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W. R. Burnett

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W. R. Burnett
Burnett in 1935
Born
William Riley Burnett

(1899-11-25)November 25, 1899
Springfield, Ohio,U.S.
DiedApril 25, 1982(1982-04-25)(aged 82)
Santa Monica, California,U.S.
Resting placeForest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
Years active1931–1972
Spouse(s)
Marjorie Louise Barstow
​
​
(m.1920)​
[1]
Whitney Forbes Johnston
​
​
(m.1943)​
[2]
ChildrenJames, William

William Riley Burnett(November 25, 1899 – April 25, 1982) was an Americannovelistandscreenwriter.He is best known for the crime novelLittle Caesar,thefilm adaptationof which is considered the first of the classic American gangster movies.

Early life

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Burnett was born inSpringfield, Ohio,and attendedMiami Military InstituteinGermantown, Ohio.He left his civil service job in Springfield to move toChicagowhen he was 28, by which time he had written over 100 short stories and five novels, all unpublished.

Writing career

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In Chicago, Burnett found a job as a night clerk in the seedy Northmere Hotel. He found himself associating with prize fighters, hoodlums, hustlers and hobos. They inspiredLittle Caesar(novel 1929, film 1931). The novel's overnight success landed him a job as aHollywoodscreenwriter.Little Caesarbecame a classic movie, produced byFirst National Pictures(Warner Brothers) and starring then little knownEdward G. Robinson.Burnett returned to theAl Caponetheme in 1932 withScarface.He won the 1930O. Henry Awardfor his short story "Dressing-Up", published inHarper's Magazinein November 1929.

Burnett published a novel or more a year and turned most into screenplays (some as many as three times). Thematically[citation needed]Burnett was similar toDashiell HammettandJames M. Cain,but contrasting the corruption and corrosion of the city with the better life his characters yearned for. He portrayed characters who, for one reason or another, fell into a life of crime and were unable to climb out. They typically get one last shot at salvation but the oppressive system closes in and denies redemption.

Film work

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Burnett wrote for many of the great actors and directors, includingRaoul Walsh,John Huston,John Ford,Howard Hawks,Nicholas Ray,Douglas Sirk,andMichael Cimino,John Wayne(The Dark Command),Humphrey Bogart,Ida Lupino,Paul Muni,Frank Sinatra,Marilyn Monroe,Steve McQueenandClint Eastwood.He received anOscarnomination for his script forWake Island(1942) and a Writers Guild nomination for his script forThe Great Escape.In addition to his film work he also wrote scripts fortelevisionandradio.

InHigh Sierra(1941),Humphrey Bogartplays Roy Earle, a hard-bitten criminal who rejects his life of crime to help a sexually appealing crippled girl. InThe Asphalt Jungle(1949), the most perfectly masterminded plot falls apart as each character reveals a weakness. InThe Beast of the City(1932) starringWalter Huston,the police take the law into their own hands when the criminals walk free due to legal incompetence.

Later years

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In later years, with his vision declining, he stopped writing and turned to promoting his earlier work. On his death in 1982, in Santa Monica, California,[3]Burnett was interred in theForest Lawn Memorial Park CemeteryinGlendale, California.

Critical reception

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Heywood Broundescribed Burnett's novelGoodbye to the Pastas "written with all the excitement ofLittle Caesar,and ten times the skill ".[4]

Works

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Novels

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  • Little Caesar(Lincoln MacVeagh/The Dial Press - 1929)
  • Iron Man(Lincoln MacVeagh/The Dial Press - 1930)
  • Saint Johnson(Lincoln MacVeagh/The Dial Press - 1930)
  • The Silver Eagle(Lincoln MacVeagh/The Dial Press - 1931)
  • The Beast of the City(Grosset & Dunlap - 1932) [not properly a Burnett novel; credit on the book reads "novelized by Jack Lait, from the screen story by W.R. Burnett"; the book was published concurrently with the release of the M-G-M film, circa March 1932]
  • The Giant Swing(Harper - 1932)
  • Dark Hazard(Harper - 1933)
  • Goodbye to the Past: Scenes from the Life of William Meadows(Harper - 1934)
  • The Goodhues of Sinking Creek(Harper - 1934)
  • Dr. Socrates(O'Bryan House Publishing LLC - 2007) [Originally serialized in Colliers Weekly Magazine in 1935]
  • King Cole(Harper - 1936)
  • The Dark Command: A Kansas Iliad(Knopf - 1938)
  • High Sierra(Knopf - 1941)
  • The Quick Brown Fox(Knopf - 1943)
  • Nobody Lives Forever(Knopf - 1943)
  • Tomorrow's Another Day(Knopf - 1946)
  • Romelle(Knopf - 1947)
  • The Asphalt Jungle(Knopf - 1949)
  • Stretch Dawson(Gold Medal - 1950). The filmYellow Sky(1948) was based on an early version of the novel.
  • Little Men, Big World(Knopf - 1952)
  • Adobe Walls: A Novel of the Last Apache Rising(Knopf - 1953)
  • Vanity Row(Knopf - 1952)
  • Big Stan(Gold Medal - 1953) - written under pseudonym "John Monahan"
  • Captain Lightfoot(Knopf - 1954)
  • It's Always Four O'Clock(Random House - 1956) - written under pseudonym "James Updyke"
  • Pale Moon(Knopf - 1956)
  • Underdog(Knopf - 1957)
  • Bitter Ground(Knopf - 1958)
  • Mi Amigo: A Novel of the Southwest(Knopf - 1959)
  • Conant(Popular Library - 1961)
  • Round the Clock at Volari's(Gold Medal - 1961)
  • The Goldseekers(Doubleday - 1962)
  • The Widow Barony(Macdonald - 1962)
  • The Abilene Samson(Pocket Books - 1963)
  • Sergeants 3(Pocket Books - 1963)
  • The Roar of the Crowd: Conversations with an Ex-Big-Leaguer(C.N. Potter - 1964)
  • The Winning of Mickey Free(Bantam Pathfinder - 1965)
  • The Cool Man(Gold Medal - 1968)
  • Good-bye, Chicago: 1928: End of an Era(St. Martin's - 1981)

Short stories

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  • Round Trip(1929)
  • Dressing-Up(1930)
  • Travelling Light(1935)
  • Vanishing Act(1955)

Filmography

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References

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  1. ^Franklin County, Ohio, Marriage Records,vol. 1918–1922, p. 604
  2. ^Obituary in the New York Times: W.R. BURNET, 82, THE AUTHOR OF 'LITTLE CAESAR' AND 40 FILMS
  3. ^"Milestones: May 10, 1982".Time.Time Inc. May 10, 1982. Archived fromthe originalon December 2, 2008.RetrievedMay 24,2010.
  4. ^Advertisement for "Goodbye to the Past",The American Mercury,November 1934, (p. 225).
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