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The Circular Staircase
''The Circular Staircase'' is a mystery novel by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. The story follows dowager Rachel Innes as she thwarts a series of strange crimes at a summer house she has rented with her niece and nephew. The novel was Rinehart's first bestseller and established her as one of the era's most popular writers. The story was serialized in '' All-Story'' for five issues starting with the November 1907 issue, then published in book form by Bobbs-Merrill in 1908. Rinehart was inspired to write the novel after a visit to Melrose, a Gothic Revival castle in Northern Virginia. ''The Circular Staircase'' pioneered what became known as the " had I but known" school of mystery writing, which often feature female protagonists and narrators who foreshadow impending danger and plot developments by reflecting on what they might have done differently. Rinehart employed this formula in many of her later works, and it inspired dozens of subsequent stories. The novel was adapt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Roberts Rinehart
Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.Keating, H.R.F., ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press, 1989, p. 170. Rinehart published her first mystery novel ''The Circular Staircase'' in 1908, which introduced the " had I but known" narrative style. Rinehart is also considered the source of "the butler did it" plot device in her novel ''The Door'' (1930), although the exact phrase does not appear in her work. She also worked to tell the stories and experiences of front line soldiers during World War I, one of the first women to travel to the Belgian front lines. Biography Rinehart was born Mary Ella Roberts in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, now a part of Pittsburgh. A sister, Olive Louise, four years Mary's junior, would later gain recognition as an author of children's books and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. Her father was a frustrated inventor, and throughout he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feature Film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinee programs, especially in the US and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on weekends. The first narrative feature film was the 60-minute ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' (1906, Australia). Other early feature films include ''Les Misérables'' (1909, U.S.), ''L'Inferno'', ''Defence of Sevastopol'' (1911), '' Oliver Twist'' (American version), '' Oliver Twist'' (British version), '' Richard III'', ''From the Manger to the Cross'', ''Cleopatra'' (1912), '' Quo Vadis?'' (1913), ''Cabiria'' (1914) and ''The Birth of a Nation'' (1915). Description The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bat (1959 Film)
''The Bat'' is a 1959 American crime-mystery thriller starring Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead. It is the fourth film adaptation of the story, which began as a 1908 novel ''The Circular Staircase'' by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which she later adapted (with Avery Hopwood) into the 1920 play '' The Bat''.Thompson, Nathanie"The Bat" (article)on TCM.com The first film version of the play was the 1926 American silent film '' The Bat''. The film version was adapted by playwright Crane Wilbur, who also directed. ''The Bat'' was distributed in 1959 on a double bill with the British Hammer film ''The Mummy''. Now in the public domain, ''The Bat'' is available for online download. Plot Mystery author Cornelia Van Gorder rents The Oaks, a summer home in a small town, from local bank president John Fleming. While on a hunting trip with his physician, Dr. Malcolm Wells, Fleming confesses to stealing over $1 million in negotiable securities from the bank. He offers to split the money with W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bat Whispers
''The Bat Whispers'' is a 1930 American pre-Code mystery film directed by Roland West, produced by Joseph M. Schenck, and released by United Artists. The film is based on the 1920 mystery play '' The Bat'', written by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, and is the second film version by the same director, previously adapted in 1926. An early talkie and one of the first widescreen films, West financed the cinematography, which required two cameramen and several techniques. It was considered a lost film for many years, but was restored from duplicate filmstock in 1988. Plot A mysterious criminal by the name of "The Bat" eludes police and then finally announces his retirement to the country. In the countryside near the town of Oakdale, news of a bank robbery in Oakdale has put Mrs. Van Gordner's maid, Lizzie, on edge. Van Gordner is leasing the house from Mr. Fleming, the Oakdale bank president, who is in Europe. The chief suspect in the bank robbery, a cashier, has disappe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bat (1926 Film)
''The Bat'' is a 1926 American silent comedy mystery film directed by Roland West and starring Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. The film is based on the 1920 Broadway hit play '' The Bat'' by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, which itself was an adaptation of Rinehart's 1908 mystery novel ''The Circular Staircase.'' ''The Bat'' has been cited as an early influence on the "slasher film" genre. Plot Gideon Bell, owner of the Favre Emeralds, receives a letter stating that the emeralds will be stolen at midnight by "the Bat", and that police will not be able to stop the robbery. The Bat, a figure dressed as a bat, murders Gideon and steals the emeralds. The Bat leaves a bat-shaped note for the chief of police to inform him that he will be traveling to the country. The Bat travels by car to a mansion built by Courtleigh Fleming, the president of the Oakdale Bank, who has recently been found dead in Colorado. The mansion is being rented for the summer by writer Cornelia V ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Vincent Benét
