''The Dark Eyes Of London'' is a

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

by the British writer

Edgar Wallace Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1 April 1875 – 10 February 1932) was a British writer. Born into poverty as an illegitimate London child, Wallace left school at the age of 12. He joined the army at age 21 and was a war correspondent during th ...

which was first published in 1924.Richards p. 89 An unbalanced doctor and his brother murder a series of wealthy men to benefit from their

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

policies, using a charity for the blind as a front for their activities. The persistent Inspector Holt of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

is soon on their trail. It was based on an earlier short story ''The Croakers'' which Wallace had written.

Adaptations

The novel has twice been adapted into films. The first was a British version directed by

Walter Summers Walter Summers (1892–1973) was a British film director and screenwriter. Biography Born in Barnstaple to a family of actors, British motion picture director Walter Summers began his career in the family trade; his first contact with filmmaki ...

, '' The Dark Eyes of London'' (1939), which turned Wallace's crime story into a more overt horror film. Due to its popularity there, this was the inspiration for a similar German remake, ''

The Dead Eyes of London ''The Dead Eyes of London'' (german: Die toten Augen von London and also known as ''Dark Eyes of London'') is a 1961 West German black and white crime film directed by Alfred Vohrer and starring Joachim Fuchsberger, Karin Baal and Dieter Borsche ...

'' (1961), directed by

Alfred Vohrer Alfred Vohrer (29 December 1914 – 3 February 1986) was a German film director and actor. He directed 48 films between 1958 and 1984. His 1969 film ''Seven Days Grace'' was entered into the 6th Moscow International Film Festival. His 1972 ...

Notes

References

* Richards, Jeffrey (ed.). ''The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929- 1939''. I.B. Tauris & Co, 1998.

External links

* 1924 British novels British crime novels British novels adapted into films Novels by Edgar Wallace Novels set in London {{1920s-crime-novel-stub

Adaptations

Notes

References

Further reading

External links