John McCarten (September 10, 1911,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

– September 25, 1974,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was an American writer who contributed about 1,000 pieces for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', serving as the magazine's film critic from 1945 to 1960 and

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

critic from 1960 to 1967. McCarten was born in Philadelphia into an Irish-American family. After serving in the Merchant Marine, he started writing for ''

American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

'', ''

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'', and ''

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'' during the 1930s. In 1934, he joined ''The New Yorker'' and began contributing satirical short stories and irreverent profiles. He became the magazine's regular film critic in 1945, employing a writing style that tended to be terse and was often condescending. He gained a reputation as something of a nemesis of

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

in particular, whose films McCarten regularly panned. The screenplay for the 1956 British romantic comedy film ''

The Silken Affair ''The Silken Affair'' is a 1956 British romantic comedy film directed by Roy Kellino and starring David Niven, Geneviève Page, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Joan Sims, Irene Handl and Ronald Squire. The screenplay concerns an accountant who is creativ ...

'' was adapted from an idea by McCarten. In 1960, McCarten switched to theatre criticism, where he was no less tough; on one occasion, theatrical producer

David Merrick David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards. Life and career Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick gra ...

had McCarten barred from the opening night of '' Do Re Mi''. In July 1967, McCarten suddenly quit reviewing and moved to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The following year, he submitted the first of his "Irish Sketches", a series of light pieces about Irish art and culture that ran in ''The New Yorker'' between February 24, 1968, and November 20, 1971.

Death

John McCarten died of cancer at the age of 63. He married three times and had two sons. His obituary in ''

'' remembered him as "a witty writer, whose sharpest weapon was mockery. Yet, given the force of the opinions he would pronounce in conversation, one marveled to observe his comparative gentleness in print. For, much as he might deplore certain human failings, he could never bear to injure those who embodied them. He learned to tell the truth about people in such a way that, far from feeling savaged, they felt praised."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarten, John 1911 births 1974 deaths American film critics American theater critics Writers from Philadelphia The New Yorker critics The New Yorker people American short story writers American people of Irish descent Journalists from Pennsylvania 20th-century American journalists American male journalists Deaths from cancer in New York (state)