''The Ball of Fortune'' is a 1925

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

by the British writer

Sydney Horler Sydney Horler (18 July 1888 – 27 October 1954) was a prolific British novelist specialising in thrillers. He was born in Leytonstone, Essex, and educated at Redcliffe School and Colston School in Bristol. His first job was with ''Western Dai ...

, a prolific author. As with many other of his novels during the decade it was serialised by the ''

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling En ...

''.

Film adaptation

In 1926 it was adapted into a silent film of the same title featuring real-life football

Billy Meredith William Henry Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each ...

as well as actors

Mabel Poulton Mabel Lilian Poulton (29 July 1901 – 21 December 1994) was an English film actress, popular in Britain during the era of silent films. Career Born in Bethnal Green, London, England, Poulton worked as a stenographer and entered films by ...

Dorothy Boyd Dorothy Boyd (14 April 1907 – 1996) was an English film actress. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1926 and 1940. She was born in Sanderstead, Surrey, England and died in England. Without any previous stage experience, she came ...

and

John Longden John Longden (11 November 1900 – 26 May 1971) was an English film actor. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Biography Longden was born in the West Indies, the son o ...

. Shooting took place at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

, home of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

.Glynn p.27

References

Bibliography

* Glynn, Stephen. ''The British Football Film''. Springer, 2018. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. 1925 British novels British sports novels British mystery novels Novels set in England British novels adapted into films Novels about association football Novels by Sydney Horler Hodder & Stoughton books {{1920s-mystery-novel-stub