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James Hilton (9 September 1900 – 20 December 1954) was an English novelist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for his novels '' Lost Horizon'', ''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'' and '' Random Harvest'', as well as co-writing screenplays for the films '' Camille'' (1936) and '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), the latter earning him an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.


Early life

Hilton was born in
Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staff ...
, Lancashire, the son of John Hilton, the headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow. He was educated at the Monoux School Walthamstow till 1914, then
The Leys School The Leys School is a co-educational independent school in Cambridge, England. It is a day and boarding school for about 574 pupils between the ages of eleven and eighteen, and a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. Histo ...
, Cambridge, and then at
Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
, where he wrote his first novel and was awarded an honours degree in English literature. He started work as a journalist, first for the ''
Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the G ...
'', then reviewing fiction for '' The Daily Telegraph''.


Career

Hilton's first novel, ''Catherine Herself,'' was published in 1920 when he was still an undergraduate. The next 11 years were difficult for him, and it was not until 1931 that he had success with the novel ''And Now Goodbye''. Following this, several of his books were international bestsellers and inspired successful film adaptations, notably '' Lost Horizon'' (1933), which won a Hawthornden Prize; ''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'' (1934); and '' Random Harvest'' (1941). After this, he continued to write, but the works were not regarded as of the same quality as his better-known novels. Hilton's books are sometimes characterised as sentimental and idealistic celebrations of English virtues. This is true of ''Mr. Chips'', but some of his novels had a darker side. Flaws in the English society of his time—particularly narrow-mindedness and class-consciousness—were frequently his targets. His novel '' We Are Not Alone'', despite its inspirational-sounding title, is a grim story of legally approved lynching brought on by wartime hysteria in Britain. Sigmund Freud, an early admirer despite his tepid reaction to ''The Meadows of the Moon'', came to conclude that Hilton had wasted his talent by being too prolific. From 1948 to 1952, Hilton was also host of one of radio's prestige drama anthologies, ''
Hallmark Playhouse ''Hallmark Playhouse'' is an American old-time radio dramatic anthology series. It was broadcast on CBS from June 10, 1948 until February 1, 1953, and was described by one author as "a program that consistently produced the highest levels of prod ...
''. He also presented six episodes of ''
Ceiling Unlimited ''Ceiling Unlimited'' (later known as ''America — Ceiling Unlimited'') (1942–1944) is a CBS radio series created by Orson Welles and sponsored by the Lockheed-Vega Corporation. The program was conceived to glorify the aviation industry and dr ...
'' (1943) and hosted ''The Hallmark Playhouse'' (1948–1953) for
CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting, Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the ...
.


''Lost Horizon''

First published in 1933, this novel won Hilton the Hawthornden Prize in 1934. Later, Pocket Books, which pioneered the publication of small, soft-cover, inexpensive books, picked '' Lost Horizon'' as its first title in 1939. For that reason, the novel is frequently called the book that began the "paperback revolution." Hilton is said to have been inspired to write ''Lost Horizon'', and to invent "
Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, g ...
" by reading the '' National Geographic'' articles of
Joseph Rock Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884 – 1962) was an Austrian-American botanist, explorer, geographer, linguist, ethnographer and photographer. Life Josef Franz Karl Rock was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of a steward of a Polish count. As a r ...
, an
Austrian-American Austrian Americans (, ) are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. The ...
botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and
ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...
exploring the southwestern Chinese provinces and Tibetan borderlands. Still living in Britain at the time, Hilton was perhaps influenced by the Tibetan travel articles of early travelers in Tibet whose writings were found in the British Library. Christian Zeeman, the
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
father of the mathematician Christopher Zeeman, has also been claimed to be the model for the hero of the story. He disappeared while living in Japan (where his son was born in 1925), and was reputed to be living incognito in a Zen Buddhist monastery. Some say that the isolated valley town of
Weaverville, California Weaverville is a census-designated place and the county seat of Trinity County, California in the United States. Its population is 3,667 as of the 2020 census, up from 3,600 from the 2010 census. History Founded in 1850, Weaverville is a histori ...
, in far-northern Trinity County, was a source, but this is the result of a misinterpretation of a comment by Hilton in a 1941 interview, in which he said that Weaverville reminded him of Shangri-La. Coincidentally, Junction City (about 8 miles from Weaverville) now has a Tibetan Buddhist centre with the occasional Tibetan monks in
saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...
robes. The name "
Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, g ...
" has become a byword for a mythical utopia, a permanently happy land, isolated from the world. After the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, when the fact that the bombers had flown from an aircraft carrier remained highly classified, U.S. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...
told the press facetiously that they had taken off from Shangri-La. The Navy subsequently gave that name to an
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for Carrier-based aircraft, carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a ...
, and Roosevelt named his presidential retreat in Maryland Shangri-La. (Later, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
renamed the retreat
Camp David Camp David is the country retreat for the president of the United States of America. It is located in the wooded hills of Catoctin Mountain Park, in Frederick County, Maryland, near the towns of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, about north-northwes ...
after his grandson, and that name has been used for it ever since.)
Zhongdian Shangri-La (, Tibetan: Gyalthang) is a county-level city in Northwestern Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China and is the location of the seat of the Dêqên Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, bordering Sichuan to the northwest, north, and e ...
, a mountain region of northwest Tibet, has been renamed Shangri-La (Xianggelila), based on its claim to have inspired Hilton's book.


