Miscellaneous Monday—Number Thirty

WE SHOULD NEVER forget the interactive influence the stage has had on written detective fiction—and vice versa. A few crime novels had their origin in stage plays, and not a few dramatic productions started out as mystery books or short stories. Wandering around the Internet as we tend to do, sometimes we come across plays with crime themes and the films and books derived from them; below we have a random selection of those productions spanning close to eight decades. Of course, this compilation isn't meant to be definitive (you probably know of others), and no doubt we'll come across more as time goes by. The best way to use this information is to click on each hyperlink as you come to it. (Note: For no good reason we can think of we decided to go in reverse chronological order.)

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1982-1983:
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"Whodunnit."
By Anthony Shaffer (1926-2001).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1982-1983.
Background and cast at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1966:
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"Wait Until Dark."
By Frederick Knott (1919-2002).
Background and cast at Playbill online (HERE); described (with SPOILERS) on Wikipedia (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1961:
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"Write Me a Murder."
By Frederick Knott (1919-2002).
Background and cast at Playbill online (HERE; SPOILERS).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1951-1952:
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"Dial 'M' for Murder."
By Frederick Knott (1919-2002).
Background and cast at Playbill online (HERE; SPOILERS) and Wikipedia (HERE; SPOILERS).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).

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"Twilight Walk."
By A. B. Shiffrin (1902-98).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1951-1952.
Background and cast at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).

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"The Number."
By Arthur Carter (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1951-1952.
Background and cast at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).

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"The Chase."
By Horton Foote (1916-2009).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1951-1952.
Background and cast at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1949:
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"Detective Story."
By Sidney Kingsley (1906-95).
Described (no spoilers) on Wikipedia (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1941-1942:
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"Arsenic and Old Lace."
By Joseph Kesselring (1902-67).
Reprinted in The Best Plays of the Modern American Theater, Second Series (1947).
Play in three acts (50 pages).
Full text online at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Angel Street" (a.k.a. "Gaslight").
By Patrick Hamilton (1904-62).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Author info at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"The More the Merrier."
By Frank Gabrielson (1910-80) and Irving Pincus (1914-84).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Cuckoos on the Hearth."
By Parker W. Fennelly (1891-1988).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Mr. Big."
By Arthur Sheekman (1901-78) and Margaret Shane (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
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"Brooklyn, U.S.A."
By John Bright (1908-89) and Asa Bordagen (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Clash by Night."
By Clifford Odets (1906-63).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Lily of the Valley."
By Ben Hecht (1894-1964).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Johnny 2 x 4."
By Rowland Brown (1897/1900-63).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).

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"Autumn Hill."
By Norma Mitchell (1884-1967) and John Harris (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).

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"The Life of Reilly."
By William Roos (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"The Walking Gentleman."
By Grace Perkins (1900-1955) and Fulton Oursler (1893-1952).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1941-1942.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
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1925-1926:
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"Canary Dutch."
By Willard Mack (1873-1934).
Based on a story by John Moroso (1874-1957).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
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"The Dagger."
By Marian Wightman (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"A Holy Terror."
By Winchell Smith (1871-1933) and George Abbott (1887-1995).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
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"Accused."
By Brieux (1858-1932).
English version by George Middleton.
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).

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"Caught."
By Kate McLaurin (1885-1933).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE; SPOILERS).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"Easy Come, Easy Go."
By Owen Davis (1874-1956).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"The Joker."
By Arthur Goodrich (1878-1941) and W. F. Payson (1876-1939).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).
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"Twelve Miles Out."
By William Anthony McGuire (1881-1940).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"Alias the Deacon."
By John B. Hymer (1875-1953) and LeRoy Clemens (?-1951).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"The Man Who Never Died."
By Charles Webster (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"Chivalry."
By William Hurlbut (1878-1957).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"Money Business."
By Oscar M. Carter (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"Not Herbert."
By Howard Irving Young (1893-1952).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"The Great Gatsby."
By Owen Davis (1874-1956).
From the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"The Jay Walker."
By Olga Printzlau (1891-1962).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).

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"The Right to Kill."
By Leo Urvantzov (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"The Night Duel."
By Daniel Rubin (?-?) and Edgar MacGregor (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1925-1926.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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1922-1923:
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"The Wasp."
By Thomas F. Fallon (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1922-1923.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"The Last Warning."
By Thomas F. Fallon (?-?).
Based on The House of Fear by Wadsworth Camp (1879-1936).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1922-1923.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"Persons Unknown."
By Robert Housum (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1922-1923.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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1920-1921:
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"The Bat."
By Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) and Avery Hopwood (1882-1928).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1920-1921.
Cast and brief synopsis at Hathi Trust (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE; SPOILERS), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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1919-1920:
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"The Crimson Alibi."
By George Broadhurst (1866-1952).
Based on the novel by Octavus Roy Cohen (1891-1959).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Online at Archive.org (HERE).
Sources: (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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"At 9:45."
By Owen Davis (1874-1956).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"A Voice in the Dark."
By Ralph E. Dyer (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"The Acquittal."
By Rita Weiman (?-?).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other source: (HERE).
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"For the Defense."
By Elmer L. Rice (1892-1967).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"The Sign on the Door."
By Channing Pollock (1880-1946).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"The Unknown Woman."
By Marjorie Blaine (?-?) and Willard Mack (1873-1934).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Archive.org (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE) and (HERE).
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"The Ouija Board."
By Crane Wilbur (1886-1973).
Noted in The Best Plays of 1919-1920.
Cast and brief synopsis at Hathi Trust (HERE).
Other sources: (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

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