The Blunderer
''The Blunderer'' is a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith, first published in 1954 by Coward-McCann. It was third of her 22 novels, the second published under her own name. Synopsis Mild-mannered lawyer Walter Stackhouse has come to hate his neurotic wife Clara. He has suffered for years as she alienated all his friends and embarrassed him with her pettiness, overly dramatic gestures and intolerance of other people's needs. With Walter, she is increasingly distant and, without foundation, she begins to accuse him of having an affair with the sweet and sensuous music teacher, Ellie Briess. He does eventually become infatuated with the girl and starts a relationship with her. Jealous Clara then attempts suicide by overdose, forcing Walter back into her arms. However, immediately upon recovering from near-death, Clara falls into her usual pattern; Walter finally stands his ground and demands a divorce. Clara is then found dead, having fallen off a cliff during a rest int ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 novels and numerous short stories throughout her career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene. Her first novel, '' Strangers on a Train'', has been adapted for stage and screen, the best known being the 1951 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Her 1955 novel ''The Talented Mr. Ripley'' has been adapted for film multiple times. Writing under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, Highsmith published the first lesbian novel with a happy ending, ''The Price of Salt'', in 1952, republished 38 years later as ''Carol'' un ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Claude Autant-Lara
Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director and later Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Biography Born at Luzarches in Val-d'Oise, Autant-Lara was educated in France and at London's Mill Hill School during his mother's exile as a pacifist. Early in his career, he worked as an art director and costume designer; his best-known work in this vein was possibly for ''Nana'' (1926), a silent film directed by Jean Renoir. Autant-Lara also acted in the film. As a director, he frequently created provocative movies, saying "if a film does not have venom, it is worthless". In the 1960s, he turned his back on the New Wave movement, and from then on he had no popular successes. On 18 June 1989, he came to public notice again, controversially, when he was elected to the European Parliament as a member of the National Front and the oldest member of the assembly. In his maiden speech, in July 1989, he caused a scandal by expressing his "conc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Novels By Patricia Highsmith
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the la, novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning "new". Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance" to describe their novels. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, especially the historica ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1954 American Novels
Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head office of IBM. * January 10 – BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet jet plane, disintegrates in mid-air due to metal fatigue, and crashes in the Mediterranean near Elba; all 35 people on board are killed. * January 12 – 1954 Blons avalanches, Avalanches in Austria kill more than 200. * January 15 – Mau Mau rebellion, Mau Mau leader Waruhiu Itote is captured in Kenya. * January 17 – In Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia, Milovan Đilas, one of the leading members of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, is relieved of his duties. * January 20 – The US-based National Negro Network is established, with 46 m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jessica Biel
Jessica Claire Timberlake (née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Biel began her career as a vocalist appearing in musical productions until she was cast as Mary Camden in the family drama series ''7th Heaven (TV series), 7th Heaven'' (1996–2006), in which she achieved recognition. In 1997, Biel won the 19th Youth in Film Awards#Best Young Performer in a Feature Film, Young Artist Award for her role in the drama film ''Ulee's Gold''. She received further recognition for her lead role as Sally Hardesty, Erin Hardesty in the horror film ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003). Biel has since starred in such films as ''The Rules of Attraction (film), The Rules of Attraction'' (2002), ''Blade: Trinity'' (2004), ''Stealth (film), Stealth'' (2005), ''The Illusionist (2006 fil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Patrick Wilson (American Actor)
Patrick Joseph Wilson (born July 3, 1973) is an American actor who is best known for playing the role of demonologist Ed Warren in the Conjuring Universe (2013–present). He began his career in 1995, starring in Broadway musicals. He is a two-time Tony Award nominee for his roles in ''The Full Monty'' (2000–2001) and ''Oklahoma!'' (2002). He co-starred in the acclaimed HBO miniseries ''Angels in America'' (2003), which he was nominated for both the Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie. Wilson has also appeared in films such as ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (2004), ''Hard Candy'' (2005), '' Little Children'' (2006), ''Watchmen'' (2009), ''Insidious'' (2010), ''The A-Team'' (2010), '' Insidious: Chapter 2'' (2013), and as demonologist Ed Warren in the Conjuring Universe (2013–present). He has earned a reputation as a " scream king" due to his frequent casting in horror films. On television, Wilson starred in th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andy Goddard
