Ted lewis is the author of the british crime novel get carter which was adapted into the classic film starring michael caine. The book, which spawned two further efforts from ted lewis though. Film screenplay screenpress classics by lewis, ted paperback book get carter. Mike hodges, director of the original 1971 film adaptation of ted lewiss get carter, writing in the. Frank had been found dead and drunk in his car at the bottom of a cliff. An uncompromising novel of a brutal halfworld of pool halls, massage parlours and teenage pornography, it was memorably adapted into the 1971 cult film get carter, starring michael caine as jack carter. Ted lewis didnt live long enough to witness his enduring influence as a writer of what can loosely be termed britnoir. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws.
If you are a fan of the classic movie, theres every chance youll be a fan of the books. Derek raymond, author of the factory novels get carter remains among the great crime novels, a lean, muscular portrait of a man stumbling along the hard edge toward redemption. Mike hodges, director of get carter, from the foreword to this edition aristotle, when he defined tragedy, mandated that a tragic hero must fall from a great height, but aristotle never imagined the kind of roadside motels james m. Having seen the original 1971 classic film version of get carter umpteen times. The film was so successful after its release that the book upon which it was based, jacks return home, was renamed after the film. Lewiss most famous novel, jacks return homelater retitled get carteris set in 1970 and tells the story of a london gangster named jack carter who has returned to his hometown in the industrial north of england to bury his brother, frank. He was separated from his wife and family and, despite the fame afforded him by the success of get carter, had returned to north lincolnshire, and was living with his mother in scunthorpe, where he died in 1982. The influence of both book and film is strong to this day, reflected in the work of david peace, jake arnott and a host of contemporary. Sep 25, 2015 get carter by ted lewis in doc, fb2, txt download e book. According to modern sources, when directorwriter mike hodges wrote the screenplay, he had ian hendry in mind for carter, although in the finished film. Get carter is a book that i and plenty of other people at the time considered to be a classic on these grounds.
The novel starkly portrays a subsection of society living on the borderline between crime and respectability. Jacks return home this 1970 novel from ted lewis is the story of jack carter. It portrays the gangster, jack carter sitting on a kiln looking for another fugitive gangster. A philadelphia inquirer best book of 2014 aristotle, when he defined tragedy, mandated that a tragic hero must fall from a great height, but aristotle never imagined the kind of roadside motels james m. Everything about the way frank died bothers jack, but the brothers werent exactly friends. The time is past when one could accurately describe ted lewis as a lost or under appreciated author. With michael caine, ian hendry, britt ekland, john osborne. The1971 screen version of lewiss novel, starring michael caine, rightly has its place in the british film. His best books have recently been rereleased, mike hodges 1971 film, get carter, based on lewis second novel, jacks return home, continues to be seen as a crime cinema classic, and lewiss profound, albeit posthumous, influence on the origins on brit noir is regularly reiterated by. Jack carter and the mafia pigeon jack carter trilogy book 3 ted lewis.
Mary mead, and replaced the anaemic miss marple with the harsh reality of professional criminals, and the brutality of their lives, from which every. Get carter are two words to bring a smile of fond recollection to all british film lovers of a certain age. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. I found out through the online forums that, after complaints by uk fans about the bluray containing the redubbed american version, wb stopped shipping the original. Early in ted lewiss novel jacks return home, published in 1970 and which was made into the film get carter the following year, jack arrives at 48 jackson street his dead brothers house in scunthorpe unnamed. Get carter 1971 movie clip why the hell arent you here. Gbh by ted lewis goodreads meet your next favorite book. Ted lewis, his brit noir novel jacks return home and the. Get carter, ted lewis seminal and widely influential novel of british gangsters, was published in 1970 under its original title of jacks return home, and thats what the book is. Youll have a chance to find out soon, as the get carter books by ted lewis will soon be reissued by syndicate books.
Get carter by ted lewis meet your next favorite book. The wallpaper was all light browns and pale greens, the bannisters had been. Adapted from the novel by ted lewis by jonathan holloway red shift gala theatre, durham, and touring 2006 share. Doncaster, and jack carter is home for a funeral his brothers. At the train station is his hometown, newcastle, london gangster michael caine title character takes a call from the girlfriend of his maybemurdered brother, whom he expected would meet him, then visiting her home, and the deceased, in get carter, 1971, from the ted lewis novel. The novels of ted lewis, a doomed genius crime fiction. In 1971 the film get carter starring michael caine was released and it has since become arguably one of the greatest gangster films of all time. In october 2017 nick triplow published a detailed biography getting carter. Getting carter ted lewis and the birth of brit noir new. Praised for its clipped prose, droll dialogue, and brutal social realism, the jack carter cycle of novels is as unflinching a portrayal of criminality as you will find. The screenplay was adapted by hodges from ted lewis 1969 novel jacks return home.
