Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins now available online.

Wilkie Collins

The Wilkie Collins Society has made available online The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins, complete with annotations. Among the fascinating content:

• Prosecutor Nathaniel C. Moak used plot points from Collins' The Moonstone as part of his argument in court (he was unsuccessful; letter of 21 Aug 1883, ref. no. 3110).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anna Katharine Green

• Collins' praise of Anna Katharine Green to publisher George Haven Putnam (1883, ref. no. 2245): "Have I read 'The Leavenworth Case'? I have read it through at one sitting. Need I say after that what I think of it? Yes—because I have a word to add about Miss Green's future work. Her powers of invention are so remarkable—she has so much imagination and so much belief (a most important qualification for our art) in what she writes, that I have nothing to report of myself, so far, of most sincere admiration. ...."

The return of Rinehart's The Bat.

On October 27, the Somerville Theatre (MA) will show the silent film The Bat (1926), directed by Roland West; it is based on the play by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood, which adapted Rinehart's The Circular Staircase (1908). A live score by Jeff Rapsis will accompany the film. 

On November 1, AFI Silver Theatre (MD) will show the film with live musical accompaniment by Ben Model. Undercrank Productions has released a digital restoration of the film on DVD with a score by Model.

Rinehart made millions from The Bat. Review of the film from the 19 Jun 1926 Edmonton [Canada] Journal: "persistently challenging audiences to identify the arch criminal behind the stirring trail of mystery" ... a "peppery melodrama." The 16 Aug 1908 Baltimore Sun wrote regarding The Circular Staircase, "The story is well and vigorously written, the plot, barring a few inconsistencies, first-class, the dénouement unforeseen and the characters vivid and interesting."

Q. Patrick and radio station WNYC.

Andy Lanset, director of archives at New York Public Radio, discusses how radio station WNYC's signoff played a role in "Death and Canasta" (1950) by mystery author Q. Patrick (aka Hugh Callingham Wheeler).

New film music releases: Goldfinger, The Talented Mr. Ripley

As Scott Bettencourt reports in Film Score Friday, there are two releases of potential interest:

• 60th anniversary edition of the score to the James Bond film Goldfinger (1964, composed by John Barry, La-La Land) 

• Score to The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999, composed by Gabriel Yared, Music Box)