Cornell Woolrich - Nightwebs (A Collection of Stories)

If I Should Die Before I Wake. Nightmare, 8/25/54. From DFW 24. With Peter Lorre as the child-murderer, a role strikingly similar to the one he played in Fritz Lang’s great 1931 film, M.

Again our checklist of television adaptations of Woolrich is selective and representative rather than exhaustive, but should provide some idea of his adaptability to the medium.

Revenge. Suspense, March 1949. From CW 11 (The Black Path of Fear).

Three O’Clock. Robert Montgomery Presents, c1952. From DFW 36.

Lullaby. Mirror Theater, 10/3/53. From PD 2 (“Humming Bird Comes Home”). With Agnes Moorehead, Tom Drake.

Wait for Me Downstairs. Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, 10/9/53. From DFW 41. With John Hudson, Allene Roberts.

Summer Dance. Mirror Theater, 11/21/53. From Shad 2 (“Death Between Dances”). With Jane Greer, Barbara Bates.

You Take Ballistics. Program unknown, c1954. From Doub D 2.

The Chase. Lux Video Theater, 12/30/54. From the film of the same title, based on CW 11 (The Black Path of Fear). With Ruth Roman, Pat O’Brien, James Arness.

Debt of Honor. Stage 7, 2/20/55. From Doub D 7. With Edmond O’Brien.

Husband. Ford Theater, 10/13/55. From the story published originally in WI 11. With Barry Sullivan, Mala Powers, Jonathan Hale.

The Blue Ribbon. Ford Theater, 11/10/55. From the other story published originally in WI 11. With Scott Brady, Gene Barry, Marjorie Rambeau, Stanley Adams.

Once Upon a Nightmare. Fireside Theater, 1/3/56. From DD 22 (“Murder at Mother’s Knee”). With Jane Wyman, David Kasday, Arthur Space, Vivi Janiss, Emile Meyer.

The Big Switch. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1/8/56. Directed by Don Weis from a teleplay by Richard Carr based on DFW 6 (“Change of Murder”). With George Mathews, Beverly Michaels, George E. Stone, Joseph Downing.

Sit Down with Death. Climax! 4/26/56. Adapted by James P. Cavanagh from BM 9 (“After-Dinner Story”). With Ralph Bellamy, William Talman, John Williams, Vicki Cummings, Constance Ford.

Momentum. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 6/24/56. From DFW 43. With Skip Homeier, Joanne Woodward, Ken Christy.

Rendezvous in Black. Playhouse 90, 10/25/56. From CW 12. With Franchot Tone, Laraine Day, Boris Karloff, Tom Drake, Viveca Lindfors, Elizabeth Patterson.

Four O’Clock. Suspicion, 9/30/57. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock from a teleplay by Francis Cockrell based on DFW 36. With E.G. Marshall, Nancy Kelly, Richard Long. This hour-length masterwork is the most faithful adaptation of Woolrich ever made, and may well be the most suspenseful film in Hitchcock’s entire career.

Bluebeard’s Seventh Wife. Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, 3/21/58. From DFW 15. With Ralph Meeker, Phyllis Avery, Hugh Marlowe.

Post Mortem. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 5/18/58. Directed by Arthur Hiller from a teleplay by Robert C. Dennis based on BM 16. With Joanna Moore, Fred Robbins, Steve Forrest, Roscoe Ates, James Gregory.

Fire by Night. Moment of Fear, 7/22/60. Adapted by David Davidson from Story 1 (“The Night Reveals”). With Mark Richman, Fay Spain, Phyllis Hill, Frank Overton.

Papa Benjamin. Thriller, 3/21/61. Directed by Ted Post from a teleplay by John Kneubuhl based on DM 1. With John Ireland, Jeanne Bal, Jester Hairston.

Late Date. Thriller, 4/4/61. Directed by Herschel Daugherty from a teleplay by Donald S. Sanford based on DD 6 (“The Corpse and the Kid”). With Larry Pennell, Edward C. Platt, Jody Fair, Chris Seitz. Despite a censorial last-minute reversal of Woolrich’s ironic ending, this is one of the very best adaptations of Woolrich to film, with a superb Jerry Goldsmith score.

Guillotine. Thriller, 9/25/61. Adapted by Charles Beaumont from BM

12 (“Men Must Die”). With Alejandro Rey, Robert Middleton, Danielle de Metz. This film is second only to Hitchcock’s Four O’Clock in its faithfulness to Woolrich’s story and mood and its evocation of Woolrich’s unbearable suspense.

The Black Curtain. Alfred Hitchcock Hour, 11/15/62. Directed by Sydney Pollack from a teleplay by Joel Murcott based on CW 8. With Richard Basehart, Gail Kobe, Lola Albright, Lee Philips, Harold J. Stone.

Jane Brown’s Body. Journey to the Unknown, 10/2/68. Directed by Alan Gibson from a teleplay by Anthony Skene based on AAF 2. A rather foolish British attempt to translate Woolrich’s horror novelet of the late Thirties to mod London of the swinging Sixties. The film-makers had the further uproarious idea of rewriting the story into a weak imitation of Hitchcock’s Marnie. This gem was televised less than a week after Woolrich’s burial.

Grateful acknowledgment is hereby made for permission to reprint the following stories by Cornell Woolrich:

“Graves for the Living.” Originally published in Dime Mystery. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Red Tide.” Originally published in Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine. Copyright © 1940 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1968 by The Condé Nast Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

“The Corpse Next Door.” Originally published in Detective Fiction Weekly. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“You’ll Never See Me Again.” Originally published in Street & Smith’s Detective Story Magazine. Copyright © 1939 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1967 by The Condé Nast Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

“Dusk to Dawn.” Originally published in Black Mask. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“Murder at the Automat.” Originally published in Dime Detective. Copyright © 1937 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“Death in the Air.” Originally published in Detective Fiction Weekly. Copyright © 1936 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“Mamie ‘n’ Me.” Originally published in All-American Fiction. Copyright © 1938 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“The Screaming Laugh.” Originally published in Clues Detective Stories. Copyright © 1938 by Street & Smith Publications, Inc. Copyright renewed 1966 by The Condé Nast Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

“Dead on Her Feet.” Originally published in Dime Detective. Copyright © 1935 by Popular Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Popular Publications, Inc.

“One Night in Barcelona.” Originally published in Mystery Book Magazine. Copyright © 1947 by Best Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

“The Penny-a-Worder.” Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Copyright © 1958 by Davis Publications Inc. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

“The Number’s Up.” Originally published in Beyond the Night. Copyright © 1959 by Cornell Woolrich. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.

“Too Nice a Day to Die.” Originally published in The Dark Side of Love. Copyright © 1965 by Cornell Woolrich. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the Estate of Cornell Woolrich, Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc.