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Sir Henry Merrivale
Sir Henry Merrivale is a fictional amateur detective created by "Carter Dickson", a pen name of John Dickson Carr (1906–1977). Also known as "the Old Man," by his initials "H. M." (a pun on "His Majesty"), or "the Maestro", Merrivale appears in 22 of Carr's locked-room mysteries and "impossible crime" novels of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, as well as in two short stories. Character Merrivale is a fairly serious character in the early novels but is more of a comic figure in the later books, sometimes bordering on the grotesque. Much of the humor surrounding the character derives from his outbursts of temper and his absurdly colourful language. When first introduced as a character, he is described as an older man nearing retirement. In later works, he talks explicitly about his age. In the 1940 novel ''And So to Murder'', set in late 1939, Merrivale refers to himself as being almost 70. In the 1941 novel ''Seeing is Believing'', while dictating his memoirs, he even gives his dat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Plague Court Murders
''The Plague Court Murders'' is a mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr, who wrote it under the name of Carter Dickson. The first Sir Henry Merrivale mystery, it is a locked room mystery of the subtype known as an "impossible crime". Plot summary Ken Blake is approached by an old friend, Dean Halliday, who tells the story of his family estate, Plague Court. Halliday explains that the house is haunted by the ghost of the original owner, Louis Playge, a hangman by profession. Halliday invites Blake and Chief-Inspector Humphrey Masters to Plague Court to take part in a seance, run by psychic Roger Darworth and his medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ... Joseph. However, Darworth is a fake, being monitored by the police. The night of the seance, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Detective (TV Series)
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads them to arrest criminals and enable them to be convicted in court. A detective may work for the police or privately. Overview Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is a licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, by examining and evaluating clues and personal records in order to uncover the identity and/or whereabouts of criminals. In some police departments, a detective position is obtained by passing a written test after a person completes the requirements for being a police officer. In many other police systems, detectives are college graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. Some argue that detectives do a completely different job and ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literary Characters Introduced In 1934
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and the essay. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a particular subject.''OED'' Etymologically, the term derives from Latin ''literatura/litteratura'' "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from ''litera/littera'' "letter". In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleuth (play)
''Sleuth'' is a 1970 play written by Anthony Shaffer (writer), Anthony Shaffer. The Broadway theatre, Broadway production received the Tony Award for Tony Award for Best Play, Best Play, and Anthony Quayle and Keith Baxter (actor), Keith Baxter received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance. The play was adapted for feature films in Sleuth (1972 film), 1972, Sleuth (2007 film), 2007 and Tamanna (2014 film), 2014. Plot summary The play is set in the Wiltshire, England, Wiltshire manor house of Andrew Wyke, an immensely successful mystery writer. Wyke's home reflects his obsession with the inventions and deceptions of fiction and his fascination with games and game-playing. He lures his wife's lover Milo Tindle to the house and convinces him to stage a robbery of her jewelry, a proposal that sets off a chain of events that leaves the audience trying to decipher where Wyke's imagination ends and reality begins. Shaffer said the play was partially inspired by one of his f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Felton
Robert Forbes Felton (12 August 1911 – 21 October 1972), known professionally as Felix Felton, was a British film, television, stage and voice actor as well as a radio director, composer and author. Radio work In his earlier years Felton considered becoming a professional pianist, a composer or a classical scholar, but instead chose to become an actor. At the University of Oxford where he studied Music he was President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. He began his acting career as Bottom in Max Reinhardt's production of '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. He joined BBC Radio in 1934 where he was a producer, actor and director until 1948, producing ''Calling Germany'' in 1943 and directing a BBC Radio production of George Bernard Shaw's '' Candida'' in 1946, among others. In 1941 he was a Senior Instructor on the BBC's 'General Broadcasting Technique' course which included George Orwell as a student when he joined the BBC's Overseas Service. He resigned from his post at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC developed two nationwide radio stations – the National Programme and the Regional Programme (which were begun broadcasting on 9 March 1930) – as well as a basic service from London that include programming originated in six regions. Although the programme items attracting the greatest number of listeners tended to appear on the National, the two services were not streamed: they were each designed to appeal "across the board" to a single but variegated audience by offering between them and at most times of the day a choice of programme type rather than simply catering, each of them exclusively, to two distinct audiences. 1939–1945: World War II On 1 September 1939, the BBC merged the two programmes into one national service from Lon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
He Wouldn't Kill Patience
''He Wouldn't Kill Patience'' is a mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr, who published it under the name of Carter Dickson. It is a locked room mystery and features the series detective Sir Henry Merrivale and his long-time associate, Scotland Yard's Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters. Plot summary The Dell mapback Mapback is a term used by paperback collectors to refer to the earliest paperback books published by Dell Books, beginning in 1943. The books are known as mapbacks because the back cover of the book contains a map that illustrates the location ... edition of 1950 is subtitled "Murder in the Zoo". Edward Benton, director of the Royal Albert Zoological Gardens, is worried about what the year 1941 will bring to his beloved collection of snakes and reptiles; it seems as if they will be destroyed, at the request of the Department of Home Security, to prevent poisonous snakes from escaping in the case of an air raid. Nevertheless, he is still making ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Horne (actor)
David Edgar Alderson Horne (14 July 1898 in Balcombe, Sussex – 15 March 1970 in Marylebone, London) was an English film and stage actor. Biography British actor and playwright David Horne began his film career in the 1930s, after a distinguished early career in the theatre. He was generally seen portraying pompous, self-satisfied characters. He never managed to rise to the "star" level in his silver screen acting career, but he was an indispensable character actor, and played many utility parts such as desk clerks, newspaper editors, police officials, lawyers and doctors. He continued his theatre work until his death in 1970. Filmography * ''Lord of the Manor'' (1933) as General Sir George Fleeter (film debut) * '' General John Regan'' (1933) as Maj. Kent * '' Badger's Green'' (1934) as Major Forrester * ''The Case for the Crown'' (1934) as James Rainsford * ''That's My Uncle'' (1935) as Col. Marlowe * ''The Village Squire'' (1935) as Squire Hollis * '' Late Extra'' (193 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Wyldeck
Martin Wyldeck (11 January 1914 – 29 April 1988) was an English actor who played a wide range of parts over many years on stage, screen and TV. He also appeared in the first episode of the TV series ''Fawlty Towers'', as Sir Richard Morris. Selected filmography * ''Operation Diamond'' (1948) - Hugo * ''My Wife's Lodger'' (1952) - Policeman * ''Time Bomb'' (1953) - Sergeant Collins * ''Deadly Nightshade'' (1953) - M.I.5 Man (uncredited) * '' Street Corner'' (1953) - Desk Sgt. Forbes (uncredited) * '' Will Any Gentleman...?'' (1953) - Commissionaire * ''Knights of the Round Table'' (1953) - John (uncredited) * '' The Embezzler'' (1954) - 2nd Police Sergeant (uncredited) * ''Timeslip'' (1955) - Dr. Preston * '' Now and Forever'' (1956) - Master of Ceremonies (uncredited) * '' My Wife's Family'' (1956) - (uncredited) * ''The Counterfeit Plan'' (1957) - (uncredited) * '' The Devil's Pass'' (1957) - Young Master * '' The Hypnotist'' (1957) - Doctor Bradford * ''Carry on Sergeant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
And So To Murder
''And So to Murder'' is a mystery novel by the American writer John Dickson Carr, who published it under the name of Carter Dickson. It is a whodunnit A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the ... and features the series detective Sir Henry Merrivale and Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters. Plot summary Monica Stanton, the pretty and rather naive daughter of a British clergyman, is the author of a surprisingly scandalous best-seller. As a result, she has been hired as a script writer for Albion Films, working with William Cartwright, a script writer from the world of detective novels. However, she is not going to be working on her own novel—she is helping Cartwright adapt his latest detective novel, ''And So to Murder''. Tilly Parsons is a dumpy, bustling chai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five UK Parliament constituency, constituencies. Ideologically an Economic liberalism, economic liberal and British Empire, imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. Of mixed English and American parentage, Churchill was born in Oxfordshire to Spencer family, a wealthy, aristocratic family. He joined the British Army in 1895 and saw action in British Raj, Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
