Penny Parker Mystery Stories No. 4 - Behind the Green Door

As we continue reading through the Penny Parker books, I can see why people enjoy this series so much.  While the third book was not necessarily the best, it still offered up a pretty good mystery, and the character of Penny Parker is one you can't help but love.  She's plucky, she's determined, she's sarcastic, she's nosy, she's unwilling to back down, and she's always ready to jump in and help someone in need.  She is everything you want out of a girl sleuth and then some.  And author Mildred Wirt had the freedom with Penny that she never had with Nancy Drew when she was writing for the Syndicate, as, after the first three books, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams began to tighten the reigns on the character.  So, it has been fun reading the Penny Parker books, comparing them not only with the Nancy Drew books, but with other books of the time, and looking into some of the historical references scattered throughout the series.  And while the title to this fourth book may conjure up a rather elicit adult film by the same name (we'll take a look at that coincidence later), the story is definitely one of Wirt's better ones so far.

Behind the Green Door opens with Penny preparing to take a trip up to Pine Top, where she will enjoy a holiday vacation of skiing.  It is funny that in Mystery of the Brass-Bound Trunk, published the same year as this book, Nancy is preparing to take a trip as well (only she's going on a cruise, not a ski trip)!  Penny is practicing her skills inside the house (and that must be a pretty large house for Penny to slide across the floor on an "open christiana" or a "telemark").  There is some definite humor in this opening chapter when Penny informs the Parkers' housekeeper that she has bought a new pair of skis, a couple of poles, three different kinds of wax, and a pair of red mittens, to which the housekeeper dryly replies, "Why didn't you order the store sent out and be done with it?" (p. 3).  It's this kind of quick wit that gives Penny Parker a sense of realism, as remarks like this are exactly the kind of things I would say!

Needless to say, the vacation doesn't start off as planned, as Mr. Parker is unable to join his daughter, due to the fact his newspaper is being sued for libel - to the tune of $50,000 (which, in today's dollars, would be nearly $1 million in today's dollars!).  It seems a local football player told the paper that Harvey Maxwell (who own a large chain of hotels) paid him to throw a game - but after the story was published, he recanted his story, and now Maxwell is suing for libel (pp. 6-7).  Penny is disappointed, but she still makes the trip by plane to Pine Top, located near the Canadian border - and what an interesting flight it is!  First, Penny is confronted with Francine Sellberg of the Riverview Record, a newspaper rival of her father, who Penny is confident is going to Pine Top to cover a story.  Second, Penny has the good fortune of sitting just behind two men on the plane who apparently have some very untoward plans regarding Mrs. Downey's hotel - the very same hotel where Penny will be staying!  And third, while we are never given a definitely location for Penny's home town of Riverview, it's location becomes even more mystifying when you consider this plane flight from Riverview to Pine Top takes over 24 hours to complete (including a short layover and a flight through the night, during which Penny curls up in "her clean, comfortable bed" [p. 31] on the plane, and even changes into fresh clothes in the morning when she wakes up [p. 32]).  

The mystery begins soon after Penny arrives at Downey Lodge and discovers that business has been decreasing since the opening of the Fergus Hotel not far from there - a hotel financed by none other than Harvey Maxwell!  It seems Fergus has been luring guests away from Downey Lodge and has made repeated attempts to buy Mrs. Downey's property.  Up until now, Mrs. Downey has been reluctant to sell, but with business dwindling, she may have no choice.  Penny pays a visit to Fergus Hotel, to check out the competition in hopes of helping Mrs. Downey, and it is there she hears about the "Green Room," which is Room 22 and for which one must have a special card to be admitted.  Her curiosity piqued, Penny sets about finding out what's in that room.  But if you think that's the only mystery Penny has to face in this book, think again!  She also happens upon a young girl being held captive by her grandfather in her own home there on the mountainside, and Penny decides to help the young girl.  There is also the unexplained mystery of why Fergus Hotel continues to get daily newspapers, when Downey Lodge is lucky to receive one a week.  And how does the actress, Maxine Miller, fit into all of this?

