Anatole Feldman
Encyclopedia
Anatole France Feldman is primarily known as a pulp magazine writer from the late-'20s to the late-'30s. He specialized in gangland fiction, appearing primarily in Harold Hersey's gang pulps, Gangster Stories
, Racketeer Stories, and Gangland Stories. He also appeared in the rival magazines, Gun Molls and The Underworld.
His best-known creation is Chicago gangster Big Nose Serrano. Big Nose began as a pastiche of the 1897 Edmond Rostand
play, Cyrano de Bergerac
. Serrano's homely nose made him an unlikely romantic hero who thus composed love poetry for a better-looking associate. The plot and characters of the first Big Nose story, "Serrano of the Stockyards" (Gangster Stories
, May 1930), roughly follow the corresponding elements in the play. Serrano's overwhelming popularity with readers brought him back for further adventures. The stories are unrelentingly violent, and often intentionally amusing, providing a unique fictional take on Chicago's gangland and the latter years of Prohibition
. Feldman ended up publishing twelve of the Serrano adventures from 1930-35 in Gangster Stories
, Greater Gangster Stories, and The Gang Magazine. As the series progressed, the Cyrano angle was dropped, and Serrano became an unlikely crusader against the social ills of the Depression
, albeit applying the gangster's methods of violence, kidnapping, and murder to the problems.
He stirred up a lot of controversy with the readers of Gangster Stories
, with his novelette "Gangsters vs. Gobs," a story that improbably pitted the underworld against the Navy
. The controversy filled the letters column for several issues.
Feldman also wrote under a number of pennames, including Tony Fields, A.F. Fields, and similar derivations. In 1930-31, he co-edited the short-lived adventure pulp, Far East Adventure Stories. Writing under a Standard Magazines house name, he authored some of the lead novels in The Phantom Detective
.
He was married to fellow pulp-writer Hedwig Langer, who published under the names H.C. Langer and Beech Allen. In the '40s, they co-wrote plays. Feldman's first performed play had been The Red Thirst in 1920.
In the '40s, Feldman edited a line of comic books. He also edited true-crime magazines in the '40s. His date-of-death is unknown but is presumed to be in the early-'50s.
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, Racketeer Stories, and Gangland Stories. He also appeared in the rival magazines, Gun Molls and The Underworld.
His best-known creation is Chicago gangster Big Nose Serrano. Big Nose began as a pastiche of the 1897 Edmond Rostand
Edmond Rostand
Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism, and is best known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac. Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic theatre popular during the late nineteenth century...
play, Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac
Hercule-Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist and duelist. He is now best remembered for the works of fiction which have been woven, often very loosely, around his life story, most notably the 1897 play by Edmond Rostand...
. Serrano's homely nose made him an unlikely romantic hero who thus composed love poetry for a better-looking associate. The plot and characters of the first Big Nose story, "Serrano of the Stockyards" (Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, May 1930), roughly follow the corresponding elements in the play. Serrano's overwhelming popularity with readers brought him back for further adventures. The stories are unrelentingly violent, and often intentionally amusing, providing a unique fictional take on Chicago's gangland and the latter years of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
. Feldman ended up publishing twelve of the Serrano adventures from 1930-35 in Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, Greater Gangster Stories, and The Gang Magazine. As the series progressed, the Cyrano angle was dropped, and Serrano became an unlikely crusader against the social ills of the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, albeit applying the gangster's methods of violence, kidnapping, and murder to the problems.
He stirred up a lot of controversy with the readers of Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories
Gangster Stories was a controversial pulp magazine of the early 1930s. It featured hardboiled crime fiction that glorified the gun-toting gangsters of the Prohibition era. It was published by Harold Hersey, as part of his Good Story Magazine Company pulp chain. The inaugural issue was dated...
, with his novelette "Gangsters vs. Gobs," a story that improbably pitted the underworld against the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. The controversy filled the letters column for several issues.
Feldman also wrote under a number of pennames, including Tony Fields, A.F. Fields, and similar derivations. In 1930-31, he co-edited the short-lived adventure pulp, Far East Adventure Stories. Writing under a Standard Magazines house name, he authored some of the lead novels in The Phantom Detective
The Phantom Detective
The Phantom Detective was the second pulp hero character published, after The Shadow. The first issue was released in February of 1933, a month before Doc Savage, which was released in March of 1933. The title continued to be released until 1953, with a total 170 issues...
.
He was married to fellow pulp-writer Hedwig Langer, who published under the names H.C. Langer and Beech Allen. In the '40s, they co-wrote plays. Feldman's first performed play had been The Red Thirst in 1920.
In the '40s, Feldman edited a line of comic books. He also edited true-crime magazines in the '40s. His date-of-death is unknown but is presumed to be in the early-'50s.