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Anthony Shaffer (writer)
Anthony Joshua Shaffer (15 May 19266 November 2001) was an English playwright, screenwriter, novelist, barrister, and advertising executive. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in Liverpool, the son of Reka (née Fredman) and Jack Shaffer, who was an estate agent with his wife's family. He was the identical twin brother of writer and dramatist Peter Shaffer, and they had another brother, Brian. He graduated with a law degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. Career Shaffer worked as a barrister and advertising copywriter before becoming a full-time writer. Shaffer's most notable work was the play '' Sleuth'' (1970), which won the Tony Award for Best Play. The play was later adapted for the film version starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. He received Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America for both versions: for Best Play in 1971, and Best Screenplay in 1973. His other major screenplays include the Hitchcock thriller '' Frenzy'' (1972) and the Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its ESPON metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom, metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.24 million. On the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, Liverpool historically lay within the ancient Hundred (county division), hundred of West Derby (hundred), West Derby in the county of Lancashire. It became a Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in 1207, a City status in the United Kingdom, city in 1880, and a county borough independent of the newly-created Lancashire County Council in 1889. Its Port of Liverpool, growth as a major port was paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, and raw materials such as coal and cotton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 was based on the 1966 novel '' Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square'' by Arthur La Bern. The film stars Jon Finch, Alec McCowen and Barry Foster and features Billie Whitelaw, Anna Massey, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Bernard Cribbins and Vivien Merchant. The original music score was composed by Ron Goodwin. The plot centres on a serial killer in contemporary London and the ex- RAF serviceman he implicates. In a very early scene there is dialogue that mentions two actual London serial murder cases: the Christie murders in the 1940s-1950s and the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888. Barry Foster has said that, in order to prepare for his role, he was asked by Hitchcock to study two books about Neville Heath, an English serial killer who would often pass himself off as an officer in the RAF. ''Frenzy'' was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Absolution (1978 Film)
''Absolution'' is a 1978 British thriller film directed by Anthony Page and written by playwright Anthony Shaffer. The film stars Richard Burton as a priest who teaches at a boys' school and finds one of his favourite students is playing a nasty practical joke on him. He sets out to investigate the prank and stumbles upon a dead body, leading to his life spiralling out of control. Plot The film centres on schoolboy Benjamin Stanfield and his unpopular friend, Arthur Dyson; their form master, Father Goddard and a travelling motorcyclist named Blakey. The film opens with Blakey, arriving at the school. He asks Fr. Goddard if there are any odd jobs that he can do but is told there are none available. Later Fr. Goddard is watching Dyson rehearse in a school of the operetta ''Patience''. It appears he does not like Arthur while he fawns on Stanfield. In the meantime Blakey has set up camp in the woods near the school. His camp is discovered the next day by Stanfield and some other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death On The Nile (1978 Film)
''Death on the Nile'' is a 1978 British mystery film based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, directed by John Guillermin and adapted by Anthony Shaffer. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov for the first time, plus an all-star supporting cast that includes Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Jack Warden. The film is a follow-up to the 1974 film ''Murder on the Orient Express''. It takes place in Egypt in 1937, mostly on a period paddle steamer on the Nile. Various famous Ancient Egyptian sights are featured in the film, such as the Great Pyramids, the Sphinx, and temples at Abu Simbel and Karnak, sometimes out of sequence (the boat trip scenes start at Aswan, move downstream to Karnak, and then shift upstream to Abu Simbel). ''Death on the Nile'' won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design at the 51st Academy Awards. Plot Wealthy heiress Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murder On The Orient Express (1974 Film)
''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a 1974 British mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet, produced by John Brabourne and Richard Goodwin, and based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The film features the Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney), who is asked to investigate the murder of an American business tycoon aboard the Orient Express train. The suspects are portrayed by an all-star cast, including Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Rachel Roberts, Jacqueline Bisset, Anthony Perkins, Richard Widmark and Wendy Hiller. The screenplay is by Paul Dehn. The film was a commercial and critical success. Bergman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the film received five other nominations at the 47th Academy Awards: Best Actor (Finney), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Costume Design. Plot The opening of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whodunnit (play)
