Captain Lightfoot

by W.R. Burnett

Story of a eighteenth-century Irish highwayman. Basis for the 1955 Douglas Sirk film starring Rock Hudson. W.R. Burnett is best known for hard-boiled noir fiction such as Little Caesar (1929), High Sierra (1941) and The Asphalt Jungle (1950).

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1954

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job there to move to Chicago when he was 28, by which time he had written over 100 short stories and five novels, all unpublished.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

Reviews

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent story following, loosely, the life and adventures of a notorious Irish Highway man and gambler.
I don't know how much of it is true or not, but as a fan of historical adventure it was a fun read. Little bit of a Scarlet Pimpernel/ Dr. Syn feel.
There were the usual cliches of this genre and the romance wasn't as strong as it could be, but it had a good feel for the time and place, lots of action, clever dialogue and description and colorful characters.

If you are looking for a light read with a little bit of history, then this is a good pick.

[Lu Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a difficult book to rate. I gave it three stars for the story, a rip-roaring tale of Highwayman Captain Lightfoot (Michael Martin), a rambunctious yet charming country boy from Ballymore, Ireland, who trains under of the wing of the notorious Captain Thunderbolt (John Doherty), eventually taking over his enterprise.

I read Captain Lightfoot when I was in middle school (that's many, many years ago), and it was my first historical adventure. I was already a fan of the film Robin Hood and His Merry Men with Errol Flynn, so this book was my cup of ale. For some reason, the book recently surfaced in my memory, and I wanted to see if I would enjoy it as much now as I did then.

And there were so many aspects of the story that stirred my sense of adventure, just like it did on my first reading. Now, here's the rub—the female characters and the way they are treated by the protagonists is concerning. They are two-dimensional, silly, and at times border on maniacal, and the men deal with this with physical violence (you know, because they deserved it). The writing of Aga, Michael's love interest somewhat improves by the end of the story.

I realize that when this was written (1954) this type of behavior was acceptable by characters in novels and film (e.g. The Quiet Man with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara), but because of the physical abuse, I can't recommend it.

[Kellyt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have liked this book more if I hadn’t already seen the poor attempt at a movie that was made with Rock Hudson back in 1955. It was terrible and I couldn’t get the scenes out of my mind as I read the novel.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely different and interesting.

[Phyllis Okroi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty decent and fascinating, quick read.

[Kat Cav · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romping gallop of Irish humor and vernacular. You can hear the narrator's Irish voice in the writing which is impressive because I'm fairly certain the writer is an American, but I don't know his personal history, so who knows? Capt. Lightfoot is a tale of one country man thrown into a Robin Hood fairytale. The story is full of unassuming one-liners that really hit you with the feels. The last few lines are some of the best I've ever read. "And now our long story's told, and if it is a good story it will show a moral at the end, but for the life of me I can't make out what the moral can possibly be except the obvious and usual one: Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward."

[Erskine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a Great Novel, perhaps, but it's a fun read. I remember this book fondly from my teen years, and after recently rereading it, I can still recommend it for adults who appreciate historical fiction with heroic characters.