Arthur Calder-Marshall (19 August 1908 – 17 April 1992) was an English novelist, essayist, critic,

memoirist A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) ...

, and biographer.

Life and career

Calder-Marshall was born in El Misti, Woodcote Road, Wallington,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, the son of Alice (Poole) and Arthur Grotjan Marshall (later Calder-Marshall; 1875 –1958), a civil engineer. The elder Arthur was grandson of the sculptor William Calder Marshall (1813–1894). William Calder Marshall's father William Marshall (1780–1859), D.L. (Edinburgh), a goldsmith (including to the King in the early nineteenth century) and jeweller, had married Annie, daughter of merchant William Calder,

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

1810–11, by his wife Agnes, a daughter of landed gentleman Hugh Dalrymple. The Marshall family were Episcopalian goldsmiths from Perthshire; the Calder family were merchants. In his youth, Calder-Marshall lived with his family in Steyning, where he made friends with Victor Neuberg, the poet and associate of

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

. His 1951 memoir ''The Magic of My Youth'' includes extensive anecdotes re: Neuberg (nicknamed "Vickybird"), Crowley himself, and other Crowley associates such as Raoul Loveday and Betty May. A short, unhappy stint teaching English at Denstone College, Staffordshire, 1931–33, inspired his novel ''Dead Centre''. In the 1930s, Calder-Marshall adopted strong left-wing views. He joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

and was also a member of the London-based left-wing Writers and Readers Group which also included Randall Swingler, Sylvia Townsend Warner,

Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in the English language, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer class in the traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, ...

Maurice Richardson Maurice Lane Richardson (1907–1978) was an English journalist and short story writer. Early life and education Richardson was born to a wealthy family; his father, a successful stockjobber, "after retirement and some financial ups and downs" ...

and

Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, (1 August 1881 – 30 October 1958) was an English writer, most noted for her award-winning novel ''The Towers of Trebizond'', about a small Anglo-Catholic group crossing Turkey by camel. The story is seen as a spiri ...

. In 1937, Calder-Marshall wrote scripts for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

although none appears to have been filmed. Calder-Marshall's fiction and non-fiction covered a wide range of subjects. He himself remarked, "I have never written two books on the same subject or with the same object." In the 1960s, Calder-Marshall took on commissioned work which included a

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the

Dirk Bogarde Sir Dirk Bogarde (born Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde; 28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999) was an English actor, novelist and screenwriter. Initially a matinée idol in films such as ''Doctor in the House (film), Doctor in the Hous ...

film ''Victim''. He has additionally been proposed as the author of '' The Adventures of James Bond Junior 003½'' a children's novel about British spy

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

's nephew, published under the pseudonym R. D. Mascott. With his wife, documentary screenplay-writer Ara (born Violet Nancy Sales), he was the father of the actress Anna Calder-Marshall and the grandfather of the actor Tom Burke. He and his wife visited the English novelist

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.

in Mexico and attested to his chronic alcoholism-fuelled creative processes in an interview they gave which was included in the 1976 documentary '' Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry''.

Media adaptations

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

adapted '' The Way to Santiago'' in 1941 for

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

. However Welles's troubles with the studio meant that no film was made.

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was nominated for three Academy Awards, three Golden Globes (winning once) and two ...

purchased the film rights to ''Occasion of Glory'', intending to make this project his directorial debut. Mason hired

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

to write the script.

Bibliography

Biography

"The Enthusiast; An Enquiry into the Life Beliefs and Character of the Rev. Joseph Leycester Lyne alias Fr. Ignatius, O.S.B., Abbot of Elm Hill, Norwich and Llanthony Wales" (1962, Faber and Faber; Facsimile reprint 2000, Llanerch Publishers, Felinfach)

Adult fiction

Novels: *''Two of a Kind'' (1933) *''About Levy'' (1933) *''At Sea'' (1934) *''Dead Centre'' (1935) *''Pie in the Sky'' (1937) *'' The Way to Santiago'' (1940) *''A Man Reprieved'' (1949) *''Occasion of Glory'' (1955) *''The Scarlet Boy'' (1961) Short fiction: *''Crime Against Cania'' (1934) *''A Pink Doll'' (1935) *''A Date with a Duchess'' (1937) Play: *''Season of Goodwill'' (1965) (based on ''Every Third Thought'' by Dorothea Malm)Some authorities attribute this work to

Arthur Marshall (broadcaster) Arthur Marshall, MBE (10 May 1910 – 27 January 1989) was a British writer, raconteur and broadcaster, born in Barnes, London in the UK. He was best known as a team captain on the BBC's ''Call My Bluff''. Early life Charles Arthur Bertram Mar ...

. As William Drummond: *''

Midnight Lace ''Midnight Lace'' is a 1960 American psychological thriller film directed by David Miller (director), David Miller and starring Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin, Myrna Loy, and Roddy McDowall. The plot centers on a woman threatened by an anon ...

'' (1960) (novelisation) *'' Victim'' 1961 (novelisation) *''

Life for Ruth ''Life for Ruth'' (U.S. title: ''Walk in the Shadow'') is a 1962 British drama film produced by Michael Relph directed by Basil Dearden and starring Michael Craig, Patrick McGoohan and Janet Munro. Plot John Harris finds himself ostracized ...

'' 1962 (novelisation) *'' Night Must Fall'' 1964 (novelisation) *'' Gaslight'' 1966 (novelisation)

Children's fiction

*''The Man from Devil's Island'' (1958) *''The Fair to Middling'' (1959)

Adult non-fiction

Memoirs *''The Magic of My Youth'' (1951) Travel *''Glory Dead'' (Trinidad) (1939) *''The Watershed'' (Yugoslavia) (1947) Miscellany *(With Edward J. H. O'Brien and J. Davenport) ''The Guest Book'' (1935 and 1936) *''Challenge to Schools: A Pamphlet on Public School Education'' (1935) *''The Changing Scene'' (essays on English society) (1937) *(With others) ''Writing in Revolt: Theory and Examples'' (1937) *''The Book Front'' (1947) *''No Earthly Command'' (biography of Alexander Riall Wadham Woods) (1957) *''Havelock Ellis: A Biography'' (1959) US title ''The Sage of Sex: A Life of Havelock Ellis'' (1960) *''The Enthusiast'' (biography of Joseph Leycester Lyne) (1962) *''The Innocent Eye'' (biography of

Robert Flaherty Robert Joseph Flaherty, (; February 16, 1884 – July 23, 1951) was an American filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature-length documentary film, '' Nanook of the North'' (1922). The film made his reputati ...

) (1963) *''Wish You Were Here: The Art of Donald McGill'' (1966) *''Lewd, Blasphemous, and Obscene: Being the Trials and Tribulations of Sundry Founding Fathers of Today's Alternative Societies'' (1972) *''The Grand Century of the Lady'' (1976) *''The Two Duchesses'' (1978)

Children's non-fiction

*''Lone Wolf: The Story of Jack London'' (1963)

Editor

Calder-Marshall edited and wrote the introduction to: *''Tobias Smollett'' (1950) *''The Bodley Head Jack London'' (four volumes: 1963–66) *''Prepare to Shed Them Now: The Ballads of George R. Sims'' (1968) *''Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man and Other Writings'' (1970)

References

Additional sources

*''The Reader's Companion to Twentieth-Century Writers'', Frank Kermode, Peter Parker eds. (London: Fourth Estate, 1995), page 126 *''Contemporary Authors New Revision Series'', volume 72, Gale. *''St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers'', David Pringle, (St. James Press, 1998) *''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature: Volume 2'', R. Reginald, Douglas Menville, Mary A. Burgess (Wildside Press LLC, 2010), pp. 840–1

External links