February 4, 1943: "The Human Comedy" Is Published

William Saroyan

February 4, 1943: The Human Comedy by William Saroyan is published. It becomes the best-remembered novel set in American on "the home front" during World War II.

Saroyan was born on August 31, 1908 in Fresno, California, 186 miles southeast of San Francisco, and 219 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Until the rise of Cher -- and, later, of the Kardashian family -- he was the leading American of Armenian descent, one of many who settled in Central California to escape the Ottoman Empire.

He gained fame in 1934, with his short story collection, The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze, and, other than The Human Comedy, is best known for his other collections of short stories. In 1940, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, for his play The Time of Your Life. In 1948, it was filmed, with James Cagney starring. He published The Human Comedy, and almost immediately, was approached to write a screenplay for the film. It premiered on March 2, a mere 26 days after the book did.

The novel and film are set in the fictional town of Ithaca, which, like the real-life and larger Fresno, is in the San Joaquin Valley. The story is narrated by Matthew Macauley (Ray Collins) -- who has been dead for 2 years as the story begins.

It is set around his 14-year-old son, Homer (played in the film by Mickey Rooney, already 22 years old, but just 5-foot-2, so he could still pass for 14). Homer's older brother, Marcus, is off to war. (A scene depicting Marcus and his pals overseas shows Marcus played by Van Johnson. One of the pals is played by a young Robert Mitchum.)

Mickey Rooney in the film

So, to his mother Katie (Fay Bainter), his elder sister Bess (Donna Reed), and his 4-year-old brother Ulysses (Jackie Jenkins), Homer believes he has to be the man of the family. (Homer and Ulysses, Saroyan laying the ancient literary references on a bit thick.) Mary Arena (Dorothy Morris), a neighbor, Bess' friend, and the girlfriend that brother Marcus left behind, also figures in the story.

Homer is in school, and has a night job delivering telegrams from the telegraph station, owned by Willie Grogan (Frank Morgan, better known as the title character in The Wizard of Oz) and managed by Tom Spangler (James Craig), whose girlfriend, Diana Steed (Marsha Hunt), gets worked into the story. Sometimes, these telegrams are bad news, notifying families that a member has died in The War.

Homer's family, and his history teacher, Miss Hicks (Mary Nash), give him an almost instinctive sense of right and wrong, which keeps him honest and hopeful despite the family's reduced numbers and finances. But the novel and the film end with word being received of Marcus' death.

The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director for Clarence Brown, and Best Actor for Rooney. It won 1: Best Story, for Saroyan. He was 34 years old, and already had an Oscar and a Pulitzer.

Unfortunately, Saroyan was an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler, and had to keep writing to feed these habits. His marriage to actress Carol Grace ended in divorce. Their children were son Aram, who also became a writer, and also a musician; and Lucy, who became an actress. William died on May 18, 1981, at 72, of cancer, in Fresno. Carol and Lucy both died in 2003. As of February 4, 2022, Aram is still alive.

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February 4, 1943 was a Thursday. Baseball and football are out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

This was also the day that the NHL's 1st President, Frank Calder, died. I have a separate entry for that event.