EDGAR WALLACE AS HERO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 58, 9 March 1935, Page 5 (Supplement)

EDGAR WALLACE AS HERO.

PROPOSED NEW BRITISH FILM.

A British studio is to make a film based on the life story of the late Edgar Wallace, journalist, dramatist and most celebrated writer of mystery fiction of modern timee. The film is to be built on "Edgar Wallace," by Edgar Wallace himself, in which the famous author tells the story of his early struggles, his rise to a position of importance in the newspaper world, and his adventures as a playwright, novelist and sportsman. Apart from its world-wide interest as the pereonal chronicle of a universally popular figure, the story forms what is said to be the firet true picture of Fleet Street, its work and personalities, to be screened.

An unusual series of incidents lies behind the purchase of this subject. The same etudio secured the film right 3 of "On the Spot," Wallace's famous play, during his lifetime. Subsequently, the subject had to be erased from the production schedule for censorship reasons, the gangster theme coming in conflict with certain bans. Edgar Wallace ineisted on paying back to the studio the full amount of purchase money he had received, and, following his death in California, the

author's trustees and executors included this debt among their responsibilities. The money was paid back, but the studio spent it on the purchase of certain Edgar Wallace properties, which include the life story in its entirety.