Gerald Butler (writer)

Gerald Alfred Butler (July 31, 1907 – February 1, 1988) was an English crime, thriller and pulp writer and screenwriter.[2] He was born on July 31, 1907, in Crewe, Cheshire,[3] and worked as a chemist prior to becoming a novelist. He later worked as the director of an advertising firm in London.[4][5] He was sometimes referred to as the "English James M. Cain".[6][7]

He was thirty-three years old when his first novel, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, was published in April 1940, by Nicholson & Watson.[8] Butler wrote the novel while staying in air-raid shelters during World War II, to distract himself from the German bombings.[3] Kiss the Blood Off My Hands became a best-seller and led to a publishing contract with Jarrolds Publishing (which quickly reprinted the book) By 1945, it had sold over 232,000 copies in England alone (all during war-time).[9][10] The Digit Books release of Blow Hot, Blow Cold (published in 1960 under the title Choice of Two Women) stated that Kiss the Blood Off My Hands had sold in excess of 750,000 copies.[11]

In 1945, American publishers Farrar & Rinehart, were the first to publish one of Butler's novels outside of England. Their first release of Butler's work was his 1943 novel, Their Rainbow Had Black Edges, issued under the title Dark Rainbow.[12] Farrar & Rinehart went on to publish four more of his novels for the American market, between 1946 and 1951.

Following the publication of his first four novels, Hollywood film studio Warner Brothers Pictures bought an option to the screen rights of his fifth novel, Slipper Hitch, for ₤10,000.[13][14] At the time of purchase, in December 1946, the novel had yet to be published, and would be held back from publication for two years, until May 1948.[13][14] In early 1947, Eagle-Lion Films bought the film rights to Kiss the Blood Off My Hands in 1946, hoping to shoot it with Robert Donat in the lead.[15] After the option expired, the novel's film rights were sold to actor-turned-producer Burt Lancaster and his business partner, producer Harold Hecht, in mid-1947. The film was the first project for Lancaster's new film production company, Norma Productions (financed by Universal-International), and hit the screens in October 1948. The film starred Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster and Robert Newton and was released in some markets under the names The Unafraid or Blood on My Hands, due to censor issues.

Meanwhile, producer/director Mario Zampi approached Butler in 1947 to collaborate on a film noir thriller, The Fatal Night, through his film production company Anglofilm. Butler adapted Michael Arlen's famous short story, The Gentleman From America into a screenplay for the film which was released in April 1948.[16] Butler and Zampi immediately collaborated again for another Anglofilm production, Third Time Lucky; Butler's screen adaptation of his own novel They Cracked Her Glass Slipper.[14] Butler also wrote the lyrics to the theme song featured in the film.[14][17] The film was released in January 1949 and was directed by Gordon Parry.[18]

In November 1949, Butler and his wife traveled to Hollywood to negotiate the screen rights to a novel.[5] A third Butler novel was turned into a film, Mad with Much Heart, released as On Dangerous Ground by RKO Radio Pictures. It starred Ida Lupino (who was also an uncredited director) and Robert Ryan and was directed by Nicholas Ray.[19] This last film adaption was released in 1951, the same year that Butler's sixth novel, Blow Hot, Blow Cold, was published. He withdrew from the writing industry for nearly twenty years before returning with his last novel, There Is a Death, Elizabeth, published in 1972. He died sixteen years later.