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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Victor Canning |
|---|---|
| Country | England, United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Thriller, suspense |
| Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1972 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 244 |
The Rainbird Pattern is a thriller novel by Victor Canning, published by Heinemann in 1972. The novel has been described as Canning's best work in the thriller genre. [1]
Elderly spinster Julia Rainbird, under sessions by medium Blanche Tyler, or "Madame Blanche", promises her a large sum of money to locate her illegitimate nephew, Edward Shoebridge. Blanche and her boyfriend, George Lumley, begin making inquiries around their area about the Shoebridges, despite no one knowing where Edward is, or if he is alive.
Meanwhile, Edward Shoebridge, alive and under the pseudonym of "the Trader", has been organising small kidnappings around the area, but is planning a larger score, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom he will hold for a large ransom.
The novel was adapted by writer Ernest Lehman into the film Family Plot , directed by Alfred Hitchcock, becoming his fifty-third and final motion picture. The film featured Barbara Harris and Bruce Dern as Blanche Tyler and George Lumley, with Karen Black as Francine and William Devane as Edward Shoebridge/Arthur Adamson.
The film deviated quite heavily from the book, with the most noticeable difference being that the film was adapted as a black comedy. Other small changes include the switching of setting from England to Northern California, and the fact that in the book, Blanche actually had psychic abilities, while in the film, she fakes them for financial gain.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is an American suspense novel by Henry Farrell published in 1960 by Rinehart & Company. The novel has earned a cult following, and has been adapted for the screen twice, in 1962 and 1991.
Fail Safe is a 1964 Cold War thriller film directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. The film follows a crisis caused by a critical error that sends a group of U.S. bombers to destroy Moscow, and the ensuing attempts to stop the bomber group before it can deploy a nuclear first strike. The film features performances by actors Henry Fonda, Dan O'Herlihy, Walter Matthau, Frank Overton, Larry Hagman, Fritz Weaver, Dana Elcar, Dom DeLuise and Sorrell Booke.
Firestarter is a science fiction-horror thriller novel by Stephen King, first published in September 1980. In July and August 1980, two excerpts from the novel were published in Omni. In 1981, Firestarter was nominated as Best Novel for the British Fantasy Award, Locus Poll Award, and Balrog Award. In 1984, it was adapted into a film.
A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.
Silver Streak is a 1976 American buddy comedy thriller film about a murder on a Los Angeles-to-Chicago train journey. It was directed by Arthur Hiller and stars Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh, and Richard Pryor, with Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James, and Richard Kiel in supporting roles. The film score is by Henry Mancini. This film marked the first pairing of Wilder and Pryor, who were later paired in three more films.
Anne Tyler is an American novelist, short story writer, and literary critic. She has published twenty-three novels, including Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982), The Accidental Tourist (1985), and Breathing Lessons (1988). All three were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and Breathing Lessons won the prize in 1989. She has also won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize, the Ambassador Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2012 she was awarded The Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence. Tyler's twentieth novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2015, and Redhead By the Side of the Road was longlisted for the same award in 2020. She is recognized for her fully developed characters, her "brilliantly imagined and absolutely accurate detail," her "rigorous and artful style", and her "astute and open language."
Victor Canning was a prolific British writer of novels and thrillers who flourished in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He was personally reticent, writing no memoirs and giving relatively few newspaper interviews.
Thirteen Women is a 1932 American pre-Code psychological thriller film, produced by David O. Selznick and directed by George Archainbaud. It stars Myrna Loy, Irene Dunne and Ricardo Cortez. The film is based on the 1930 bestselling novel of the same name by Tiffany Thayer and was adapted for the screen by Bartlett Cormack and Samuel Ornitz.
The Spiral Staircase is a 1946 American psychological horror film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Adapted from Ethel Lina White's British novel Some Must Watch (1933) by screenwriter Mel Dinelli, the film follows a mute young woman in an early-20th century Vermont town being terrorized by a serial killer who targets disabled women.
Family Plot is a 1976 American Technicolor black comedy thriller, the final film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It was based on Victor Canning's 1972 novel The Rainbird Pattern, which Ernest Lehman adapted for the screen. The film stars Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris and William Devane; it was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition.
Breathing Lessons is a Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by American author Anne Tyler, published in 1988. It is her eleventh novel and won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds, also known as Invasion and H. G. Wells' The Worlds in War internationally, or simply as War of the Worlds, is a direct-to-DVD science fiction war film produced by The Asylum and directed by David Michael Latt. It is a loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells 1898 novel The War of the Worlds, and a mockbuster of the DreamWorks/Paramount film based on the same source.
Margaret Gabrielle Vere Long, who used the pseudonyms Marjorie Bowen and Joseph Shearing, was a British author who wrote historical romances, supernatural horror stories, popular history and biography.
Rainbird, Rain Bird or Rainbirds may refer to:
Firestarter: Rekindled is a 2002 television miniseries and the sequel to the 1984 film adaptation of the 1980 Stephen King novel Firestarter. It stars Marguerite Moreau as now-adult Charlie McGee, Danny Nucci, Dennis Hopper, and Malcolm McDowell as Charlie's old nemesis from the original story, John Rainbird.
Victor B. Miller is an American writer for film and television. He is best known for his screenplay of the original Friday the 13th film, the popularity of which spawned a long series of sequels. Miller was not involved with any of the sequels, though he remains credited for creating the characters of Jason Voorhees, his mother Pamela, and the heroine Alice Hardy.
Firestarter is a 1984 American science fiction horror film based on Stephen King's 1980 novel of the same name. The plot concerns a girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency known as the Shop which seeks to control her. The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, and stars David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. Firestarter was shot in and around Wilmington, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure, North Carolina.
Venetian Bird is a 1952 British thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Richard Todd, Eva Bartok and John Gregson. Adapted by Victor Canning from his own 1950 novel of the same title, in its US release, it was titled The Assassin.
The following is a list of references to the 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in popular culture.
No Way to Treat a Lady is a 1964 novel by William Goldman.
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