Priestley had recently collaborated with Edward Knoblock on The Good Companions and now wished "to prove that a man might produce long novels and yet be able to write effectively, using the strictest economy, for the stage."
While it was praised highly by James Agate, Dangerous Corner received extremely poor reviews and after three days he was told that the play would be taken off, a fate that he averted by buying out the syndicate.
Priestley's action was further vindicated by the worldwide success the play was to enjoy, although he soon lowered his estimate of this work and as early as 1938 remarked "It is pretty thin stuff when all is said and done.
A chance remark by one of the guests ignites a series of devastating revelations, revealing a hitherto undiscovered tangle of clandestine relationships and dark secrets, the disclosures of which have tragic consequences.
The play ends with time slipping back to the beginning of the evening and the chance remark not being made, the secrets remaining hidden and the "dangerous corner" avoided.
Their chat has turned to the suicide the previous year of Freda's brother-in-law Martin Caplan when they are interrupted by the entry of the husbands, Robert and Gordon, along with Charles, who works at the firm.
But Olwen now admits that on her final visit to Martin, she learned that he hadn't stolen the money and further that he believed the thief to be Robert, having been led to that suspicion by Charles.
Knowing that hers is one of the secrets to which Charles is referring, Freda now confesses that the reason her marriage to Robert has been unhappy is that she was having an affair with Martin and had long been in love with him.
As before, Olwen recognizes the cigarette box, but this time, before Freda can object to that recognition, Gordon interrupts upon finding the dance music he was searching for on the radio.
It was adapted as Virage dangereux in a French version by Michel Arnaud and played at the Théâtre Pigalle, Paris, in February 1938 in a production by Raymond Rouleau.
[3] In 1934, Dangerous Corner was adapted by RKO Radio Pictures to a film directed by Phil Rosen and starring Virginia Bruce, Conrad Nagel and Melvyn Douglas.
The film also begins with scenes, set in the year prior to the dinner party, depicting the discovery of the theft and Martin's body after his death.
Three years later, Holland performed novelization honors again for Priestley's Laburnum Grove, citing both the play and the screenplay as sources.