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it is, while
Charles believes doing so is dangerous. Gordon tries to find some dance music on the radio, but it stops working. Freda offers Olwen a cigarette from a musical box which Olwen recognizes as having belonged to Martin. Freda insists that Olwen couldn't have seen the box before because Martin hadn't had it when Olwen saw him last. Olwen accepts Freda's correction and the matter is about to be dropped, but Robert detects that Olwen, despite her verbal acquiescence, isn't really convinced. He pushes the women to be honest about their disagreement. In examining the question of how Olwen could have previously seen Martin's cigarette box, each woman reveals that she has been keeping secret the fact that she had visited Martin shortly before his death. At this point, with tensions rising, Maud takes her leave, and soon all the guests depart except Olwen.
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remains defiant in his insistence that Robert should never have begun the process of revealing secrets. Increasingly angry over having been forced into his confession, Charles admits to having had a personal contempt for Martin and suggests that there are still more secrets being kept that are the reason. Knowing that hers is one of the secrets to which
Charles is referring, Freda now confesses that the reason her marriage to Robert has been unhappy is that she was having an affair with Martin and had long been in love with him. A jealous Gordon then proclaims that he too was in love with Martin, and he declares himself to have been a much greater object of Martin's affection than Freda had been. At this point, Betty arrives at the house, indignant at being left out, to discover the men on the brink of fighting.
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that on her final visit to Martin, she learned that he hadn't stolen the money and further that he believed the thief to be Robert, having been led to that suspicion by
Charles. She hadn't previously mentioned this because she was secretly in love with Robert, which prompts Robert's admission that his and Freda's marriage is unhappy. Robert is shocked both at the accusation that he's the thief and at hearing that Charles had suggested such. Robert snatches the telephone and demands that Gordon and Charles return.
255:, of the play, whose cover proclaimed "With the Co-Operation of J.B. Priestley." It also contained a foreword by the playwright, who felt the need to explain the book's provenance, since (as he notes) novels based on plays were (at the time) a far rare occurrence than plays based on novels (though the practice goes back to at least the late 1800s; even screenplay novelizations were infrequent, though they would soon gain in popularity). Three years later, Holland performed novelization honors again for Priestley's
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Charles's cottage for help but left immediately after realizing that Betty was spending the night there. This leaves Robert crestfallen, as he had been in love with the highly idealized view he'd had of Betty. Charles's ongoing affair with Betty had been the reason he'd become cash-strapped and stolen the money. After a great deal of bitter discussion, all the guests but Olwen leave, totally alienated from one another.
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had begun, the
Hollywood version removed some of the most controversial elements of the play, including the homosexual relationship between Gordon and Martin, Martin's drug use, and Betty's adultery with Charles. The film also begins with scenes, set in the year prior to the dinner party, depicting
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As the group continues to angrily blame
Charles for causing Martin's suicide, Olwen finally offers that Martin's death was not a suicide. Rather, she accidentally shot Martin while struggling with him; in a drug-fueled rage, he lunged at her with a gun and tried to rape her. Afterward, she drove to
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Robert and Freda Caplan are entertaining guests at their country retreat. A chance remark by one of the guests ignites a series of devastating revelations, revealing a hitherto undiscovered tangle of clandestine relationships and dark secrets, the disclosures of which have tragic consequences. The
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Their chat has turned to the suicide the previous year of Freda's brother-in-law Martin Caplan when they are interrupted by the entry of the husbands, Robert and Gordon, along with
Charles, who works at the firm. They discuss whether it's best to always reveal the complete truth; Robert argues that
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The firm is certain to collapse. Robert realizes that his happiness had been entirely built upon illusions and that as such, he'd been foolish to insist upon pursuing the complete truth of the situation. His illusions, and with them his happiness, are now destroyed beyond all hope for repair. In
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Charles admits that he deliberately led Robert and Martin to suspect one another to cover the fact that he'd taken the money himself. But he insists that he was planning to return it within a week and that it was not the cause of Martin's suicide. As others try to blame him for Martin's death, he
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The play begins in darkness with a muffled gunshot and scream. Lights are turned on to reveal a drawing room containing four women listening to a radio play after dinner. Two of them, Freda and Betty, are the wives of directors of a publishing firm. With them are Olwen, a close friend of Freda and
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The revelations lead Robert, Freda, and Olwen into a deeper discussion of the circumstances surrounding Martin's death. The firm had suffered a theft of £500 the previous year. The group members had assumed that Martin's suicide was an indicator that he had been the thief. But Olwen now admits
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received extremely poor reviews and after three days he was told that the play would be taken off, a fate that he averted by buying out the syndicate. It then ran for six months. Priestley's action was further vindicated by the worldwide success the play was to enjoy, although he soon lowered his
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When the lights are turned back on, we find ourselves at the beginning of Act I. The opening scene is repeated in a shortened version. As before, Olwen recognizes the cigarette box, but this time, before Freda can object to that recognition, Gordon interrupts upon finding the dance music he was
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searching for on the radio. He calls everyone to listen, diverting the conversation before it leads into any of the particulars of Martin's death. With all of the secrets remaining unrevealed, a happy after-dinner party commences for all.
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and now wished "to prove that a man might produce long novels and yet be able to write effectively, using the strictest economy, for the stage." While it was praised highly by
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despair, he goes into his room and Freda suddenly remembers that he keeps a revolver there. As she tears out after him, the lights fade, and we hear a shot and a scream.
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play ends with time slipping back to the beginning of the evening and the chance remark not being made, the secrets remaining hidden and the "dangerous corner" avoided.
