Damon Runyon
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was a newspaperman and writer.
He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the Brooklyn or Midtown demi-monde. The adjective "Runyonesque" refers to this type of character as well as to the type of situations and dialog that Runyon depicted. He spun humorous tales of gamblers, hustlers, actors, and gangsters, few of whom go by "square" names, preferring instead colorful monikers such as "Nathan Detroit," "Big Jule," "Harry the Horse," "Good Time Charley," "Dave the Dude," or "The Seldom Seen Kid." Runyon wrote these stories in a distinctive vernacular style: a mixture of formal speech and colorful slang, almost always in present tense, and always devoid of contractions. A passage from "Tobias the Terrible", collected in More than Somewhat (1937) illustrates Runyan's memorable prose:
If I have all the tears that are shed on Broadway by guys in love, I will have enough salt water to start an opposition ocean to the Atlantic and Pacific, with enough left over to run the Great Salt Lake out of business. But I wish to say I never shed any of these tears personally, because I am never in love, and furthermore, barring a bad break, I never expect to be in love, for the way I look at it love is strictly the old phedinkus, and I tell the little guy as much.
The musical Guys and Dolls was based on two Runyon stories, "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" and "Blood Pressure"; the film Little Miss Marker grew from his short story of the same name.
Runyon was also a newspaperman. He wrote the lead article for UPI on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Presidential inauguration in 1933.
Films
Numerous Damon Runyon stories were adapted for the stage and the screen. Some of the best of these include:
- Lady for a Day (1933)—Adapted by Robert Riskin, who suggested the name change from Runyon's title "Madame La Gimp," the film garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actress (May Robson), and Best Adaptation for the Screen (Riskin). It was remade as Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, with Bette Davis in the Apple Annie role; Frank Sinatra recorded the upbeat title song (his rendition is not used in the film). The film received Oscar nominations for composers Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and for co-star Peter Falk (Best Supporting Actor). In 1989, Jackie Chan adapted the story yet again for the Hong Kong action film Miracles, adding several of his trademark stunt sequences.
- Little Miss Marker (1934)—The film that made Shirley Temple a star, launched her career as perhaps America's most beloved child film star, and pushed her past Greta Garbo as the nation's biggest film draw of the year. Subsequent remakes include Sorrowful Jones (1949; Bob Hope, Lucille Ball), Forty Pounds of Trouble (1963; Tony Curtis), and Little Miss Marker (1980; Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, Bob Newhart, Tony Curtis).
- The Lemon Drop Kid (1934); also filmed in 1951 starring Bob Hope and future I Love Lucy co-star William Frawley as a racetrack tout.
- A Slight Case of Murder (1938)— with Edward G. Robinson, remade in 1953 as Stop, You're Killing Me with Broderick Crawford and Claire Trevor.
- The Big Street (1942)— adapted from Runyon's story, "Little Pinks"; Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball
- Butch Minds the Baby (1942)— Broderick Crawford, Shemp Howard
- It Ain't Hay (1943)—adapted from "Princess O'Hara"; Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Patsy O'Connor
- Money from Home (1953)—Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
- Guys and Dolls (1955)—Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra
