James M. Cain was born on July 1, 1892, and died on October 27, 1977. He was an American novelist, journalist, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the first people to create the hardboiled style of American crime fiction.
His books, including The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), Double Indemnity (1936), Serenade (1937), Mildred Pierce (1941), and The Butterfly (1947), received praise from critics and were widely read by people in the United States and other countries.
Although Cain did not write successful Hollywood screenplays, several of his novels were made into well-regarded films, such as Double Indemnity (1944), Mildred Pierce (1945), and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).
In 1970, Cain was honored as a Grand Master of the Edgar Awards. He kept writing and publishing books until his 80s. Some of his works were published after his death, including The Cocktail Waitress in 2012.
Family background
Cain’s paternal and maternal grandparents moved from Ireland to New Haven, Connecticut, in the early 1850s. Cain stated that his family was not among those who left Ireland due to the Great Famine. His paternal grandfather, P. W. Cain, worked in industry and managed the Hartford Railroad. His wife, Mary (née Kelly), died during a typhoid fever outbreak in 1876. At the time, Cain’s father, James W. “Jim” Cain, who was 16 years old, became sick with the illness but recovered. After P. W. Cain remarried, Jim moved in with the local Mallahan family, where he met Rose Mallahan, his future wife and the mother of the famous author.
“I hated Ireland, hated every piece of it, hated everything it stood for.”—James M. Cain, of Irish Catholic heritage, after visiting Ireland in 1938 at the age of 46.
James W. Cain, the elder, entered Yale University in 1880 at age 20 and taught evening classes to afford his education. Described as a very successful student—handsome, articulate, intelligent, and athletic—he graduated in 1884 and later became a professor at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.
Cain’s maternal grandmother, Brigid Ingoldsby Mallahan, was a descendant of William Ingoldsby, an Irish pirate who attacked the English colonial city of New York in 1691. His mother, Rose Mallahan, was described as small, pretty, and distinguished-looking. As a young woman, she trained for seven years as a coloratura soprano, a type of opera singer known for high-pitched songs, and planned to pursue a career in opera after performing recitals in New Haven. She gave up these plans to marry her childhood sweetheart, Jim Cain, in 1890. She had her first child, James Mallahan Cain, on July 1, 1892.
Early life
In 1898, a six-year-old boy named Cain began school in Annapolis, Maryland. Growing up in a home where both of his parents were very educated helped Cain develop strong grammar skills and a love for reading. His father, who was the head of the Annapolis School Board, allowed Cain to skip two grades, moving him from third grade to fifth grade. Although Cain was very smart for his age, he later felt this decision was difficult because his classmates reached puberty earlier than he did. Cain’s father performed well at St. John’s College and later became the president of Washington College, which was a small school that taught both boys and girls and did not belong to any religious group. In 1903, when Cain was eleven years old, his family moved to Chestertown, Maryland.
While living in Chestertown, Cain met a talkative bricklayer named Ike Newton. Newton taught Cain about the way people who were not formally educated often spoke. A writer named Roy Hoopes said Cain’s interest in everyday language came from this experience, similar to how famous authors like Jonathan Swift and Stephen Crane were influenced by others. Cain believed that Newton’s way of speaking, called “vulgate,” helped him create the style of writing he used as a novelist. By the time he was twelve, Cain read a lot and was familiar with the works of famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, William Thackeray, James Fenimore Cooper, Alexandre Dumas, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Cain was allowed to take classes at Washington College, where he studied with students who were four years older than him.
At thirteen years old, Cain stopped believing in the teachings of the Catholic Church, especially the practice of confession, which he called “mumbo-jumbo.” As an adult, a biographer named Roy Hoopes wrote that Cain saw the Church as a major problem in human history and formed his own ideas about life and God. Even though he no longer believed in the Church, Cain continued to sing in the church choir as a young person.
At Washington College, Cain was considered one of the top students, but his grades were sometimes inconsistent. He did very well in German and French classes, but his performance in Greek was average. He passed courses in science, chemistry, and Latin, but he preferred history and literature. Cain was good at math but found it too easy. Just before his eighteenth birthday, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree. After graduating from Washington College, neither Cain nor his family had plans for his future career.
Early employment: 1910–1917
After moving to Baltimore to live on his own, Cain had unsteady jobs, working briefly as a clerk who recorded financial information for a public utility and later as a road inspector for the State of Maryland for two years. His clear and detailed reports on work operations made Cain think about a career in writing. In his late teens, he visited brothels with male friends (Cain said he did not have relationships with the prostitutes) and had several romantic relationships with older women.
In 1913, he took a job as a high school principal in Vienna, Maryland, and enjoyed singing at local events. When he told his family he wanted to become a professional operatic singer, his mother, who was trained as a soprano, strongly refused: "You have no voice, no looks, no stage presence. Not one! You have some musical sense, but that is not enough." Unwilling to give up, Cain—whose voice was described as a strong but simple barroom bass—moved to Washington, D.C., to take a voice training course. To support himself, he briefly worked selling insurance between offices for the General Accident Company but did not sell any policies.
After leaving a low-paying job as a Victrola salesman, Cain gave up his dream of becoming a professional singer and decided to become a writer, earning the support of his parents. Biographer Roy Hoopes wrote that Cain’s time after high school was not "misspent":
Almost everything Cain experienced during those four years traveling in southern Maryland, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., influenced his future stories. His frustrating job with an insurance company inspired Double Indemnity; his knowledge of construction work, learned through his time on a road commission, helped shape his novels The Moth, Mignon, and Past All Dishonor; his short time in music influenced his understanding of singers in Serenade, Career in C Major, and Mildred Pierce; his time in Baltimore brothels was moved to Virginia City, Nevada, and included in Past All Dishonor; and his knowledge of southern Maryland and its people provided background for his novels Galatea and The Magician’s Wife. These years may have seemed aimless to Cain, but they were not wasted.
Cain returned to Chestertown in 1914 and was hired as an English teacher at Washington College, where he earned a master’s degree in drama. For years, he tried to write fiction but had no success. In 1917, at the age of 24, he was still living at home and had not yet published any work. He accepted a teaching job in the fall and registered for the draft when the United States entered World War I but was first rejected due to respiratory issues.
Career in journalism: 1917–1935
The Baltimore American hired Cain as a cub reporter in the summer of 1917 and assigned him to a police unit. His first article, about a local drowning, impressed the copy editor so much that Cain was quickly promoted to work on important war-related tasks. Cain kept his promise to serve as a math teacher but later left teaching to return to journalism. He was hired by The Baltimore Sun in early 1918.
In June 1918, Cain, who doubted the messages about the war, was enlisted in the Army and began basic training at Camp Meade, Maryland.
Military service, Signal Corps: 1918–1919
Cain was assigned to a combat unit that was going to fight in France, the 79th Infantry Division, also called the "Joan of Arc" and the "Lorraine Cross" Division. Private First Class Cain's unit participated in the summer of 1918, after the Battle of the Marne, in a large attack known as the Meuse-Argonne campaign. While working at the headquarters, Cain was responsible for watching the battlefield from posts. His attempts to make contact with the 157th Infantry Brigade on September 26–27 inspired his 1929 short story "The Taking of Montfaucon." In late October, weeks before the war ended, Cain nearly died during a poison gas attack. Cain was chosen to be the chief editor of the 157th's newsletter, The Lorraine Cross. Alexander Woollcott, who was then a sergeant editing Stars and Stripes, described the newsletter as "a lively and well-written publication." Cain was also named a publicity officer for the Division. He was officially released from the army on June 5, 1919, in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Newspaperman: the Roaring Twenties
After World War II, Cain returned to work for The Baltimore Sun as a copy editor, earning $30 per week. He asked to be assigned to report on the industrial labor movement and the alleged involvement of Bolsheviks during the first Red Scare.
In 1920, Cain married Mary Rebekah Clough, a college classmate. They separated in 1924 and divorced in 1927.
In early 1920, Cain learned about the writing of H. L. Mencken, editor of The Smart Set, a magazine regarded as the most advanced in the country at the time. According to biographer Roy Hoopes, Mencken’s writing had a major influence on Cain’s career. Mencken’s style deeply impressed Cain. Although Cain sent essays to The Smart Set, they were not accepted. However, Cain and Mencken developed a friendly relationship through letters.
