Frederic S. Isham
Frederic S. Isham | |
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| Born | Frederic Stewart Isham 29 March 1865 |
| Died | 6 September 1922 (aged 57) |
| Nationality | American |
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| Spouse | Helen Frue |
Frederic Stewart Isham (March 29, 1865 – September 6, 1922) was an American novelist and playwright who wrote mainly historical romances and adventure novels.
Life
[edit]Isham was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Charles Storrs Isham and Lucy B. (Mott) Isham. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London for two years.[1] In 1895 he married Helen Margaret Frue.[2] He died in New York.
Career
[edit]Isham began as a playwright and later turned to novels, writing mainly historical romances and adventure novels set in various periods. Black Friday, for example, centers on the American financial crisis of 1869,[1] while Under the Rose is set in 16th century Europe. His experiences in theater informed his first novel, The Strollers.[1] Published by Bobbs-Merrill Company and its predecessor Bowen-Merrill Company, Isham's novels were illustrated by such artists as Harrison Fisher, William Thacher Van Dresser, Max J. Spero, and W. B. King.[3] The critic H. L. Mencken wrote of his novel Half a Chance that it was "a brisk and entertaining story, with not too much reality in it," which well summarizes the general tenor of Isham's work.[4]
Several of his novels have been turned into movies. With Max Marcin he turned his 1918 novel Three Live Ghosts into a 1920 comic play, and it was later made into a movie three times: a 1922 British comedy directed by George Fitzmaurice, a 1929 American comedy directed by Thornton Freeland, and a 1936 American film directed by H. Bruce Humberstone. Isham co-wrote the screenplay for the last of the three movies, which are about a trio of World War I soldiers who return home after the war only to discover that they are thought to be dead.
His 1914 novel Nothing But the Truth was made into a movie twice: as a loose adaptation in 1929 directed by Victor Schertzinger and more faithfully as a 1941 film directed by Elliott Nugent. The novel was also the basis for the 1926 musical Yes, Yes, Yvette.[5]
The Social Buccaneer was a ten-episode 1923 American film serial based on Isham's novel and directed by Robert F. Hill. It is now thought to be a lost film.
Books
[edit]- Novels
- Aladdin from Broadway (1913)
- Black Friday (1904)
- Half a Chance (1909)
- The Lady of the Mount (1908)
- A Man and His Money (1912)
- Nothing But the Truth (1914)
- The Nut Cracker (1920)
- The Social Bucaneer (1910)
- The Strollers (1902)
- This Way Out (1917)
- The Thousand and Second Night: A Romantic Comedy (1911)
- Three Live Ghosts (1918)
- Under the Rose (1903)
- Plays
- The Toy Shop: A Drama for Children (1891)
- Three Live Ghosts (1920, with Max Marcin)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Frederic Isham" Book News, vol. 23, 1905, p. 167.
- ^ "Connecting Capron Cousins". Capronfamily.com.
- ^ Smith, Geoffrey D. American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography. Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- ^ Mencken, H.L. "The Last of the Victorians." The Smart Set: A Magazine of Cleverness, vol. 29, p. 156.
- ^ Bob Morningstar (December 18, 1926). "Chicago Premiere; Four Cohans Theatre; Yes, Yes, Yvette". Billboard.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Frederic S. Isham at Wikimedia Commons
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