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How would this best be expanded? Seems well fleshed out to me, now. Aaronwinborn 13:19, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
"... to writing crime thrillers at a prolific rate." Once we have stated that, it's ridiculous to have a list of only three (!) novels. Haven't House of Stratus published some of them recently? Would anyone like to have a look at that? <KF> 10:35, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)
How do we know that he was exactly nine days old when he was found abandoned in Billingsgate? Was there a note documenting his date of birth? Something needs to be said about this. JackofOz 00:01, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
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Infuriated, Caldecott did indeed book passage back to England, but was further outraged by the lack of penitently weeping family on the Johannesburg docks. Many years later, Ivy would bear the brunt of his vindictiveness.
Cape Town or Durban docks perhaps - Johannesburg is a long way from the sea! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.224.166.77 ( talk) 15:00, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Image:The mixer.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot ( talk) 02:42, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
There are several things wrong with this section, which I will annotate in detail later.
First, the treatment Wallace wrote was called The Beast, not Kong.
Second, there is no evidence that Wallace had any substantial hand in creating the storyline. Producer Merian C. Cooper devised the concept, and the various scenarios were crafted by himself and Willis O'Brien, the stop-motion animator of King Kong. All Wallace did was simply transcribe their ideas. He admitted this in private letters, and Cooper agreed in other forums. Cooper, an honorable man, promised Wallace credit when he was alive, and granted it to him after his death. Cooper wanted to use Wallace's name and fame by having him write the novelization of a production that was already taking shape, simply so that Kong could be advertised as "based on the book by Edgar Wallace." Facts supporting these claims can be found in King Kong: The Making Of A Movie Icon by Ray Morton, and in Cooper's biography, Living Dangerously, by Mark Cotta Vaz.
Third, the author of this article claims the treatment was a much better script than what Rose and Creelman came up with. This is clearly a matter of opinion. The native sacrifice scene is no more "far-fetched" than an island of dinosaurs and giant apes in the first place. Kong's story is universally acclaimed by critics and fans alike, and that is due to Rose's script (with an unknown but probably minor contribution from Creelman). She wrote the scenarios based on Cooper and O'Brien's previous ideas; those and her own unique contributions made the film work. It is unknown what shape the story would have taken if Wallace had lived, but dramatically, having Kong shot down by biplanes is much more effective than a random strike of lightning (as in Wallace's treatment). It completes his tragic story arc, that "the little guys licked him" and not the deus ex machina Wallace had written (which in all fairness might have and probably was devised by Cooper/O'Brien). This is but one example. In all ways Rose's final script is more powerful and direct in terms of story.
I am the author of an article examining the deleted spider-pit scene from King Kong, and have studied the different versions of Kong (including the relevant parts of Wallace's draft) and the history of Kong's production, and in my estimation Wallace's contributions overall were minor... but that in no way reflects on his artistry, skill or fame outside this final project.
There is an awful lot of editorializing thruout the article. It reads as if it were pasted in from a biography, and a rather opinionated one at that. -- Tysto ( talk) 20:15, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
I agree. So fix it - delete the editorializing. -- Ssilvers ( talk) 20:49, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
I am not so certain if the Edgar Wallace Plot Wheel is fictitious. At least it's not an invention of Stephen King's.
Michael Crichton mentions the plot wheel in his non-fiction book Electronic Life and even give a BASIC program to perform the same function. Crichton does not state Wallace's name, however. He referred to a "famous mystery writer" but otherwise described the same plot wheel King describes.
I had brought the plot wheel to the attention of the Edgar Wallace Appreciation Society and even his granddaughter had never heard of it.
