''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 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 featur ...

quickly bought the film rights.

Plot summary

The

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 ...

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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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

that was released in 1934 and distributed by

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 18 ...

Picture Corporation. Its main actors were

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 bes ...

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 'Sq ...

, and

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 Eno ...

, and it was directed by

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 Ma ...

References

Sources

External links

* 1933 British novels British thriller novels Novels set in the Soviet Union British novels adapted into films Hutchinson (publisher) books Novels by Dennis Wheatley 1933 debut novels {{1930s-thriller-novel-stub