Thanks to Mark Evanier and his fine website News To Me I came across this fascinating piece from the archives of The Daily Mirror. It's interesting to see the relative celebrity of Cain and Chandler at that time. It's also interesting to see how Chandler dealt with his drinking.
Mark Evanier:
Sept. 12, 1943, a feature on the upcoming film "Double Indemnity."
Here's an undiscovered treasure: The Times' Philip K. Scheuer interviews James M. Cain AND Raymond Chandler on the upcoming production of "Double Indemnity." Chandler tells Scheuer that his next novel, "The Lady in the Lake," may be his last. "There's no money in them," he says. "Not when 10,000 is considered a good sale!"
Scheuer also says Chandler doesn't drink. Hm.
Note: To mark the 50th anniversary of Raymond Chandler's death, the Daily Mirror is revisiting some of The Times' stories about his life and influence. We invite the Daily Mirror's readers to share their thoughts.
For the article itself go here:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2009/03/trouble-was-h-9.html
According to Al Clark's RAYMOND CHANDLERINHOLLYWOOD thisis what Chandler had to sday about Cain.
ReplyDelete"He is every kind of writer I detest, a faux naif, a Proust in greasy overalls, a dirty little boy with a piece of chalk and a board fence and nobody looking. Such people are the offal of literature, not because they writer about dirty things but because they do it in a dirty way."
RJR