So the truth of this plot wheel are shrouded in mystery. In either case, given the mention in Crichton's book, I'll remove reference to it being King's invention as it most likely isn't. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.79.228.134 ( talk) 22:01, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
I have done a fairly major clean up on the prose of the article. It seemed like it was mostly written by a family relation, drawing from personal anecdote, or from an over-excited reader of a romantic biography of Wallace. Some of what was written clashed in dates and travels with the profile in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, so I have gone with that source. I suspect much of what was added in 2006 is true (in the way that family stories are true) but there was a hopeless amount of unref'd, tangential detail and editorialising comment. For those interested in tales connected to Wallace's life the old version is worth exploring and if anyone wants to try and dig out refs to support relevant deleted detail, they are more than welcome. As a major British writer, my hope is that Wallace can have a decent biography. Span ( talk) 13:07, 16 December 2013 (UTC)
One of Wallace's publishers said that a quarter of all books read in the early twentieth century England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screenplays, poetry, historical novels, non-fiction, eighteen stage plays, 957 short stories, and over 170 novels. 12 novels in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of his work and the only one remembered today is the screenplay for King Kong. BBC Radio 4 Extra, 20 March 2014. ( 84.236.152.71 ( talk) 19:21, 20 March 2014 (UTC))
The article reads - "Wallace's father, Captain Joseph Richards, was also born in Liverpool, though in 1838; he was also from an Irish Catholic family. He and his father John Richards were both Merchant Navy captains, and his mother Catherine Richards came from a mariner family.
When Mary was eight months pregnant, in January 1868, her husband died at sea."
As Wallace was born in 1875, describing Richards as his father seems erroneous, and the article goes on to name his actual father as the actor Richard Horatio Edgar, after whom he was named. RGCorris ( talk) 19:27, 5 November 2016 (UTC)
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It is stated that Edgar Wallace bonded with young Clara. Clara Richardson was born in 1836 and Edgar born 39 years later. IE in the 1881 census Edgar is 6 whilst Clara is 45.
Also it stated that Edgar took the surname Wallace from Lew Wallace. This is also wrong. On his church baptism he is named Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace, father Walter (comedian). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.187.234.239 ( talk) 07:27, 15 August 2020 (UTC)
The 1923 title Captains of souls also appears as (The) Captain of souls on various web pages (e.g. Amazon), including dust jackets/covers. I assume that the versions differ among publishers in Great Britain and the US, especially. -- Hodsha ( talk) 18:59, 30 August 2021 (UTC)
The link associated with "Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him" does not provide any support for that statement. 203.221.122.109 ( talk) 03:59, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
This is the
talk page for discussing improvements to the
Edgar Wallace article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject. |
Article policies
|
Find sources: Google ( books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL |
This
level-5 vital article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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How would this best be expanded? Seems well fleshed out to me, now. Aaronwinborn 13:19, 15 August 2005 (UTC)
"... to writing crime thrillers at a prolific rate." Once we have stated that, it's ridiculous to have a list of only three (!) novels. Haven't House of Stratus published some of them recently? Would anyone like to have a look at that? <KF> 10:35, 13 Apr 2004 (UTC)
How do we know that he was exactly nine days old when he was found abandoned in Billingsgate? Was there a note documenting his date of birth? Something needs to be said about this. JackofOz 00:01, 1 January 2006 (UTC)
Image:The mixer.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. BetacommandBot 06:22, 6 June 2007 (UTC)
Infuriated, Caldecott did indeed book passage back to England, but was further outraged by the lack of penitently weeping family on the Johannesburg docks. Many years later, Ivy would bear the brunt of his vindictiveness.
Cape Town or Durban docks perhaps - Johannesburg is a long way from the sea! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.224.166.77 ( talk) 15:00, 20 September 2007 (UTC)
Image:The mixer.JPG is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot ( talk) 02:42, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
There are several things wrong with this section, which I will annotate in detail later.
First, the treatment Wallace wrote was called The Beast, not Kong.
Second, there is no evidence that Wallace had any substantial hand in creating the storyline. Producer Merian C. Cooper devised the concept, and the various scenarios were crafted by himself and Willis O'Brien, the stop-motion animator of King Kong. All Wallace did was simply transcribe their ideas. He admitted this in private letters, and Cooper agreed in other forums. Cooper, an honorable man, promised Wallace credit when he was alive, and granted it to him after his death. Cooper wanted to use Wallace's name and fame by having him write the novelization of a production that was already taking shape, simply so that Kong could be advertised as "based on the book by Edgar Wallace." Facts supporting these claims can be found in King Kong: The Making Of A Movie Icon by Ray Morton, and in Cooper's biography, Living Dangerously, by Mark Cotta Vaz.
