Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948), known as A. E. W. Mason, was an English novelist, playwright, actor, army officer, intelligence agent and – for a short period – a politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, The Four Feathers, and as the creator of Inspector Hanaud, a French detective who was an early template for Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot.

Mason's prolific output included over 30 novels as well as plays, short stories and articles. Many of his novels were adapted for the screen, several multiples times. During the 1910s and 1920s he worked closely with many film directors of the silent era.

Inspector Hanaud novels + Inspector Hanaud novels Title Year of first publication NotesAt the Villa Rose1910NovelThe Affair at the Semiramis Hotel1917Novella. First published as a long story in The Story-Teller magazine for March 1917, and collected in The Four Corners of the World, Hodder and Stoughton 1917. In the US it was published as a standalone book by Charles Scribner's Sons.The House of the Arrow1924NovelThe Prisoner in the Opal1928NovelThey Wouldn't be Chessmen1935NovelThe House in Lordship Lane1946Novel Hanaud also features in the short story The Ginger King (1940), and makes a brief appearance in The Sapphire (1933). The 1931 volume A. E. W. Mason Omnibus: Inspector Hanaud's Investigations is a collection of the first three novels with an introduction by the author. Other novels + Other novels Title Year of firstpublication NotesA Romance of Wastdale 1895NovelThe Courtship of Maurice Buckler 1896NovelThe Philanderers 1897NovelLawrence Clavering 1897NovelMiranda of the Balcony 1899NovelThe Watchers 1899NovelParson Kelly 1900Novel, with Andrew LangClementina1901NovelThe Four Feathers1902NovelThe Truants1904NovelRunning Water1907NovelThe Broken Road1907NovelThe Turnstile1912NovelThe Witness for the Defence1913NovelThe Summons1920NovelThe Winding Stair1923NovelNo Other Tiger1927NovelThe Dean's Elbow1930NovelThe Three Gentlemen1932NovelThe Sapphire1933NovelFire Over England1936NovelThe Drum1937NovelKönigsmark1938NovelMusk and Amber1942Novel

Short story collections + Short story collections Title Year of first publication NotesEnsign Knightley, and Other Stories 1901Short storiesThe Four Corners of the World1917Short storiesDilemmas1934Short stories

Plays + Plays Title Year of first printed publication First London performance (except where indicated) NotesBlanche de Malétroit1894Ladbroke Hall, 30 June 1894The Courtship of Maurice Buckler -Grand, Islington, 6 December 1897With Isabel BatemanMarjorie Strode -The Playhouse, 19 March 1908Colonel Smith1909St James's, 23 April 1909Privately printedGreen Stockings1910Thirty Ninth Street Theatre, New York, 2 October 1911Final version of Colonel SmithThe Princess Clementina -The Queen's, 14 December 1910With George Pleydell BancroftThe Witness for the Defence1911, 1913St James's, 1 February 1911Privately printed 1911Open Windows -St James's, 11 March 1913At the Villa Rose1928Strand, 10 July 1920Running Water -Wyndham's, 5 April 1922The House of the Arrow -Vaudeville, 11 May 1928No Other Tiger -St James's, 26 December 1928A Present from Margate1934Shaftesbury, 14 December 1933With Ian Hay

An adaptation by Anne Crawford Flexnor of the novel Miranda of the Balcony was performed in New York in 1901, and at The Empire Theatre Huddersfield on 2 September 1901.

Uncollected Short Stories + Uncollected Short Stories Title Publication and dateAn Inconvenience of Habit Literature, 15 Jul 1899The Right Thing The Argus, 28 Mar 1900The Vicar's Conversion Strand Magazine, Dec 1900The Trouble at Beaulieu Lippincott's Magazine, 19 Jan 1901The Schoolmaster and Felicia Mr Punch's Holiday Book 1901The Picture in the Bath Illustrated London News, Christmas Extra number 1901The Man from Socotra Illustrated London News, 22 Nov 1902The Guide Daily Mail 1904 (reprinted in The Old Volume Annual 1908)Dimoussi and the Pistol London Magazine, Sep 1905The Great Monopoly Metropolitan Magazine, 1906The Silver Flask Metropolitan Magazine, Jul 1907Making Good Cornhill Magazine, Jan 1910The Silver Ship Metropolitan Magazine, Jan 1917The Sapphire Pall Mall Magazine, May 1927The Last Salute Collier's, 15 May 1937The Ear Strand Magazine, Jun 1937The Conjurer The Queen's Book of the Red Cross 1939The Secret Fear Strand Magazine, Apr 1940The Ginger King Strand Magazine, Aug 1940The Watch Homes and Gardens, Jun 1945Not in the Log Strand Magazine, May 1948Rodin's Poseur (Unpublished)

Non-fiction + Non-fiction Title Year of first publication NotesThe Royal Exchange1920Privately printedSir George Alexander and the St James's Theatre1935BiographyThe Life of Francis Drake1941Biography

Film and TV adaptations This is a list of adaptations by other writers of works by A. E. W. Mason. + Film and TV adaptations Title Year Directed by Based on (novel unless specified) NotesPrincess Clementina1911William BarkerClementinaSilentFour Feathers1915J. Searle DawleyThe Four FeathersSilentGreen Stockings1916Wilfrid NorthGreen Stockings (play)SilentThe Witness for the Defense1919George FitzmauriceThe Witness for the DefenceSilentAt the Villa Rose1920Maurice ElveyAt the Villa RoseSilentA Romance of Wastdale1921Maurice ElveyA Romance of WastdaleSilentThe Broken Road1921René PlaissettyThe Broken RoadSilentThe Four Feathers1921René PlaissettyThe Four FeathersSilentRunning Water1922Maurice ElveyRunning WaterSilentThe Truants1922Sinclair HillThe TruantsSilentSlaves of Destiny1924Maurice ElveyMiranda of the BalconySilentThe Winding Stair1925John Griffith WrayThe Winding StairSilentSlightly Used1927Archie MayoGreen Stockings (play)The Four Feathers1929Merian C. Cooper, Lothar Mendes, Ernest B. SchoedsackThe Four FeathersSilentAt the Villa Rose1930Leslie S. HiscottAt the Villa RoseMystery at the Villa Rose in the United StatesLe mystère de la villa rose1930René Hervil and Louis MercantonAt the Villa RoseThe House of the Arrow1930Leslie S. HiscottThe House of the ArrowLa Maison de la Fléche1930Henri FescourtThe House of the ArrowThe Flirting Widow1930William A. SeiterGreen Stockings (play)Her Imaginary Lover1933George KingGreen Stockings (play)The Widow from Monte Carlo1935Arthur Greville CollinsA Present from Margate (play)Fire Over England1937William K. HowardFire Over EnglandThe Drum1938Zoltan KordaThe DrumThe Four Feathers1939Zoltan KordaThe Four FeathersAt the Villa Rose1940Walter SummersAt the Villa RoseAlso known as House of MysteryThe House of the Arrow1940Harold FrenchThe House of the ArrowAt the Villa Rose1948Gilbert Thomas (writer)TV filmThe House of the Arrow1953Michael AndersonThe House of the ArrowClementina 1954Joy HaringtonClementinaTV seriesStorm Over the Nile1955Terence Young and Zoltan KordaThe Four FeathersThe Crystal Trench4 Oct 1959Alfred HitchcockThe Crystal Trench (short story)Episode of Alfred Hitchcock PresentsThe Four Feathers1978Don SharpThe Four FeathersTV filmThe Four Feathers2002Shekhar KapurThe Four Feathers

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