Martin Archer Flavin (November 2, 1883 – December 27, 1967) was an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Biography

Flavin was born on November 2, 1883, in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. He was a

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, which he attended from 1903 to 1905. His novel '' Journey in the Dark'' received both the

Harper Prize The Harper Novel Prize was an award presented by Harper Brothers, an American publishing company located in New York City, New York. The award was presented to the best novel by an "a writer who hitherto had not found a wide audience". A number ...

for 1943 and a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for 1944. He came to

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...

in the 1920s.

Death

Flavin died on December 27, 1967, in Carmel-by-the-Sea at the age of 84.

Novels

* ''Mr. Littlejohn'' (1940) * ''Corporal Cat'' (1941) * ''Journey in the Dark'' (1943) * ''The Enchanted'' (1947) * ''Cameron Hill'' (1957)

Non-fiction

* ''Black and White: From the Cape to the Congo'' (1950) * ''Red Poppies and White Marble'' (1962)

Plays

* ''Children of the Moon'' (1923, produced on Broadway 1923) * ''Emergency Case'' (1923) * ''Caleb Stone's Death Watch'' (1923, produced on Broadway 1924) * ''Achilles Had a Heel'' (1924, produced on Broadway 1935) * ''Lady of the Rose'' (1925, produced on Broadway 1925) * ''Service for Two'' (1926, produced on Broadway 1926) * ''Brains'' (1926, produced on Broadway 1926) * ''The Criminal Code'' (1929, produced on Broadway 1929), the basis for several motion pictures: the

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

film of the same name (1931), the Spanish-language version ''El Código penal'' shot simultaneously on the same sets, the 1933 French film ''Criminel'' and two Columbia Pictures remakes: '' Penitentiary'' (1938) and '' Convicted'' (1950). * ''Broken Dishes'' (1929, produced on Broadway 1930), the basis for the 1931 motion picture '' Too Young to Marry'', the 1936 motion picture ''

Love Begins at 20 ''Love Begins at 20'' is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Frank McDonald (director), Frank McDonald and written by Dalton Trumbo and Tom Reed, based on the 1929 play ''Broken Dishes'' by Martin Flavin. The film stars Hugh Herbert, Patricia ...

'' (a.k.a. ''All One Night''), and the 1940 motion picture ''

Calling All Husbands ''Calling All Husbands'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Noel M. Smith and written by Robert E. Kent and based on Martin Flavin's 1929 play "Broken Dishes". The film stars George Tobias, Lucile Fairbanks, Ernest Truex, George Reeves, ...

''; adapted for television in 1951 episode of ''

Pulitzer Prize Playhouse ''Pulitzer Prize Playhouse'' is an American television anthology drama series which offered adaptations of Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, novels, and stories. The distinguished journalist Elmer Davis was the host and narrator of this 1950-1952 A ...

'' * ''Crossroads'' (1929, produced on Broadway 1929), the basis for the 1932 motion picture '' The Age of Consent'' * ''Tapestry in Gray'' (1935, produced on Broadway 1935) * ''Around the Corner'' (1936, produced on Broadway 1936)

Screenplays

* '' The Big House'' (1930) (additional dialogue) * ''

Passion Flower ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They ...

'' (1930) (adaptation of novel by

Kathleen Norris Kathleen Thompson Norris (July 16, 1880 – January 18, 1966) was an American novelist and newspaper columnist. She was one of the most widely read and highest paid female writers in the United States for nearly fifty years, from 1911 to 1959. N ...

) * ''Laughing Sinners'' (1931) (dialogue) (uncredited) ... a.k.a. ''Complete Surrender'' (USA) * ''Three Who Loved'' (1931)

References

External links

* *
Photos of the first edition of ''Journey in the Dark''
* * * * * * * * * 1883 births 1967 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male screenwriters Writers from San Francisco Pulitzer Prize for the Novel winners American male novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights University of Chicago alumni American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from California 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-novelist-1880s-stub