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the discovery of the theft and Martin's body after his death. In the play, those events are not depicted but only recalled by the characters within their dialogue.
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Betty, and Maud
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Charles Stanton. In 1983 the play was aired in BBC television's
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in a French version by Michel Arnaud and played at the
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They Walk in the City: The Lovers in the Stone Forest
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365:data.bnf.fr, Bibliothèque nationale de France
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39:is a 1932 British play by the English writer
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189:. Arnaud also made a French adaptation of
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361:"John Boynton Priestley (1894-1984)"
47:". It was premiered in May 1932 by
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424:Dangerous Corner Film (1972 USSR)
284:In 1972, the play was adapted by
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294:(Dangerous Turn). Directed by
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269:Further broadcast productions
654:Sir Michael & Sir George
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25:Dangerous Corner (1965 film)
21:Dangerous Corner (1934 film)
16:1932 play by J. B. Priestley
729:The Town Major of Miracourt
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537:(1932 with Gerald Bullett)
197:Un inspecteur vous demande
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622:Low Notes on a High Level
346:Priestley, J. B. (1932).
1403:Plays by J. B. Priestley
1046:Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon
534:I'll Tell You Everything
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55:, and filmed in 1934 by
27:. For the location, see
1258:Film and TV adaptations
1231:Over The Long High Wall
1199:British Women Go To War
870:Mystery of Greenfingers
854:I Have Been Here Before
739:Short story collections
350:. London: Samuel French
19:For the 1934 film, see
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590:Three Men in New Suits
318:included in the cast.
162:Charles Trevor Stanton
1183:We Live In Two Worlds
1073:The Chapman of Rhymes
934:How Are They at Home?
838:Bees on the Boat Deck
638:Saturn Over the Water
614:Festival at Farbridge
337:, Volume 22, Issue 1.
53:Lyric Theatre, London
1318:(1966 sci-fi series)
1250:(1977 autobiography)
1247:Instead Of The Trees
1239:Particular Pleasures
1210:(1962 autobiography)
1194:(1939 autobiography)
1178:(1937 autobiography)
1159:Self-selected Essays
1143:Papers from Lilliput
846:Time and the Conways
582:Daylight on Saturday
335:Theatre arts monthly
43:, the first of his "
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1274:The Good Companions
1030:Treasure on Pelican
950:Ever Since Paradise
918:They Came to a City
894:Johnson Over Jordan
886:When We Are Married
782:The Good Companions
678:It's an Old Country
646:The Shapes of Sleep
574:Blackout in Gretley
566:Let the People Sing
510:The Good Companions
263:The Lost Generation
69:The Good Companions
1398:LGBT-related plays
1347:An Inspector Calls
1331:An Inspector Calls
1314:Out of the Unknown
1306:The Old Dark House
1282:An Inspector Calls
1266:The Old Dark House
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302:as Robert Caplan,
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486:Adam in Moonshine
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306:as Freda Caplan,
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179:Virage dangereux
156:Gordon Whitehouse
85:Plot introduction
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1349:(2015 film)
1333:(1982 film)
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1284:(1954 film)
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1268:(1932 film)
1127:Non-fiction
1100:Jamaica Inn
1084:Screenplays
694:Out Of Town
542:Wonder Hero
298:, starring
277:, director
173:Translation
74:James Agate
1393:1932 plays
1387:Categories
1373:(daughter)
1151:Open House
774:Time Plays
686:London End
598:Bright Day
322:References
220:Phil Rosen
159:Olwen Peel
142:Characters
57:Phil Rosen
45:Time Plays
822:Cornelius
494:Benighted
370:7 October
247:In 1933,
236:Hays Code
216:to a film
207:In 1934,
806:Eden End
731:" (1930)
1358:Related
702:Snoggle
526:Faraway
286:Mosfilm
125:Act III
51:at the
1342:(1986)
1242:(1975)
1234:(1972)
1226:(1970)
1218:(1964)
1202:(1943)
1170:(1934)
1162:(1932)
1154:(1927)
1146:(1922)
1138:(1922)
1119:(1950)
1111:(1940)
1103:(1939)
1095:(1934)
1076:(1918)
1065:Poetry
1057:(1957)
1049:(1955)
1041:(1954)
1033:(1953)
1025:(1953)
1017:(1953)
1009:(1952)
1001:(1950)
993:(1949)
985:(1948)
977:(1947)
969:(1947)
961:(1947)
953:(1946)
945:(1945)
937:(1944)
929:(1944)
921:(1943)
913:(1942)
905:(1940)
897:(1939)
889:(1938)
881:(1938)
873:(1937)
865:(1937)
857:(1937)
849:(1937)
841:(1936)
833:(1935)
825:(1935)
817:(1934)
809:(1934)
801:(1932)
793:(1932)
785:(1931)
776:series
758:(1974)
750:(1953)
713:(1976)
705:(1971)
697:(1968)
689:(1968)
681:(1967)
673:(1966)
665:(1965)
657:(1964)
649:(1962)
641:(1961)
633:(1954)
625:(1954)
617:(1951)
609:(1947)
601:(1946)
593:(1945)
585:(1943)
577:(1942)
569:(1939)
561:(1938)
553:(1936)
545:(1933)
529:(1932)
521:(1930)
513:(1929)
497:(1927)
489:(1927)
478:Novels
431:
414:
397:
116:Act II
766:Plays
99:Act I
429:IMDb
412:IMDb
395:IMDb
372:2021
230:and
427:at
410:at
393:at
199:).
66:on
1389::
363:.
281:.
226:,
76:,
59:.
727:"
463:e
456:t
449:v
374:.
195:(
31:.
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