Maxwell Jeffrey Catto (29 July 1907 – 12 March 1992) was born Mark Finkell in
Manchester, England and was an English playwright and novelist.[1]
Writing career
Catto wrote adventure novels and dramas for more than four decades and also wrote under the pseudonym Simon Kent. Ten of his works were adapted for film, the most notable of which was the novel The Killing Frost, which became Carol Reed's 1956 film Trapeze. Although he was a holder of a degree in electrical engineering from Manchester University, Catto began writing novels and plays in the late 1930s. After a stint in the
Royal Air Force during World War II, Catto returned to writing fiction. Exotic settings and fast-paced action were the trademarks of his novels, defying categorization into any one genre, instead blending elements of many popular literary styles. Much of his work has been translated into other languages.[2]
Works
Novels under his own name
River Junk – Arthur Barker, 1937
The Hairy Man – M. Secker, 1939
Ginger Charley – M. Secker, 1939
The Flanagan Boy – Harrap, 1949 (made into the film The Flanagan Boy in 1953)
The Killing Frost – Heinemann, 1950 (made into the film Trapeze in 1956 and consequently re-published as Trapeze by Landsborough in 1959)