Raymond Chandler bibliography drinking. He began writing crime stories for the pulp magazines "Black Mask", "Detective Fiction Weekly", "The Fortnightly Intruder" and "Dime Detective". The stories were subsequently brought together in collected editions. In 1939, at the behest of the publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Sr., Chandler wrote his first novel, "The Big Sleep", for which he used parts of his short stories "Killer in the Rain" (1935) and "The Curtain" (1936). He went on to write seven novels, many of which featured the character Philip Marlowe. In 1944 Chandler was asked by Paramount Pictures to write the script for the film "Double Indemnity"
Wife Wanted (1946 film) Wife Wanted (1946 film) Wife Wanted is a 1946 American crime directed by Phil Karlson, featuring Kay Francis, Paul Cavanagh and Robert Shayne. This was Kay Francis's last film. The film's screenplay was written by Caryl Coleman and Sidney Sutherland, based on the novel "Wife Wanted" by Robert E. Callahan. Carole Raymond (Francis) is a film star whose best years are behind her so she decides to buy in a real estate plan with Jeff Caldwell (Cavanagh), who's really running an illegitimate matrimonial service. Kay Francis was unhappy with the first script, so she and director Phil Karlson set about