''Goodbye, Mr. Chips''

W.H. Balgarnie, a master at The Leys School, Cambridge and Hilton's father, headmaster of Chapel End School in Walthamstow, were the inspirations for the character of Mr. Chipping in ''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'', a best-seller. Hilton first sent the material to '' The Atlantic'', and the magazine printed it as a short story in April 1934. On 8 June, it was published as a book. Four months later it appeared as a book in Britain.


Personal life

Hilton wrote his two best remembered books, '' Lost Horizon'' and ''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'', while living in a house at 42 Oak Hill Gardens, in
Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping ...
in northeast London. The house still stands, with a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
marking Hilton's residence. By 1938, he had moved to California, and his work became more connected with the Hollywood film industry. He married Alice Brown, a secretary at the BBC, just before they left for the United States in 1935, but they divorced in 1937. The same year, he married actress
Galina Kopernak Galina Kopernak (March 22, 1902 – July 11, 1985) was a Russian theater actress who appeared on Broadway in the 1920s. She may have been originally from Shanghai. She came to the United States from Moscow. Stage career Kopernak performed a ...
, but they divorced eight years later. He became an American citizen in 1948.


Death

A heavy smoker, Hilton had various health problems when he made a farewell visit to England in 1954, and in December he died at his home in Long Beach, California, from liver cancer, with his reconciled former wife Alice at his side. His obituary in '' The Times'' describes him as "a modest and retiring man for all his success; he was a keen mountaineer and enjoyed music and travel." He was buried at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach) Forest Lawn-Long Beach is a 38-acre mortuary and memorial garden in Long Beach, California, United States. The gardens were established as Sunnyside Memorial Gardens in 1921 by Cecil E. Bryan, Sr., an entrepreneur whose family operated the facili ...
.


Works


Novels

*''Catherine Herself'' (1920) *''Storm Passage'' (1922) *''The Passionate Year'' (1924) *''Dawn of Reckoning'' (U.S. title: ''Rage in Heaven'') (1925) *''Meadows of the Moon'' (1926) *''Terry'' (1927) *''The Silver Flame'' (U.S. title: ''Three Loves Had Margaret'') (1928) *'' Murder at School'' (U.S. title: ''Was It Murder?''), published under the pen-name Glen Trevor (1931) *''And Now Goodbye'' (1931) *''Contango'' (''Ill Wind'') (1932) * ''Rage in Heaven'' (1932) *''
Knight Without Armour ''Knight Without Armour'' (styled as ''Knight Without Armor'' in some releases) is a 1937 British historical drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat. It was directed by Jacques Feyder and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenpl ...
'' (U.S. title: ''Without Armor'') (1933) *'' Lost Horizon'' (1933) *''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'' (1934) *'' We Are Not Alone'' (1937) *'' Random Harvest'' (1941) *''So Well Remembered'' (1945) *''Nothing So Strange'' (1947) *''Morning Journey'' (1951) *''Time and Time Again'' (1953)


Non-fiction

*''Mr. Chips Looks at the World'' (1939) *'' The Story of Dr. Wassell'' (1944) *''H.R.H.: The Story of Philip, Duke of Edinburgh'' (1956)


Short stories

*"The Failure" (1924) *"Twilight of the Wise," published as a novella in 1949 (1936) *"The Bat King" (1937) *"It's a Crazy World" (1937) *"From Information Received" (1938) *"The Girl Who Got There" (1938) *''To You, Mr Chips!'' (collection) (1938) *"You Can't Touch Dotty" (1938)


Plays

*''And Now Goodbye'' (with Philip Howard) (1937) *''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (with Barbara Burnham) (1938)


