Bryan Edgar Wallace


Bryan Edgar Wallace was a British writer. The son of the writer Edgar Wallace, Bryan was also a writer of crime and mystery novels which were very similar in style to those of his father. He was named after the American politician William Jennings Bryan whom his father encountered during a trip to North America.
Some of his better known novels are Death Packs a Suitcase, The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle, Murder is Not Enough, The Device, The Man Who Would Not Swim, Murder in Touraine, The White Carpet, The Phantom of Soho and The World is at Stake, among others. During the 1930s, he worked as a screenwriter in the British film industry, mostly co-writing film scripts with other writers.
From 1961 until 1971, several of his works were made into films during the 1960s boom in German film adaptations of his father's novels. Sometimes Bryan's films are mistaken for Edgar Wallace adaptations, since they are so similar in plot and style. In 1963, he appeared in a 50-minute German documentary about his father called The Edgar Wallace Story.
He died in 1971, at age 67.

Bryan Edgar Wallace's filmography

1930s

  • The Squeaker Bryan only worked on the editing with this film based on his father's novel
  • Bachelor's Folly Bryan only worked on the editing with this film
  • The Frightened Lady released in U.S. as Criminal At Large; Bryan wrote the screenplay based on his father's novel
  • The Flying Squad Bryan wrote the screenplay based on his father's novel
  • White Face, the Fiend Bryan wrote the screenplay based on his father's play
  • My Old Dutch Bryan co-wrote the screenplay based on the Arthur Shirley play
  • The Clairvoyant released in U.S. as The Evil Mind; Bryan co-wrote the screenplay based on Ernst Lothar's novel The Clairvoyant
  • Strangers on a Honeymoon Bryan co-wrote this screenplay based on his father's novel
  • The Squeaker released in U.S. as Murder on Diamond Row; Bryan co-wrote the screenplay based on his father's novel
  • You're in the Army Now Bryan co-wrote this screenplay with three other writers
  • Inspector Hornleigh Bryan co-wrote this screenplay with two other writers, based on a BBC radio series
  • The Mysterious Mr. Reeder Bryan co-wrote this screenplay based on his father's novel, ''The Mind of Mr. Reeder''

    1960s

  • The Secret of the Black Trunk made in Germany, based on Bryan Edgar Wallace's novel, Death Packs a Suitcase
  • The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle made in Germany; based on the Bryan Edgar Wallace novel Strangler of Blackmoor Castle.
  • ' made in Germany; based on Bryan Edgar Wallace's novel The White Carpet
  • Scotland Yard vs Dr. Mabuse made in Germany; based on Bryan Edgar Wallace's 1962 sci-fi novel The Device
  • The Phantom of Soho made in Germany; based on an unpublished Bryan Edgar Wallace novel Murder by Proxy
  • The Monster of London City made in Germany; Wallace just revised this screenplay
  • The Seventh Victim made in Germany; released in U.S. as The Racetrack Murders; based on the Bryan Edgar Wallace novel Murder is Not Enough
  • ' a Spanish/German film directed by Jesus Franco, based on Bryan Edgar Wallace's novel Death Packs a Suitcase
  • The Dead Are Alive an Italian/German co-production directed by Armando Crispino; based on a short story by Bryan Edgar Wallace. This film was released posthumously in 1972.
  • Bryan Edgar Wallace reputedly contributed with other writers to the screenplay for Dario Argento's The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Cat o' Nine Tails. Although highly disputed amongst film historians, the movies were marketed as "Bryan Edgar Wallace" -Krimis in Germany and other markets. The official production documents show his signature amongst others on the screenplays.