The Strange Case of Mr Pelham

Last updated

The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham
"The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham" (1957 novel).jpg
First edition (UK)
Author Anthony Armstrong
LanguageEnglish
Genre Suspense
Publisher Methuen
Media typePrint

"The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham" is a 1940 [1] short story (later expanded in book form in 1957) by English writer Anthony Armstrong about a man involved in a serious car accident. The man recovers only to find himself being stalked by a seemingly identical version of himself. [2]

Contents

It is also known as The Case of Mr Pelham.

The book was reprinted in 2021 by B7 Media, available on Amazon. [3]

Adaptations

Critical reception

Anthony Boucher commented on the novel as "a lightly amusing tale of suspense and terror and, read as fantasy, an attractive book"; Boucher, however, also quoted another reviewer who found that, reading the novel as a genre mystery, it was "an extraordinarily irritating piece of cleverness." [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Matheson</span> American author and screenwriter (1926–2013)

Richard Burton Matheson was an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.

<i>The Thirty-Nine Steps</i> 1915 novel by John Buchan

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a 1915 adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, first published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It was serialized in All-Story Weekly issues of 5 and 12 June 1915, and in Blackwood's Magazine between July and September 1915, before being published in book form in October of that year. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a knack for getting himself out of tricky situations.

<i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i> American anthology television series

Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965, it was renamed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Hitchcock himself directed only 18 episodes during its run.


Inner Sanctum Mystery, also known as Inner Sanctum, is a popular old-time radio program that aired from January 7, 1941, to October 5, 1952. It was created by producer Himan Brown and was based on the imprint given to the mystery novels of Simon & Schuster. In all, 526 episodes were broadcast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Bailey</span> American actor (1904–1980)

Raymond Thomas Bailey was an American actor on the Broadway stage, films, and television. He is best known for his role as greedy banker Milburn Drysdale in the television series The Beverly Hillbillies.

<i>Dead of Night</i> 1945 British film

Dead of Night is a 1945 black and white British anthology supernatural horror film, made by Ealing Studios. The individual segments were directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. It stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers, Sally Ann Howes and Michael Redgrave. The film is best remembered for the concluding story featuring Redgrave and an insane ventriloquist's malevolent dummy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Macready</span> American actor (1899–1973)

George Peabody Macready Jr. was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Wright (English actor)</span> British actor (1915–1989)

Benjamin Huntington Wright was an English actor. He was best known for playing Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music. He also played numerous roles in famous films and worked as voice actor, having roles in animated films by Disney Studios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Arthur Jr.</span> American writer (1909–1969)

Robert Arthur Jr. was a writer and editor of crime fiction and speculative fiction known for his work with The Mysterious Traveler radio series and for writing The Three Investigators, a series of young adult novels.

<i>Ashenden: Or the British Agent</i> 1927 collection of loosely linked stories by W. Somerset Maugham

Ashenden: Or the British Agent is a 1927 collection of loosely linked stories by W. Somerset Maugham. It is partly based on the author's experience as a member of British Intelligence in Europe during the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basil Dearden</span> English film director (1911–1971)

Basil Dearden was an English film director.

<i>Brothers in Law</i> (novel)

Brothers in Law is a 1955 comic novel by British author Henry Cecil, a county court judge, about Roger Thursby, a young barrister experiencing his first year in chambers. It was followed by two sequels Friends at Court and Sober as a Judge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Slesar</span> American writer

Henry Slesar was an American author and playwright. He is famous for his use of irony and twist endings. After reading Slesar's "M Is for the Many" in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock bought it for adaptation and they began many successful collaborations. Slesar wrote hundreds of scripts for television series and soap operas, leading TV Guide to call him "the writer with the largest audience in America."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Benton Reid</span> American actor (1893–1973)

Carl Benton Reid was an American actor.

<i>The Man Who Haunted Himself</i> 1970 British film by Basil Dearden

The Man Who Haunted Himself is a 1970 British psychological thriller film written and directed by Basil Dearden and starring Roger Moore. It is based on the 1957 novel The Strange Case of Mr Pelham by Anthony Armstrong, and is a variation on the Jekyll and Hyde story.

<i>Alfred Hitchcock Presents</i> (1985 TV series) American anthology television series (1985–1989)

Alfred Hitchcock Presents, sometimes called The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents, is an American television anthology series that originally aired on NBC for one season from September 29, 1985 to May 4, 1986, and on the USA Network for three more seasons, from January 24, 1987, to July 22, 1989, with a total of four seasons consisting of 76 episodes. The series is an updated version of the 1955 eponymous series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Tremayne</span> British actor (1913–2003)

Lester Tremayne was a British actor.

<i>Out of the Clouds</i> 1955 British film by Basil Dearden

Out of the Clouds is a 1955 British drama film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Anthony Steel, Robert Beatty and James Robertson Justice. It was loosely based on the novel The Springboard by John Fores and was adapted by Rex Reinits, with a screenplay by Michael Relph and John Eldridge.

George Anthony Armstrong Willis (1897–1976), known as Anthony Armstrong, was an Anglo-Canadian writer, dramatist and essayist. A humorist who contributed to Punch and The New Yorker magazines, he wrote well-plotted crime plays including Ten Minute Alibi (1933).

Adaptations of <i>Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde</i> Adaptations of 1886 novella

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 novella written by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It is about a London lawyer, Gabriel John Utterson, who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll and the misanthropic Mr. Hyde. In a twist ending, it is revealed that Jekyll and Hyde were the same person, and that Jekyll had regularly transformed himself into Hyde by drinking a serum.

References

  1. "Esquire Classic". THE CASE OF MR. PELHAM.
  2. "The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham". Fantasticfiction.uk.
  3. Armstrong, Anthony (December 2, 2021). The Strange Case of Mr Pelham: A Classic Psychological Thriller. ISBN   978-1914169335.
  4. 1946 radio version at Genome
  5. 1948 TV version at Genome
  6. 1955 version at Genome
  7. "Radio guide". The Age. February 12, 1959. p. 32.
  8. Greenspun, Roger (September 4, 1971). "The Man Who Haunted Himself". The New York Times .
  9. Burton, Alan; O'Sullivan, Tim (2009). The Cinema of Basil Dearden and Michael Relph. Edinburgh University Press Ltd. p. xvii. ISBN   978-0-7486-3289-3 . Retrieved February 14, 2015.
  10. "Recommended Reading," F&SF , May 1957, p.78.