Arthur Hornblow

Arthur Hornblow worked as an American editor and novelist closely connected with early twentieth-century theatre. Distinct from his son, Hollywood producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., he edited theatrical publications and adapted popular stage material for prose audiences. The Argyle Case reworked a detective play by Harriet Ford and Harvey J. O'Higgins, itself founded on a story by investigator William J. Burns. Bought and Paid For likewise turned George Broadhurst's contemporary play into a novel, retaining its focus on money and power within marriage. The Mask took a different route as an original story of love and adventure, issued by G. W. Dillingham in 1913 with illustrations by Paul Stahr. Across these books, Hornblow worked where publishing, theatre, and popular suspense overlapped. The Argyle Case and Bought and Paid For demonstrate how he translated dialogue-led drama into narrative form, while The Mask shows him building a longer intrigue without a credited stage source. His bibliography records a period when successful plays often acquired parallel lives as novels.