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Jim Thompson (writer)
Encyclopedia
James Myers Thompson was an America
n author
and screenwriter
, known for his pulp
crime fiction
.
Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback
publications by pulp fiction
houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice, notably by Anthony Boucher
in The New York Times
, he was little-recognized in his lifetime. Only after death did Thompson's literary stature grow, when in the late 1980s, several novels were re-published in the Black Lizard
series of re-discovered crime fiction.
Thompson's writing culminated in a few of his best-regarded works: The Killer Inside Me
, Savage Night
, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280
. In these works, Thompson turned the derided pulp
genre into literature
and art
, featuring unreliable narrator
s, odd structure, and surrealism
. A number of Thompson's books became popular films, including The Getaway
and The Grifters
.
The writer R.V. Cassill
has suggested that of all pulp fiction, Thompson's was the rawest and most harrowing; that neither Dashiell Hammett
nor Raymond Chandler
nor even Horace McCoy
, author of the bleak They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
, ever "wrote a book within miles of Thompson". Similarly, in the introduction to Now and on Earth, Stephen King
says he most admires Thompson's work because "The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn't know the meaning of the word stop. There are three brave lets inherent in the forgoing: he let himself see everything, he let himself write it down, then he let himself publish it."
Thompson admired Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was nickname
d "Dimestore Dostoevsky" by writer Geoffrey O'Brien
. Film director Stephen Frears
, who directed an adaptation of Thompson's The Grifters as 1990
's The Grifters
, also identified elements of Greek tragedy in his themes.
of Caddo County, Oklahoma. He ran for the state legislature in 1906, but was defeated, and he shortly thereafter left the sheriff's office under a cloud due to rumors of embezzlement
. The Thompson family moved to Texas
. (The theme of a once-prominent family overtaken by ill-fortune would feature in some of Thompson's works.)
in Fort Worth, Texas
, Thompson worked long and often wild nights as a bellboy while attending school in the day. He worked at the Hotel Texas
. One biographical profile reports that "Thompson quickly adapted to the needs of the hotel's guests, busily catering to tastes ranging from questionable morality to directly and undeniably illegal." Bootleg liquor was ubiquitous, and Thompson's brief trips to procure heroin and marijuana
for hotel patrons were not uncommon. He was soon earning up to $300 per week, far more than his official $15 monthly wage.
He smoked and drank heavily, and at nineteen he suffered a nervous breakdown
. In 1926, Thompson began working as an oil
field laborer. With his father he began an independent oil drilling operation that was ultimately unsuccessful. Thompson returned to Fort Worth, intending to attend school and to write professionally.
Thompson’s autobiographical "Oil Field Vignettes" appeared in 1929 (found in March 2010 by history recovery specialist Lee Roy Chapman). He began attending the University of Nebraska the same year as part of a program for gifted students with "untraditional educational backgrounds." By 1931, however, he had dropped out of school.
Thompson married Alberta Hesse on September 16, 1931 in Marysville, Kansas
, the couple having elope
d, partly owing to Alberta’s family's disapproval of Thompson. The first of three children was born in 1932.
For several years Thompson occasionally wrote short stories for various true crime
magazines. Generally, he would rewrite actual murder cases he had read in newspapers, but in a first person voice. In this era, he wrote other pieces for various newspapers and magazines, usually as a freelancer, but occasionally as a full-time staff writer. His 1936 piece for Master Detective Magazine, "Ditch of Doom," was recently selected by The Library of America for inclusion in its two century retrospective of American True Crime writing.
In the early 1930s, Thompson was the head of the Oklahoma Federal Writers Project, one of several New Deal
programs intended to aid Americans during the Great Depression
. Louis L'Amour
, among others, worked under Thompson's direction in this project. Thompson joined the Communist Party
in 1935 but had left the group by 1938.
, Thompson worked at an aircraft
factory where he was investigated by the FBI because of his early Communist Party affiliation. These events were fodder for his semi-autobiographical debut novel, Now And On Earth (1942). Featuring little of the violence and crime that later permeated his writing, though it did establish his bleak, pessimistic tone, it was positively reviewed but sold poorly. His second novel, Heed The Thunder (1946), found Thompson steering towards crime; it details a warped and violent Nebraska
family, partly modeled on his own extended clan.
When these early novels generated little critical attention, Thompson gravitated to the less-prestigious but more lucrative crime fiction genre with Nothing More Than Murder
. He afterwards moved to Lion Books, a small paperback publisher. Lion's Arnold Hano was his ideal editor, offering the writer essentially free rein about content, yet expecting him to be productive and reliable. Lion published most of Thompson’s best-regarded works.
To support his family while writing novels, Thompson took a job as a reporter with the Los Angeles Mirror, a tabloid newspaper owned by the Los Angeles Times
, shortly after the Mirror was founded in 1948. He wrote for the Mirror until 1949.
The early to mid fifties saw Thompson reaching his stride as a mature writer. In 1952, The Killer Inside Me
was published. It is arguably Thompson's finest and best-known novel. The narrator, Lou Ford, is a small-town sheriff who appears amiable, pleasant and slightly dull-minded. Sheriff Ford is actually very intelligent and fighting a nearly-constant urge to act violently; Ford describes his urge as the sickness (always italicised). Lion Books unsuccessfully attempted to have The Killer Inside Me nominated for a National Book Award
. It was eponymously adapted to the cinema, in 1976 (by director Burt Kennedy
, with Stacy Keach
as Sheriff Lou Ford), and again in 2010
(by director Michael Winterbottom
, with Casey Affleck
as Ford and co-starring Kate Hudson
and Jessica Alba
).
After The Killer Inside Me was published, Thompson began producing novels at a furious pace. He published one further novel in 1952, then 5 novels a year in both 1953 and 1954.
Savage Night
, published in 1953, is generally ranked as one of his best novels. It is also one of his oddest literary offerings. Its narrator, Charlie "Little" Bigger (also known as Carl Bigelow), is a small, tubercular
hitman
whose mind is deteriorating with his body. In reviewing Savage Night, Boucher said it was "written with vigor and bite, but sheering off from realism
into a peculiar surrealist ending of sheer Guignol
horror. Odd that a mass-consumption paperback should contain the most experimental writing I've seen in a suspense novel of late." Savage Night contains an interlude—whether or not it is fantasy or dream, hallucination or flashback is unclear—when Bigger meets a poor, verbose writer
who, much like Thompson himself, has a penchant for booze and makes a living writing pulp fiction to be sold alongside pornography. That writer also claims to operate a "farm" where he grows vaginas as a metaphor for the material he writes.
commissioned from him the screenplay adaptation of Lionel White
's novel Clean Break to be filmed as The Killing, Kubrick's first studio-financed movie. Although Thompson wrote most of the script, Kubrick credited himself as screenplay writer, cheating Thompson with only a vague "additional dialogue" writer credit. Nevertheless, they collaborated again in Paths of Glory
(mostly written by Thompson, again with little public credit); and again in the criminal story titled Lunatic at Large, a production that never materialized despite Thompson's having completed and submitted the commissioned screen treatment. Though pleased with the work, Kubrick was side-tracked by Spartacus
; when Kubrick returned to Lunatic at Large, the sole copy of Thompson's manuscript had been lost. Kubrick was quoted by family and friends as regretting the lost opportunity. Yet, in 1999, after Kubrick's death, son-in-law Phillip Hobbs found the manuscript among the dead director's documents; as of 2006, said project is in the pre-production stage, fifty years after Thompson wrote it.
for the rest of his life. From the mid- 1950s through the late 1960s, Thompson continued to write fiction, although not at the same torrid pace of 1952 to 1954. During this era, Thompson usually completed one novel a year, but he gradually drifted away from writing his increasingly unpopular novels, abandoning the medium completely by the end of the 1960s.
With his novels providing scant income, Thompson turned to other forms of writing to pay the bills. Beginning in 1959, and continuing through the mid-1960s, Thompson also began writing television program
s, including episodes of the action/adventure shows Mackenzie's Raiders
(1959), Cain's Hundred
(1961) and Convoy
(1965). TV work seemingly dried up for Thompson after this point, so he turned to writing tie-in novels based on produced TV shows and screenplays: this work paid a flat fee, and could be completed quickly. Thompson's tie-ins include an original novel based on the TV series Ironside
(1967), as well screenplay novelizations of the films The Undefeated
(1969) and Nothing But a Man
(1970).
In the late 1960s, Thompson wrote his two final original books, King Blood and Child of Rage (its provisional title had been White Mother, Black Son), neither of which were published until the early 1970s, the latter in the UK. Even his longtime supporters in the publishing industry thought the books were poorly written.
's Utah residence. Redford hired him to write a motion picture script about the life of a hobo
during the Great Depression
. Thompson was paid $10,000 for his script Bo, though it was never produced.
Motion picture writer/director Sam Fuller expressed an interest in adapting The Getaway for the screen, and Thompson's biographer Robert Polito (in the book Savage Art) notes that Fuller so admired the novel that he quipped, half-seriously, that he could use the novel itself as a shooting script
. Eventually, Sam Peckinpah
was slated to direct The Getaway.
In many regards, The Getaway was a frustrating repeat of his earlier experience with Kubrick. Thompson wrote a script, but Steve McQueen (who was cast in the movie's lead role of Doc McCoy) rejected it as too reliant on dialogue, with not enough action. Though Walter Hill was given the sole script credit, Thompson insisted that much of his script ended up in the film. Thompson sought Writers Guild
arbitration
but the Guild ultimately ruled against him. In the end, the film was heavily bowdlerized from Thompson's original vision and as King writes, "if you have seen only the film version of The Getaway, you have no idea of the existential horrors awaiting Doc and Carol McCoy at the point where Sam Peckinpah
ended the story."
Thompson actually appeared in the 1975 movie Farewell, My Lovely
, starring Robert Mitchum. He played the character Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle. When Thompson's fortunes were fading, he made the acquaintance of writer Harlan Ellison
who had long admired Thompson's books. Though Thompson still drank heavily (preferring to meet at the famed writer's haunt, the Musso & Frank Grill
) and Ellison was a teetotaler (preferring fast food
restaurants), they often met for meals and conversation.
Though Thompson's books were falling out of print in the United States, the French
had discovered his works. Though they were not runaway bestsellers in France, his books did sell well enough in that country to keep a trickle of royalties
flowing towards Thompson. Incidentally, Polito also debunks the myth that Thompson was not paid well for his works: Thompson's pay, he notes, was roughly in line with what writers of similar works received during that era. Rather, Thompson's drinking and general instability are what left him destitute.
Thompson died after a series of stroke
s at age 71, aggravated by his long-term alcoholism
. He refused to eat for some time prior to his death, and this self-inflicted starvation
contributed greatly to his demise. At the time of his death none of his novels were in print in his home country.
s, losers, sociopath
s and psychopaths—some at the fringe of society, some at its heart—their nihilistic
world-view being best-served by first-person narrative
s revealing a frighteningly deep understanding of the warped mind. There are no good guys in Thompson's literature—most everyone is abusive, opportunistic, or simply biding time until able to be so.
Despite some positive critical notice, Thompson's novels were essentially lost in the crowd among dozens of peer writers who also were churning out crime novels; only after his best years as a writer did Thompson achieve a measure of fame. Yet that neglect might stem from his novels' style: the crime novels are fast-moving and compelling but sometimes sloppy and uneven. Thompson wrote quickly with little revision or editing (many novels were written in a month); using his newspaper
experience he produced concise, evocative prose.
Yet at his best his novels were among the most effectively and memorably written genre pieces. He also managed unusual and highly successful literary tricks: for example, halfway though A Hell Of A Woman, the first-person narrator Frank "Dolly" Dillon has a mental breakdown
; the sides of his personality then take turns narrating the story's chapters, alternately violently psychotic (telling the sordid tale that actually happened) or sweet-natured and patient (telling the idealized fantasy that did not happen). In the final page of the original manuscript the two sides of Dillon's broken personality appear together as two separate columns of text. The publisher disliked that, and instead alternated the two narrations in one, long paragraph, alternating standard Roman type and italicised
type. Thompson disliked the change, thinking it confusing and difficult for the reader.
For most of his life Jim Thompson drank heavily; the effects of alcoholism
often featured in his works, most prominently in The Alcoholics (1953) which is set in a detoxification clinic. Donald E. Westlake
, who adapted The Grifters for the screen, observed that alcoholism had a great role in Thompson's literature though it tended to be inexplicit. Westlake described typical personal relationships in Thompson novels as pleasant in the morning, argumentative in the afternoon, and abusive at night—behavior common to the alcoholic Thompson's style of life but which he elided from the stories.
and The Killer Inside Me) were adapted as Hollywood motion pictures during his lifetime. However, Polito argues that neither adaptation was ultimately true to Thompson's spirit. A second, more faithful adaptation of The Killer Inside Me was released in 2010, starring Casey Affleck
and directed by Michael Winterbottom
.
French director Bertrand Tavernier
adapted Pop. 1280 for his 1981 film, Coup de Torchon
, changing the setting from the American South to a French colony in West Africa of the 1930s. Aside from shift in setting, Polito argues that Coup de Torchon was remarkably faithful to the plot and the spirit of the novel, and remains arguably the most authentic adaptation of any of Thompson's work.
A Hell of a Woman was also adapted in French as Série noire
(1979).
In the early 1990s, Hollywood resumed its interest in Thompson's writing and several of his novels were re-published. Three novels were adapted for new film treatments during that period: The Kill-Off
; After Dark, My Sweet
; and The Grifters
, which garnered four Academy Award
nominations.
The Getaway
was remade in 1994 with Alec Baldwin
and Kim Basinger
in the lead roles but the film retained the happy ending of the earlier film.
In 1996, A Swell-Looking Babe was released as Hit Me, and 1997 saw the release of This World, Then the Fireworks from Thompson's short story of that name. The latter film starred Billy Zane
and Gina Gershon
as a pair of twisted siblings.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, known for his pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
crime fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
.
Thompson wrote more than thirty novels, the majority of which were original paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
publications by pulp fiction
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
houses, from the late-1940s through mid-1950s. Despite some positive critical notice, notably by Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher
Anthony Boucher was an American science fiction editor and author of mystery novels and short stories. He was particularly influential as an editor. Between 1942 and 1947 he acted as reviewer of mostly mystery fiction for the San Francisco Chronicle...
in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, he was little-recognized in his lifetime. Only after death did Thompson's literary stature grow, when in the late 1980s, several novels were re-published in the Black Lizard
Black Lizard
Black Lizard was a publisher imprint during the 1980s. A division of the Creative Arts Book Company of Berkeley, California, Black Lizard specialized in presenting rediscovered forgotten classic crime fiction writers and novels from the decades between the 1930s and the 1960s. Creative Arts Book...
series of re-discovered crime fiction.
Thompson's writing culminated in a few of his best-regarded works: The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
, Savage Night
Savage Night
Savage Night is a 1953 novel by the thriller writer Jim Thompson.-Plot summary:The action is narrated by Charles Bigger, who spends most of the novel operating under the alias Carl Bigelow. Bigger has been sent by a mob boss, known simply as The Man, to the small town of Peardale, New York...
, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280
Pop. 1280
Pop. 1280 is a novel by Jim Thompson . Although not in print at the time of his death , Pop. 1280 is part of Orion's Crime Masterworks series, a testament to the gradual rehabilitation and recognition of Jim Thompson's literary legacy: a clear exposition of an especially bleak species of American...
. In these works, Thompson turned the derided pulp
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
genre into literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, featuring unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
s, odd structure, and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
. A number of Thompson's books became popular films, including The Getaway
The Getaway (novel)
The Getaway is a 1959 crime novel by Jim Thompson that begins with a bank robbery and the later life of the robber and his wife.The novel has been adapted into film twice. The first version was a Steve McQueen vehicle: see The Getaway , and the second was a remake starring Alec Baldwin: see The...
and The Grifters
The Grifters (novel)
The Grifters is a noir fiction novel by Jim Thompson, published in 1963.-Plot summary:Roy Dillon is a 25-year-old con artist living in Los Angeles. At the start of the novel, he gets hit in the stomach with a baseball bat when a simple con goes wrong. He seems to be well but when Lilly - his mother...
.
The writer R.V. Cassill
Ronald Verlin Cassill
Ronald Verlin Cassill, usually called R. V. Cassill, was a prolific American novelist, short story writer, reviewer, editor, painter, and lithographer.-Biography:...
has suggested that of all pulp fiction, Thompson's was the rawest and most harrowing; that neither Dashiell Hammett
Dashiell Hammett
Samuel Dashiell Hammett was an American author of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories, and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade , Nick and Nora Charles , and the Continental Op .In addition to the significant influence his novels and stories had on...
nor Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
nor even Horace McCoy
Horace McCoy
Horace McCoy was an American writer whose hardboiled novels took place during the Great Depression. His best-known novel is They Shoot Horses, Don't They? , which was made into a movie of the same name in 1969, fourteen years after McCoy's death.-Early life:McCoy was born in Pegram, Tennessee...
, author of the bleak They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (novel)
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a novel written by Horace McCoy and first published in 1935. The story mainly concerns a dance marathon during the Great Depression...
, ever "wrote a book within miles of Thompson". Similarly, in the introduction to Now and on Earth, Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
says he most admires Thompson's work because "The guy was over the top. The guy was absolutely over the top. Big Jim didn't know the meaning of the word stop. There are three brave lets inherent in the forgoing: he let himself see everything, he let himself write it down, then he let himself publish it."
Thompson admired Fyodor Dostoyevsky and was nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d "Dimestore Dostoevsky" by writer Geoffrey O'Brien
Geoffrey O'Brien
Geoffrey O'Brien is an American poet, editor, book and film critic, translator, and cultural historian. In 1992, he joined the staff of the Library of America as Executive Editor, becoming Editor-in-Chief in 1998.-Biography:...
. Film director Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
, who directed an adaptation of Thompson's The Grifters as 1990
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
's The Grifters
The Grifters (film)
The Grifters is a 1990 neo-noir film directed by Stephen Frears and produced by Martin Scorsese. It stars John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening and is based upon The Grifters, a pulp novel by Jim Thompson.-Plot:...
, also identified elements of Greek tragedy in his themes.
Life and career
Thompson's life was nearly as colorful as his fiction, which was semi-autobiographical, or, at least, inspired by his experiences. Thompson's father was sheriffSheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Caddo County, Oklahoma. He ran for the state legislature in 1906, but was defeated, and he shortly thereafter left the sheriff's office under a cloud due to rumors of embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
. The Thompson family moved to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. (The theme of a once-prominent family overtaken by ill-fortune would feature in some of Thompson's works.)
Early work
Jim Thompson began writing early: a few short pieces were published in his mid-teens. He was intelligent and well-read, but had little interest in or inclination towards formal education. For about two years during prohibitionProhibition
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...
in Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Thompson worked long and often wild nights as a bellboy while attending school in the day. He worked at the Hotel Texas
Hotel Texas
The Hotel Texas is a historic hotel located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. President John F. Kennedy stayed here the night before he was assassinated. The hotel is now called Hilton Fort Worth. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 3, 1979.-External links:...
. One biographical profile reports that "Thompson quickly adapted to the needs of the hotel's guests, busily catering to tastes ranging from questionable morality to directly and undeniably illegal." Bootleg liquor was ubiquitous, and Thompson's brief trips to procure heroin and marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
for hotel patrons were not uncommon. He was soon earning up to $300 per week, far more than his official $15 monthly wage.
He smoked and drank heavily, and at nineteen he suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
. In 1926, Thompson began working as an oil
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
field laborer. With his father he began an independent oil drilling operation that was ultimately unsuccessful. Thompson returned to Fort Worth, intending to attend school and to write professionally.
Thompson’s autobiographical "Oil Field Vignettes" appeared in 1929 (found in March 2010 by history recovery specialist Lee Roy Chapman). He began attending the University of Nebraska the same year as part of a program for gifted students with "untraditional educational backgrounds." By 1931, however, he had dropped out of school.
Thompson married Alberta Hesse on September 16, 1931 in Marysville, Kansas
Marysville, Kansas
Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,294.-History:...
, the couple having elope
Elope
To elope, most literally, merely means to run away with a girl and to not come back to the point of origination. More specifically, elopement is often used to refer to a marriage conducted in sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving hurried flight away from one's place of residence together...
d, partly owing to Alberta’s family's disapproval of Thompson. The first of three children was born in 1932.
For several years Thompson occasionally wrote short stories for various true crime
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
magazines. Generally, he would rewrite actual murder cases he had read in newspapers, but in a first person voice. In this era, he wrote other pieces for various newspapers and magazines, usually as a freelancer, but occasionally as a full-time staff writer. His 1936 piece for Master Detective Magazine, "Ditch of Doom," was recently selected by The Library of America for inclusion in its two century retrospective of American True Crime writing.
In the early 1930s, Thompson was the head of the Oklahoma Federal Writers Project, one of several New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
programs intended to aid Americans during the Great 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...
. Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
, among others, worked under Thompson's direction in this project. Thompson joined the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
in 1935 but had left the group by 1938.
First novels
In the early stages of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Thompson worked at an aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
factory where he was investigated by the FBI because of his early Communist Party affiliation. These events were fodder for his semi-autobiographical debut novel, Now And On Earth (1942). Featuring little of the violence and crime that later permeated his writing, though it did establish his bleak, pessimistic tone, it was positively reviewed but sold poorly. His second novel, Heed The Thunder (1946), found Thompson steering towards crime; it details a warped and violent Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
family, partly modeled on his own extended clan.
When these early novels generated little critical attention, Thompson gravitated to the less-prestigious but more lucrative crime fiction genre with Nothing More Than Murder
Nothing More Than Murder
Nothing More Than Murder is a 1949 crime novel by Jim Thompson. It focuses on a murderous plot by small town theater owner Joe Wilmot, his wife and his lover. Wilmot's scheme unravels slowly amid his foibles and travails as an independent businessman. A great deal of information and jargon about...
. He afterwards moved to Lion Books, a small paperback publisher. Lion's Arnold Hano was his ideal editor, offering the writer essentially free rein about content, yet expecting him to be productive and reliable. Lion published most of Thompson’s best-regarded works.
To support his family while writing novels, Thompson took a job as a reporter with the Los Angeles Mirror, a tabloid newspaper owned by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, shortly after the Mirror was founded in 1948. He wrote for the Mirror until 1949.