''Whodunnit?'' is a play written by Anthony Shaffer in 1977, originally called ''The Case of the Oily Levantine''. Plot summary ''Whodunnit?'' is a comedy / mystery play. The first act follows the traditional conventions of a country house mystery with an assortment of suspects, but in the second act it becomes apparent that nobody is truly what they seem. Act 1 A collection of characters apparently drawn directly from old English detective fiction arrive for a party in an old country house. Among them there is an old Navy man, a ditzy woman, and a flamboyantly eccentric butler who keeps trying to serve up his own cocktail creation, the "Zombie Whammy". There is also Andreas Capodistriou, a smooth talking serpent of a man who demonstrates to each guest in turn that he knows something compromising about them and is intent on blackmailing each one. The act climaxes as each guest, having a reason to want Capodistriou dead, conceals his or her self on the set to lie in wait for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Play In Two Acts
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, '' a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest known ancestor of A is ''aleph''—the first letter of the Phoenician ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wicker Man (novel)
''The Wicker Man'' is a 1978 horror novel written by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer. It was based on the 1973 cult horror film '' The Wicker Man'', directed by Hardy and written by Shaffer. The novel includes a foreword by Allan Brown. The film itself is loosely based on the 1967 novel '' Ritual'' by the actor and novelist David Pinner. The novelisation was written primarily by Robin Hardy, the director of the film, but Anthony Shaffer is credited as co-author, as Hardy re-used much of Shaffer's dialogue verbatim. Hardy has said that he began writing the novel before Shaffer had even finished the screenplay. The first edition of ''The Wicker Man'' was printed in the US by Crown Publishers in May 1978. Hamlyn followed with the UK edition in October 1979. At the time these hardback editions were printed, the newly restored version of the ''Wicker Man'' film was being shown in the US. Plot The ''Wicker Man'' novelization follows the plot of the film closely, but also expands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Withered Murder
''Withered Murder'' is the third of the collaborations of Anthony Shaffer and Peter Shaffer. The previous two books were published under the pseudonym Peter Antony while this one was published "by A. & P. Shaffer". It was first published by Gollancz in London in 1955 and then a year later in New York by Macmillan as part of their 'Cock Robin Mystery' imprint. As in ''How Doth the Little Crocodile? ''How Doth The Little Crocodile?'' was the first of two murder mystery novels written by twin authors Anthony Shaffer (writer), Anthony and Peter Shaffer. It featured their eccentric detective Mr Verity who also appeared in their other novel '' ...'', the story follows their eccentric detective Mr. Verity and his unique ways of solving murders. Again, as in ''How Doth The Little Crocodile?'' the detective's name was changed to Mr. Fathom in the US edition. These books are now long out of print and copies in excellent condition can sell for high prices. External linksAnthony Sha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
How Doth The Little Crocodile?
''How Doth The Little Crocodile?'' was the first of two murder mystery novels written by twin authors Anthony and Peter Shaffer. It featured their eccentric detective Mr Verity who also appeared in their other novel ''Withered Murder''. History ''How Doth The Little Crocodile?'' was first published in London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ... by Evans in 1952 in the US by MacMillan in 1957 as part of their "Cock Robin Mystery" books. The first edition by Evans was published under the pseudonym Peter Anthony but this was changed to Anthony & Peter Shaffer by Macmillan. Another change to note is the detective's name goes from Mr Verity in the original to Mr Fathom in the US edition. Value Despite several attempts by publishers to have them reprinted, these book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph & Courier''. Considered a newspaper of record over ''The Times'' in the UK in the years up to 1997, ''The Telegraph'' generally has a reputation for high-quality journalism, and has been described as being "one of the world's great titles". The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", appears in the editorial pages and has featured in every edition of the newspaper since 19 April 1858. The paper had a circulation of 363,183 in December 2018, descending further until it withdrew from newspaper circulation audits in 2019, having declined almost 80%, from 1.4 million in 1980.United Newspapers PLC and Fleet Holdings PLC', Monopolies and Mergers Commission (1985), pp. 5–16. Its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ... country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical Forests of Australia, rainforests in the north-east, and List of mountains in Australia, mountain ranges in the south-east. The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians began arriving from south east Asia approx ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