Andy Goddard (born 1968) is a Welsh director and screenwriter, best known for writing and directing his feature debut '' Set Fire to the Stars'' (2014) and directing and co-producing his second feature '' A Kind of Murder'' (2016). Goddard has also directed five episodes of the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey''. Life and career Goddard was born in Pembroke Dock, Wales and grew up on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. He later studied film, photography and television at Napier University in Edinburgh. Goddard's debut short ''Little Sisters'' was nominated for a BAFTA Award and won the Gold Hugo Award for Best Narrative Short Film at the 34th Chicago International Film Festival. The film went on to win the DM Davies Award at the Welsh International Film Festival and the Grand Prix in European Competition at Festival du film de Vendôme. His television work includes episodes of ''The Bill'', ''Once Upon a Time'', ''Torchwood'', '' Law & Order: UK'', ''Downton Abbey'', and '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Kind Of Murder
''A Kind of Murder'' is a 2016 American mystery thriller film, directed by Andy Goddard from a screenplay by Susan Boyd. It is based upon the 1954 Patricia Highsmith novel '' The Blunderer''. It stars Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Vincent Kartheiser, Haley Bennett, and Eddie Marsan. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2016. The film was released in the United States on December 16, 2016, by Magnolia Pictures. Plot Walter Stackhouse is an architect by day, and an aspiring writer by night. He writes short-story crime fiction and is fascinated by a recent murder of a local woman. He meets her husband by visiting the man's used bookstore. Stackhouse has a troubled marriage, and his wife turns up dead. The police detective investigating both deaths suspects each husband of killing his wife, and a possible connection between the two crimes. Cast * Patrick Wilson as Walter Stackhouse * Jessica Biel as Clara Stackhouse * Vincent Kartheiser as Detec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Enough Rope (film)
''Enough Rope'' () is a 1963 French thriller film directed by Claude Autant-Lara. The film is an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's 1954 novel '' The Blunderer''. Plot synopsis Walter Saccard and Melchior Kimmel are both suspected for the murder of their wives and set out to prove their innocence. Cast * Maurice Ronet as Walter Saccard * Robert Hossein as Corby * Marina Vlady as Ellie * Gert Fröbe as Melchior Kimmel * Yvonne Furneaux as Clara * Paulette Dubost as Mme Kimmel * Laurence Badie Laurence Badie (born 15 June 1928) is a French actress. She appeared in more than one hundred films since 1952. Selected filmography References External links * 1934 births Living people French film actresses {{France-actor- ... as la serveuse * Clara Gansard as Claudia Release The film was released in France on 11 January 1963 through Tamasa Distribution. It had 946,050 admissions in France. References External links * 1960s psychological thriller films 1963 fi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Suspense
Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it affects a character for whom one has sympathy. However, suspense is not exclusive to fiction. In drama In literature, films, television, and plays, suspense is a major device for securing and maintaining interest. It may be of several major types: in one, the outcome is uncertain and the suspense resides in the question of ''who, what, or how''; in another, the outcome is inevitable from foregoing events, and the suspense resides in the audience's anxious or frightened anticipation in the question of ''when''. Readers feel suspense when they are deeply curious about ''what'' will happen next, or when they know what is likely to happen but don’t know ''how'' it will happen. Even in historical fiction, with characters whose life stori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Strangers On A Train (novel)
''Strangers on a Train'' (1950) is a psychological thriller novel by Patricia Highsmith about two men whose lives become entangled after one of them proposes they "trade" murders. It was adapted as a film in 1951 by director Alfred Hitchcock and again in 1969 by Robert Sparr. It has since been adapted in whole or in part for film and television several times. The novel was adapted for radio in 2004 by Craig Warner, and adapted for the stage in 2013 (also by Warner). Plot summary Architect Guy Haines wants to divorce his unfaithful wife, Miriam, in order to marry the woman he loves, Anne Faulkner. While on a train to see his wife, he meets Charles Anthony Bruno, a psychopathic playboy who proposes an idea to "exchange murders": Bruno will kill Miriam if Guy kills Bruno's father; neither of them will have a motive, and the police will have no reason to suspect either of them. Guy does not take Bruno seriously, but Bruno kills Guy's wife while Guy is away in Mexico. Bruno inform ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anthony Boucher
William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio dramas. Between 1942 and 1947, he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. In addition to "Anthony Boucher", White also employed the pseudonym " H. H. Holmes", which was the pseudonym of a late-19th-century American serial killer; Boucher would also write light verse and sign it "Herman W. Mudgett" (the murderer's real name). In a 1981 poll of 17 detective story writers and reviewers, his novel ''Nine Times Nine'' was voted as the ninth best locked room mystery of all time. Background White was born in Oakland, California, and went to college at the University of Southern California. He later received a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After a friend told him that "Willia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |