In Search of Peter Wimsey On Screen

Dear listeners,

I, like many fans of Dorothy L. Sayers' aristocratic sleuth, regret that there are so few screen adaptations of his adventures. While we luxuriate in an ever-increasing number of Agatha Christie films and series, the pickings for Sayers are decidedly slim.

In terms of readily available watching, your choice is between the five books adapted for the BBC between 1972 and 1975 with Ian Carmichael in the leading role, or the three also done by the BBC in 1987, starring Edward Petherbridge and Harriet Walters.

I much prefer the second option over the first, but it's still a forty-year-old TV series that doesn't even include the culmination of the Wimsey-Vane arc (namely, Busman's Honeymoon). It's not completely satisfactory.

Until recently, though, I had never considered the one Wimsey vehicle that was made with Dorothy L. Sayers' direct involvement: The Silent Passenger, a British film from 1935 for which she wrote an original story. I decided to investigate further.

(There is also a 1940 film of Busman's Honeymoon, by the way, which was released as Haunted Honeymoon in the US. This is a direct translation of the play rather than the novel, and honestly, not very interesting.)

What I found when I dug into Sayers' correspondence was surprising to me: she hated this film. She strongly disliked the process of putting her sleuth on screen, of collaborating with a screenwriter who seemed to miss the point of her character entirely, and of negotiating with the filmmakers about what could and couldn't be done with a low budget and a quick turnaround.

In fact, she despised both the process and the end product so much that afterwards, she vowed never to grant permission for Wimsey to appear on screen again, unless she had express power of veto over both script and casting. Unsurprisingly, no film studios seemed inclined to give her such unprecedented power, so there was no Hollywood ending for Wimsey, Bunter and Vane.

I should caveat this by saying that I'm not a film expert or film critic, so what you'll hear in today's new episode is very much the personal opinion of a lay viewer. But I didn't think The Silent Passenger was all that bad — in fact, it has its moments in terms of interesting cinematography and railway-based mischief.

However, I do agree with Sayers that the performance of Wimsey is unrepresentative of the character in her books. I have a theory why that might be that isn't to do with the fraught behind-the-scenes process of this film. You can hear all about that, here:

If you have even a passing interest in Dorothy L. Sayers or 1930s cinema, I'd encourage you to seek out The Silent Passenger. It's possible to track down a DVD of it (there was a 2008 release) and I think it's also on streaming services in some territories.

I had a good time watching it, and I'm now moving on to watch another, slightly earlier, film by the same creative team: Death At Broadcasting House. If you shared my enthusiasm for "The Perfect Plan" by James Hilton, then it won't be hard to guess why I'm interested in this one!

Perhaps we'll soon be watching a modern mystery film about a podcaster who is bumped off mid recording...

Until next time,

Caroline

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