Pale Moon

by W.R. Burnett

Située vers 1890 près de la frontière mexicaine, à l’époque où le Far West sauvage se transforme peu à peu en une société démocratique, cette histoire retrace le destin d’une famille puissante aux origines mêlées – mexicaines, indiennes et américaines –, dont le patriarche règne sur la petite ville de San Miguel grâce à un féodalisme autoritaire mais bienveillant. Quand Doan Packer, un Américain au passé trouble et au charisme puissant arrive et s’éprend d’Opal, la fille du patriarche, le conflit entre les anciens et les progressistes en sera exacerbé. Fable politique et grand roman d’amour, Lune pâle (il s’agit du nom “indien” d’Opal) livre une analyse politique et culturelle particulièrement fine de cette région où Mexicains, Indiens et Anglo-américains doivent apprendre à vivre ensemble. Auteur phare de la série de Bertrand Tavernier, W. R. Burnett a écrit ce superbe western en 1956. Publié une première fois chez Gallimard en
1958, il trouve sa place dans la collection “L’Ouest, le vrai” grâce à une traduction entièrement révisée. Jamais porté à l’écran, le roman est pourtant très cinématographique et fait partie de ceux que Bertrand Tavernier aime particulièrement.

252 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1956

About the author

William Riley "W. R." Burnett was an American novelist and screenwriter. He is best known for the crime novel Little Caesar, the film adaptation of which is considered the first of the classic American gangster movies. Burnett was born in Springfield, Ohio. He left his civil service job there to move to Chicago when he was 28, by which time he had written over 100 short stories and five novels, all unpublished.

Burnett kept busy, producing a novel or more a year and turning most into screenplays (some as many as three times). Thematically Burnett was similar to Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain but his contrasting of the corruption and corrosion of the city with the better life his characters yearned for, represented by the paradise of the pastoral, was fresh and original. He portrayed characters who, for one reason or another, fell into a life of crime. Once sucked into this life they were unable to climb out. They typically get one last shot at salvation but the oppressive system closes in and denies redemption.

Burnett's characters exist in a world of twilight morality — virtue can come from gangsters and criminals, malice from guardians and protectors. Above all his characters are human and this could be their undoing.

Burnett worked with many of the greats in acting and directing, including Raoul Walsh, John Huston, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Nicholas Ray, Douglas Sirk, Michael Cimino, John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Paul Muni, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood.

He received an Oscar nomination for his script for "Wake Island" (1942) and a Writers Guild nomination for his script for "The Great Escape". In addition to his film work he also wrote scripts for television and radio.

On his death in 1982, in Santa Monica, California,Burnett was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California