HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY, BRUCE MONTGOMERY!
Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2021 7:02 am
Also known to detective fiction aficionados as 'Edmund Crispin', Montgomery (1921-1978) composed music for a number of British films, mainly comedies such as DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE and CARRY ON, SERGEANT. He also scripted RAISING THE WING (1961), a 'Carry-On'-style farce set in a music school, as he had been a composer from the 1940s, writing concert and church music amongst others. The film music side of his writing was less serious, but more lucrative as he was a realist in such matters.
The only adaptation of his work for the screen seems to have been a TV version of THE MOVING TOYSHOP, in 1964 for the series 'Detective', featuring Crispin's series character, Gervase Fen (spelled Fenn on IMDb). The climax to the book, however, was used in Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, as admiring the novel he bought the rights.
Film music and editing 'Best' anthologies took up much of Montgomery's time, as the books, though well-liked did not bring him enough income. There was one final novel, 'The Glimpses of the Moon' (1977), and a posthumous collection of stories, 'Fen Country' (1979).
The only adaptation of his work for the screen seems to have been a TV version of THE MOVING TOYSHOP, in 1964 for the series 'Detective', featuring Crispin's series character, Gervase Fen (spelled Fenn on IMDb). The climax to the book, however, was used in Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, as admiring the novel he bought the rights.
Film music and editing 'Best' anthologies took up much of Montgomery's time, as the books, though well-liked did not bring him enough income. There was one final novel, 'The Glimpses of the Moon' (1977), and a posthumous collection of stories, 'Fen Country' (1979).