Stephen Vincent Benét (; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is best known for his book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, ''John Brown's Body'' (1928), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and for the short stories "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936) and " By the Waters of Babylon" (1937). In 2009, Library of America selected his story "The King of the Cats" (1929) for inclusion in its two-century retrospective of ''American Fantastic Tales'', edited by Peter Straub. Life and career Early life Benét was born on July 22, 1898 in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania to James Walker Benét, a colonel in the United States Army. His grandfather and namesake led the Army Ordnance Corps from 1874 to 1891 as a brigadier general and served in the Civil War. His paternal uncle Laurence Vincent Benét was an ensign in the United States Navy during the Spani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morosco Theatre
The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Street, the Morosco Theatre was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shubert family, who constructed it for Oliver Morosco in gratitude for his helping them break the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate. It had approximately 955 seats. After an invitation-only preview performance on February 4, 1917, it opened to the public on February 5. The inaugural production was ''Canary Cottage'', a musical with a book by Morosco and a score by Earl Carroll. The Shuberts lost the building in the Great Depression, and City Playhouses, Inc. bought it at auction in 1943. It was sold in 1968 to Bankers Trust Company and, after a massive "Save the Theatres" protest movement led by Joe Papp and supported by various actors and other theatrical fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avery Hopwood
James Avery Hopwood (May 28, 1882 – July 1, 1928) was an American playwright of the Jazz Age. He had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway in 1920. Early life Hopwood was born to James and Jule Pendergast Hopwood on May 28, 1882, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Cleveland's West High School in 1900. In 1901, he began attending the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. However, his family experienced financial difficulties, so for his second year he transferred to Adelbert College. He returned to the University of Michigan in the fall of 1903, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1905. Career Hopwood started out as a journalist for the ''Cleveland Leader'' as its New York correspondent, but within a year had his first play, ''Clothes'' (1906), produced on Broadway, with the aid of playwright Channing Pollock. Hopwood eventually became known as "The Playboy Playwright"Jim BeaveBiography for Avery Hopwoodat Internet Movie Database and specialized in comedies and far ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award and was also nominated for a Grammy Award and an Academy Awards, Academy Award. She is considered one of the 20th century's greatest classical stage actors. Early life Frances Margaret Anderson was born in 1897 in Adelaide, South Australia, the youngest of four children born to Jessie Margaret (née Saltmarsh; 19 October 1862 – 24 November 1950), a former nurse, and Scottish-born James Anderson Anderson, a sharebroker and pioneering prospector. She attended a private school, Norwood, where her education ended before graduation. Early acting She made her professional debut (as Francee Anderson) in 1915, playing Stephanie at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, Theatre Royal, Sydney, in ''A Royal Divorce''. Leading the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lost Film
A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy of every American film to be deposited at the Library of Congress at the time of copyright registration, but the Librarian of Congress was not required to retain those copies: "Under the provisions of the act of March 4, 1909, authority is granted for the return to the claimant of copyright of such copyright deposits as are not required by the Library." A report created by Library of Congress film historian and archivist David Pierce claims: * 75% of original silent-era films have perished. * 14% of the 10,919 silent films released by major studios exist in their original 35 mm or other formats. * 11% survive only in full-length foreign versions or film formats of lesser image quality. Of the American sound films made from 1927 to 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stella Razeto
Stella LeSaint (née Razeto; December 17, 1881 September 21, 1948) was an American silent film actress. Career Born in San Diego, California, LeSaint worked as a stage actress and in vaudeville, founding Stella Razeto and Company in New York City. She left stage acting because of illness. LeSaint began acting in films in 1913. She worked with the Selig Polyscope Company but left in 1916 to join the Universal Company. She starred with William Garwood in films such as ''Lord John in New York''. In 1917, LeSaint left films to return to the stage, but by 1935, she had returned to films, acting mostly in uncredited bit parts. Personal life She married Edward LeSaint on December 25, 1913, and remained with him until his death on September 10, 1940. She died on September 21, 1948, in Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
