The Forbidden Territory
''The Forbidden Territory'' is a novel written by Dennis Wheatley and published by Hutchinson in 1933. His first published novel, it was an instant success and was translated into a number of languages. Alfred Hitchcock quickly bought the film rights. Plot summary The Duke de Richleau receives a letter that is a code from his missing friend the young American Rex Van Ryn, who hunted for treasure lost during the Soviet takeover of Russia, but who is now in prison somewhere in that vast country. He shares the letter with another young friend, Simon Aron, who agrees to accompany him to search for their friend. Film adaptation The novel was bought for adaptation to film by Alfred Hitchcock that was released in 1934 and distributed by Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. Its main actors were Gregory Ratoff, Ronald Squire, and Binnie Barnes, and it was directed by Phil Rosen Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dennis Wheatley
Dennis Yeats Wheatley (8 January 1897 – 10 November 1977) was a British writer whose prolific output of thrillers and occult novels made him one of the world's best-selling authors from the 1930s through the 1960s. His Gregory Sallust series was one of the main inspirations for Ian Fleming's James Bond stories. Early life Wheatley was born at 10 Raleigh Gardens, Brixton Hill, London to Albert David and Florence Elizabeth Harriet (Baker) Wheatley. He was the eldest of three children in the family, which owned Wheatley & Son of Mayfair, a wine business. He admitted to having little aptitude for schooling and was later expelled from Dulwich College for allegedly forming a "secret society" (as he mentions in his introduction to ''The Devil Rides Out''). Soon after his expulsion Wheatley became a British Merchant Navy officer cadet on the training ship HMS ''Worcester''. Military service Wheatley was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the Royal Field Artillery during the Fir ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films, many of which are still widely watched and studied today. Known as the "Master of Suspense", he became as well known as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews, his cameo roles in most of his films, and his hosting and producing the television anthology '' Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' (1955–65). His films garnered 46 Academy Award nominations, including six wins, although he never won the award for Best Director despite five nominations. Hitchcock initially trained as a technical clerk and copy writer before entering the film industry in 1919 as a title card designer. His directorial debut was the British-German silent film '' The Pleasure Garden'' (1925). His first successful film, '' The Lodger: A Story of the London F ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Duke De Richleau
The Duke De Richleau is a fictional character created by Dennis Wheatley who appeared in 11 novels published between 1933 and 1970. Dennis Wheatley originally created the character for a murder mystery ''Three Inquisitive People'', written and set in 1931 but which was not published until 1939. The character first appeared in the novel '' The Forbidden Territory'' (1933), along with his friends Simon Aron, Richard Eaton and Rex Van Ryn, whom Wheatley dubbed ‘the modern musketeers’. The friends were reunited in Wheatley’s best-selling novel of the occult ''The Devil Rides Out'' (1934). His favoured form of transport is the powerful luxury vehicle the Hispano-Suiza. Overview The novels revolving around de Richleau's exploits ranged from occult stories, such as '' The Devil Rides Out'', ''Strange Conflict'' and ''Gateway to Hell'', to more straightforward thrillers based around non-supernatural intrigue. The Duke de Richleau (1875-1960) was an aristocrat, adventurer and oc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national republics; in practice, both its government and its economy were highly centralized until its final years. It was a one-party state governed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the city of Moscow serving as its capital as well as that of its largest and most populous republic: the Russian SFSR. Other major cities included Leningrad (Russian SFSR), Kiev (Ukrainian SSR), Minsk ( Byelorussian SSR), Tashkent (Uzbek SSR), Alma-Ata (Kazakh SSR), and Novosibirsk (Russian SFSR). It was the largest country in the world, covering over and spanning eleven time zones. The country's roots lay in the October Revolution of 1917, when the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Russian Provisional Government ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gaumont-British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France. Film production Gaumont-British was founded in 1898 as the British subsidiary of the French Gaumont Film Company. It became independent of its French parent in 1922 when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British. In 1927 the Ideal Film Company, a leading silent film maker, merged with Gaumont. The company's Lime Grove Studios was used for film productions, including Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of '' The 39 Steps'' (1935), while its Islington Studios made Hitchcock's ''The Lady Vanishes'' (1938). In the 1930s, the company employed 16,000 people. In the United States, Gaumont-British had its own distribution operation for its films until December 1938, when it outsourced distribution to 20th Century Fox. In 1941 the Rank Organisation bought Gaumont-British and its sister com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gregory Ratoff
