Photoplay Editions & Movie Tie-Ins
The Golden Years [1912-1969] ... Mystery Films

Detective and mystery films and fiction have created legions of dedicated fans.  The movies and book publishers were quick to capitalize on this with the emerging serial films.   What Happened to Mary (1912) is the earliest known photoplay edition and first serial film ever produced (Edison Studios in New York City).  This book is a publishing transition of sorts from ‘theater editions’ which had been popular before feature films.  The book contains interior stills from both the stageplay production and serial film.  The hardcover novelization published in 1913 by Edward J. Clode in New York City (Does a dust jacket exist?) was written by Bob Brown who incorporated the serial film, the magazine novelization, and the stageplay.  The story had first been serialized in twelve monthly installments the McClure’s magazine The Ladies World, novelized by Frederick Lewis.  This title was later reprinted by Grosset and Dunlap and appears to be the first instance of Grosset reprinting an already existing photoplay edition.  One can see minor aspects of a mystery plot, in figuring out what happened to Mary.  The Strange Case of Mary Page (1916) was also serialized in The Ladies World concurrent to the serial chapters in the theaters, before the Grosset and Dunlap photoplay edition.  You could submit a coupon found in the February issue and receive 6 free photo postcards of the actors.

Other early mystery serials featured Professor Craig Kennedy in The Exploits of Elaine (1914), The Romance of Elaine (1915) The Radio Detective (1926) all written by Arthur B. Reeve.  Utilizing scientific detection, psychoanalysis, and gadgetry the Professor from Columbia University was a rival to Sherlock Holmes.  Famous escape artist Harry Houdini began his film career in a 15 chapter serial The Master Mystery (1918).  The Grosset and Dunlap First Edition novelization by Reeve and John B. Grey is noteworthy for a still of The Automaton, the first robot ever filmed.  Some copies of this book have been observed to have only 12 stills instead of the appropriate 15.

Silent feature films utilized many classic mystery novels such as The Mystery of the Yellow Room (first locked-room murder mystery) by Gaston Leroux (1919), The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1921), and The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1926).  Novelizations became more prevalent with The Cat and the Canary (1927) and London After Midnight (1927) as popular examples.

Historians will point to The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) as the first work of detective fiction.  Bela Lugosi portrayed the antagonist in the 1932 film production with protagonist Leon Ames as Pierre Dupin on his trail.  The photoplay edition by Grosset and Dunlap is a collection of stories by Edgar Allen Poe.  This is a deluxe example with double spread endpaper and interior stills. The dust jacket has gorilla artwork by Mach Tey and a photographic back panel depicting contemporary horror titles.  This cross-over into the horror genre deserves special mention.  Another crossover is the 1927 novel Benighted by J. B. Priestley and filmed as The Old Dark House in 1932.  The Grosset photoplay in dust jacket is rather scarce with artwork similar to one of the movie posters.

The decades of the 1930s-1940s were the heyday for mystery writers and movie productions culminating in the film noir phenomena.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Wallace, S.S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright), Earl Derr Biggers, Sax Rohmer (Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward), Dashiell Hammett, Rex Stout, Raymond Chandler, Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee), H. C. McNeile (Sapper), Anthony Abbott, and Agatha Christie are some of the giants in this field well represented in film tie-in novels.  Their detective characters will live on for future generations.  Who can not be intrigued by the investigative sleuths such as Sherlock Holmes, J. G. Reeder, Philo Vance, Charlie Chan, Commissioner Denis Nayland Smith, Sam Spade, Nero Wolfe, Philip Marlowe, Ellery Queen, Bulldog Drummond, Thatcher Colt, and Hercule Poirot? 

Any mini-essay on detective fiction and films should at least give a nod to the arch-villains such as Dr. Fu-Manchu, Carl Peterson, or Professor James Moriarty. 

The 1950s and 60s continued the trend of paperback movie tie-ins. One could buy a paperback for 25-50 cents as opposed to hardcover prices and the book could fit in your back pocket or purse.  New additions include Rashomon (1950), Charade (1963), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), Vertigo (1958) Diabolique (1955), Touch of Evil (1958), Harper (1966), and let us not forget the comedic exploits of Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther (1963).

This a busy category for photoplay editions and movie tie-ins. Interested parties are enthusiastic about seeking these items.

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Last Revision:  May 2, 2021 9:27 PM