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Frank Norris

short profile primary works movies, plays, other media works about Frank Norris family & friends links

"The people have a right to the truth as they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
— Frank Norris

Frank Norris entry at Wikipedia
browse Frank Norris Store at Amazon
Frank Norris credits [1909-93] at Internet Movie Database

Primary Works

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"Norris: Novels and Essays" [1986] Edited by Donald Pizer Library of America 8x5¼ hardcover [10/86] for $26.98 includes "McTeague" [1899], "The Octopus" [1901], "Vandover and The Brute" [1914], and 22 essays

"Classic American Fiction: Works of Frank Norris" for Kindle [2008] Kindle Edition from B&R Samizdat Express [8/2010] for $1.99 includes "8 novels in a single file, with active table of contents": "The Surrender of Santiago" [July 1898 article], "Blix" [1899], "McTeague' [1899], "A Man's Woman" [1900], "Moran of The Lady Letty [1898], "The Octopus" [1901], "A Deal In Wheat" [1903 story], "The Pit" [1903], and "Vandover and The Brute" [1914]

"Moran of the Lady Letty: A Story of Adventure Off The California Coast" [1898 novel]

"Blix" [1899 novel]

"McTeague: A Story of San Francisco" [1899 classic novel]

A San Francisco dentist woos and marries his best friend's girl. She wins the lottery and her jealous ex-boyfriend turns the dentist in for having no license to practice. Kindle Edition from Public Domain Books [9/94 edition] for FREE Signet mass pb [8/2003] for $7.95 W.W. Norton 8½x5¼ pb critical text [11/96] for $15.00 entry about the book at Wikipedia

"Desert Gold" silent short [Kay-Bee/Mutual March 1914]
Adapted from the novel "McTeague"; a prospector finds a rich vein, then learns that his sweetheart has married his former partner.
Produced & co-written by Thomas H. Ince; directed by Scott Sidney; starring Frank Borzage, Charles Ray & Clara Williams
DVD/Blu-ray not available • credits at IMDb

"Life's Whirlpool" silent short
[Wm. A. Brady/World Film Jan 1916]
Adapted from the novel "McTeague"; dentist McTeague wins Trina away from her cousin Marcus; when Trina wins the lottery,
Marcus is enraged and turns McTeague in to the authorities for having no license to practice dentistry. Co-written & directed by
Barry O'Neil; starring Holbrook Blinn, Walter Greene & Fania Marinoff • { considered to be a lost film } • credits at IMDb

see also "Von Stroheim's "Greed" [1924] silent film masterpiece below

"McTeague: An Opera" [P.B.S. 1992] Commissioned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago & performed in 1992; co-written & directed by Robert Altman [1925-2006]; composed by William Bolcom, libretto co-written by Arnold Weinstein; starring Ben Heppner, Catherine Malfitano & Timothy Nolen 2½-hour performance filmed for broadcast on P.B.S. video/DVD not available • full credits at IMDb • composer's "McTeague" page

"McTeague" TV program [WNEW/PBS May 1993]
60-minute "Great Performances" TV version of the opera, directed by Robert Altman; narrated
by Studs Terkel • video/DVD not available • credits at IMDb

"A Man's Woman" [1900]

"The Octopus: A Story of California" [1901 novel]

The classic historical novel of the decade-long ruthless & bloody battle between the railroad monopoly and the outmatched farmers of California. Dover 5¼x8 pb [12/2003] for $8.95 Penguin 7¾x5 pb [8/94] for $14.95 Penguin 7¾x5 pb [10/86] out of print/used Indypublish 6x9 hardcover [9/2002] for $22.99 Bentley hardcover [6/71] out of print/used

"Gunfight At Mussel Slough: Evolution of The Western Myth" [] 1890771821
event on 11 May 1880 is basis for Norris's 'Octopus'

"The Pit: A Story of Chicago" [1903 novel]

Love vs. speculation on the Chicago commodities market; "...as topical as the internet bubble"; "... shows that greed has always been the driving force in our American economy" Kessinger 9x6 pb [6/2004] for $31.95 Penguin 7¾x5 pb [8/94] out of print/many used North Books 8x5½ hardcover [1/2003] for $26.99 Robert Bentley 8½x6 hardcover [6/71] out of print/used

"A Deal In Wheat and Other Stories of The New and Old West" [1903]
includes title story, "The Wife of Chino", "A Bargain With Peg-Leg", "The Passing of Cock-Eye Blacklock", "A Memorandum of Sudden Death", "Two Hearts That Beat As One", "The Dual Personality of Slick Dick Nickerson", "The Ship That Saw A Ghost", "The Ghost In The Crosstrees", and "The Riding of Felipe"

"Vandover and The Brute" [1914]

Movies, Plays, Other Media

"A Corner In Wheat" [14 mins.; Biograph Dec 1909]
Co-written & directed by D.W. Griffith; based on a Frank Norris short story and his novel "The Pit";
starring Frank Powell, Grace Henderson, James Kirkwood, Linda Arvidson, Henry B. Walthall, Mack Sennett
& Blanche Sweet; listed on National Film Registry (1994); full credits from IMDb

1914 The Pit (novel)

1915 The Octopus (short) (novel)

1922 Moran of the Lady Letty (novel)

"Greed" silent film masterpiece
[M.G.M. Dec 1924]

A San Francisco dentist woos and marries his best friend's girl. She wins the lottery and her jealous ex-boyfriend turns the dentist in for having no license to practice. This legendary 'lost film' was delivered at ten hours length (42 reels of film); the studio forced Stroheim to make drastic cuts; he cut it down to four hours. The displeased studio then took control and released a 2-hour & 20-minute version, which failed at the box office. The excised negatives and exposed film were destroyed, perhaps as late as the 1950s. The Turner restoration makes use of still photos & historical script continuity. Co-written & directed by Erich von Stroheim; based on the 1899 novel "McTeague" by Frank Norris; starring Gibson Gowland, Zasu Pitts, Jean Hersholt, Dale Fuller, Tempe Pigott, Sylvia Ashton, Chester Conklin & Joan Standing; listed on the National Film Registry in 1991 not available on DVD; Turner 4-hr restoration b&w VHS [9/98] 2 tapes - out of prodn/used MGM/UA Home Video 133-minute b&w VHS [undated] out of prodn/used full credits at IMDb • entry about the film at Wikipedia "Greed" [1993] critical text by Jonathan Rosenbaum British Film Institute 7½x5¼ pb [9/93] for $14.95 "The Complete Greed of Erich von Stroheim" [1972] by Herman G. Weinberg Ayer 10&frac15x10¼ hardcover [1/72] out of print/used

more details (synopsis, books, opera, posters, links) on
Magic Lantern's "Greed" 1924 Movie Page

Works About Frank Norris

	"The Art of Frank Norris, Storyteller" [1988] by Barbara Hochman Univ MO Press 8¾z5¾ hardcover [8/88] out of print/used Univ MO Press 8¾z5¾ hardcover [8/88] out of print/used
	"Frank Norris: A Life" [2006] by Joseph R. McElrath, Jr. & Jesse S. Crisler Univ IL Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [1/2006] for $31.00

Family & Friends
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L i n k s
Frank Norris entry at Wikipedia
browse Frank Norris Store at Amazon
Frank Norris credits [1909-93] at Internet Movie Database

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