John McCarten (September 10, 1911,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

– September 25, 1974,

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

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', 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#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

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'', ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...

'', 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 film director. 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 featu ...

in particular, whose films McCarten regularly panned. The screenplay for the 1956 British romantic comedy film '' The Silken Affair'' 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 had McCarten barred from the opening night of '' Do Re Mi''. In July 1967, McCarten suddenly quit reviewing and moved to

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. 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."

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarten, John 1911 births 1974 deaths American film critics American theater critics Writers from Philadelphia The New Yorker critics 20th-century 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)