In 1921, Cain covered the trial of Bill Blizzard for The Sun, following the Battle of Blair Mountain and labor conflicts in West Virginia coal mines. His well-received essay, "The Battleground of Coal," was published in The Atlantic in October 1922 and later in The Nation. As an investigative journalist, Cain joined the United Mine Workers and worked underground in a West Virginia coal mine, speaking with miners and managers. These experiences inspired two of his later novels: Past All Dishonor (1946) and The Butterfly (1947).
In 1923, Cain and his wife, Mary, moved to Annapolis, Maryland. There, he began teaching journalism and English classes at St. John’s College.
The American Mercury: 1924–1935
H. L. Mencken invited Cain to contribute to his new literary journal, The American Mercury, which began publication in January 1924 with George Jean Nathan and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. Cain’s work for this monthly journal marked the start of his reputation as a major magazine writer. As his professional and personal relationship with Mencken grew, Cain left his teaching job at St. John’s and focused entirely on writing after moving to New York City. Cain’s writing often included humorous and critical commentary on American people and institutions, such as pastors, county officials, and town commissioners, as well as the idea of doing good deeds. His 1925 Mercury piece, “The Hero,” is an example of his satirical writing style.
Cain entered a sanitorium to receive treatment for tuberculosis and was successfully treated, leaving by September 1924.
Under Mencken’s guidance, Cain was hired by Walter Lippmann as a human-interest story editorial writer for the New York World. Cain’s well-written and engaging articles earned him a three-year contract at $125 per week. Although he was encouraged to write lighthearted pieces, Cain became one of the most productive and respected editorial writers for the World. His final article for The American Mercury, titled “Close Harmony,” was published in October 1935.
Cain admired Walter Lippmann greatly, considering him, along with Mencken, Philip Goodman, and screenwriter Vincent Laurence, as the most influential people in his life.
Cain’s interest in writing a novel grew during the mid-1920s, a time when major literary works were published by authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Theodore Dreiser, Willa Cather, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, Virginia Woolf, Ellen Glasgow, and Thomas Mann. Philip Goodman and Vincent Laurence encouraged Cain to write a play about evangelical Christian fundamentalism, based on his reporting in West Virginia. The play, Crashing the Gates, opened in New England in February 1926 but closed after two weeks, receiving mixed reviews.
On July 2, 1927, Cain married Elina Tyszecki, a Finnish-American woman who was divorced and had two children. They divorced in 1942.
At age 36, Cain wrote his first short story, “Pastorale,” a humorous tale about a murder. Published in The American Mercury in 1928, this “Ring Lardner-style” story was called his “best short story” by novelist David Madden. The first-person narrative in “Pastorale” reflected Cain’s approach in his newspaper editorials, where he often wrote as if he were someone else, stating, “I have no [literary] capacity to be Cain. I can’t be Cain. I can anybody except Cain,” while acknowledging his skill in writing from a first-person perspective. Critic Roy Hoopes noted that Cain learned to write effectively by pretending to be others, but he faced the challenge of applying this ability to stories about ordinary people, such as those in tabloids, who experienced intense emotions or were affected by systems in Washington, D.C., or Wall Street.
In 1930, a collection of Cain’s dramatic dialogues and sketches, Our Government, was published by Alfred A. Knopf.
When the New York World stopped publishing in 1931, Cain was recommended by Morris Markey for a position as managing editor of The New Yorker by Harold Ross. For nine months, Cain led the editorial team, which included James Thurber, Katherine White, E. B. White, and Wolcott Gibbs. The journal featured work by important literary figures of the early 1930s.
Cain’s difficult relationship with Ross led to his departure in November 1931 after his agent, James Geller, arranged a contract for Cain to work as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures at $400 per week.
Novelist and screenwriter: Hollywood, 1931–1948
Paramount hired Cain when the studio was going bankrupt. Cain was assigned to work on a remake of Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1923), but he was removed from the project after criticizing his supervisor’s story treatment. After working on a script about novelist Harvey Fergusson’s Hot Saturday (1926), Cain was fired by Paramount in May 1932. He stated this confirmed his "basic dislike of [motion] pictures."
