, the first of several to make the spectacular job the whole show. We also talk about the little-seen French movie adaptation, the introduction of this goofball Grofield and why Parker insists on taking jobs with such obvious risks.
The Score artwork by Tony Stella.
The Pink Smoke on Twitter:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on Twitter:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music:
Unleash the Bastards / "Tea for Two"
Outro music:
Marcus Pinn / "Vegas"
We watched Arthur. A New York love story. Pure lightning in a bottle. The little movie that went on to become the #4 biggest hit of 1981. And we watched Arthur 2: On the Rocks. A critical punching bag. An outcast. Something considered a travesty of elegance and taste, when it's considered at all.
More to the point, what is Arthur in 2025? It's weird that it was so successful back in the day, and even weirder that we'd still want to discuss it now. We dig into that weirdness, and the double weirdness of its denigrated solo sequel: why it happened, how it happened and how it happens to work for us, just a little.
Support our Patreon:www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site:www.thepinksmoke.com
John Cribbs on Twitter:twitter.com/TheLastMachine
The Pink Smoke on Twitter:twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on Twitter:twitter.com/cfunderburg
Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / "Tea for Two"
Outro music: Marcus Pinn / "Vegas"
The Pink Smoke podcast
With the fifth entry of the Parker series, The Score, Richard Stark aka Donald E. Westlake puts his career criminal anti-hero in charge of his most ambitious heist yet: the 12-man robbery of a North Dakota mining town. This allows the author to expand the violent world of Parker by introducing a slew of fresh characters, including thespian-thief Alan Grofield, who would go on to star in four solo novels of his own.
We discuss the series' change in scope and structure in a book that would set the scene moving forward, the first of several to make the spectacular job the whole show. We also talk about the little-seen French movie adaptation, the introduction of this goofball Grofield and why Parker insists on taking jobs with such obvious risks.
The Score artwork by Tony Stella.
The Pink Smoke on Twitter:
twitter.com/thepinksmoke
Christopher Funderburg on Twitter:
twitter.com/cfunderburg
John Cribbs on Twitter:
twitter.com/TheLastMachine
Intro music:
Unleash the Bastards / "Tea for Two"
Outro music:
Marcus Pinn / "Vegas"
