Saint Johnson
Author: William Riley "W R" Burnett (1899-1982)
Year: 1930
Publisher: The Dial Press
Place: New York
[10]+305 pages. Small octavo (7 3/4" x 5 1/2") bound in original publisher's red cloth with gilt lettering to spine with blind stamp to front cover in original pictorial jacket. First edition.
A fictional novel about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in Tombstone, Arizona and events leading up to the OK Corral Gunfight. Many films from 1932 to 1955 used this book for their basis. This is the author's third book.
W R Burnett wrote for many of the great actors and directors, including Raoul Walsh, John Huston, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk, and Michael Cimino, John Wayne (The Dark Command), Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Paul Muni, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. He received an Oscar nomination for his script for Wake Island (1942) and a Writers Guild nomination for his script for The Great Escape. In addition to his film work, he also wrote scripts for television and radio.
In High Sierra (1941), Humphrey Bogart plays Roy Earle, a hard-bitten criminal who rejects his life of crime to help a sexually appealing crippled girl. In The Asphalt Jungle (1950), the most perfectly masterminded plot falls apart as each character reveals a weakness. In The Beast of the City (1932) starring Walter Huston, the police take the law into their own hands when the criminals walk free due to legal incompetence.
Condition: Ownership inscription to front free endpaper, leaves gently toned. Jacket toned, some chipping to spine tips and corners, a few closed tears, minor ridge to spine, gilt on spine oxidized, extremities rubbed else very good in like jacket.
