Benighted (novel)

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Benighted
Benighted (novel).jpg
First edition
Author J. B. Priestley
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreDrama, Thriller
Publisher Heinemann
Publication date
October 1927
Media typePrint

Benighted (published in the United States as The Old Dark House) is a 1927 novel by the British writer J.B. Priestley. [1] [2] Priestley's second published novel, the story explores the post-First World War disillusionment that Britain felt during the time period. [3] A number of travelers are forced to take shelter at an old Welsh country house during a storm. Because the book was published in the United States in 1928, it won’t enter the public domain in the United States until 2024 in accordance with United States copyright law. [4]

Contents

Adaptations

It served as the basis for James Whale's film The Old Dark House in 1932 and its remake in 1963. [5]

Analysis

The book has been described as a study of British feeling following the First World War. Priestley himself described the book's characters as "forms of postwar pessimism pretending to be people". [6] As an author, Priestley tended to pit characters against people and environments that took place outside their regular circumstances. [7] Within the book, three travelers are taken in by a family, and they discover hidden dark secrets. The book draws on gothic literature elements. [6] In particular, the book draws inspiration from the 1847 novel Jane Eyre. [8]

Related Research Articles

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John Boynton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator.

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The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists Congress and other parts of the government on a wide range of copyright issues. It maintains online records of copyright registration and recorded documents within the copyright catalog, which is used by copyright title researchers who are attempting to clear a chain of title for copyrighted works.

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<i>The Old Dark House</i> (1932 film) 1932 gothic comedy horror film

The Old Dark House is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy horror film directed by James Whale. Based on the 1927 novel Benighted by J.B. Priestley, the film features an ensemble cast that includes Boris Karloff, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Lilian Bond, Ernest Thesiger, Raymond Massey and Eva Moore. Set in interwar Wales, the film follows five travellers who seek shelter from a violent storm in the decaying country house home of the eccentric Femm family.

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<i>Let the People Sing</i> (novel)

Let the People Sing is a 1939 novel by the British writer J. B. Priestley. It examines civic politics and corruption in the small English town of Dunbury, where the music hall is due to be closed. It was adapted into a 1942 film Let the People Sing.

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The Copyright Act of 1870, also called the Patent Act of 1870 and the Trade Mark Act of 1870, was a revision to United States intellectual property law, covering copyrights and patents. Eight sections of the bill, sometimes called the Trade Mark Act of 1870, introduced trademarks to United States federal law, although that portion was later deemed unconstitutional after the Trade-Mark Cases.

<i>Lost Empires</i> (novel)

Lost Empires is a 1965 novel by the British writer J. B. Priestley. A young man comes of age in the provincial music hall just before the outbreak of the First World War. It was set in a similar milieu to Priestley's earlier work The Good Companions.

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References

  1. Watson, George; Willison, Ian (1972). The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. Vol. 4. Cambridge University Press. p. 713. ISBN   978-0521085359.
  2. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1920). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law ... Wherein the Copyright Has Been Completed by the Deposit of Two Copies in the Office. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  3. Petley, Julian; Chibnall, Steve (2002). British Horror Cinema. Routledge. p. 80. ISBN   9780415230032 . Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  4. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1920). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law ... Wherein the Copyright Has Been Completed by the Deposit of Two Copies in the Office. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  5. Kabatchnik, Amnon (2010). Blood on the Stage, 1925-1950 - Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Scarecrow Press. p. 339. ISBN   9780810869639.
  6. 1 2 Baxendale, John (2013). Priestley's England - J. B. Priestley and English Culture. Manchester University Press. ISBN   9781847796448 . Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  7. McFarlane, Brian (2005). The Cinema of Britain and Ireland. Wallflower. p. 35. ISBN   9781904764380.
  8. Downing, Niamh; Heholt, Ruth (2016). Haunted Landscapes - Super-Nature and the Environment. Rowman & Littlefield International. p. 114. ISBN   9781783488834 . Retrieved 23 February 2023.

Bibliography