AustLit
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Adaptations
-
y
I Killed the Count
London
:
Blackie
,
1939
Z810757
1939
single work
novel
Novelised version of his play.
-
form
y
I Killed the Count
Who Is Guilty?
( dir. Frederic Zelnik
)
United Kingdom (UK)
:
Grafton Films
,
1939
6391865
1939
single work
film/TV
crime
mystery
'A pebble is best hidden on a beach, and in the same way the danger from an incriminating clue can best be overcome by providing a host of false ones. Thus four apparently quite separate individuals here each confess to the murder of a certain undesirable Count Mattoni (Mr. Leslie Perrins), who is found shot in his bedroom in a fashionable block of flats, and in each case the story they have to tell is supported by substantial evidence. One speaks of smashing a light bulb, and the bulb is found smashed; another tells of blackmail and incriminating letters, and these are discovered in the Count's safe; a third describes how he handled a wad of notes with blood-stained fingers, and his prints are duly found upon them. Yet the times all differ, and there are as many clues to exonerate as there are to convict. Detective-inspector Davidson (Mr. Syd Walker) and his young assistant (Mr. Terence de Marney) not unnaturally find much to puzzle them in all this, but until a spate of confessions comes to shatter their theories they assemble their data by careful investigation, and the director of the film has skilfully observed the several characters with whom they are concerned. The garrulous maid who discovers the body, the indignant liftman with a weakness for dog-racing, the harrassed business man trying to put through a deal with a Frenchman who cannot understand a word he says, the coquettish chorus-girl and the temperamental prima donna–all appear intermittently throughout the film to good effect. Comedy is present but is kept in its place, and the final solution is acceptable. There may seem a doubt about the point of law which finally provides the criminals with a loophole for escape, but the amateur detective can follow their investigation with interest and without any fear of being cheated by its climax.'
Source:
'New Films in London. A Plan for Murder', The Times, 3 July 1939, p.12.
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form
y
I Killed the Count
Australia
:
ABC Radio National
,
1941
8013934
1941
single work
radio play
crime
humour
'When Count Victor Mattoni was found dead in his flat at Oxley Court, there was no doubt that he was murdered. No fewer than four persons claimed the honor of doing the fatal deed. And each one of the four produced conclusive evidence that he — and he alone — was the murderer! Small wonder that Inspector Davidson, investigating the crime, was at his wits' end. Well, who did kill the Count? Here is a reduced version of Alec Coppel's brilliant mystery play that baffled and amused audiences in London and in Australia, where it was played some months ago.'
Source:
'I Killed the Count', Barrier Daily Truth, 21 February 1941, p.6.
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form
y
I Killed the Count
United Kingdom (UK)
:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
,
1945
6432125
1945
single work
radio play
crime
humour
Radio play adaptation of Alec Coppel's play.
-
form
y
I Killed the Count
England
:
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
,
1948
6392190
1948
single work
film/TV
crime
mystery
The second film adaptation of Alec Coppel's play, this time adapted by Coppel himself for the BBC.
-
form
y
I Killed the Count
( dir. David Boisseau
)
United Kingdom (UK)
:
ITV
,
1956
6392351
1956
single work
film/TV
mystery
crime
The third film/television version of Alec Coppel's play, and the second to have a script by Coppel.
Conceivably, this may have been filmed to the same script as the 1948 BBC version, which was also scripted by Coppel, but in the absence of any information confirming that (and in the presence of an entirely different cast and production company), this work has been considered an entirely separate work.
-
form
y
I Killed the Count
( dir. Robert Stevens
)
United States of America (USA)
:
Revue Studios
CBS
,
1957
6392583
1957
series - publisher
film/TV
crime
mystery
The fourth film/television adaptation of Alec Coppel's play, this time adapted by American script-writer Francis M. Cockrell as a self-contained series within the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
-
form
y
Ik Doodde De Graaf
Xaveer Janssens
(translator),
( dir. Maurits Balfoort
)
Belgium
:
N. I. R.
,
1959
6416092
1959
single work
film/TV
A Belgian television adaptation of Alec Coppel's play I Killed the Count.
Notes
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For a review of the production, see the London Times, 11 December 1937, p.12.
-
On 4 May 1938, while the play was running at the Duchess Theatre, the BBC broadcast twenty minutes of 'Scenes from I Killed The Count, from 6.40 to 7 pm.
Production Details
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First produced at the Whitehall Theatre, London, 10 December 1937.
Cast members included Eric Maturin (Count Victor Mattoin), Athole Stewart (Viscount Sorrington), Alec Clunes (Detective Raines), Anthony Holles (Samuel Diamond), Kathleen Harrison (Polly), George Merritt (Divisional Inspector Davidson), Meriel Forbes (Renee La Lune), Barbara Francis (Louise Rogers), Edward Petley (Johnson), Hugh E. Wright (Mullet), Anthony Bushell (Bernard K. Froy), John Oxford (PC Clifton), and Frederick Cooper (Martin).
Moved to the Duchess Theatre, London, in early 1938.
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Produced at the Minerva Theatre, Sydney, when it was under Coppel's co-management (produced prior to 1942).
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Produced at the Paper-Mill Playhouse in New York before moving to Broadway in 1942.