Fifties maturity and 'The Killer Inside Me'
The Killer Inside Me
The Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
was published. It is arguably Thompson's finest and best-known novel. The narrator, Lou Ford, is a small-town sheriff who appears amiable, pleasant and slightly dull-minded. Sheriff Ford is actually very intelligent and fighting a nearly-constant urge to act violently; Ford describes his urge as the sickness (always italicised). Lion Books unsuccessfully attempted to have The Killer Inside Me nominated for a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
. It was eponymously adapted to the cinema, in 1976 (by director Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy
Burt Kennedy was an American screenwriter and director known for mainly directing film Westerns.After World War II service in the 1st Cavalry Division, Muskegon, Michigan-born Kennedy found work writing for radio, then used his training as a cavalry officer to secure a job as a fencing trainer and...
, with Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach is an American actor and narrator. He is most famous for his dramatic roles; however, he has done narration work in educational programming on PBS and the Discovery Channel, as well as some comedy and musical...
as Sheriff Lou Ford), and again in 2010
The Killer Inside Me (2010 film)
The Killer Inside Me is a 2010 American film adaptation of the 1952 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. The film is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Alba. At its release, it was criticised for its graphic depiction of violence directed toward...
(by director Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
, with Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
as Ford and co-starring Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson is an American actress. She came to prominence in 2001 after winning a Golden Globe and receiving several nominations, including a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, for her role in Almost Famous. She then starred in the hit film How to Lose a Guy in 10...
and Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...
).
After The Killer Inside Me was published, Thompson began producing novels at a furious pace. He published one further novel in 1952, then 5 novels a year in both 1953 and 1954.
Savage Night
Savage Night
Savage Night is a 1953 novel by the thriller writer Jim Thompson.-Plot summary:The action is narrated by Charles Bigger, who spends most of the novel operating under the alias Carl Bigelow. Bigger has been sent by a mob boss, known simply as The Man, to the small town of Peardale, New York...
, published in 1953, is generally ranked as one of his best novels. It is also one of his oddest literary offerings. Its narrator, Charlie "Little" Bigger (also known as Carl Bigelow), is a small, tubercular
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
whose mind is deteriorating with his body. In reviewing Savage Night, Boucher said it was "written with vigor and bite, but sheering off from realism
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
into a peculiar surrealist ending of sheer Guignol
Grand Guignol
Le Théâtre du Grand-Guignol — known as the Grand Guignol — was a theatre in the Pigalle area of Paris . From its opening in 1897 until its closing in 1962 it specialized in naturalistic horror shows...
horror. Odd that a mass-consumption paperback should contain the most experimental writing I've seen in a suspense novel of late." Savage Night contains an interlude—whether or not it is fantasy or dream, hallucination or flashback is unclear—when Bigger meets a poor, verbose writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
who, much like Thompson himself, has a penchant for booze and makes a living writing pulp fiction to be sold alongside pornography. That writer also claims to operate a "farm" where he grows vaginas as a metaphor for the material he writes.
Involvement with Stanley Kubrick
In 1955, Thompson moved to Hollywood, California, where Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
commissioned from him the screenplay adaptation of Lionel White
Lionel White
Lionel White was an American crime novelist, several of whose dark, noirish stories were made into films. His books include The Night of the Following Day , The Money Trap , The Big Caper Lionel White (January 1905 – December 1985) was an American crime novelist, several of whose dark,...
's novel Clean Break to be filmed as The Killing, Kubrick's first studio-financed movie. Although Thompson wrote most of the script, Kubrick credited himself as screenplay writer, cheating Thompson with only a vague "additional dialogue" writer credit. Nevertheless, they collaborated again in Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory is a 1957 American anti-war film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refused to continue a suicidal attack...
(mostly written by Thompson, again with little public credit); and again in the criminal story titled Lunatic at Large, a production that never materialized despite Thompson's having completed and submitted the commissioned screen treatment. Though pleased with the work, Kubrick was side-tracked by Spartacus
Spartacus (film)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
; when Kubrick returned to Lunatic at Large, the sole copy of Thompson's manuscript had been lost. Kubrick was quoted by family and friends as regretting the lost opportunity. Yet, in 1999, after Kubrick's death, son-in-law Phillip Hobbs found the manuscript among the dead director's documents; as of 2006, said project is in the pre-production stage, fifty years after Thompson wrote it.
Later novels, television work and novelizations
After his film work, Thompson remained in CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for the rest of his life. From the mid- 1950s through the late 1960s, Thompson continued to write fiction, although not at the same torrid pace of 1952 to 1954. During this era, Thompson usually completed one novel a year, but he gradually drifted away from writing his increasingly unpopular novels, abandoning the medium completely by the end of the 1960s.
With his novels providing scant income, Thompson turned to other forms of writing to pay the bills. Beginning in 1959, and continuing through the mid-1960s, Thompson also began writing television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s, including episodes of the action/adventure shows Mackenzie's Raiders
Mackenzie's Raiders
Mackenzie's Raiders is an American Western television series starring Richard Carlson that aired in syndication from 1958 until 1959. The series was narrated by Art Gilmore.-Synopsis:...
(1959), Cain's Hundred
Cain's Hundred
Cain's Hundred is an American crime drama series that aired on NBC from 1961 to 1962. The series was produced by Vanadas Productions, Inc. in association with MGM Television.-Synopsis:...
(1961) and Convoy
Convoy (TV series)
Convoy is a 13-episode American television show set during World War II that appeared on NBC for the 1965–1966 television season.The series starred John Gavin as Commander Dan Talbot of the US Navy destroyer escort "DD181" and John Larch as civilian merchant Captain Ben Foster of the cargo ship...
