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"Alas, Poor Maling" is a short story by Graham Greene. It was first published in 1940.
| This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
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"Alas, Poor Maling" is a short story by Graham Greene. It was first published in 1940.
The story is told in first person by an unnamed narrator who has a friend named Maling. Maling is afflicted with an unusual medical affliction which his doctors label "borborygmi" and his friends label "tummy rumbles". Maling's case of this disease is unusual in that his stomach rumblings echo sounds they have recently "heard". An example is given where Maling's stomach repeats the opening of a Brahms Concerto. The narrator then tells the story of how Maling's unusual stomach condition caused the bankruptcy of the company he worked for.
During an important meeting in which Maling's company negotiated a merger, Maling's stomach imitates the air raid siren that was sounded in London during the Blitz. The officers of the company retreat to a bomb shelter because Maling is ashamed to admit that his stomach is responsible. As no all-clear is sounded, the officers remain in the shelter for twelve hours, ruining the attempted merger and leading the company to bankruptcy.
Written in the midst of the Blitz, "Alas, Poor Maling" is intended to raise the morale of a demoralized London. The story also calls into question the practicality of social etiquette, for if Maling had admitted to his stomach condition, the problem could have been avoided.
"Alas, Poor Maling" was one of several Greene stories to be adapted for the 1975-76 British television drama series Shades of Greene , starring John Bird as Maling. [1] Greene adapted the screenplay himself. [2]
Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.
Our Man in Havana (1958) is a novel set in Cuba by the British author Graham Greene. Greene uses the novel to mock intelligence services, especially the British MI6, and their willingness to believe reports from their local informants. The book predates the Cuban Missile Crisis, but certain aspects of the plot, notably the role of missile installations, appear to anticipate the events of 1962.
Sir John Clifford Mortimer was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for short stories about a barrister named Horace Rumpole, adapted from episodes of the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey also written by Mortimer.
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1970s, often by acquiring other record labels, from ABC to Motown to Geffen. MCA Inc. became Universal Studios, Inc., in 1996, and the MCA record label was folded into Universal Music Group's Geffen Records in 2003, but Universal's MCA Nashville continues to use the moniker.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is told by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the narrator committed. The victim was an old man with a filmy pale blue "vulture-eye", as the narrator calls it. The narrator emphasizes the careful calculation of the murder, attempting the perfect crime, complete with dismembering the body in the bathtub and hiding it under the floorboards. Ultimately, the narrator's actions result in hearing a thumping sound, which the narrator interprets as the dead man's beating heart.
A stomach rumble, also known as a bowel sound, peristaltic sound, abdominal sound, bubble gut or borborygmus, is a rumbling, growling or gurgling noise produced by movement of the contents of the gastrointestinal tract as they are propelled through the small intestine by a series of muscle contractions called peristalsis. A trained healthcare provider can listen to these intestinal noises with a stethoscope, but they may be audible enough to be heard with the naked ear as the fluid and gas move forward in the intestines. The lack of bowel sounds is indicative of ileus, intestinal obstruction, or some other serious pathology.
The End of the Affair is a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films that were adapted from the novel. Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the novel examines the obsessions, jealousy and discernments within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix; Sarah Miles; and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles.
Brighton Rock is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1938 and later adapted for film and theatre. The novel is a murder thriller set in 1930s Brighton. The first of Greene's works to explore Catholic themes and moral issues, its treatment of class privilege and the problem of evil is paradoxical and ambivalent.
Monsignor Quixote is a novel by Graham Greene, published in 1982. The book is a pastiche of the classic 1605 and 1615 Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes with many moments of comedy, but also offers reflection on matters such as life after a dictatorship, Communism, and the Catholic faith.
Clive Exton was a British television and film screenwriter who wrote scripts for the series Poirot, Jeeves and Wooster and Rosemary & Thyme.
"The Destructors" is a 1954 short story written by Graham Greene, first published in Picture Post and subsequently collected in Twenty-One Stories later that year.
"The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen" is a short story written by Graham Greene in 1965.
Stamboul Train is the second significant novel by Graham Greene. Set on a train journey from Ostend to Istanbul, the book was renamed Orient Express when it was published in the United States. The novel appeared in 1932 and was Greene's first true success. It was taken on by the Book Society and in 1934 adapted as the film Orient Express.
Graham Greene (1904–1991) was an English novelist regarded by many as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a reputation early in his lifetime as a major writer, both of serious Catholic novels, and of thrillers. He was shortlisted, in 1966 and 1967, for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He produced 26 novels, as well as several plays, autobiographies, and short stories.
Robin John Chapman was an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter.
Our Man in Havana is a 1959 British spy comedy film shot in CinemaScope, directed and produced by Carol Reed, and starring Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Richardson, Noël Coward and Ernie Kovacs. The film is adapted from the 1958 novel Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. The film takes the action of the novel and gives it a more comedic touch. The movie marks Reed's third collaboration with Greene.
Twenty-One Stories (1954) is a collection of short stories by Graham Greene. All but the last three stories appeared in his earlier 1947 collection Nineteen Stories
Shades of Greene is a British television series based on short stories written by the author Graham Greene. The series began in 1975, with each hour-long episode featuring a dramatisation of one of Greene's stories, many of which dealt with issues such as guilt and the Catholic faith, as well as looking at life in general. Actors to have appeared in the series include John Gielgud, Leo McKern, Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Lesley Dunlop, John Hurt and Roy Kinnear.
Philip Mackie was a British film and television screenwriter. He was born in Salford in Lancashire, England. He graduated in 1939 from University College London and worked for the Ministry of Information Films Division which began a career in film.
Orient Express is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Paul Martin and starring Heather Angel, Norman Foster and Ralph Morgan. It is based on the 1932 novel Stamboul Train by Graham Greene, the first of his works to be adapted for the screen. It was produced and distributed by Fox Film. Fox were persuaded to hire Martin as director by Lilian Harvey, the actress who was in a relationship with him, and had signed with the studio after starring in several films directed by Martin in Germany. It was his only Hollywood film and he returned to Germany where he again directed Harvey in several more hits. The film is part of a group set almost entirely on trains or ocean liners during the decade.
