The Old Man (Wallace play)

Last updated

The Old Man
Written by Edgar Wallace
Date premiered15 May 1931
Place premiered Wyndham's Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreCrime
SettingCoat of Arms tavern, England

The Old Man is a 1931 mystery play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Its original production was staged at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End for a ninety performance run. [1] It is set entirely in the "Coat of Arms" tavern where a mysterious old man lurks in the background, reputedly an escapee from a lunatic asylum. [2] The original cast included Alfred Drayton, Jack Melford, Harold Warrender and Finlay Currie. [3]

Contents

Film adaptation

The same year the play was adapted into the film The Old Man directed by Manning Haynes. [4] Wallace was closely associated with British Lion, which produced [5] the film.

Related Research Articles

Brighton Rock is a 1943 British play by Frank Harvey that ran for a hundred performances at the Garrick Theatre in the West End. Richard Attenborough and Dulcie Gray starred in the original theatrical production, and there had previously been one-week try-outs at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool and Bristol Hippodrome.

<i>On the Spot</i> (play) 1930 play

On the Spot is a 1930 Chicago-set play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Wallace was inspired by a visit to the United States and, in particular, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Known as a prolific author, he reportedly dictated the manuscript for the play in just four days. It was his greatest theatrical success.

The Calendar is a 1929 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a crime thriller set in the world of horse racing world, the sport being among Wallace's interests. The protagonist is a financially struggling racehorse owner with a shady reputation. It premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.

The Mouthpiece is a 1930 crime play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It was one of several theatrical failures written by Wallace following the enormous success of On the Spot, with a plot described as "flimsy".

Persons Unknown is a 1929 mystery play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. The plot revolves around the murder of a "person unknown" in a street by a mysterious blackmailer. It features the character of Sergeant Elk, a Scotland Yard detective who appeared in several of Wallace's novels.

M'Lady is a 1921 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a drama about a woman who tries to raise her daughter in high society, only for her husband to return from Broadmoor where he has been serving a sentence for killing a police officer. It was panned by theatre critics.

The Terror is a 1927 mystery thriller play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is based on Wallace's 1926 novel The Black Abbot.

Smoky Cell is a thriller play by the British writer Edgar Wallace first staged in 1930. In America a group of detectives hunt down a notorious racketeer.

<i>The Unguarded Hour</i> (play) 1935 play

The Unguarded Hour is a 1935 play by Bernard Merivale, inspired by a Hungarian work by Ladislas Fodor.

None But the Brave is a 1925 farcical melodramatic play by the British writers Bernard Merivale and Brandon Fleming in which a man inherits the estate of a wealthy uncle, and has to avoid being framed for murder by his relatives.

<i>Blondie White</i> 1937 play

Blondie White is a 1937 mystery play by British writer Jeffrey Dell and Bernard Merivale. A murder mystery, it was inspired by an earlier play by Hungarian writer Ladislas Fodor. A famous crime novelist helps Scotland Yard to solve the murder of a nightclub performer, Blondie White.

<i>The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse</i> (play) 1936 play

The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse is a 1936 thriller play by the British writer Barré Lyndon. The lead character's name is a play on the term for the female sexual organ the clitoris - a name characterised by the "yearning, untrammelled nature" of Clitterhouse himself; an extremely daring pun for 1936, yet seemingly anticipated by Lyndon to escape the notice of the contemporary censor. "My view was that he was no more likely to locate the pun in my title as to locate the source of it on his beloved bedfellow", Lyndon 'Fragment of Autobiography'.

The Romance of David Garrick is a 1942 historical play by the British writer Constance Cox.

Vanity Fair is a 1946 play by the British writer Constance Cox, based on William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name.

<i>The Last Hour</i> (play) 1928 play

The Last Hour is a 1928 comedy thriller play by the British writer Charles Bennett. At an inn on the coast of Devon, a secret agent battles a foreign prince trying to smuggle a stolen death ray out of the country.

Lord Arthur Savile's Crime is a 1952 comedy thriller play by the British writer Constance Cox, based on the short story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde. After a palm reader convinces him it is his destiny to commit murder before he can marry his fiancée, an aristocrat makes several inept attempts to kill people.

<i>Blackmail</i> (play) 1928 play

Blackmail is a 1928 thriller play by the British writer Charles Bennett. In Chelsea, an artist's model kills an artist when he attempts to assault her.

Afterwards is a 1933 mystery play by the British-American writer Walter C. Hackett revolving around a psychic medium.

<i>Sorry Youve Been Troubled</i> Play by Walter C. Hackett

Sorry You've Been Troubled is a mystery play by the British-American writer Walter C. Hackett.

<i>The Berg</i> (play) 1929 play

The Berg is a 1929 play by the British writer Ernest Raymond. It is based on the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

References

  1. Wearing p. 117
  2. Kabatchnik p. 172
  3. Wearing p. 117
  4. Goble p. 488
  5. Gifford, Denis (24 October 2018). The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film. Routledge. p. 1965. ISBN   978-1-317-83701-5.

Bibliography