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Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series
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Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
DVD
February 18, 2014 "Please retry" | — | 10 |
—
| $89.59 | $50.99 |
Purchase options and add-ons
Genre | TV, Drama, Crime, Religious |
Format | NTSC, Subtitled |
Contributor | Tom Bosley, Tracy Nelson, James Stephens, Mary Wickes |
Language | English |
Number Of Discs | 10 |
Frequently bought together
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From the manufacturer
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Product Description
Father Dowling Mysteries: The Complete Series Catholic priest Father Frank Dowling (Tom Bosley) continually stumbles over murders, abductions and other high crimes in his hometown of Chicago. Assisted by street-smart Sister Stephanie "Steve" Oskowski (Tracy Nelson), wherever the holy duo go, someone usually turns up dead. While the local police are quick to find a likely suspect, the snooping priest just as quickly finds a good reason to take a closer look.
Product details
- MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 9.6 ounces
- Item model number : D59187803D
- Media Format : NTSC, Subtitled
- Run time : 35 hours and 47 minutes
- Release date : June 6, 2017
- Actors : Tom Bosley, Tracy Nelson, Mary Wickes, James Stephens
- Subtitles: : English
- Studio : Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment
- ASIN : B06XX9KY6Q
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 10
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,033 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #411 in Drama DVDs
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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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.
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.