GREAT DETECTIVES & PEOPLE OF MYSTERY #45

JOHN J. MALONE

 Malone is a ne'er-do-well, bibulous attorney.  As Chicago's noisiest and most noted criminal lawyer, he acts more like a private eye.  Hard drinking and frequently drunk, he's far more likely to be found at Joe the Angel's City Hall Bar than in court.  His boozing buddies, Jake Justus and Helene Brand, are amateur sleuths.  Jake is a handsome, fast-talking, but not too bright press agent, and Helene is an impulsive heiress who likes to drive drunk and who later marries Jake.  Whatever the case is though, its Malone who always cracks it.  Despite being a drunk and a blowhard, Malone inspires extreme loyalty in his friends, among whom are his secretary - the long-suffering, lovesick, frequently unpaid Maggie Cassidy, and Captain Flannagan of the Homicide Squad.

Malone's marginal law practice reflects his greater interest - drinking.  His "Personal" file usually contains a bottle of rye.  In "Trial by Fury" Jake and Helene are on their honeymoon in Wisconsin when they are accused of murder.  They call Malone, who leaves his customary urban haunts to rescue them.  In the short story "His Heart Could Break", a sober Malone is determined to discover why his client, in the Illinois State Prison death house, hanged himself - even though Malone had uncovered enough evidence to get him a new trial.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The character of Malone was created by Craig Rice (1908 - 1957).  She was known as the Dorothy Parker of detective fiction - she wrote the binge, and lived the hangover.  Born in Chicago as Georgiana Ann Randolph Craig, she grew up in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin.  She began writing as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal and the Chicago American.  For many years she wrote for radio, novels and poetry, but it wasn't until her first Malone story that she achieved success.  Gritty but humorous, her stories combined hardboiled detective fiction with screwball comedy.  She appeared on the cover of Time magazine on January 28, 1946.  She was married numerous times - the exact number is not known - but at least four times and possibly as many as seven, along with other affairs.  She was a long time devotee of true crime, and she edited the book "Los Angeles Murders" in 1946, and wrote "45 Murderers" in 1952.  Craig Rice was an alcoholic who suffered from deteriorating health.  She was deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.  She made several suicide attempts, finally dying of a barbiturate and alcohol overdose when she was 49.

NOVELS

1939 "Eight Faces at Three" (Two Complete Detective Books #22, Sept. 1943)/  1940 "The Corpse Steps Out" (Two Complete Detective Books #24, Jan. 1944)/  1940 "The Wrong Murder"/  1941 "The Right Murder" (Two Complete Detective Books #16, Winter 1942)/  1941 "Trial by Fury" (Two Complete Detective Books #20, Apr. 1943)/  1942 "The Big Midget Murders" (Two Complete Detective Books #18, Feb. 1943)/  1943 "Having a Wonderful Crime" (Detective Book Magazine Fall 1944)/  1945 "Lucky Stiff"/  1948 "The Fourth Postman"/  1957 "My Kingdom for a Hearse"/  1957 "Knocked for a Loop"/  1958 "My Name is Malone" (s.s.)/  1963 "The People vs. Withers and Malone" (s.s.)/  1967 "But the Doctor Died"

SHORT STORIES

"His Heart Could Break" (EQMM Mar. 1943)/  "Dead Man's Shoes" (Baffling Detective Mysteries July 1943)/  "Good-Bye, Good-Bye!" (EQMM June 1946)/  "Good-Bye Forever" (EQMM Dec. 1951)/  "And the Birds Still Sing" (EQMM Dec. 1952)/  "Case of the Vanishing Blonde" (Dime Detective Dec. 1952)/  "The Tears of Evil" (Manhunt Mar. 1953)/  "Don't Go Near" (Manhunt May 1953)/  "The Dead Mr. Duck" (Verdict Aug. 1953)/  "The End of Fear" (Manhunt Aug. 1953)/  "Life Can Be Horrible" (Manhunt Sept. 1953)/  "Motive" (Verdict Sept. 1953)/  "The Bells Are Ringing" (Manhunt Nov. 1953)/  "Murder Marches On!" (Manhunt Dec. 1953)/  "I'm a Stranger Here Myself" (Manhunt Feb. 1954)/  "The Little Knife That Wasn't There" (Malcolm's May 1954)/  "I'll See You in My Dreams" (Nero Wolfe Mystery Magazine June 1954)/  "No Vacancies" (Manhunt June 1954)/  "Murder in the Family" (The Saint Detective Magazine Nov. 1954)/  "Flowers to the Fair" (Manhunt Dec. 25, 1954)/  "Beyond the Shadow of a Dream" (EQMM Feb. 1955)/  "No Motive for Murder" (The Saint Detective Magazine July 1955)/  "Shot in the Dark" (Manhunt Aug. 1955)/  "The Headless Hatbox" (Double Action Detective Stories #3, 1955)/  "The Frightened Millionaire" (The Saint Detective Magazine Apr. 1956)/  "Dead Men Spend No Cash" (Suspect Detective Stories Aug. 1956)/  "The Quiet Life" (Michael Shayne Mystery Magazine Sept. 1956)/  "No, Not Like Yesterday" (The Saint Detective Magazine Nov. 1956)/  "He Never Went Home" (Manhunt Mar. 1957)/  "Say It with Flowers" (Manhunt Sept. 1957)/  "Cheese It, the Corpse" (Manhunt Nov. 1957)/  "One More Clue" (Manhunt Apr. 1958)/  "The Very Groovy Corpse" (The Saint Mystery Magazine Nov. 1958)/  "They're Trying to Kill Me" (The Saint Mystery Magazine Feb. 1959)/  "Wry Highball" (EQMM Mar. 1959)/  "The Butler Who Didn't Do It" (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine June 1960).

Craig Rice teamed up with Stuart Palmer, creator of Hildegarde Withers, and combined their two characters in a half dozen stories.

"Once Upon a Train" (EQMM Oct. 1950)/  "Cherchez la Frame" (EQMM June 1951)/  "Autopsy and Eva" (EQMM Aug. 1954)/  "Rift in the Loot" (EQMM Apr. 1955)/  "Withers and Malone, Brain Stormers" (EQMM Mar. 1959)/  "Withers and Malone, Crime Busters" (EQMM Nov. 1963).

FILMS

"Having a Wonderful Crime" RKO, 1945.  Pat O'Brien (Malone), George Murphy (Jake Justus), Carole Landis (Helene), Lenore Aubert, George Zucco, Gloria Holden, Chili Williams.  Director: A. Edward Sutherland.  Malone accompanies newlywed friends Jake and Helene to a vacation resort after seeing a magician do a disappearing act and fail to reappear.

"The Lucky Stiff" United Artists, 1949.  Brian Donlevy (Malone), Dorothy Lamour, Claire Trevor.  Director: Lewis R. Foster.  Malone arranges with the Governor to secretly exonerate a convicted cabaret singer headed for the electric chair so that she can "haunt" members of a protection racket.

"Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone" MGM, 1950.  James Whitmore (Malone), Marjorie Main, Ann Dvorak, Dorothy Malone, Phyllis Kirk.  Director: Norman Taurog.  Based on "Once Upon a Train".  The action takes place mainly on a New York bound train.  Several paassengers are murdered and their bodies vanish.

RADIO

"Having a Wonderful Crime" was heard on The Old Gold Comedy Theater on July 3, 1945, with Pat O'Brien recreating his role as Malone, with Tom Conway and June Duprez as Jake and Helene.

"Murder and Mr. Malone" ran on ABC with Frank Lovejoy as Malone.  The series ran May 24, 1947 to April 28, 1948.  "The Amazing Mr. Malone" aired on NBC January 29, 1950 until July 13, 1951, with Eugene Raymond as Malone.

TELEVISION

A pilot for a proposed series ran on ABC on February 14, 1950, with Gene Raymond as Malone and guest starring Fred Clark and Raymond Burr.  A year later "The Amazing Mr. Malone" aired on ABC for 13 episodes, September 24, 1951 - March 10, 1952.  Lee Tracy played Malone and the show was sponsored by Seiberling Rubber Company.

"George Sanders Mystery Theater" was a 30-minute mystery anthology series that adapted stories from the Mystery Writers of America.  On August 3, 1957 they presented an adaptation of the Rice story "And the Birds Still Sing".  John Archer portrayed the Malone character, but for this production the name was changed to Francis Parnell.  Mae Clarke co-starred.