University of Arizona

                                             Special Collections will be closed December 20, 2023 through January 1, 2024 in observance of the University Holiday break.

One-act Plays and Publicity Material

Horror Tonight Promotional Flyer, 1943

John Collier (1901-1980) was an English writer who moved to Los Angeles in 1935 and spent much of the remainder of his life involved in the film industry. His two plays, The Old Women and The Mask, were performed in Los Angeles at the Belasco Theatre in June and July, 1943; they were part of a program entitled "Horror Tonight: Masterpieces of the Macabre."

The collection includes two holographic manuscripts of one-act plays that Collier adapted from short stories. The Old Women was adapted from “The Needle” by André de Lorde, and The Mask was adapted from “The Black Mask” by H. M. Harwood and Tennyson Jesse. Also present in the collection are newspaper clippings about the performances and the theater, as well as a playbill.