(1965). TV work seemingly dried up for Thompson after this point, so he turned to writing tie-in novels based on produced TV shows and screenplays: this work paid a flat fee, and could be completed quickly. Thompson's tie-ins include an original novel based on the TV series Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
(1967), as well screenplay novelizations of the films The Undefeated
The Undefeated (1969 film)
The Undefeated is a 1969 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and John Wayne and starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson. The film portrays events surrounding the French Intervention in Mexico and is also loosely based on General J. O...
(1969) and Nothing But a Man
Nothing But a Man
Nothing But a Man is a film made in 1964 and directed by Michael Roemer. The story is about a black railroad worker, who falls in love with a black school teacher, who is the town’s preacher’s daughter. The story depicts the struggle of their strife for “a meaningful place” in their society. It...
(1970).
In the late 1960s, Thompson wrote his two final original books, King Blood and Child of Rage (its provisional title had been White Mother, Black Son), neither of which were published until the early 1970s, the latter in the UK. Even his longtime supporters in the publishing industry thought the books were poorly written.
Later life and death
In 1970, Thompson was flown to Robert RedfordRobert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
's Utah residence. Redford hired him to write a motion picture script about the life of a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
during the Great 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...
. Thompson was paid $10,000 for his script Bo, though it was never produced.
Motion picture writer/director Sam Fuller expressed an interest in adapting The Getaway for the screen, and Thompson's biographer Robert Polito (in the book Savage Art) notes that Fuller so admired the novel that he quipped, half-seriously, that he could use the novel itself as a shooting script
Shooting script
A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a motion picture. Shooting scripts are distinct from spec scripts in that they make use of scene numbers , and they follow a well defined set of procedures specifying how script revisions should be implemented and...
. Eventually, Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
was slated to direct The Getaway.
In many regards, The Getaway was a frustrating repeat of his earlier experience with Kubrick. Thompson wrote a script, but Steve McQueen (who was cast in the movie's lead role of Doc McCoy) rejected it as too reliant on dialogue, with not enough action. Though Walter Hill was given the sole script credit, Thompson insisted that much of his script ended up in the film. Thompson sought Writers Guild
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
but the Guild ultimately ruled against him. In the end, the film was heavily bowdlerized from Thompson's original vision and as King writes, "if you have seen only the film version of The Getaway, you have no idea of the existential horrors awaiting Doc and Carol McCoy at the point where Sam Peckinpah
Sam Peckinpah
David Samuel "Sam" Peckinpah was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who achieved prominence following the release of the Western epic The Wild Bunch...
ended the story."
Thompson actually appeared in the 1975 movie Farewell, My Lovely
Farewell, My Lovely (1975 film)
Farewell, My Lovely is a neo-noir film directed by Dick Richards and featuring Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling. The picture is based on the novel Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler.-Plot:...
, starring Robert Mitchum. He played the character Judge Baxter Wilson Grayle. When Thompson's fortunes were fading, he made the acquaintance of writer Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison
Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
who had long admired Thompson's books. Though Thompson still drank heavily (preferring to meet at the famed writer's haunt, the Musso & Frank Grill
Musso & Frank Grill
Musso & Frank Grill is a restaurant located at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Opened in 1919, it is steeped in Hollywood history, having been the hideout of a host of famous Hollywood celebrities from days gone by...
) and Ellison was a teetotaler (preferring fast food
Fast food
Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a...
restaurants), they often met for meals and conversation.
Though Thompson's books were falling out of print in the United States, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
had discovered his works. Though they were not runaway bestsellers in France, his books did sell well enough in that country to keep a trickle of royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
flowing towards Thompson. Incidentally, Polito also debunks the myth that Thompson was not paid well for his works: Thompson's pay, he notes, was roughly in line with what writers of similar works received during that era. Rather, Thompson's drinking and general instability are what left him destitute.
Thompson died after a series of 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...
s at age 71, aggravated by his long-term alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. He refused to eat for some time prior to his death, and this self-inflicted starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
contributed greatly to his demise. At the time of his death none of his novels were in print in his home country.
Style
Thompson's stories are about grifterConfidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
s, losers, sociopath
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
s and psychopaths—some at the fringe of society, some at its heart—their nihilistic
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
world-view being best-served by first-person narrative
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
s revealing a frighteningly deep understanding of the warped mind. There are no good guys in Thompson's literature—most everyone is abusive, opportunistic, or simply biding time until able to be so.
Despite some positive critical notice, Thompson's novels were essentially lost in the crowd among dozens of peer writers who also were churning out crime novels; only after his best years as a writer did Thompson achieve a measure of fame. Yet that neglect might stem from his novels' style: the crime novels are fast-moving and compelling but sometimes sloppy and uneven. Thompson wrote quickly with little revision or editing (many novels were written in a month); using his newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
experience he produced concise, evocative prose.
Yet at his best his novels were among the most effectively and memorably written genre pieces. He also managed unusual and highly successful literary tricks: for example, halfway though A Hell Of A Woman, the first-person narrator Frank "Dolly" Dillon has a mental breakdown
Mental breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
; the sides of his personality then take turns narrating the story's chapters, alternately violently psychotic (telling the sordid tale that actually happened) or sweet-natured and patient (telling the idealized fantasy that did not happen). In the final page of the original manuscript the two sides of Dillon's broken personality appear together as two separate columns of text. The publisher disliked that, and instead alternated the two narrations in one, long paragraph, alternating standard Roman type and italicised
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
type. Thompson disliked the change, thinking it confusing and difficult for the reader.
For most of his life Jim Thompson drank heavily; the effects of alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
often featured in his works, most prominently in The Alcoholics (1953) which is set in a detoxification clinic. Donald E. Westlake
Donald E. Westlake
Donald Edwin Westlake was an American writer, with over a hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction or other genres...
