Michael Arlen (born Dikran Sarkis Kouyoumdjian, Armenian: Տիգրան Գոյումճեան, November 16, 1895 – June 23, 1956) was an essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He achieved his greatest success in the 1920s while living in England, where he wrote and published his popular novel The Green Hat in 1924. Arlen is best known for his humorous stories about life in high society in England, but he also wrote gothic horror and psychological thriller stories. One example is The Gentleman from America, which was made into a movie in 1948 called The Fatal Night and later adapted as a television episode for Alfred Hitchcock’s show Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1956. In his later years, Arlen focused more on writing about political issues. His writing style, described as lively and using unusual word order and speech patterns with an exotic tone, became known as "Arlenesque."
Arlen was a well-known figure in 1920s society, much like the characters he wrote about in his books. He was often described as a "dandy," meaning he was very well-dressed and had excellent manners. He always wore stylish clothing and was seen driving a yellow Rolls-Royce in London while enjoying luxurious activities. However, he was aware that some people viewed him with suspicion because he was a foreigner and felt jealous of his success.
Arlen’s writing influenced famous Hollywood movies, including A Woman of Affairs (1928), starring Greta Garbo and John Gilbert; The Golden Arrow (1936), starring Bette Davis; and The Heavenly Body (1944), which he wrote for the screen. This movie was based on a story by Jacques Théry and starred William Powell and Hedy Lamarr.
Biography
Michael Arlen was born Dikran Sarkis Kouyoumdjian on November 16, 1895, in Ruse, Bulgaria. His family was Armenian and lived in a merchant household. In 1892, his family moved to Plovdiv, Bulgaria, to escape persecution by the Turkish government in the Ottoman Empire. In Plovdiv, his father, Sarkis Kouyoumdjian, started a successful business importing goods. In 1895, Arlen was born as the youngest of five children, with three brothers—Takvor, Krikor, and Roupen—and one sister, Ahavni. Later, his family moved again, this time to Southport, a seaside town in Lancashire, England.
After attending Malvern College and spending time in Switzerland, Arlen chose to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, even though he and his family had planned for him to go to the University of Oxford. His first published book, The London Venture, is partly based on his own life. It is unclear why he chose Edinburgh over Oxford. However, he later moved to London, where he began his career as a writer.
In The London Venture, Arlen wrote: "I was in Edinburgh, heading toward a life of disorder. I stayed there only a few months, studying medicine, politics, and philosophy, and drinking a lot of beer. One night, after finishing my last drink, I decided to leave for London to start a literary career."
In 1913, after a short time at university, Arlen moved to London to live by writing. A year later, World War I began, making Arlen’s situation in England difficult. He was a Bulgarian citizen, but Bulgaria had rejected him because he refused to join their army. Since Bulgaria was allied with Germany, England was suspicious of Arlen. He could not become a British citizen or change his name. In London, he met other writers and thinkers who faced similar challenges, including Aldous Huxley, D. H. Lawrence, Nancy Cunard, and George Moore.
Arlen began his writing career in 1916, using his birth name, Dikran Kouyoumdjian, in Armenian and British publications. He wrote essays, reviews, and short stories for magazines like Ararat: A Searchlight on Armenia and The New Age. His final essays for The New Age, titled "The London Papers," were later published as The London Venture. From this time onward, he signed his works as "Michael Arlen." He became a British citizen in 1922 and legally changed his name.
In 1920, Arlen spent time in France with Nancy Cunard, though she was married to someone else. This relationship caused jealousy in Aldous Huxley. During the 1920s, Arlen lived in Shepherd Market, a bohemian area in London, which later inspired his book The Green Hat.
After The London Venture, Arlen wrote romantic stories with elements of mystery and horror, including The Romantic Lady and These Charming People. His work The Green Hat, published in 1924, became his most famous book. It tells the story of Iris Storm, a mysterious woman. The novel was adapted into a Broadway play and a Hollywood film.
Arlen became very famous and wealthy after The Green Hat. He traveled to the United States and worked on plays and films. In 1924, he helped save a play called The Vortex by giving money to its creator, Noël Coward.
Arlen wrote other books, including Young Men in Love (1927) and Man's Mortality (1933), which explored politics and science fiction. He also returned to horror and mystery in later works. In 1927, he joined D. H. Lawrence in Italy, where Lawrence was writing Lady Chatterley's Lover. Arlen later married Countess Atalanta Mercati in 1928, and they had two children.
In 1939, when World War II began, Arlen’s career slowed, and he focused on shorter works. His final contributions to crime fiction included a short story introducing a detective character named Gay Stanhope Falcon, later adapted into films.
Critical reception
Horror writer Karl Edward Wagner listed the book Hell! Said the Duchess on his list of "The Thirteen Best Supernatural Horror Novels" in the May 1983 issue of The Twilight Zone Magazine. F. Scott Fitzgerald admired the work of Arlen. In A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway describes how, during a long car trip to Paris with Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald shared the plots of all of Arlen's books, saying that the author was "the man you had to watch."