The View from Pompey's Head

''The View from Pompey's Head'' is a novel by American writer Hamilton Basso, first published by Doubleday in 1954. It spent 40 weeks on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list. The title refers to the book's setting, the fictional small town of Pompey's Head, South Carolina.

The book was reprinted by the Louisiana State University Press in 1998 as part of its "Voices of the South" series. Both ''The View from Pompey's Head'' and its prequel, ''The Light Infantry Ball'' (1960), were finalists for the National Book Award for Fiction.

Reception

The book was reviewed positively in 1954 by ''The New York Times'': "Zestful and non-escapist entertainment... The most pleasantly and sensibly romantic novel to come my way in a long time." and by the '' Saturday Review'': "His most impressive book to date. A long, mildly ironic, and deliberately discursive work, it weaves two of his favorite subjects, the subtle social distinctions of a small Southern city and the subtle questions of reputation and standing in New York literary and publishing circles."

Inez Hollander Lake, in her biography of Basso, wrote "Comfortably placed on ''The New York Times'' bestseller list for 40 weeks, selling more than 75,000 copies, and sold to the movies for $100,000, ''The View from Pompey's Head'' was the breakthrough that Basso had been waiting for. However, just as one cannot argue that Melville's ''Typee'' (1846) was a better book because it sold more copies than ''Moby-Dick'' (1851), so it is equally impossible to claim that ''The View from Pompey's Head'' was a masterpiece because it was so popular."

James Sallis, writing in ''The Boston Globe'', commented: "What it did was gather up, like a self-anthology, themes and preoccupations from Basso's earlier work: the return-of-the-native motif so important to at least three previous novels, his ongoing investigation of old vs. new South, his penchant for both the novel of character (''Relics and Angels'', ''Courthouse Square'') and the novel of ideas (''Days Before Lent'', ''Wine of the Country''). Its tale of a lawyer defending a black man is a direct precursor of, almost certainly a model for, ''To Kill a Mockingbird''.

Film adaptation

Basso's novel was sold to 20th Century Fox for $100,000. The 1955 film was written and directed by Philip Dunne. Exterior shots and some interior shots of the video adaption were filmed in Savannah, Georgia as well as Brunswick, Georgia. The story begins when Manhattan attorney Anson Page ( Richard Egan) returns to his Southern roots after 15 years, arriving in Pompey's Head, South Carolina, to investigate the mystery surrounding missing royalties due famous author Garvin Wales ( Sidney Blackmer). In the small Southern town, Page sees the same problems of racial and class prejudices that had once prompted him to leave Pompey's Head. However, he also encounters his former flame, Dinah Blackford (Dana Wynter), who has married businessman Mickey Higgins ( Cameron Mitchell). While their romance is rekindled, various secrets of the past rise to the surface.

Child actors Charles Herbert and Evelyn Rudie were in the cast, along with an appearance by DeForest Kelley. Elmer Bernstein provided the music score. Released November 4, 1955, the film was retitled ''Secret Interlude'' in the UK. Marjorie Rambeau received a Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Board of Review.

The film was made for $1.23 million and earned an estimated $1.5 million at the North American box office in 1955.'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', ''Variety Weekly'', January 25, 1956

See also

*List of American films of 1955

* List of films set in the Southern United States

References

External links

Lake, Inez Hollander. ''The Road From Pompey's Head: The Life and Work of Hamilton Basso''. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, 1999.

{{DEFAULTSORT:View From Pompey's Head, The
1954 American novels
American mystery novels
American novels adapted into films
Doubleday (publisher) books