Clarence Budington Kelland

Clarence Budington "Bud" Kelland (July 11, 1881 – February 18, 1964) was an American writer. Prolific and versatile, he was a prominent literary figure in his heyday, and he described himself as "the best second-rate writer in America".^[1]

Kelland had a long career as a writer of fiction, stretching from 1913 to 1960. He was published in many magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine. A prolific writer, his output included 60 novels and some 200 short stories. His best known juvenile works were the Mark Tidd series and the Catty Atkins series, while his best known adult work was the Scattergood Baines series.^[2] Other notable adult books by Kelland include Conflict (1920), Rhoda Fair (1925), Hard Money (1930), Arizona (1939), and Dangerous Angel (1953).^[3] Kelland was the "literary idol" of teenager and future writer John O'Hara.^[4]

Today, Kelland is relatively little known. In a 1995 installment of Harlan Ellison's television commentary, Ellison reflected on Kelland's descent from fame to obscurity, lamenting it as an example of diminished cultural literacy and a decline in interest in the printed word.^[5]

Still, Kelland's name lives on in the dozens of motion pictures adapted from his works,^[6] including Speak Easily (1932) starring Buster Keaton. Opera Hat, a Kelland serial from The American Magazine, was the basis for the film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) starring Gary Cooper.^[7] Opera Hat later was turned into the short-lived television series Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1969–70), and the movie Mr. Deeds (2002). One of Kelland's best-known characters was featured in the Scattergood Baines series of six Hollywood films from 1941 to 1943, starring Guy Kibbee as Baines. The Baines character was a benevolent but often misunderstood figure trying to help the people in his small town. The series began with Scattergood Baines (1941) and ended with Cinderella Swings It (1943).