Re: RARA-AVIS: Geoffrey Homes/Daniel Mainwaring

From: Al Guthrie ( allanguthrie@ukonline.co.uk)
Date: 05 Jul 2002


----- Original Message ----- From: "Rene Ribic" < rribic@optusnet.com.au>

> A little while ago someone was asking about Homes/Mainwaring, whether
> he'd written any other novels worth reading aside from the classic BUILD
> MY GALLOWS HIGH (made into the seminal film noir OUT OF THE PAST with
> Bob Mitchum).

That was me. Ed Gorman's noir list (BIG BOOK OF NOIR) mentioned SIX SILVER HANDLES, so I evenually tracked down a copy of it. I've subsequently read it, and it wasn't worth the effort. It's a run-of-the-mill whodunnit, and there isn't anything remotely noir about it (like a few others on Gorman's list). I suspect that Homes wrote only one good book, but it was one helluva good book. However, I'd love to be wrong about that, so if anyone can recommend anything else I'm happy to give Geoffrey another shot.

>Unfortunately I haven't read any of his other books but I
> thought the following info may be of interest to the person asking:
> under the name Mainwaring (I forget which one was his real name) he
> wrote a lot of Hollywood screenplays, including the screenplay to OUT OF
> THE PAST, which you probably knew. Today I just rented a copy of
> INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS (considered to be an SF/horror/film noir
> hybrid by many people) & discovered that Mainwaring wrote this
> screenplay also.

If you haven't read the book, it's an excellent example of noir sci-fi and is still in print. Jack Finney also wrote the odd crime novel, including HOUSE OF NUMBERS, a thoroughly enjoyable noirish prison break novel.

Al

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