I was impressed enough by this film (originally a play) to investigate the literary precursors to it. Single-detective satires have been around almost as long as their progenitors but the idea for multiple sleuths on a single case was something new in the late 1920's. The immediate precursors appear to be Agatha Christie's 1929, Partners in Crime and Anthony Berkeley's 1929, The Poisoned Chocolates Case.
The earliest of the true "multi-sleuth" spoofs may very well be the anonymously published, 1935 satirical spoof, The Smiling Corpse, written by Philip Wylie (an original staff member of New Yorker magazine).
I have written a "Primer" on my findings and had some fun with Neil Simon with this limerick in his honor.
Neil Simon wrote a play they claim / that casting the film led to fame. / Do you remember the rave / for the moniker they gave / Truman Capote as "Lionel Twain?"
The earliest of the true "multi-sleuth" spoofs may very well be the anonymously published, 1935 satirical spoof, The Smiling Corpse, written by Philip Wylie (an original staff member of New Yorker magazine).
I have written a "Primer" on my findings and had some fun with Neil Simon with this limerick in his honor.
Neil Simon wrote a play they claim / that casting the film led to fame. / Do you remember the rave / for the moniker they gave / Truman Capote as "Lionel Twain?"