In 1932, Cain was unemployed and looked to Southern California for inspiration. He wrote the short story "The Baby in the Icebox," which H. L. Mencken published in American Mercury. The story caused "much excitement" and was widely republished in America and Europe. The story was adapted into a film called She Made Her Bed (1934) by Paramount, though the studio did not hire Cain to write the script. Cain’s non-fiction essay about Los Angeles, titled "Paradise," also appeared in American Mercury in 1933.
Cain briefly worked as a screenwriter for Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures but was dismissed after failing to produce a suitable script. For most of 1933, Cain focused on writing his first novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, which would later make him famous. With the support of Walter Lippmann, Alfred A. Knopf published the book, which became an immediate critical and commercial success. The novel, a story of adultery and murder, was described by Cain as "a small fable." It has been reprinted millions of times and is considered one of America’s all-time best-sellers.
Two literary projects followed The Postman Always Rings Twice: a play and a serial based on the story. Cain aimed to write a successful play after his 1926 play Crashing the Gate failed. Producer Jack Curtis Sr. bought the rights to The Postman Always Rings Twice, and director Robert B. Sinclair staged a theatrical adaptation in February 1936. Despite Cain’s revisions, the play received mostly negative reviews and closed after 73 performances.
Cain wrote a copy of The Postman Always Rings Twice as a serial in Liberty magazine in 1936. The serial, titled Double Indemnity, tells a story of a love-murder conspiracy involving insurance fraud. It was written "in exactly the same style as The Postman" and is considered one of Cain’s "finest achievements." The serial increased Liberty’s readership and was published as a novella in 1943. A 1944 film adaptation directed by Billy Wilder is regarded as a masterpiece of film noir.
Cain’s next novel, Serenade (1938), is about an opera-themed story that explores "the psychological sources of artistic power and creativity." The book discusses heterosexuality as essential for success in the fine arts. Cain’s handling of this "sensational" topic placed him at "the center of a literary tempest" and kept him in demand as an American author.
Cain used his knowledge of music, especially opera, in several of his works. These include Serenade, which features an opera singer who loses his voice after a homosexual encounter; Mildred Pierce, where a character trains as an opera singer; Career in C Major, a novel about an opera singer’s husband; The Postman Always Rings Twice, where a character is an opera enthusiast; and The Cocktail Waitress, which involves a widowed waitress. In The Moth, music plays a key role in the main character’s life. Cain’s fourth wife, Florence Macbeth, was a retired opera singer.
Cain spent many years in Hollywood working on screenplays, but his name appears as a screenwriter in only two films: Stand Up and Fight (1939) and Gypsy Wildcat (1944), where he was one of three credited screenwriters. For Algiers (1938), Cain received a credit for "additional dialogue," and he had story credits for other films.
American Authors' Authority
In 1946, Cain wrote four articles for Screen Writer magazine. He suggested creating an "American Authors' Authority" to protect writers' copyrights and help them with contracts and legal issues. This idea became known as the "Cain plan" in the news. Some writers called the plan communist. They formed the American Writers Association to fight against it. James T. Farrell was the most prominent of these opponents. The Saturday Review published a debate between Cain and Farrell in November 1946. Farrell said that Hollywood writers would control the market and prevent independent writers from joining. Farrell said Cain's idea was based on a simple view of artists. He believed artists think they are like gods but have only the bad traits of gods. Cain replied that his opponents misunderstood the issue as freedom versus control. He said the real reason for opposition was fear of punishment from publishers. Although Cain worked hard to support the Authority, it did not get much support. The plan was eventually abandoned.
Biography
In 1975, Roy Hoopes reached out to Cain after reading an article about Walter Lippmann in The Washington Post. Hoopes did many interviews with Cain until Cain passed away in 1977. In 1984, Hoopes used those interviews to write a biography about Cain.
Personal life
Cain married Mary Clough in 1919. Their marriage ended with a divorce, and he later married Elina Sjösted Tyszecka. Cain did not have any children of his own, but he was close to Elina's two children from an earlier marriage. In 1944, Cain married actress Aileen Pringle. Their marriage was difficult and ended in a bitter divorce two years later. His fourth marriage to Florence Macbeth lasted until her death in 1966.
Cain continued writing until his death in 1977 at the age of 85. He published many novels beginning in the late 1940s, but none reached the financial or popular success of his earlier works.