The year 1933 saw the appearance of what is still the most famous of all monster movies, King Kong. The giant gorilla of the title is undoubtedly a triumph of special effects, and the fact that it can startle even the most sophisticated audiences today affirms the very special qualities of the RKO Radio production. Even the lavish Paramount re-make of the story in 1976, aided by all manner of superior technology, is nothing like its equal. As film historian Carlos Clarens has written in hisHistory Of The Horror Film(1967), ‘It took exactly a year to complete the original King Kong at a cost of $650,000, an impressive sum for those days, and most of the money went into the special effects – to this day unsurpassed. . . The picture was an utterly preposterous, utterly enthralling piece of showmanship’The basis of the story of the giant gorilla, ‘the eighth wonder of the world’, captured in the jungle and brought to New York where it plunges the city into terror and destruction, was conceived by the American documentary film-maker Merian C Cooper while on location in Africa. This outline was then turned into a screen story by Edgar Wallace (1875–1932), the famous English thriller writer then working in Hollywood under contract to RKO. The stop-motion animation, a brilliant technique devised by Willis H O’Brien, brought the monster amazingly alive on the screen. Despite impressive performances by Robert Armstrong, and Fay Wray as the blonde heroine who attracts Kong s affections, it was the colossal ape who stole all the honours in the film. He has since proved to be just the first in a long line of such monsters who have outshone their human co-stars!Though Merian Cooper’s knowledge of gorilla behaviour contributed a large part to its overall success, it was Edgar Wallace who provided the film with its most dramatic moments and helped produce a milestone in cinema history as important as the “Beauty And The Beast” story in literature. Tragically, though, this prolific writer and larger-than-life character was to die of pneumonia before the picture was completed, and was therefore deprived of the chance – which he would certainly have taken – of novelising the film. As it was, the tale was turned into a novella by one of Wallace’s friends, Draycot M Dell (1880–1936), already a successful adapter of films. Like Wallace, Draycot Dell was a former reporter who had worked on the Daily Mail, later becoming a full-time writer of adventure and thriller books. It was while on the staff of the Mail that Dell met Wallace and, as both men shared a passion for horse racing, they formed a friendship which lasted until Wallace’s death in Hollywood. When King Kong opened in London, it seemed somehow only appropriate that Dell should adapt his late friend’s work and this he did for Cinema Weekly of 28 October 1933. Its inclusion in this anthology marks the first republication of the story in over fifly years, and its very first appearance in book form. Views: 44
Dr. Avanti claims his bride!As the snow falls gently on the Cornish streets, Amy Avanti summons up her courage and opens the door to Penhally Bay Surgery, knowing it will take her back to another life where she was adoringly in love with her husband—and now she's back to finally set him free.But sexy Italian Dr. Marco Avanti simply wants her back by his side, saving lives by day, making love by night. Marco's never stopped loving Amy, and he's going to find out what is causing the shadows under his darling wife's eyes. With the New Year approaching they are going to make a new beginning—and make their marriage magical again! Views: 44
Amelia Cynster hears these words from handsome, enigmatic Lucien Ashford, 6th Viscount Calverton, and is stunned. It's near dawn and she's risked scandal by lying in wait for him just outside his London house. But he agrees to her outrageous marriage proposal — just prior to falling unconscious at her feet. Amelia is torn between astounded relief and indignant affront, then decides she doesn't care. She has always loved him — no other man will do for her — and she's tired of waiting. Sometimes a young lady needs to take matters into her own hands. But matters of the heart are never that simple. The first hitch in Amelia's plans comes when Luc refuses to agree to a hasty wedding, but insists on properly wooing her…in public and in private. Soon she longs for those moments away from the watchful gaze of the ton in which she can learn all about seduction from a master. But unknown to Amelia, Luc has a very good reason for wooing her. Every wicked gentleman has his price. Views: 44
Abigail Rosen, nicknamed Appassionata, was the sexiest, most flamboyant violinist in classical music, but she was also the loneliest and the most exploited girl in the world. When a dramatic suicide attempt destroyed her violin career, she set her sights on the male-dominated heights of the conductor's rostrum.