Third, the author of this article claims the treatment was a much better script than what Rose and Creelman came up with. This is clearly a matter of opinion. The native sacrifice scene is no more "far-fetched" than an island of dinosaurs and giant apes in the first place. Kong's story is universally acclaimed by critics and fans alike, and that is due to Rose's script (with an unknown but probably minor contribution from Creelman). She wrote the scenarios based on Cooper and O'Brien's previous ideas; those and her own unique contributions made the film work. It is unknown what shape the story would have taken if Wallace had lived, but dramatically, having Kong shot down by biplanes is much more effective than a random strike of lightning (as in Wallace's treatment). It completes his tragic story arc, that "the little guys licked him" and not the deus ex machina Wallace had written (which in all fairness might have and probably was devised by Cooper/O'Brien). This is but one example. In all ways Rose's final script is more powerful and direct in terms of story.
I am the author of an article examining the deleted spider-pit scene from King Kong, and have studied the different versions of Kong (including the relevant parts of Wallace's draft) and the history of Kong's production, and in my estimation Wallace's contributions overall were minor... but that in no way reflects on his artistry, skill or fame outside this final project.
There is an awful lot of editorializing thruout the article. It reads as if it were pasted in from a biography, and a rather opinionated one at that. -- Tysto ( talk) 20:15, 5 November 2009 (UTC)
I agree. So fix it - delete the editorializing. -- Ssilvers ( talk) 20:49, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
I am not so certain if the Edgar Wallace Plot Wheel is fictitious. At least it's not an invention of Stephen King's.
Michael Crichton mentions the plot wheel in his non-fiction book Electronic Life and even give a BASIC program to perform the same function. Crichton does not state Wallace's name, however. He referred to a "famous mystery writer" but otherwise described the same plot wheel King describes.
I had brought the plot wheel to the attention of the Edgar Wallace Appreciation Society and even his granddaughter had never heard of it.
So the truth of this plot wheel are shrouded in mystery. In either case, given the mention in Crichton's book, I'll remove reference to it being King's invention as it most likely isn't. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.79.228.134 ( talk) 22:01, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
I have done a fairly major clean up on the prose of the article. It seemed like it was mostly written by a family relation, drawing from personal anecdote, or from an over-excited reader of a romantic biography of Wallace. Some of what was written clashed in dates and travels with the profile in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, so I have gone with that source. I suspect much of what was added in 2006 is true (in the way that family stories are true) but there was a hopeless amount of unref'd, tangential detail and editorialising comment. For those interested in tales connected to Wallace's life the old version is worth exploring and if anyone wants to try and dig out refs to support relevant deleted detail, they are more than welcome. As a major British writer, my hope is that Wallace can have a decent biography. Span ( talk) 13:07, 16 December 2013 (UTC)
One of Wallace's publishers said that a quarter of all books read in the early twentieth century England were written by him. As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screenplays, poetry, historical novels, non-fiction, eighteen stage plays, 957 short stories, and over 170 novels. 12 novels in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of his work and the only one remembered today is the screenplay for King Kong. BBC Radio 4 Extra, 20 March 2014. ( 84.236.152.71 ( talk) 19:21, 20 March 2014 (UTC))
The article reads - "Wallace's father, Captain Joseph Richards, was also born in Liverpool, though in 1838; he was also from an Irish Catholic family. He and his father John Richards were both Merchant Navy captains, and his mother Catherine Richards came from a mariner family.
When Mary was eight months pregnant, in January 1868, her husband died at sea."
As Wallace was born in 1875, describing Richards as his father seems erroneous, and the article goes on to name his actual father as the actor Richard Horatio Edgar, after whom he was named. RGCorris ( talk) 19:27, 5 November 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Edgar Wallace. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.
This message was posted before February 2018.
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(last update: 5 June 2024).
Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 08:49, 17 September 2017 (UTC)
It is stated that Edgar Wallace bonded with young Clara. Clara Richardson was born in 1836 and Edgar born 39 years later. IE in the 1881 census Edgar is 6 whilst Clara is 45.
Also it stated that Edgar took the surname Wallace from Lew Wallace. This is also wrong. On his church baptism he is named Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace, father Walter (comedian). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.187.234.239 ( talk) 07:27, 15 August 2020 (UTC)
The 1923 title Captains of souls also appears as (The) Captain of souls on various web pages (e.g. Amazon), including dust jackets/covers. I assume that the versions differ among publishers in Great Britain and the US, especially. -- Hodsha ( talk) 18:59, 30 August 2021 (UTC)
The link associated with "Wallace was such a prolific writer that one of his publishers claimed that a quarter of all books in England were written by him" does not provide any support for that statement. 203.221.122.109 ( talk) 03:59, 3 July 2022 (UTC)