The Dennis Wheatley (1897-1977) Discussion Thread (Page 1 of 2)

I always found him a bit heavy going to be honest. His books used to be a slow but steady seller during my bookselling days. Some of the covers were pretty good and Uncharted Seas was made into a 1968 movie The Lost Continent which is always worth a look.

Saturdays With Bricks is a new one on me I don't ever remember having that one in stock - you learn something new every day 
I hope you enjoy your new purchase sounds a reasonable price for it's rarity.

Yes, it's rare in that it was never published in a paperback edition and so the first edition or hardback editions are consequently worth a lot nowadays. I'd agree that it is a lesser-known Wheatley title. I've been collecting his books for a few years now and there was at least one Wheatley novel in my late father's bookcase too. Here's a picture of the dust jacket of Saturdays with Bricks:

And here's a You Tube British Pathe short film on Wheatley presumably issued to promote Saturday with Bricks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxaV8m78HSI

Last edited by Silhouette Man (25th Mar 2016 12:49)

I've seen The Devil Rides Out (starring two of the greatest Bond alumni  ) but haven't read any of the novels either.

SM, do you recommend them? I love Stephen King, Peter Straub and a couple of other horror novelists, which is the best Wheatley to start with?

I agree that the book is better than the film, but the film's still very good on its own terms.

In the book, the Duc de Richleau is an old man in his 70s or so (hence the presence of the younger sidekicks to get the girls, punch the bad guys etc) but Christopher Lee was only about 45 when the film was made. Years later, he often expressed that he would love to do a remake now that he was in the correct age bracket as well as taking advantage of more modern SFX (one of the film's weak points).

Shock, horror! Surely not, stag! 

I remember the BBC Saturday night horror doubles - lots of great Universal horror films like Bride Of Frankenstein and House Of Dracula.

I used to love those old horror films. Boris Karloff, Bella Lugosi, Lon Chaney etc.

Me too - I've rewatched all the Universal studios monsters films dozens of times (almost as many as Bond  ).

It also introduced me to some other fantastic movies among those Saturday night horror double bills - particularly all the brilliant Val Lewton (and to some extent, Jacques Tourneur) horror films, like Cat People, Curse of the Cat People, the Seventh Victim etc... As well as Tourneur's all time classic Night of the Demon (1957).

yes! I love both those too!

I'm going to be on the lookout for his books from now on.

Any thread about Mr Wheatley in this forum would seem incomplete without some mention of his series of novels chronicling the adventures of wartime secret agent Gregory Sallust, surely one of 007's closest antecedents?