Cain, James M.

Cain, James M. (Mallahan)

(1892–1977) writer, screenwriter; born in Annapolis, Md. He trained as a singer and worked as a teacher and journalist before achieving fame in the 1930s and 1940s as a Hollywood screenwriter and novelist. His novels, many adapted into popular films, treated criminals, sex, and money with a lean, tough realism; they included The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934), Double Indemnity (1936), Mildred Pierce (1941), and The Institute (1976).