Hale and Hardy

Here's hoping that Hardy Men -- the upcoming comedy-adventure set to co-star Tom Cruise and Ben Stiller as grown-up Hardy Boys -- fares much better than The Boys in Autumn, a Bernard Sabath play that re-introduced Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as senior citizens. (Never a favorite of critics, the drama nonetheless attracted some very impressive actors -- including, for its 1981 San Francisco premiere, Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster, who wanted to re-team in the lead roles for an often-proposed, never-produced movie adaptation.) But I have to ask the obvious question: How many people under the age of 35 actually have read any of the Hardy Boys novels?

Of course, I'm sure the makers of Nancy Drew are asking a very similar question.