''Studs Lonigan'' is a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: '' Young Lonigan'' (1932), '' The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan'' (1934), and ''

Judgment Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

'' (1935). In 1998, the

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Moder ...

ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The trilogy was adapted into a minor 1960 film and a 1979

television miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, both of which were simply titled ''Studs Lonigan''.

Themes

Farrell wrote these three novels at a time of national despair. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, Many of America’s most talented writers and artists aimed to create a singular, impactful work of art that would thoroughly reveal the injustices of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and inspire a political and economic transformation of the American system. Farrell chose to use his own personal knowledge of

Irish-American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

life on the South Side of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to create a portrait of an average American slowly destroyed by the "spiritual poverty" of his environment. Both Chicago and the Catholic Church of that era are described at length and faulted. Farrell describes Studs sympathetically as Studs slowly deteriorates, changing from a tough but fundamentally good-hearted, adventurous teenage boy to an embittered, physically shattered alcoholic.

Film

Parts of Farrell's novels were made into a

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

in 1960, directed by Irving Lerner and starring Christopher Knight in the title role. Other cast members included

Frank Gorshin Frank John Gorshin Jr. (April 5, 1933 – May 17, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and impressionist. He made many guest appearances on television variety and talk shows, including '' The Ed Sullivan Show'', '' Tonight Starring Steve Allen' ...

Venetia Stevenson Joanna Venetia Invicta Stevenson (10 March 1938 – 26 September 2022) was an English actress. Early life Born in 1938 in London, England, as Joanna Venetia Invicta Stevenson, she was the daughter of film director Robert Stevenson and actress ...

, and

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. Nicholson is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, often playing rebels fighting against the social structure. Over his five-de ...

(in one of his first movie roles). The film was not widely reviewed.

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael often defied the conse ...

wrote in ''The New Yorker'' that "it’s an honorable low-budget effort by a group of people trying to break the Hollywood moulds, and there are a few passages of daring editing that indicate what the film was aiming for. It’s an underfinanced American attempt at ''

I Vitelloni ''I Vitelloni'' (, "The Bullocks"; Romagnol slang for "The Slackers" or "The Layabouts") is a 1953 Italian comedy drama film directed by Federico Fellini from a screenplay written by himself, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Pinelli. It stars Franco ...

''.

Television

In 1979, ''Studs Lonigan'' was produced as a

starring

Harry Hamlin Harry Robinson Hamlin (born October 30, 1951) is an American actor, author, and entrepreneur. He is best known for his roles as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film '' Clash of the Titans'', a role he reprised in 2007's Santa Monica Studio video ...

Colleen Dewhurst Colleen Rose Dewhurst (June 3, 1924 – August 22, 1991) was a Canadian-American actress mostly known for theatre roles. She was a renowned interpreter of the works of Eugene O'Neill on the stage, and her career also encompassed film, early dra ...

Brad Dourif Bradford Claude Dourif (; born March 18, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for voicing Chucky in the ''Child's Play'' franchise (1988–present), portraying Gríma Wormtongue in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series, and his Academy A ...

Dan Shor Daniel Shor (born November 16, 1956) is an American actor, director, writer, and acting teacher with a career spanning over 40 years. His most recognized roles include Enoch Emery in John Huston's '' Wise Blood'' (1979), Pete Brady in '' Strang ...

, and

Charles Durning Charles Edward Durning (February 28, 1923 – December 24, 2012) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 movies, television shows and plays.Schudel, Matt (December 26, 2012) "''In real life and on the screen, he played countless role ...

. Production Designer Jan Scott won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special.

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the 1950s. Rose w ...

wrote the adaptation of the trilogy. The miniseries retains the novel's tragic conclusion while significantly humanizing Studs Lonigan's family and friends.

Other

The entire miniseries is housed at the University of Georgia's Peabody Collection. The University has made the series available online by using the keyword "Studs Lonigan" in the search box.

Reception and legacy

According to William McCann: :No writer has described a specific area of American society so thoroughly and comprehensively as Farrell did in the seven novels of Studs Lonigan and Danny O'Neill (1932-43). A consummate realist in viewpoint and method, he turned repeatedly in his fiction to the subject he knew best, the Irish Catholic neighborhood of Chicago's South Side. Drawing from harsh personal experience, Farrell wrote about individuals who suffered both from harmful social conditions and their own spiritual and intellectual flaws. He depicted human frustration, ignorance, cruelty, violence, and moral degeneration with sober, relentless veracity....Despite his Marxist leanings, Farrell's fiction is not that of a reformer, or a doctrinaire theorist, but rather the patient, humorless representation of ways of life and states of mind he abhors….Farrell’s place in American letters, however, as certainly the most industrious and probably the most powerful writer in the naturalistic tradition stemming from

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalism (literature), naturalist genre. His notable works include ''M ...

and Dreiser, was solidly established with the Lonegan--O'Neil series.William McCann, "Farrell, James Thomas" in John A. Garraty, ed., ''Encyclopedia of American Biography'' (1974) p 343.

References

External links

* * {{Irving Lerner American novel series 1960 films Films directed by Irving Lerner Novels set in Chicago American novels adapted into films 1970s American television miniseries Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith United Artists films