Patrick Hamilton doing what he does best
About ten years ago a dear friend of mine Sarah turned me on to this British author Patrick Hamilton. Reading about his life, it sounds like it was a mixture of great success and personal failure. My favorite type of character!
Hamilton wrote two plays that are classics of that sort. “Rope,” which became a film by Alfred Hitchcock and “Gaslight,’ which also became a film by George Cukor.
"Gaslight"
But the real good stuff by Hamilton was in his novels. All of them basically dealt with the seedy drinking life of London during the World War 2 Blitz. A time where life can end suddenly, and yet the London citizens was also concerned about the affairs of the heart – and those who abuse that affair.
Various psychotics are in the Hamilton novels, and in many ways one can find the roots of Patricia Highsmith’s (who also shared the same initials as our Patrick) main character Tom Ripley.
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6 comments:
There is a movie of Hangover Square also.
Also Iain Sinclair has things to say about Patrick Hamilton.
I totally forgot about the film version of "Hangover Square," but also never seen it. And also this year I have become a fan of iain Sinclair's writings.
Hangover Square stars the great Laird Cregar in his last film performance. The hulking actor, tired of playing "heavies" and wishing to be a romantic lead, died after complications resulting from his quest. Wikipedia mentions crash diet and amphetamines but i've heard he underwent some kind of primitive stomach stapling procedure gone bad. In any event a great actor and persona worthy of investigation.
cheers
Ah I never heard of Laird Cregar! Fascinating information Mr. or Ms. Anonymous. After reading your comment I checked up on him. For sure I am going to see Hangover Square. It played recently at the Egyptian Theater. I am very sorry to miss the screenng.
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