Screenplays

*'' Camille'' (1936) *'' We Are Not Alone'' (1939) *''Lights Out in Europe'' (1940) *'' Foreign Correspondent'' (dialogue) (1940) *''
The Tuttles of Tahiti ''The Tuttles of Tahiti'' is a 1942 American adventure comedy romance film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Charles Laughton and Jon Hall. It was based on the novel ''No More Gas'' by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff. Plot When mer ...
'' (1942) *'' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) *'' Forever and a Day'' (collaboration) (1943)


Adaptations and sequels of his works

Some of Hilton's novels were filmed: *'' Lost Horizon'' (
1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...
,
1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
) *''
Knight Without Armour ''Knight Without Armour'' (styled as ''Knight Without Armor'' in some releases) is a 1937 British historical drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and Robert Donat. It was directed by Jacques Feyder and produced by Alexander Korda from a screenpl ...
'' (1937) *'' We Are Not Alone'' (1939) with a screenplay by Hilton *''
Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...
'' (
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
,
1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
, 1984, 2002) *''
Rage in Heaven ''Rage in Heaven'' is a 1941 American psychological thriller film noir about the destructive power of jealousy. It was directed by W.S. Van Dyke and based on the 1932 novel by James Hilton. It features Robert Montgomery, Ingrid Bergman, and Geo ...
'' (1941) *'' Random Harvest'' (1942), reprised on radio in 1943 *'' The Story of Dr. Wassell'' (1944), starring Gary Cooper *''
So Well Remembered ''So Well Remembered'' is a 1947 British drama film starring John Mills, Martha Scott, and Trevor Howard. The film was based on James Hilton's 1945 novel of the same title and tells the story of a reformer and the woman he marries in a fictional ...
'' (1947) starring
John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...
and narrated by Hilton Hilton co-wrote the book and lyrics for ''
Shangri-La Shangri-La is a fictional place in Asia's Kunlun Mountains (昆仑山), Uses the spelling 'Kuen-Lun'. described in the 1933 novel '' Lost Horizon'' by English author James Hilton. Hilton portrays Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, g ...
'', a disastrous 1956 Broadway musical adaptation of ''Lost Horizon''. There is one sequel to ''Lost Horizon'' titled ''Shangri-La'' and written by Eleanor Cooney and Daniel Altieri. It was licensed by the publisher William Morrow (an imprint of HarperCollins) and approved by the heirs to the Hilton Estate, Elizabeth Hill and Mary Porterfield. ''Shangri-La'' continues James Hilton's tale, moving it forward in time to the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and from there travelling back to the 1930s. In addition to its U.S. publication, the novel was further published in Germany, France, Spain and Portugal and Poland and (Eastern Europe) was a ''New York Times'' Notable Book.The New York Times, 1996 "...Subtle and beautiful." (date of review needs researching)


Memorials

A furore was caused in the late 1990s, when
Wigan Council The Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in the United Kingdom. It consists of 75 Councillors with one-third being elected every three years in four. The borough is separated into 25 war ...
(the Metropolitan Borough responsible for Leigh) announced that a
blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
in honour of Hilton would be placed not on his house in Wilkinson Street, but on the town hall. This caused great debate amongst the populace of Leigh, which considered it more appropriate to have it on the house itself, which is only a few hundred yards from the town hall. Subsequently, in 2013, a blue plaque was affixed to his birthplace at 26 Wilkinson Street. In 1997, a blue plaque was erected on the wall of 42 Oakhill Gardens,
Woodford Green Woodford Green is an area of Woodford in north-east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Buckhurst Hill to the north, Woodford Bridge to the east, South Woodford to the south, and Chingford to the west. Epping ...
, the modest semi-detached house in which Hilton was living with his parents from 1921. James Hilton should not be confused with the Leigh businessman of the same name who became chairman of Leigh Rugby League Football Club after the war and after whom the club's former ground, Hilton Park (1947–2009), was named.


References


Further reading

*Roland Green in American Library Association (ALA) Booklist, 1996 (mo.?) *Shangri-La, Kirkus Reviews Issue 15 Feb. 1996 *Shangri-La: Morrow/ Harper Collins/ pub. 1 May. 1996 Lib. Cong. 0-688-12872-6


External links


James Hilton Society
(June 2009)
James Hilton Society Archived Website
(June 2009) * * *

a
Project Gutenberg AustraliaLost Horizon: NonProfit Fan Club of James Hilton's Book and Inspired Arts
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, James Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 1900 births 1954 deaths People educated at The Leys School Deaths from liver cancer People from Leigh, Greater Manchester Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century English novelists Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Male screenwriters English male novelists 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English screenwriters Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Long Beach)