Edgar Wallace Movies

Based on a stage play by Edgar Wallace, The Calendar is set amongst Britain's horsey set. Herbert Marshall and his then-wife Edna Best star as a wealthy racehorse owner and his pretty trainer. After divesting Marshall of his millions, his mistress Anne Grey leaves him in favor of a younger, handsomer man. The hapless hero is then betrayed by his butler, who gets his master drunk and convinces him to throw the next race. Banned from the track by a jury of jockey's (the film's highlight), Marshall is afforded the opportunity to redeem himself and to settle old scores with those who've wronged him, thereby paving the way for a climactic clinch with his true love, Best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Previously filmed in 1915 and 1922, The Crimson Circle was based on a novel by Edgar Wallace. The story concentrates on the exploits of Derek Yale, the elusive young head of a blackmailing operation. Dogging Yale's trail at every turn is relentless Scotland Yard inspector Parr. In hopes of escaping detection, Yale poses as a private detective who offers his assistance in his own capture! It is Yale's love for Parr's pretty daughter that leads to his downfall. Completed as a 75-minute silent film by director Frederick Zelnik, Crimson Circle was extensively reshot by Sinclair Hill and finally released as a 60-minute "sound" picture. The property was filmed for a fourth time in 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This suspenseful crime drama is the first talkie to be based on a novel by Edgar Wallace (he also directed the film). It tells the story of a Scotland Yard detective who goes undercover as an ex-con so he can capture the "Squeaker" a powerful fence who is pretending to be the upright chairman of a charitable organization. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Clue of the New Pin is a vintage British mystery based on a story by Edgar Wallace about a "perfect murder." A nephew discovers the corpse of his wealthy uncle in a vault with a key laying beside the body as the only clue. A newspaper reporter helps clear the prime suspect and reveal the identity of the true killer. The Clue of the New Pin is a slow-paced, stagy early film effort which will mainly be of interest to film buffs because it contained one of the earliest appearances of Sir John Gielgud as Rex Trasmere. Benita Hume, who would later marry Ronald Coleman and become a star in her own right, is also interesting in her role as the murder suspect. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

The first screen version of Edgar Wallace's The Green Archer starred the Pathé company's popular team of Allene Ray and Walter Miller with Burr McIntosh -- of Way Down East fame (or infamy) -- as the mysterious millionaire Abel Bellamy, whose castle on the Hudson was brought over from England stone by stone. A neighbor, Valerie Howett (Ray), lets her curiosity get the best of her and begins an investigation into the mysterious goings-on at castle Bellamy. There are sliding panels, clutching hands, a strange creature in the cellar, and sundry other haunted house trappings but, happily, Jim Featherstone (Miller) of the Secret Service was present to save the damsel in distress and solve the mystery of the archer, a cloaked character dressed all in green whose appearance signified the death, or in Miss Ray's case, near death of everyone getting close to the castle's secrets. Building an entire replica of a Hudson Valley mansion at the Pathé studios on Long Island, director Spencer Gordon Bennet and veteran scribe Frank Leon Smith produced one of the era's most exciting serials and made a genre superstar of Allene Ray. One Earl R. Howell performed all the archery stunts and the serial also featured the veteran Frank Lackteen as a mysterious Italian. Universal remade The Green Archer in 1940 starring Victor Jory, Iris Meredith, and, as Bellamy, James Craven. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide