The Strange Case of Mr Pelham
.jpg) First edition cover | |
| Author | Anthony Armstrong |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Suspense |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Media type | |
The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham is a 1957 novel by Anglo-Canadian writer Anthony Armstrong about a man involved in a serious car accident. The man recovers only to find himself being stalked by a seemingly identical version of himself.[1] It was made into an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents which originally aired December 4, 1955, under the title "The Case of Mr. Pelham", and starring Tom Ewell as the victim of his own doppelganger. The material has been described as in keeping with more science-fiction-orientated series such as "The Twilight Zone".
The story was also made into the theatrical film The Man Who Haunted Himself in 1970 starring Roger Moore.[2] It was director Basil Dearden's last film, as (ironically) he died soon afterwards in a car accident. This expanded version of the story required the additional elements explained, leading to talkative scenes. for one showing of the film on its BBC1 channel, the Radio Times film review described it as being pedestrian in places, interspersed with some palm-sweating sequences.
Anthony Boucher commented on the novel as "a lightly amusing tale of suspense and terror and, read as fantasy, an attractive book"; Boucher, however, also quoted another reviewer who found that, reading the novel as a genre mystery, it was "an extraordinarily irritating piece of cleverness."[3]
References
- ↑ "The Strange Case of Mr. Pelham". Fantasticfiction.uk.
- ↑ Roger Greenspun (September 4, 1971). "The Man Who Haunted Himself". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Recommended Reading," F&SF, May 1957, p.78.