Hi
Patrick Hamilton achieved international fame at the age of twenty-four
with his very first play, Rope, and ten years later repeated the trick
with his "Victorian melodrama", Gaslight.
There's a long literary review of the man and his work in an essay
written by John Mepham, Kingston University here:
Literary Encyclopedia
( http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1959 )
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In his own view his novels were his major achievement. With The
Midnight Bell he established himself as a chronicler of seedy urban
life; of the rootless world of boarding houses, pubs, Lyons Corner
Houses and endless London Streets. Despite a succession of major
novels - Hangover Square and The Slaves of Solitude in the forties,
The West Pier and Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse in the fifties - Hamilton
was to remain at best a writers' writer, and he died at fifty-eight of
alcohol-related illnesses.
Here is the author's summary from Ultimate Mystery Fiction Web Guide
( http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateMystery/authorsH.html#Ha )
Patrick Hamilton (17 Mar 1904-23 Sep 1962): British author/actor who
was
assistant stage manager to Andrew Melville:
* 4 mystery/detective novels (3 with series character Ernerst
Ralph Gorse),
one non-series novel "Hangover Square" [London: Constable,
1941;
New York: Random House, 1942] is one of the finest books
ever
written about a schizophrenic killer (motivated by jealousy)
in
terms of psychological insight and gripping realism
* 8 unrelated novels
* 9 plays produced, including 1929 "Rope" (based on Loeb-Leopold
case,
adapted for film by Alfred Hitchcock)
* 7 radio plays
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This site has a good run down of the authors life, short reviews of
his best known work and a bibliography
( Anthony Walter) Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962)
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hamilt.htm
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In The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. by Margaret
Drabble, 1998 his entry says:
"All the novels show a preoccupation with the perils and pleasures of
drinking, and Hamilton's Marxism is expressed in his compassion for
the hopelessness of his characters' lives."
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There's a synopsis and review of his novel Hangover Square here:
Reading Group
http://www.stokenewington.net/readinggroup/books/hamilton.html
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There is a good review of the play of Hamilton's "Rope" here:
"ROPE" Sense of Urgency Productions at The Viaduct BY LUCIA MAURO
( http://www.chicagotheater.com/revRope.html )
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There is another review of one of Hamilton's plays, Angel Street,
here:
A CurtainUp Review: Angel Street
( http://www.curtainup.com/angelstr.html )
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There's details of the Broadway runs of his plays here:
Internet Broadway Database
http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=8015
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"The Devil's Numbers", a book magazine has an essay on Hamilton by
Nigel Jones. The issue, ISSUE A, is available for £4.99 from the
editor at
The Printer's Devil
Top Office
13a Western Road
Hove
UK
BN3 1AE
Tel/Fax: 01273 720894
e-mail: devil@play-333.demon.co.uk
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Nigel Jones' biography: Through a Glass Darkly: the Life of Patrick
Hamilton is currently available second hand at Amazon for £15 (about
£25)
(
http://s1.amazon.co.uk/exec/varzea/ts/exchange-glance/Y01Y2487691Y9131514/qid=1035900458/ref=sr_aps_zshops_1_1/202-6767575-3846239
)
Hope that's enough to keep you going for a bit. Just to say that the
man is one of the all-time great British "noir" writers, and it's a
shame he's almost forgotten.
willie-ga
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