, who adapted The Grifters for the screen, observed that alcoholism had a great role in Thompson's literature though it tended to be inexplicit. Westlake described typical personal relationships in Thompson novels as pleasant in the morning, argumentative in the afternoon, and abusive at night—behavior common to the alcoholic Thompson's style of life but which he elided from the stories.
Film adaptations
Two of Thompson's books (The GetawayThe Getaway (1972 film)
The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.The film is based on a novel by Jim Thompson, with the screenplay written by Walter Hill...
and The Killer Inside Me) were adapted as Hollywood motion pictures during his lifetime. However, Polito argues that neither adaptation was ultimately true to Thompson's spirit. A second, more faithful adaptation of The Killer Inside Me was released in 2010, starring Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
and directed by Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
.
French director Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier
Bertrand Tavernier is a French director, screenwriter, actor, and producer.-Life and career:Tavernier was born in Lyon, the son of Geneviève and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, several years president of the French PEN club. Tavernier wanted to become a filmmaker since the age of thirteen...
adapted Pop. 1280 for his 1981 film, Coup de Torchon
Coup de Torchon
Coup de Torchon is a 1981 French film adaptation of Jim Thompson's 1964 novel Pop. 1280, directed by Bertrand Tavernier. The film follows the novel relatively faithfully, but changes its setting from a West Texas boom town to a small town in French West Africa.-Plot:Lucien Cordier is an...
, changing the setting from the American South to a French colony in West Africa of the 1930s. Aside from shift in setting, Polito argues that Coup de Torchon was remarkably faithful to the plot and the spirit of the novel, and remains arguably the most authentic adaptation of any of Thompson's work.
A Hell of a Woman was also adapted in French as Série noire
Série noire (film)
Série noire is a 1979 French crime film directed by Alain Corneau. It was entered into the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. It is based on the novel Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson.-Cast:* Patrick Dewaere - Franck Poupart* Myriam Boyer - Jeanne...
(1979).
In the early 1990s, Hollywood resumed its interest in Thompson's writing and several of his novels were re-published. Three novels were adapted for new film treatments during that period: The Kill-Off
The Kill-Off
The Kill-Off is a neo-noir written and directed by Maggie Greenwald, based on a 1957 novel of the same name by Jim Thompson. It was an independent film, executive produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher and shot by Declan Quinn.-Plot:...
; After Dark, My Sweet
After Dark, My Sweet
After Dark, My Sweet is a neo-noir film directed by James Foley starring Jason Patric, Bruce Dern, and Rachel Ward. It is based on the 1955 Jim Thompson novel of the same name.-Plot:...
; and The Grifters
The Grifters (film)
The Grifters is a 1990 neo-noir film directed by Stephen Frears and produced by Martin Scorsese. It stars John Cusack, Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening and is based upon The Grifters, a pulp novel by Jim Thompson.-Plot:...
, which garnered four Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
nominations.
The Getaway
The Getaway (1994 film)
The Getaway is a 1994 crime thriller and a remake of the 1972 film of the same name. The film stars Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Michael Madsen, James Woods, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jennifer Tilly, and was directed by Roger Donaldson.-Plot:...
was remade in 1994 with Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
and Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
in the lead roles but the film retained the happy ending of the earlier film.
In 1996, A Swell-Looking Babe was released as Hit Me, and 1997 saw the release of This World, Then the Fireworks from Thompson's short story of that name. The latter film starred Billy Zane
Billy Zane
William George "Billy" Zane, Jr. is an American actor, producer and director. He is probably best known for his roles as Caledon Hockley in Titanic, The Phantom from The Phantom, John Wheeler in Twin Peaks and Mr...
and Gina Gershon
Gina Gershon
Gina L. Gershon is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail , Showgirls , Bound , Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back , Face/Off , The Insider , Demonlover , Category 7: The End of the World , P.S...
as a pair of twisted siblings.
Cultural references
- Thompson was a major influence on the songwriting style of Mark SandmanMark SandmanMark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor and multi-instrumentalist.An indie rock icon and longtime fixture on the Boston/Cambridge music scene, Sandman was best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine...
, the singer for Morphine (band)Morphine (band)Morphine was an American alternative rock group formed by Mark Sandman and Dana Colley in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1989. They disbanded in 1999 after frontman Sandman died of a heart attack....
and Treat Her RightTreat Her RightTreat Her Right is a blues rock group formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1984. The band originally featured Mark Sandman on guitar, Billy Conway on drums, Dave Champagne on guitar, and Jim Fitting on harmonica. Singing and songwriting duties were shared by all but Conway...
; see Sandman songs like "Murder for the Money" and "A Good Woman is Hard to Find". - There is a reference to Thompson's book The Killer Inside Me in the song, "Sri Lanka Sex Hotel", on the Dead Milkmen's Beelzebubba album, and in the song "Killer Inside Me" on MC 900 Ft. JesusMC 900 Ft. JesusMC 900 Ft. Jesus is the stage name of Mark Griffin, a classically trained musician turned rapper and experimental musician born in Dallas, Texas....
' album Welcome to My Dream. - David Thomas, lead singer of Pere UbuPere UbuPere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
, says of the band's album Why I Hate WomenWhy I Hate WomenWhy I Hate Women is Pere Ubu's thirteenth album. It finds Keith Moliné stepping in for departing longtime guitarist Tom Herman, making this the first Pere Ubu studio album not to feature any of the group's founders , either as members or as guests...
: "the back story for this album was the Jim Thompson novel he never wrote." - Songwriter, guitarist, and singer John Wesley Harding, in an introduction to his song "The Truth" during the WXRT-FM Twilight Concert at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, Ill., on Sept. 12, 1992, said the song was for anyone who had seen the 1950 American film Sunset Boulevard or "read a Jim Thompson novel."
