''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square'' is a 1966 novel by

Arthur La Bern Arthur La Bern (1909–1990) was a British journalist, novelist and screenwriter, specialising in crime fiction. Four of his novels were adapted into films, including ''Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square'' which was made into Alfred H ...

, which was the basis for

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. 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 featu ...

's film ''

Frenzy ''Frenzy'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer is based on the 1966 novel '' Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square ...

'' (1972).

Plot

The novel and film tell the story of Bob Rusk, a

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

in London who

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

s and strangles women. Because of

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly, i.e., without need ...

, however, the police come to suspect Rusk's friend Richard Blamey.

Film adaptation

The novel was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer. The title is taken from a line in the popular British

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

hit " It's a Long Way to Tipperary". La Bern expressed his dissatisfaction with the adaptation in a

letter to the editor A letter to the editor (LTE) is a Letter (message), letter sent to a publication about an issue of concern to the reader. Usually, such letters are intended for publication. In many publications, letters to the editor may be sent either through ...

of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''.Letters to the Editor: Hitchcock's "Frenzy", ''The Times'', 29 May 1972
/ref> Though the adaptation is in fact fairly faithful, there are significant differences between the original novel and Hitchcock's film. The scenes between Inspector Oxford and his wife are not in the book. In La Bern's novel, the first murder is depicted from the murderer's viewpoint, with the reader unaware of his identity. A later scene also begins from the murderer's viewpoint, but midway through the scene the narrative suddenly reveals that he is Bob Rusk. In the novel, the man falsely convicted of the murders is named Blamey, not Blaney, and nicknamed "Blameworthy". Most significantly, while Hitchcock set his film in the 1970s, the original novel takes place in the 1960s with several references to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Richard Blamey was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

veteran who had participated in the Dresden fire-bombing as "chief candle dropper": He dropped the incendiary flares that enabled the bombers to find their targets. In the novel, he feels guilty for this. Blamey is drunk and confused when the police first interrogate him about the necktie murders, and he claims to have committed previous murders in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. When a police officer asks him how many people he killed in Dresden, Blamey replies "thousands". This drunken confession is a factor in his eventual false conviction for the necktie murders. A

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

movie remake of this story, ''

Kalaignan ''Kalaignan'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language thriller film written and directed by G. B. Vijay and produced by Ramkumar Ganesan. It stars Kamal Haasan and Farheen while Ooha, Sivaranjani, Sindhuja, Nirmalamma and Chi. Guru D ...

'', was released in 1993.

Footnotes

1966 British novels Novels set in London British thriller novels British novels adapted into films Novels about rape Novels about serial killers Novels by Arthur La Bern W. H. Allen & Co. books {{1960s-thriller-novel-stub