After the collapse of his marriage lewis returned to his home town. Correspondent jeffrey nelson has purchase news for get carter regarding getting a copy with the correct original dubbing on the first scene. I was a little reassured to realise, on reading the programme, that adapter and director jonathan holloway had. Famously adapted into the iconic film starring michael caine, get carteroriginally published as jacks return homeranks among the most. As far as classic hardboiled fiction, get carter is sui generis, the place where british noir begins. The reason the film is such an enduring classic is because ted lewis wrote jacks return home retitled get carter after the film was released, a perfect crime novel, and essential reading. Ted lewis had been sucked into a spiral of alcohol dependence. The cinema classic was based on a book called jacks return home, and many commentators agree contemporary british crime writing began with.
The cinema classic was based on a book called jacks return home, and many commentators agree contemporary british crime writing began with that novel. The true story behind classic gangster movie get carter. The original title of lewis novel was jacks return home and years later was retitled get carter jack carter returns to the north east to attend the funeral of his elder brother, frank and his suspicions are gradually confirmed to be true when he uncovers the sordid revelations behind a connected porn racket. This movie is mostly faithful to ted lewiss novel, with some exceptions.
A london porn king tries to ferret out the insider whos destroying his operation in the final novel by noir specialist lewis get carter, 1970, etc. Jacks return home is a 1970 novel by british writer ted lewis. The original ted lewis book trilogy reissued by syndicate books. It had once been jacks childhood home but inside it was all but unrecognisable. Doncaster train station, and jack carter is heading home for a funeral his brother franks. All the way home and all the night through 1965 jacks return home 1970 paperback published in 1971 as carter. Lewis died in 1982 aged 42 of alcohol related causes.
Praise for ted lewis sums up the hardboiled ethos as well as anything ive ever read. Get carter the ultimate get carter reference website. In the book, carter does not kill cliff brumby, and he mails the pornographic movie featuring. Among those who admire and are inspired by lewiss pioneering writing are david peace, author of the red riding quartet. Frank disapproved of the path jack chose early in life. May 07, 2015 gangsters, goons and grievous bodily harm in ted lewis london soho press recently reissued the late british crime writers final novel. Lewis was one of the first british writers in the sixties to take chandler literallythe crime story tips violence out of its vase on the shelf and pours it back into the street where it belongsand get carter is a book that i and plenty of other people at the time considered to be a classic on these grounds. After the script was purchased by nightclub owner, michael klinger for. Gangsters, goons and grievous bodily harm in ted lewis. Having seen the original 1971 classic film version of get carter umpteen. Get carter by mike hodges 2002, paperback for sale.
Get carter is a 1971 british crime film directed by mike hodges and starring michael caine, ian hendry, britt ekland, john osborne and bryan mosley. Ted lewis, his brit noir novel jacks return home and. Getting carter ted lewis and the birth of brit noir. Following the success of jacks return home, the novel on which get carter is based, lewis wrote other novels featuring carter, including jack carter s law and jack carter and the mafia pigeon. Get carter and the two prequels that followed its publication, jack carter s law and jack carter and the mafia pigeon, forever changed crime fiction, whether on page or screen. The original novel of the classic cult film starring sir michael caine. Before his death in 1982, he had published seven novels and written for television. The creation of carter by this time lewis was working as an animator in london, but in 1970, michael joseph published the novel for which lewis is best remembered jacks return home, which was filmed as get carter in 1971. Jan 01, 1970 the original title of lewis novel was jacks return home and years later was retitled get carter jack carter returns to the north east to attend the funeral of his elder brother, frank and his suspicions are gradually confirmed to be true when he uncovers the sordid revelations behind a connected porn racket. Buy get carter by ted lewis from waterstones today. This weekend sees another longheld ambition realised.
What happens when a professional killer violates the code. The screenplay was adapted by hodges from ted lewis s 1970 novel jacks return home. Having, over the last few years, seen a couple of appalling stage adaptations of gangster films, i approached get carter with more than a little trepidation. There is a slightly less grounded feel to the book, as plender who is violent just like carter does not work for common or garden gangsters like jack carters fletcher brothers. The1971 screen version of lewiss novel, starring michael caine, rightly has its place in the british film canon, but the elements that make it work are all. Get carter by mike hodges 2002, paperback for sale online. Taken from the novel jacks return home by ted lewis, get carter changed modern crime fiction. It is impossible to discuss british author ted lewiss 1970 novel, jacks return home, without mentioning its betterknown 1971 film adaptation, get carter. See more ideas about get carter, gangster films and film.
