Selwyn Jepson

Selwyn Jepson (1899-1989) of the Far House, Farther Common, Liss, Hants.

Son of Mystery/Detective author Edgar Alfred Jepson (1836-1938), was schooled at St .Paul's School (London) and the Sorbonne.

He served in the Tank Corps during World Wars I and in the Special Operations Executive in WW2.

Captain Selwyn Jepson was SOE's senior recruiting officer. When interviewed by the Imperial War Museum he stated, .

"I was responsible for recruiting women for the work, in the face of a good deal of opposition, I may say, from the powers that be. In my view, women were very much better than men for the work. Women, as you must know, have a far greater capacity for cool and lonely courage than men. Men usually want a mate with them. Men don't work alone, their lives tend to be always in company with other men. There was opposition from most quarters until it went up to Churchill, whom I had met before the war. He growled at me, "What are you doing?" I told him and he said, "I see you are using women to do this," and I said, "Yes, don't you think it is a very sensible thing to do?" and he said, "Yes, good luck to you'" That was my authority!"

Author

He was a well known mystery/detective author and screenwriter; best known for: * Keep Murder Quiet [1940] * the "Eve Gill" ingénue sleuth novel series and other non-series novels:

The Qualified Adventurer [1922] Puppets of Fate [1922] That Fellow MacArthur [1923] The King's Red-Haired Girl [1923] Golden-Eyes [1922], US title: The Sutton Papers Rogues and Diamonds [1925] Snaggletooth [1926] The Death Gong [1927] Love and helen [1928] Tiger Dawn [1929] * I Met Murder [1930] Rabbit's Paw [1932] US title: The Mystery of the Rabbit's Paw Heads and Tails [1933] short story collection Love in Peril [1934] The Wise Fool [1934] Riviera Love Story [1948] Tempering Steel [1949] Man Dead [1951] The Assassin [1956] A Noide in the Night [1957] The Third Possibility [1965] The Angry Millionaire [1968] Letter to a Dead Girl [1971]

Screenwriter and Director

As screenwriter and director he is known for : -

The Red Dress - Screenwriter [1954] The Last Moment - Screenwriter [1954] Forever My Heart - Screenwriter [1954] Sailing Along - Screenwriter [1938] Toilers of the Sea - Director, Screenwriter [1936] Wrath of Jealousy - Screenwriter [1936] The Scarab Murder Case - Screenwriter [1936] Kiss Me Goodbye - Screenwriter [1935] Hyde Park Corner - Screenwriter [1935] The Love Test - Screenwriter [1935] The Riverside Murder - Screenwriter [1935] Money Mad - Screenwriter [1934] For Love of You - Screenwriter [1933]

Hitchcock

The Alfred Hitchcock film, Stage Fright, was based on Selwyn Jepson’s novel and on his stories "Man Running" and "Outrun the Constable" which are uncredited). Adapted for the screen by Alfred Hitchcock’s wife and frequent collaborator, Alma Reville.

Based on Selwyn Jepson's murder mystery, STAGE FRIGHT tells the tale of a young acting student forced to discover her true dramatic talents when an old friend comes to her for help, trying to prove he is innocent of a murder. Deception is the order of the day as drama student Eve Gil (Jane Wyman) is forced to track down clues with her father, risking her own life in the process.

Over the opening credits a theatrical safety curtain rises, revealing not a stage but London street life--the actual stage for Hitchcock's mystery. Eve Gill (Wyman) is an acting student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) when she runs into a former boyfriend, Jonathan Cooper (Todd), who explains how his mistress, stage and singing star Charlotte Inwood (Dietrich, in marvellous form), came to him wearing a dress bloodied when she killed her husband. Because of his involvement with the singer, Jonathan is suspected and must turn to Eve for help.

Eve must pose in many guises to get to the truth, and her nimble, multifaceted performance is commendable.

The film drew criticism for both his provocative use of false flashbacks and the relative absence of any real threat of danger. Hitchcock's main interest in the film, and its most fascinating aspect today, is the concentration on acting and deception. Like MURDER in 1930 (and the same year's ALL ABOUT EVE), STAGE FRIGHT has an actress as the heroine. Here Eve gets her finest training from real life. She is forced her to appear as something different to everyone--an actress, a maid, a Nancy Drew-type, and a newspaper reporter--with London serving as her stage, and death being her greatest fright. Shot at England's Elstree Studios, it was the last film Hitchcock shot in his home country until 1971 when he returned to film FRENZY.

Television

Selwyn Jepson had many pieces converted for broadcast by the BBC.

BBC archival material exists for their productions of The Golden Dart and The Hungry Spider is held by the Mausoleum Club.

http://www.the-mausoleum-club.org.uk/Detective/Detective_Appendix.htm#app7