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The Old Man (Wallace play)

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The Old Man
Written byEdgar Wallace
Date premiered15 May 1931
Place premieredWyndham's Theatre, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreCrime
SettingCoat of Arms tavern, England

The Old Man is a 1931 mystery play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Its original production was staged at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End for a ninety performance run.[1] It is set entirely in the "Coat of Arms" tavern where a mysterious old man lurks in the background, reputedly an escapee from a lunatic asylum.[2] The original cast included Alfred Drayton, Jack Melford, Harold Warrender and Finlay Currie.[3]

Film adaptation

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The same year the play was adapted into the film The Old Man directed by Manning Haynes.[4] Wallace was closely associated with British Lion, which produced[5] the film.

References

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  1. ^ Wearing p. 117
  2. ^ Kabatchnik p. 172
  3. ^ Wearing p. 117
  4. ^ Goble p. 488
  5. ^ Gifford, Denis (24 October 2018). The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film. Routledge. p. 1965. ISBN 978-1-317-83701-5.

Bibliography

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  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
  • Kabatchnik, Amnon. Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection : an Annotated Repertoire. Rowman & Littlefield, 2012.
  • Wearing, J. P. The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.