Libel!
play
Libel! is a play written by Edward Wooll. It debuted on 2 April 1934 at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End, where it was directed by Leon M. Lion. Producer Gilbert Miller brought it to Henry Miller's Theatre on Broadway in December 1935, with Otto Preminger directing.
Wooll, a barrister of the Inner Temple and Recorder of Carlisle, wrote the play under the pseudonym "Ward Dorane".
Wooll wrote a novelization in 1935, and the play was adapted as a movie in 1959.
Plot
Sir Mark Loddon, a war hero and Member of Parliament, is suing a newspaper for libel. The paper claims that he is an impostor, a fellow soldier and friend of Loddon from the war who happened to resemble the original Loddon. The play is set in the courtroom as the trial for the lawsuit takes place. Loddon takes the stand as the first witness.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Libel!” is play. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Libel and play, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “play” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q19875116. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1934, 1935 and 1959.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Libel!”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Libel! primary sources, Libel! archive and Libel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Libel!”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Libel!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.