Max Allan Collins

During the dress rehearsal for a festive Christmas play in small-town Serenity, Iowa, star Louise Lamont topples over after a bite of prop pastry. Since the frosty actress had earned plenty of enemies through her offstage dramatics, the cast of suspects is longer than Santa's "Naughty or Nice" list. Prop mistress Brandy Borne and her diva-turned-director mother, Vivian-assisted by their savvy shih tzu, Sushi-must solve this fruitcake fatality before it's curtains for anyone else.

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Chicago 1941. Meet private eye Richard Stone, celebrating at his Christmas Even office party after beating the draft by way of a bribe. He's a disappointment to his secretary and main squeeze, Katie Crocket, whose brother Ben is fighting overseas; and his honest young employee joey Ernest is guilt-ridden over all the divorce-racket keyhole peeping. Worst of all, his equally sleazy partner, Jake Marley, was murdered a year ago tonight and Stone didn't bother solving Jake's ho-ho homicide.

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Edited from two dress rehearsals and a live stage performance, Encore for Murder is a Golden Age Radio-style production of the Spillane/Collins script produced in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Clearwater, Florida, starring Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinatti) as Mike Hammer.

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Michael Cornelison portrays legendary real-life lawman Eliot Ness in this fascinating one-man show that offers a look at the ups and downs of the courageous gangbuster's life and career. As he tracks down criminals and crooked cops, Ness's diligence leads to his capture of the country's first serial killer. Written by Max Allan Collins (creator of the graphic novel Road to Perdition), the show received an Edgar nomination.

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In this documentary, filmmaker Max Allan Collins chronicles the life and storied career of pioneering cartoon artist Vincent T. Hamlin, creator of the long-running cartoon strip "Alley Oop." Interviews with Hamlin's contemporaries, such as his devoted assistant Dave Graue and fellow cartoonist Will Eisner, illuminate Hamlin's drive as well as his particular genius that helped establish "Alley Oop" as an American pop-culture icon.

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Arguably the most influential person in American comics, Will Eisner, as artist, entrepreneur, innovator, and visual storyteller, enjoyed a career that encompassed comic books from their early beginnings in the 1930s to their development as graphic novels in the 1990s. During his sixty-year-plus career, Eisner introduced the now-traditional mode of comic book production; championed mature, sophisticated storytelling; was an early advocate for using the medium as a tool for education; pioneered the now-popular graphic novel, and served as inspiration for generations of artists. Without a doubt, Will Eisner was the godfather of the American comic book.

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In this documentary, filmmaker Max Allan Collins chronicles the life and storied career of pioneering cartoon artist Vincent T. Hamlin, creator of the long-running cartoon strip "Alley Oop." Interviews with Hamlin's contemporaries, such as his devoted assistant Dave Graue and fellow cartoonist Will Eisner, illuminate Hamlin's drive as well as his particular genius that helped establish "Alley Oop" as an American pop-culture icon.

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During the dress rehearsal for a festive Christmas play in small-town Serenity, Iowa, star Louise Lamont topples over after a bite of prop pastry. Since the frosty actress had earned plenty of enemies through her offstage dramatics, the cast of suspects is longer than Santa's "Naughty or Nice" list. Prop mistress Brandy Borne and her diva-turned-director mother, Vivian-assisted by their savvy shih tzu, Sushi-must solve this fruitcake fatality before it's curtains for anyone else.

Open details →

Chicago 1941. Meet private eye Richard Stone, celebrating at his Christmas Even office party after beating the draft by way of a bribe. He's a disappointment to his secretary and main squeeze, Katie Crocket, whose brother Ben is fighting overseas; and his honest young employee joey Ernest is guilt-ridden over all the divorce-racket keyhole peeping. Worst of all, his equally sleazy partner, Jake Marley, was murdered a year ago tonight and Stone didn't bother solving Jake's ho-ho homicide.

Open details →

Edited from two dress rehearsals and a live stage performance, Encore for Murder is a Golden Age Radio-style production of the Spillane/Collins script produced in Owensboro, Kentucky, and Clearwater, Florida, starring Gary Sandy (WKRP In Cincinatti) as Mike Hammer.

Open details →

The story of Mac Conway, a Marine who returns home to Memphis from Vietnam in 1972 and finds himself shunned by those he loves and demonized by the public. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River.

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