Given the chance to take over the Rutminster Symphony Orchestra, Abby is ecstatic, not realising the RSO is in hock up to its neck and is composed of the wildest bunch of musicians ever to blow a horn or caress a fiddle. Abby finds it increasingly difficult to control her undisciplined rabble and pretend she is not madly attracted to the fatally glamorous horn player, Viking O’Neill, who claims droit de seigneur over every pretty woman joining the orchestra. And then Rannaldini, arch-fiend and international maestro, rolls up with Machiavellian plans of his own to sabotage the RSO.
Effervescent as champagne, Jilly Cooper's novel brings back old favourites like Rupert and Taggie Campbell-Black, but also ends triumphantly with a rampageous orchestral tour of Spain and the high drama of an international piano competition. Views: 44
Born in a shabby tenement in Victorian London, young Tom Bedlam is employed stoking the furnaces in a massive porcelain factory; he is son to a father he has never met, and sibling to a baby who vanished at birth. But in spite of these disadvantages, he is a positive spirit, cunning in his pursuit of love, unflinchingly loyal to his friends, and possessed of a deep, passionate soul. More than anything, he wishes to bring the loose strands of his estranged family together. After Tom's mother dies, a mysterious family benefactor appears who offers to pay for the boy's education. For a factory urchin this is good luck indeed, and Tom is whisked away to an exclusive private boarding school called Hammer Hall. The school is a crucible of variously privileged, predatory, meek, and noble boys, and although Tom gathers crucial clues there about his lost brother, he finds himself caught between warring forces and makes a Faustian pact that will haunt his adult life. As... Views: 44
In the immortal spectrum of NYC, a dangerous game is afoot. Angelic and Demonic repo men are being targeted and put against each other in a deadly game where there can be no winner. Views: 44
As a teenager, Danielle Porter was a wild child. The product of a broken marriage and parents who never wanted children, she did all she could to live up to her reputation, despite the desperate urgings of her younger sister.Ten years later, Danielle has finally gotten her life together. Working as a respected pathologist at the renowned Sydney Harbour Hospital, she's come a long way from the turbulence of her youth. Her sister, Sabrina, couldn't be more proud. Now married to a successful lawyer, Sabrina's also done well for herself. She's living the dream with a husband who loves her and a baby she adores. To Dani, Sabrina has the perfect life.And then Sabrina and her daughter are brutally murdered and nobody knows who's responsible. Is it the maintenance man who was in the apartment or someone far closer to home?Detective Constable Jett Craigdon of the State Crime Command catches the case. Angered by the senseless deaths, he's determined to catch the person responsible. With... Views: 44
Thriller set in New York about a man who goes on a quest to discover the secrets behind a box that responds to psychic energy and is linked to the North American blackout of August 2003. Views: 44
Life on the Refrigerator Door is a poignant and deeply moving first novel about the bonds of love and frustration that tie mothers and daughters together. Told entirely in a series of notes left on the kitchen fridge-- some casual, some intimate, some funny, some angry-- it is the story of nine months in the life of 15-year-old Claire and her single mother. Preoccupied with their busy separate lives, rarely in the same room at the same time, they talk to each other in a series of short snippets that reflect the daily drama of school, boyfriends, work and chores that make up their days. Yet the mundane soon becomes extraordinary when a crisis overtakes their lives-- a momentous change that will redefine their relationship and unfold in their exchanges on the refrigerator door. Short, powerful and unforgettable, Kuipers' novel looks deep into the complex relationship between mothers and daughters, and the distances that can open up between... Views: 44
Experience the love, warmth and magic Christmas brings, with this heartwarming collection from three favorite Harlequin authorsSo much stands between Lancashire mill owner Haywood Denshaw and his new housekeeper Marianne Brown. But even disparate social standing and rumors of disreputable pasts can't get in the way of their love. Only Marianne's refusal to compromise her principles can, in a captivating story by PENNY JORDAN.Wealthy farmer Luke Hudson gets more than he bargained for when he plucks a destitute young woman from the workhouse. He may have rescued Connie Summers from a life of penury and hard labor, but her spirit and warmth give him a new outlook--and a second chance at love, in an enthralling story by HELEN BROOKS.Modern-thinking doctor Harry Fleet and compassionate but old-school nurse Tilly Dainty clash at the Tap House surgery in 1920s East London. But working together to care for the sick and needy turns out to be a healing balm on both their hearts, in an emotional story by CAROL WOOD. Views: 44
Vira is a super weapon – the greatest the Coalition has. She’s been kept in secret for the last 20 years, trained and protected until the day they would need her. That day has come. It’s time to let Vira out. Views: 44