Written by nick triplow meticulous and thorough detective work is at the heart of this compelling and detailed biography of ted lewis, the humberside author of nine novels, who was a huge influence on brit noir and remains so for leading names in crime fiction today. Get carter was the film name given to ted lewis s second novel, jacks return home, published in 1970. Jan 26, 2011 ted lewis didnt live long enough to witness his enduring influence as a writer of what can loosely be termed britnoir. Jan 14, 20 ted lewis was born in manchester in 1940. The arresting novel which inspired the iconic movie.
Its got plenty of british crime villain atmosphere in the long good friday vein with a memorable leading character in pornking george fowler, who may be losing his mind. The screenplay was adapted by hodges from ted lewiss 1970 novel jacks return home. Following the success of jacks return home, the novel on which get carter is based, lewis wrote other novels featuring carter, including jack carters law and jack carter and the mafia pigeon. Get carter storysound lewis, ted, nichols, trevor on. Get carter soundtrack to be reissued as a 3cd deluxe edition with book 2nd july 2019 see inside the gateshead trinity car park before demolition 23rd august 2018 ted lewis group lots of upcoming events 26th february 2018. Jack carter has come home to bury his older brother. Anyone who enjoys this book, and is looking for something with similar qualities, should read derek raymonds factory novels. Without the original book initially entitled jacks return home we would never have. Get carter the ultimate get carter reference website, with. Get carter bluray warner archive collection 1971 color 2. Ted lewis and the birth of brit noir suggests that the original title of ted lewiss book could have been a small tribute to hancock who had committed suicide in june 1968, not long before lewis had started writing it. Mike hodges, director of the original 1971 film adaptation of ted lewiss get carter, writing in the foreword to the new edition of the novel. Apr 17, 20 get carter is a 1971 british crime film directed by mike hodges and starring michael caine, ian hendry, britt ekland, john osborne and bryan mosley.
Cain could conjure up or saw the smokestacks rise in the northern english industrial hell of ted lewiss get carter. The story of ted lewis carries historical and cultural resonances for our own troubled times. Get carter are two words to bring a smile of fond recollection to all british film lovers of a certain age the cinema classic was based on a book called jacks return home, and many commentators agree contemporary british crime writing began with that novel. Triplow says, in his comprehensive study of lewiss short and self destructive life, that his breakthrough novel jacks return home, on which director mike hodges 1971 groundbreaking gangster movie get carter was based, is the greatest british crime novel of its era and the place where british noir begins. Critic john powers says lewis gbh is a pulpfiction. His legacy for the most part is as the author of the novel jacks return home, the book that became get carter. Edward ted lewis wrote jacks return home upon which get carter starring michael caine was based. A two day jazz festival celebrating the best in jazz and the life of ted lewis, novelist get carter, graphic artist and pianist with unity jazz band in hull jazz festival in.
This novel, now having its first american publication, appeared in britain two years before lewis early death in 1982. Get carter 1971 original film trailer michael caine ian. Now, frank was a mild, sober man, so why did he land up dead in his car at the bottom of a cliff. Jacks return home was subsequently retitled get carter after the success of the film of the same name starring michael caine, which created the noir school of british crime writing and pushed lewis into the bestseller list. Instead, he is employed as a small cog in a huge criminal enterprise. Producer michael klinger optioned the book and made a deal for the ailing metrogoldwynmayer mgm studio to finance and release the film, bringing in hodges and caine.
Then in 1971, it was filmed as get carter starring michael cain, and the book was. In the book, carter does not kill cliff brumby, and he mails the pornographic movie featuring doreen carter to a journalist rather than to scotland yard. Gbh is a novel by lewis that was published posthumously and is also a slice of classic british crime noir the novel is split into two parts and is told in alternating chapters. Cain could conjure up or saw the smokestacks rise in the northern english industrial hell of ted lewiss get. May 16, 2018 this weekend sees another longheld ambition realised. Get carter by ted lewis, 97807490639, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Based on the 1970 novel jacks return home by british author ted lewis his first of three books featuring the character before the authors untimely 1982 death, get carters lukewarm 1971 reception has since developed into a cult following and, much like caine himself, appears to be more popular than ever in recent years. This is a throwback to 1961, probably a found manuscript, from ted lewis, the author of the get carter trilogy.
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