''The Barton Mystery'' is a 1916 play by the Anglo-American writer
Walter C. Hackett. It was first performed at the
Savoy Theatre
The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...
in London, lasting for 165 performances. Its run in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
the following year was less successful and it closed after just twenty shows.
[Lachman p.173] The play mixes elements of a
whodunit
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 cl ...
detective mystery with
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
.
It has been turned into three films:
* ''
The Barton Mystery'', a 1920 silent British film
* ''
The Barton Mystery'', a 1932 British film
* ''
The Barton Mystery'', a 1949 French film
References
Bibliography
* Marvin Lachman. ''The Villainous Stage: Crime Plays on Broadway and in the West End''. McFarland, 2014.
1916 plays
West End plays
British plays adapted into films
Plays set in England
Plays by Walter C. Hackett
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