A cause célèbre (/ˈkɔːz səˈlɛb/; French: [koz selɛbʁ], famous case, plural causes célèbres) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases.
The term is a French phrase in common usage in English. In French, cause means, here, a legal case, and célèbre means "famous". The phrase originated with the 37-volume Nouvelles Causes Célèbres, published in 1763, which was a collection of reports of well-known French court decisions from the 17th and 18th centuries. While English speakers had used the phrase for many years, it came into much more common usage after the 1894 conviction of Alfred Dreyfus for espionage, which attracted worldwide interest. Often, politicians and social gadflies will become involved to use the media attention surrounding the case to promote their own agendas.
It has been noted that the public attention given to a particular case or event can obscure the facts rather than clarify them. As one observer states, "The true story of many a cause célèbre is never made manifest in the evidence given or in the advocates' orations, but might be recovered from these old papers when the dust of ages has rendered them immune from scandal".
A cause célèbre is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy.
Cause célèbre may also refer to:
Cause Célèbre or A Woman of Principle is a 1975 radio play by the English author Terence Rattigan. It was inspired by the trial of Alma Rattenbury and her teenage lover in 1935 for the murder of her third husband Francis Rattenbury and first broadcast on the BBC on 27 October 1975. Alma was played by Diana Dors. Rattigan was then commissioned to rewrite it into a stage play ready to be produced in Autumn 1976, but his terminal cancer and casting problems meant he was only able to start work in January 1977, alongside Robin Midgely. This stage version premiered on 4 July 1977 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.
A 1987 television version of the stage play starred Helen Mirren as Alma. The stage play itself was revived at the Old Vic from March to June 2011 to mark Rattigan's centenary, with Alma played by Anne-Marie Duff and Edith Davenport by Niamh Cusack. A new production of the radio play was aired again by BBC Radio 4 on 25 June 2011 directed by Thea Sharrock with original music by Adrian Johnston.
Mystery, The Mystery, mysteries, The Mysteries, or mysterious may refer to: Something that cannot be explained or comprehended. Any action, affair, or event so obscure or concealed as to arouse suspense, curiosity, or fear is a mystery.
Mystery! (also written MYSTERY!) is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States. The series was created as a police/crime drama spin-off to the already established PBS show Masterpiece Theater. From 1980-2006, Mystery! aired mostly British crime series purchased from or co-produced with the BBC or ITV and adapted from British mystery fiction. In 2002, due to pressure to include more American material, a series based on the novels of US mystery writer Tony Hillerman was produced, but the vast majority of Mystery! programming has always been and continues to be British literary adaptations co-produced with UK-based production companies.
In 2008 PBS combined Mystery! with its predecessor Masterpiece Theater under the umbrella title Masterpiece, which includes the sub-brands Masterpiece Classic, Masterpiece Mystery!, and Masterpiece Contemporary.
Mystery! is noted for its animated opening and closing title sequences with original drawings created by cartoonist Edward Gorey and animated by Eugene Federenko, Derek Lamb, and Janet Perlman, with music by Normand Roger. A PBS veteran, animator Lamb had also created programming for series like Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and The American Dream Machine.
It's a Mystery was a networked Children's ITV programme which ran for five series from 1996–2002. It was produced by The Media Merchants Television Company Ltd and Meridian Broadcasting Ltd. In Series five, the show was retitled as Mystery.
It was a programme that educated children by challenging them to solve a mystery. Usually this would involve people telling stories of mysterious occurrences that have happened to them, such as a Man in a Van driving up to a roundabout and seeing his exact duplicate across the roundabout, driving the same vehicle. Other times, the presenter would show unexplained phenomena such as ghosts in the Tower of London or the Loch Ness Monster. The presenter would then offer up possible explanations as to what might have been behind the mystery or if there is even an explanation to give. After each story, it would be given a solved or unsolved designation. At the end of each episode, a riddle would be asked for the audience to solve until the next episode (where the answer would be given).