21. The Castafiore Emerald (1963)
The Castafiore Emerald (French:
Les Bijoux de la Castafiore) is one of a series of classic comic-strip
albums The Adventures of Tintin.
The
Castafiore Emerald is the twenty-first in the series. The
slowest-moving and most sedate of The Adventures of Tintin, it was
conceived as a narrative exercise by Hergé. Becoming disillusioned with
his most famous creation, the cartoonist wanted to see if he could
maintain suspense throughout sixty-two pages in which nothing much
happens.[1] Consequently it is a
story without villains, guns or danger, but rich in comic setpieces,
red herrings, mistaken interpretations, and colourful characters. In
this sense, it has many similarities to a screwball comedy film.
Captain Haddock and Tintin are walking through the countryside when they come across a Roma community camped in a garbage dump.
They investigate and upon learning that the community chose that site
on account of being forbidden by the police to use any other location,
the Captain invites them to his grounds of his estate, Marlinspike, over
the objections of his butler Nestor.
Shortly
afterwards, Bianca Castafiore, famous opera Diva and scourge of the
Captain decides to invite herself to Marlinspike for a holiday. All
manner of mayhem ensues. For some time, one of the marble steps leading
to the foyer in Marlinspike Hall has had a plate-sized chip that Nestor
has kept replacing while waiting for the repairman, who has been fobbing
the Captain off. Upon hearing of Bianca's impending visit, Haddock
rushes to pack for a trip to Italy, figuring that now would be a good
time to visit that country, which he had always avoided precisely to
avoid Bianca. In his haste Haddock misses the step, which, just moments
before, he had been sanctimoniously warning Nestor and the others about.
He sprains his ankle as a result. The doctor arrives, examines the
Captain, and insists upon putting the foot and ankle in a cast while
imposing a minimum of a fortnight's bedrest. As a result, the Captain
remains confined to a wheelchair for all but the last couple of pages.
The broken step becomes a running gag for the rest of the comic, and
nearly every character, except Bianca, herself, slips and falls down the
step at least once.
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