Poor Penny definitely faces her fair share of trouble in this book.  She nearly wipes out into some barbed wire that surrounds the Jasko property (where the young girl is held prisoner), and she gets badly injured when she has to jump out of a runaway bobsled to act as its brake and keep it from sliding off the track (yeah, it sounds outrageous, but it really happens in the story!).  With her right arm swollen, her skin severely scraped and bruised from her hip to her ankle, and her neck injured to the point where she can't turn it (p. 130), one would think Penny would be out of the game for a while.  But her determination has her up and about just two days later - although the timeline here is a bit loose, since Ms. Miller tells Penny she heard about her bobsled incident "yesterday" (p. 140), despite two days having passed (sleeping until dinner on p. 131, then awakening the next morning on p. 139).  Penny keeps up her detective work, and ultimately has to save Mr. Jasko, who is kidnapped (p. 180) and finds the real reason Fergus and Maxwell want to buy up all the property on Pine Top Mountain (p. 195), putting a stop to their nefarious plans, saving the day for Sara Jasko and her grandfather, and getting the scoop for her father's newspaper - all in a day's work for an ace amateur sleuth like Penny Parker!

And just in case you wondering about more Nancy Drew similarities - well, Penny does happen across a hidden staircase that leads to the basement and a narrow tunnel (p. 183); and one has to wonder if the plot for this book, involving skiing and smuggled furs, was an inspiration of sorts for the Mystery at the Ski Jump, published in 1952, some twelve years later.

Now, in case you are wondering about that "adult film" reference - yes, there really was an adult film released in 1972 by the same name, Behind the Green Door, starring Marilyn Chambers.  While the movie featured a posh hotel that had a secret room that only people "in the know" could enter, and yes, it featured a green door, behind which was a secret to be discovered - those are the only similarities to the book.  What is rather interesting, though, is the film is said to be based on a short story titled "The Abduction of Gloria," which is believed to have been written around 1940 - the very same year this book was published!  Now, if that isn't an odd coincidence!  However, doing some research, it seems the "green door" has a historical reference dating back to the prohibition era, when a secret entrance toa  private club (speakeasy) was often painted green, so that clients "in the know" would know where to go to find alcohol.  There is also a short story by O. Henry from the 1906 book, The Four Million, titled "The Green Door," in which a man is handed a card with the words The Green Room on them, leaving the man to wonder what mystery lies behind the green door.  So, while there is a very slight coincidence between the film and this book, it is highly unlikely there is any real connection - other than the use of the name.

Finally, my good friend, Geoffrey Lapin, recalls that somewhere in his research, he discovered that Mildred Wirt's original manuscript for Behind the Green Door was to be published as a sequel to one of her other books, Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch; however, that did not happen, so Wirt revised the manuscript for her fourth Penny Parker book.  Unfortunately, there is no documented evidence to support this, so for now, it is yet another mystery in children's series books that will likely never be solved...

Before signing off, there is one scene from the book that I have to mention.  Penny is always one to speak her mind, but when she finally confronts Mr. Jasko, not only about his refusal to renew Mrs. Downey's lease to use the slopes for which he owns the land, but also about holding his granddaughter captive in her own home, she really lets him have it.  I found myself cheering for calling him out on his selfish actions (something Nancy Drew would never be allowed to do!).  "You don't care how much trouble you cause other folks.  Because of your own son's death you have taken an unnatural attitude toward skiing.  You hate everything remotely connected with the sport. But it isn't fair.  Your granddaughter has a right to a certain amount of freedom" (p. 158).  Good for Penny!  Would it be that all of us would stand up against injustice and unfairness like this!

RATING:  10 girls stimulating as a mountain avalanche out of 10 for a mystery jam-packed with characters, adventure, secrets, hidden passages, locked rooms, and criminal mischief!