Gregory Ratoff (born Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner; russian: Григорий Васильевич Ратнер, tr. ; April 20, c. 1893 – December 14, 1960) was a Russian-born American film director, actor and producer. As an actor, he was best known for his role as producer "Max Fabian" in ''All About Eve'' (1950). Biography Ratoff was born in Samara, Russia, to Jewish parents. His mother was Sophie (née Markison) who claimed to have been born on September 1, 1878, but was married on June 14, 1894, when she would have been 15, to Benjamin Ratner (born 1864), with whom she had four children, the eldest of whom was Grigory, whose date of birth she gave as April 7, 1895 but later April 20 was cited as Gregory Ratoff's birthdate, and the year given as 1893, 1896 and 1897, variously. Sophie Ratner later adopted her son's stage surname (Ratoff) when she herself became a naturalized United States citizen. Sophie Ratoff died on August 27, 1955. Her date of birth is given as September ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ronald Squire
Ronald Launcelot Squire (25 March 1886 – 16 November 1958) was an English character actor. Biography Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, the son of an army officer, Lt.-Col. Frederick Squirl and his Irish-born wife Mary (Ronald's surname 'Squire' was his stage name), he attended Wellington College and started professional life as a journalist, before training at RADA. He spent his early acting career in Liverpool repertory theatre in light comedy roles, before moving on to films. His appearances include ''The Rocking Horse Winner'', ''The Million Pound Note'' and Mike Todd's lavish 1956 version of ''Around the World in 80 Days''. He died 16 November 1958 aged 72, after being taken ill at his home in Great Ormond Street, London. He made numerous appearances in West End plays alongside his film career. These included performances in '' On Approval'', '' The Bread-Winner'', ''All Rights Reserved'', '' Ducks and Drakes'', ''While the Sun Shines'', ''Jane'', '' The Way Things ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Binnie Barnes
Gertrude Maud Barnes (25 March 1903 – 27 July 1998), known professionally as Binnie Barnes, was an English actress whose career in films spanned from 1923 to 1973. Early life Barnes was born in Islington, London, the daughter of Rosa Enoyce and George Barnes, a policeman; 16 children were in her family. Before moving to Hollywood to become an actress, Barnes worked a series of jobs, such as chorus girl, nurse, and dance hostess. Career Barnes began her acting career in films in 1923, appearing in a short film made by Lee De Forest in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process. Her film career continued in Great Britain, most notably in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933) as Katherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife. Barnes' main qualm in accepting roles as an actress was that she not play submissive roles. Barnes once remarked, "One picture is just like another to me, as long as I don't have to be a sweet woman". Later, her career continued in Hollywood, until 1973, when s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Phil Rosen
Philip E. Rosen (May 8, 1888 – October 22, 1951) was an American film director and cinematographer. He directed more than 140 films between 1915 and 1949. He was born in Marienburg, German Empire (now, Malbork, Poland), grew up in Machias, Maine, and died in Hollywood, California of a heart attack. He was one of the founders of the American Society of Cinematographers. Rosen was married to model and actress Joyzelle Joyner. Selected filmography * '' The Heart of Maryland'' (1915) * ''Sin'' (1915) * ''Blazing Love'' (1916) * '' Romeo and Juliet'' (1916) * '' Her Greatest Love'' (1917) * '' Heart and Soul'' (1917) * '' The Spreading Dawn'' (1917) * ''The Double Hold-Up'' (1919) * ''The Jay Bird'' (1920) * ''West Is Best'' (1920) * '' The Greatest Love'' (1920) * ''Under Crimson Skies'' (1920) * ''Roarin' Dan'' (1920) * ''The Sheriff's Oath'' (1920) * ''The Road to Divorce'' (1920) * ''Are All Men Alike?'' (1920) * ''The Path She Chose'' (1920) * ''The Road to Divorce'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1933 British Novels
Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wishes of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. * January 28 – "Pakistan Declaration": Choudhry Rahmat Ali publishes (in Cambridge, UK) a pamphlet entitled ''Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?'', in which he calls for the creation of a Muslim state in northwest India that he calls "Pakistan, Pakstan"; this influences the Pakistan Movement. * January 30 ** National Socialist German Workers Party leader Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany (German Reich), Chancellor of Germany by President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg. ** Édouard Daladier forms a government in France in succession to Joseph Paul-Boncour. He is succeeded on October 26 by Albert Sarraut and on November 26 by Camille Chautemps. February * February 1 – A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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British Thriller Novels
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *''Brit(ish)'', a 2018 memoir by Afua Hirsch *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) See also * Terminology of the British Isles * Alternative names for the British * English (other) * Britannic (other) * British Isles * Brit (other) * Briton (d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |