James Hilton

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James Hilton (born September 9, 1900 in Leigh , Lancashire , England , † December 20, 1954 in Long Beach , California ) was a British writer .

Life

Hilton studied at Cambridge , then worked as a journalist in London . He published his first works at the age of 20, although his first books were hardly successful. Under the pseudonym Glen Trevor he wrote the detective novel Murder at School in 1931 . His breakthrough came in 1934 with the novella Goodbye, Mr Chips , which deals with the life story of a humorous English teacher and was particularly popular in the USA.

Subsequently, his novel The Lost Horizon , published in 1933 (also published as Irgendwo in Tibet or Verwirrener Horizont ; original title: Lost Horizon ), which had only sold moderately until then, received a lot of attention. The utopian novel sold over eight million copies and made Hilton and the place he invented Shangri-La known worldwide. For the work he received the Hawthornden Prize in 1934 .

James Hilton moved to the United States in 1937 and settled first in Hollywood and later in Long Beach . Hollywood was also to successfully film several of his works, for example the novel Random Harvest , published in 1941 , which thematized the late aftermath of World War I using a couple in love. Despite his move to the USA, many of Hiltons works continued to be set in Great Britain and were mostly solemn and at the same time authentic representations of the English way of life between the world wars. For his work on the screenplay of William Wyler's film Mrs. Miniver based on the novel Mrs. Miniver Experiences the Pre- War Period by Jan Struther , he was awarded the Oscar for best adapted screenplay in 1943. His later novels were not quite as popular as the two world successes from the 1930s, in Morning Journey he processed his experiences in the Hollywood business in 1951. Between 1948 and 1953, Hilton also hosted the Hallmark Playhouse radio show on CBS Radio .

James Hilton was married twice, from 1935 to 1937 to the BBC secretary Alice Brown, and from 1937 to 1945 to the stage actress Galina Kopernak. Both marriages ended in divorce. The writer died of liver cancer at the age of 54 in the presence of his first wife, Alice, with whom he was reconciled.

Works

  • Catherine Herself , 1920
  • Storm Passage , 1922
  • The Passionate Year , 1924
  • The Dawn Of Reckoning (US title: Rage In Heaven ), 1925
  • The Meadows Of The Moon , 1926
  • Terry , 1927
  • The Silver Flame , 1928
  • And Now Goodbye , 1931
    • German first edition: A farewell . Trans. V. Carl Bach. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1949
  • Contango , 1932
    • German first edition: thunderstorm wind . Trans. V. Hans R. Wyss. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1944
  • Knight Without Armor , 1933
    • German first edition: A silent hero . Only authorized transfer of Elizabeth species. Benziger, Einsiedeln / Cologne 1936
  • Lost Horizon , 1933
    • German first edition: Somewhere in Tibet. Story of an adventure . German v. Herberth E. Herlitschka. Reichner, Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 1936
      • current issue: The lost horizon . Piper (sp 3963), Munich 6. A. 2007, ISBN 3-492-23963-3
        • Revised translation: The Lost Horizon. Looking for Shangri-La . Novel. Arche, Zurich 2001, ISBN 3-7160-2286-1
This novel brought the breakthrough. His description of the Shangri-La lama practice has had a lasting impact on the western view of Tibet and Lamaism to this day. Separately from the novel, the term “Shangri-La” took on a life of its own in Western countries that continues to this day.
  • Goodbye, Mr. Chips , 1934
    • German first edition: Farewell, old chips . German v. Herberth E. Herlitschka. Reichner, Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 1936
  • We Are Not Alone , 1937
    • German first edition: We are not alone . German v. Herberth E. Herlitschka. Reichner, Leipzig / Vienna / Zurich 1937
  • To You, Mr Chips , 1938
  • Random Harvest , 1941
    • German first edition: Found years . Trans. V. Hans R. Wyss. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1941
  • The Story Of Dr Wassell , 1944
    • German first edition: The story of Dr. Wassell . Trans. V. Hans R. Wyss. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1945
  • So Well Remembered , 1945
    • German first edition: George Boswells Geschick . Trans. V. Hans R. Wyss. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1946
  • Nothing So Strange , 1947
    • German first edition: Strange as the truth . Trans. V. Hans R. Wyss. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1948
  • Twilight Of The Wise , 1949
  • Morning Journey , 1951
    • German first edition: The director . Trans. V. Carl Bach. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1951
  • Time And Time Again , 1953
    • German first edition: year after year. A diplomat's novel . In Dt. transferred by Hans B. Wagenseil. Desch, Munich 1954

As Glen Trevor :

  • Murder at school. A Detective Fantasia , 1931
    • German first edition: A second accident? . Detective novel. Authorized transfer from Karl Häuser. Tal (The red-blue books 6), Leipzig / Vienna 1937

Filmography

script
Literary template

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Good-bye, Mr. Chips. Retrieved February 14, 2018 .
  2. ^ Google Books ; Michael Buckley: Shangri-La: A Practical Guide to the Himalayan Dream
personal data
SURNAME Hilton, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Trevor, Glen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 9, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Leigh , Lancashire
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1954
Place of death Long Beach