Dorothy B. Hughes
Encyclopedia
Dorothy B. Hughes was an America
n crime writer and literary critic. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the hardboiled
and noir styles, and is best known for the novels In a Lonely Place
(1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946).
Born Dorothy Belle Flanagan in Kansas City, Missouri
, she studied journalism
and after graduating from the University of Missouri with her B.J. degree in 1924 worked in that field in Missouri
, New Mexico
, and New York
. She did graduate work in journalism at the University of New Mexico
and at Columbia University
but did not receive a degree from either institution.
Hughes’ first published book, Dark Certainty (1931) was a volume of poetry, which was the winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition.
In 1940, she published her first mystery novel The So Blue Marble followed by eight more mystery novels in the 1940s. In addition to her novels, Hughes also wrote a history of the University of New Mexico
and a critical study of writer Erle Stanley Gardner
. In 1951 she received an Edgar Award
from the Mystery Writers of America
in the category of Outstanding Mystery Criticism and in 1978 she was given the MWA's Grand Master award.
Hughes acknowledged the influence of such writers as Eric Ambler
, Graham Greene
, and William Faulkner
. Hughes’ writing style of tight and suspenseful plots that exemplified the tenets of hardboiled
crime and detective novels and her literary career itself associates her with a number of other women crime writers of the 1940s and 1950s, including Margaret Millar
, Vera Caspary
, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
, and Olive Higgins Prouty
. Hughes was quite successful at her writing and quite popular during her day. Three of her novels were made into movies: The Fallen Sparrow
in 1943 starring John Garfield
, In a Lonely Place
in 1950 directed by Nicholas Ray
and starring Humphrey Bogart
, and Ride the Pink Horse
in 1947 directed by and starring Robert Montgomery
, which was also remade in 1964 for TV as The Hanged Man
.
From 1940 to 1979 she reviewed mysteries for the Albuquerque Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Herald-Tribune and other newspapers.
Hughes made her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico
, a city, along with the Southwest, that she used as the background for several of her novels.
Hughes died in Ashland, Oregon
, from complications following a stroke
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n crime writer and literary critic. Hughes wrote fourteen crime and detective novels, primarily in the hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
and noir styles, and is best known for the novels In a Lonely Place
In a Lonely Place (novel)
In a Lonely Place is a 1947 novel by mystery writer Dorothy B. Hughes. It was made into the classic film noir under the same title starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame in 1950.-Synopsis:...
(1947) and Ride the Pink Horse (1946).
Born Dorothy Belle Flanagan in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, she studied journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
and after graduating from the University of Missouri with her B.J. degree in 1924 worked in that field in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She did graduate work in journalism at the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
and at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
but did not receive a degree from either institution.
Hughes’ first published book, Dark Certainty (1931) was a volume of poetry, which was the winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition.
In 1940, she published her first mystery novel The So Blue Marble followed by eight more mystery novels in the 1940s. In addition to her novels, Hughes also wrote a history of the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
and a critical study of writer Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories, best known for the Perry Mason series, he also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J...
. In 1951 she received an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
in the category of Outstanding Mystery Criticism and in 1978 she was given the MWA's Grand Master award.
Hughes acknowledged the influence of such writers as Eric Ambler
Eric Ambler
Eric Clifford Ambler OBE was an influential British author of spy novels who introduced a new realism to the genre. Ambler also used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.-Life:...
, Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, and William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
. Hughes’ writing style of tight and suspenseful plots that exemplified the tenets of hardboiled
Hardboiled
Hardboiled crime fiction is a literary style, most commonly associated with detective stories, distinguished by the unsentimental portrayal of violence and sex. The style was pioneered by Carroll John Daly in the mid-1920s, popularized by Dashiell Hammett over the course of the decade, and refined...
crime and detective novels and her literary career itself associates her with a number of other women crime writers of the 1940s and 1950s, including Margaret Millar
Margaret Millar
Margaret Ellis Millar was an American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer.Born in Kitchener, Ontario, she was educated there and in Toronto. She moved to the United States after marrying Kenneth Millar...
, Vera Caspary
Vera Caspary
Vera Caspary was an American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories. Her best-known novel Laura was made into a highly successful movie. Though she claimed she was not a "real" mystery writer, her novels effectively merged women's quest for identity and love with murder plots...
, Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
Elizabeth Sanxay Holding
Elisabeth Sanxay Holding was an American novelist and short story writer who primarily wrote detective novels in the hardboiled school of detective fiction.-Life:...
, and Olive Higgins Prouty
Olive Higgins Prouty
Olive Higgins Prouty was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now, Voyager Olive Higgins Prouty (10 January 1882 – 24 March 1974) was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now,...
. Hughes was quite successful at her writing and quite popular during her day. Three of her novels were made into movies: The Fallen Sparrow
The Fallen Sparrow
The Fallen Sparrow is a 1943 spy film starring John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, and Walter Slezak. It was based on the novel of the same name by Dorothy B. Hughes. An American returns home to find out who murdered his friend.-Plot:...
in 1943 starring John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
, In a Lonely Place
In a Lonely Place
In a Lonely Place is a film noir directed by Nicholas Ray, and starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame, produced for Bogart's Santana Productions. The script was adapted by Edmund North from the 1947 novel In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes.Bogart stars in the film as Dixon Steele, a...
in 1950 directed by Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray
Nicholas Ray was an American film director best known for the movie Rebel Without a Cause....
and starring Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, and Ride the Pink Horse
Ride the Pink Horse
Ride the Pink Horse is a 1947 American crime film noir produced by Universal Studios. It was directed by the actor Robert Montgomery from a screenplay by Ben Hecht, which was based on a novel of the same name by Dorothy B. Hughes. The drama features Robert Montgomery, Wanda Hendrix, Andrea King,...
in 1947 directed by and starring Robert Montgomery
Robert Montgomery (actor)
Robert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
, which was also remade in 1964 for TV as The Hanged Man
The Hanged Man (1964 film)
The Hanged Man is a TV film directed by Don Siegel, in which a gunman seeks to avenge the death of his friend, whom he believes was murdered. It is considered the second television film in broadcast history. It debuted on NBC on November 18, 1964....
.
From 1940 to 1979 she reviewed mysteries for the Albuquerque Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Herald-Tribune and other newspapers.
Hughes made her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, a city, along with the Southwest, that she used as the background for several of her novels.
Hughes died in Ashland, Oregon
Ashland, Oregon
Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States, near Interstate 5 and the California border, and located in the south end of the Rogue Valley. It was named after Ashland County, Ohio, point of origin of Abel Helman and other founders, and secondarily for Ashland, Kentucky, where other...
, from complications following a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
.
Selected bibliography
- Dark Certainty (1931, volume of poetry)
- Pueblo on the Mesa: The First Fifty Years of the University of New Mexico (1939)
- The So Blue Marble (1940, her first novel)
- The Cross-Eyed Bear (1940) (aka The Cross-Eyed Bear Murders)
- The Bamboo Blonde (1941)
- The Fallen Sparrow (1942; filmed in 1943)
- The BlackbirderThe BlackbirderThe Blackbirder is a 1943 novel by Dorothy B. Hughes.It is classic noir, with a moody, war-time Santa Fe setting. At the center of The Blackbirder is Julie Guille, a woman who embodies a 1940s version of feminism that includes common sense, street smarts, and the desire to sing while ironing. There...
(1943) - The Delicate Ape (1944)
- Johnnie (1944)
- Dread Journey (1945)
- Ride the Pink Horse (1946; filmed in 1947; TV series Robert Montgomery Presents episode Ride the Pink Horse in 1950; remadeRemakeA remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
in 1964 as The Hanged ManThe Hanged Man (1964 film)The Hanged Man is a TV film directed by Don Siegel, in which a gunman seeks to avenge the death of his friend, whom he believes was murdered. It is considered the second television film in broadcast history. It debuted on NBC on November 18, 1964....
) - The Scarlet Imperial (aka Kiss for a Killer 1946)
- In a Lonely PlaceIn a Lonely Place (novel)In a Lonely Place is a 1947 novel by mystery writer Dorothy B. Hughes. It was made into the classic film noir under the same title starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame in 1950.-Synopsis:...
(1947; filmed in 1950) - The Big Barbecue (1949)
- The Candy Kid (1950; TVseries Climax episode Spider Web in 1958)
- The Davidian Report (aka The Body on the Bench, 1952; TVseries Robert Montgomery Presents episode The Davidian Report in 1952)
- The Expendable Man (1963) (Republished in 2006 by Persephone BooksPersephone BooksPersephone Books is an independent publisher based in Bloomsbury, London. Founded in 1999 by Nicola Beauman, Persephone has a catalogue of 93 "neglected novels, diaries, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, biography and cookery books, mostly by women and mostly dating from the early to...
) - Erle Stanley Gardner: The Case of the Real Perry Mason (1978) (critical biography)