- Donald Westlake, who adapted The Grifters for film in 1990, satirized Thompson later that year in his own novel Drowned Hopes. This book features a character named "Tom Jimson" who is hard-boiled to the point of absurdity.
- In the 1997 film Cop Land, which takes place partly in (fictitious) Garrison, New Jersey, the "Welcome to Garrison" sign pictured sixteen minutes into the film indicates that the population of the town is 1280, a reference to Thompson's novel "Pop. 1280".
- On the Cable show CalifornicationCalifornication (TV series)Californication is an American comedy-drama that premiered on Showtime on August 13, 2007. The show was created by Tom Kapinos. The protagonist, Hank Moody , is a troubled novelist whose move to California, coupled with his writer's block, complicates his relationships with his longtime girlfriend...
the character Hank Moody steals a book that he wrote called "South of Heaven", which is also the title for a novel by Jim Thompson. - Jim Thompson has been cited by Norwegian crime novelistCrime fictionCrime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
Jo Nesbo as being a major influence on his style of writing, particularly because of the way in which he described the human mind and nature.
Major works
- Now and on EarthNow and On EarthNow and On Earth is a 1942 novel by Jim Thompson, it was his first published novel.Set in San Diego during World War II, it is a semi-autobiographical description of the author's life working in an airplane manufacturing plant during the war years and the frustrations he endured there and in his...
(1942) - Heed the Thunder (aka Sins of the Fathers) (1946)
- Nothing More Than MurderNothing More Than MurderNothing More Than Murder is a 1949 crime novel by Jim Thompson. It focuses on a murderous plot by small town theater owner Joe Wilmot, his wife and his lover. Wilmot's scheme unravels slowly amid his foibles and travails as an independent businessman. A great deal of information and jargon about...
(1949) - The Killer Inside MeThe Killer Inside MeThe Killer Inside Me is a 1952 novel by American writer Jim Thompson published by Fawcett Publications. In the introduction to the anthology Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1950s, it is described as "one of the most blistering and uncompromising crime novels ever written."- Plot summary :The...
(1952) - Cropper's Cabin (1952)
- Recoil (1953)
- The AlcoholicsThe AlcoholicsThe Alcoholics is a 1953 novel by Jim Thompson. The plot evolves around Dr. Peter S. Murphy and his clinic El Healtho where he treats alcoholics. It was re-released in the 1980s along with several other Thompson books under the Black Lizard imprint, by the Creative Arts Book Company.-External links:*...
(1953) - Savage NightSavage NightSavage Night is a 1953 novel by the thriller writer Jim Thompson.-Plot summary:The action is narrated by Charles Bigger, who spends most of the novel operating under the alias Carl Bigelow. Bigger has been sent by a mob boss, known simply as The Man, to the small town of Peardale, New York...
(1953) - Bad BoyBad Boy (book)Bad Boy is a semi-autobiographical novel by Jim Thompson, published in 1953....
(1953) - The CriminalThe CriminalThe Criminal is a 1960 British drama film produced by Nat Cohen and directed by Joseph Losey, starring Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker and Jill Bennett. Baker plays an ex-con who takes part in the robbery of a racetrack and is caught and sent back to prison...
(1953) - The Golden Gizmo (aka The Golden Sinner) (1954)
- Roughneck (1954)
- A Swell-Looking Babe (1954)
- A Hell of a Woman (1954)
- The Nothing Man (1954)
- After Dark, My SweetAfter Dark, My SweetAfter Dark, My Sweet is a neo-noir film directed by James Foley starring Jason Patric, Bruce Dern, and Rachel Ward. It is based on the 1955 Jim Thompson novel of the same name.-Plot:...
(1955) - The Kill-OffThe Kill-Off (novel)The Kill-Off is an American crime novel by Jim Thompson first published in 1957, and reprinted by Vintage Crime/Black Lizard in 1999. The novel is a bleak tale of murder in a small, dying resort town being torn apart by gossip, racism, incest , alcoholism and financial difficulties...
(1957) - Wild Town (1957)
- The GetawayThe Getaway (novel)The Getaway is a 1959 crime novel by Jim Thompson that begins with a bank robbery and the later life of the robber and his wife.The novel has been adapted into film twice. The first version was a Steve McQueen vehicle: see The Getaway , and the second was a remake starring Alec Baldwin: see The...
(1959) - The Transgressors (1961)
- The GriftersThe Grifters (novel)The Grifters is a noir fiction novel by Jim Thompson, published in 1963.-Plot summary:Roy Dillon is a 25-year-old con artist living in Los Angeles. At the start of the novel, he gets hit in the stomach with a baseball bat when a simple con goes wrong. He seems to be well but when Lilly - his mother...
(1963) - Pop. 1280Pop. 1280Pop. 1280 is a novel by Jim Thompson . Although not in print at the time of his death , Pop. 1280 is part of Orion's Crime Masterworks series, a testament to the gradual rehabilitation and recognition of Jim Thompson's literary legacy: a clear exposition of an especially bleak species of American...
(1964) - Texas By the Tail (1965)
- South of Heaven (1967)
- Nothing But a Man (1970)
- Child of RageChild of RageChild of Rage is a CBS Television movie made in 1992 starring Ashley Peldon and Mel Harris. The film is based on the true story by Beth Thomas, who suffered from reactive attachment disorder as a result of being sexually abused as a child....
(1972) - King Blood (1973)
- Jim Thompson Omnibus (1983) (republished in 1995)
- Jim Thompson Omnibus 2 (1985) (republished in 1997)
- Fireworks: The Lost Writings of Jim Thompson (1988)
- The Rip-Off (1989)