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Francis Durbridge (1912-1998) - in full Francis Henry Durbridge |
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English tv, radio, and mystery writer, whose best known series character is Paul Temple and his wife Steve. Durbridge was the master of the cliffhanger and one of the most successful writers for television. However, the first radio detective in England was probably Inspector Hornleigh, whose adventures were heard in Monday Night at Seven (1937-40) and who appeared in three films between 1939-41. In the Unites States, the first popular radio detective series was Detectives Black and Blue from 1931. "By Timothy!" (Paul Temple's catchphrase) Francis Durbridge was born in Hull, Yorkshire. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School, where he was encouraged to write by an English teacher. While he was still a student, Durbridge had in 1933 a radio play broadcasted by the BBC. Durbridge studied English at Birmingham University, and after graduating in 1933, he worked as a stockbroker's clerk, before becoming a full-time writer. In 1940 he married Norah Elizabeth Lawley; they had two sons. At the age of 26, Durbridge created the character of Paul Temple. The first book, Send for Paul Temple (1938), a collaboration with John Thewes, was a novelization of radio serial. Durbridge wrote Temple stories for BBC from 1938 to 1968. He was played by Hugh Morton in Send for Paul Temple (1938), Paul Temple and the Front Page Men (1938), and News of Paul Temple (1939), and then, over the years by Carl Bernard, Richard Williams, Barry Morse, Howard Marion Crawford, Kim Peacock, and Peter Coke, beginning from Paul Temple And The Gilbert Case (1954). Coke's portrayal of the detective is perhaps the best known. Steve Trent, a Fleet Street journalist and later Temple's wife, was played by Marjorie Westbury from the fifth serial; she continued up through 1968. The introductory and closing music from Vivian Ellis's 'Coronation Scot' added greatly to the popularity of the radio series. In Finland, the theme song was 'The Devils Gallop' by Charles Williams. The characters became hugely popular in Britain and Temple's adventures were followed in many counties, among others in Germany, where Albert Lieven gained recognition in several adaptations of Durbridge's crime thrillers. However, Temple's four film appearances in the 1940s and 1950s are considered insignificant. John Bentley, who became a B-movie star in the black-and-white mysteries, was the hero in Calling Paul Temple (1948), Paul Temple's Triumph (1950), and Paul Temple Returns (1952), based on Paul Temple Intervenes. The British Monthly Film Bulletin characterized this production as a "slickly-made, American style thriller". Christopher Lee played the killer, whose country home is filled with art and reptiles. All these films were directed by Maclean Rogers and made at the Nettlefold studios. The Cinema magazine concluded that a Temple film without Bentley was "as unthinkable as Quo without Vadis", but his greatest success he achieved in the role of Hugh Mortimer in the television series Crossroads. Anthony Hulme played the novelist and amateur sleuth in Send for Paul Temple (1946), directed by John Argyle. In the 1960s, Durbridge created for TV a new series character, Tim Frazer, starring Jack Hedley. Frazer was an undercover agent and also appeared in three books. Durbridge wrote the series with Clive Exton, Charles Hatton, and Barry Thomas. Dialogue dominates usually in Durbridge's novels, which sometimes reveal that they were originally written for radio or television. His characters belong to the middle-class and have much time to devote themselves in solving crimes – or planning them. The protagonist is sometimes a suspect, who tries to free himself from the web of intrigues. In the film The Vicious Circle (1957) an actress is found dead in Dr Latimer's flat and the weapon turn up in the boot of his car. Then another body is found and again all the clues lead to Latimer. In the story 12 Past 12, filmed in Germany under the title Piccadilly, Null Uhr Zwolf (1963), the young Edgar Wallace helps to solve a crime. Durbridge published 35 novels, several of them were based on his tv or radio series. Some of his books were written in collaboration with other writers, among them John Thewes, Douglas Rutherford, and Charles Hatton. Paul Temple was credited as the author of his own adventures, two of which Durbridge wrote with Rutherford. The Broken Horseshoe (1952) and Operation Diplomat (1952) were Durbridge's first TV thriller serials. They were produced live in a studio at Alexandra Palace. In 1997, Alan Bleasdale created his own version of Durbridge's 1960s BBC serial Melissa, in which a war correspondent, Guy Foster, falls in love with a beautiful but mysterious Melissa. Bleasdale described the mystery detective story as his "homage and tribute to one of this country's finest thriller writers." Paul Temple: One of the most successful detective characters ever created for broadcasting. Paul Temple is former reporter and playwright, who then becomes a successful novelist and criminologist, helping Scotland Yard. He solves mysteries with his wife, who changed her name from Louise Harvey to Steve Trent after a gang of diamond thieves murdered her brother, a Scotland Yard superintendent. – Temple had a thirty-year career on radio, and continued his adventures also in books from 1938 to the late 1980s. Two of the novels, The Tyler Mystery and East of Algers list Temple as the author. A Paul Temple comic strip, which lasted for two decades, was begun in 1951. Its artists included Alfred Sindall, Bill Bailey, and John Namara. – The BBC television series Paul Temple, Detective from 1968, written by Durbridge and starring John Bentley and Dinah Sheridan, ran for twelve episodes. Paul Temple, which ran from 1969 to 1971, was one of BBC's first color productions. Francis Matthews portrayed Paul Temple and Ros Drinkwater was Steve. Other radio series heroes: Harry Lime (produced in the 1950s in Britain, see Graham Greene), Dragnet (premiered on radio on NBC in 1949), Perry Mason (CBS soap opera from 1943 to 1955), Nick Carter (on radio from 1943 to 1955). For further reading: Encyclopedia Mysteriosa by William L. DeAndrea (1997); St. James Guide to Crime & Mystery Writers, ed. by Jay P. Pederson (1996). Suom.: Paul Temple on seikkaillut mm. kuunnelmissa Paul Temple ja tapaus Conrad, Paul Temple ja Spencerin juttu, Paul Temple ja Valentinen tapaus, Paul Temple ja Alexin juttu. Televisiossa on nähty useita Durbridgen jatkojännäreitä, mm. Melissa, Mies nimeltä Harry Brent, Pelin loppu, Salama kirkkaalta taivaalta, Kaksoisolento, Epätoivoiset. Alan Bleasdale teki Melissasta kolmannen tv-sovituksen 1997. Toinen valmistui 1974. Selected works:
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