Pseudonym of Robert Wade
(1920-2012)
and Bill Miller
(1920-61)
Other pseudonyms include Whit Masterson, Dale Wilmer, & Will Daemer
This bio, taken from Brian Ritt’s excellent Paperback Confidential, highlights the career of a unique writing partnership that was responsible for the creation of one of the all-time great private eyes, Max Thursday, as well as a couple of other notable eyes, Mort Hagen and Walter James.
.
The writing team of Robert Wade (left, born in San Diego, California in 1920) and Bill Miller (born in Garrett, Indiana, 1920) achieved several notable distinctions throughout their career: They successfully created their own private eye (Max Thursday); they wrote a book, Badge of Evil, that served as the basis for one of the best film noirs, Touch of Evil), and wrote another book, Kitten with a Whip, that was the basis for one of the most entertaining “so-bad-it’s-good” films, starring Ann-Margaret.
Wade and Miller started their partnership early. They were both twelve years old and attending a music class at Woodrow Wilson Junior High in San Diego when they met for the first time. They began writing together while teenagers–plays, sketches and radio scripts. They both attended San Diego State College and edited the college newspaper. When WWII came along, they enlisted in the air force.
After WWII, Wade and Miller combined their surnames and wrote their first novel, Deadly Weapon (1946). It was a fine and promising debut from the team, and featured PI Walter James, who is in San Diego investigating the shooting of his partner.
Their next effort, Guilty Bystander (1947), features private detective Max Thursday, an unkempt alcoholic with an unpredictable temper who lives in a fleabag hotel. In the story, Thursday’s ex-wife shows up to tell him their son has been kidnapped and, along with battling to stay sober, he has to battle assorted cops, thugs and doublecrossing hookers.
Reviewers compared Guilty Bystander favorably with the work of Hammett and Chandler. It was made into a movie in 1950, starring Zachary Scott. The other Thursday novels are Fatal Step (1948), Uneasy Street (1948), Calamity Fair (1950), Murder Charge (1950) and Shoot To Kill (1951).
Wade and Miller wrote numerous standalone novels, as well. Kitten with a Whip (1959) is the story of a seductive juvenile delinquent who blackmails a happily married man. It was made into an over-the-top, camp classic starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe.
Other notable standalone efforts are Devil May Care (1950), the story of an ex-soldier of fortune (with the classic tough guy name of Biggo Venn) who is hired to go to Mexico and obtain a deathbed confession that will exonerate a deported mobster and allow him back into the U.S. to start new rackets; The Killer (1951), where a big game hunter is hired by a father to track down a man who killed his son; and Branded Woman (1952), about a woman who goes to Acapulco to get revenge against the man who branded an “X” into her forehead.
Wade and Miller also wrote several novels under the name Whit Masterson. They used the Masterson name on their novel Badge of Evil (1956)–the basis for the classic film noir Touch of Evil (1959), directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh. Other excellent Masterson novels are A Cry in the Night (1955), which deals with a kidnapping, and A Hammer in His Hand (1960), which features a policewoman as the protagonist.
In all, the two wrote over thirty novels and a dozen or so short stories together, and several of their works became the basis for films.
Bill Miller died of a heart attack in 1961. He was only 41 years old. Robert Wade continued his career as a successful writer, penning novels both under his own name and as by Whit Masterson, as well as writing a regular column for the San Diego Union. In 1988, Wade was awarded The Eye, a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.
UNDER OATH
- “These were authors capable of some of the best noir in the business, and this novel showcases what they did best. The writing is a fast and vivid and draws you in…”
— Admiral Ironbones (November 2014, Battered, Tattered, Yellowed, & Creased) - “Nobody writes the hardboiled mystery better.”
— Dorothy B. Hughes - “Machinegun tempo, tight writing, unexaggerated hardness and unorthodox and overwhelming ending.”
— Anthony Boucher (San Francisco Chronicle) - “Their writing was tight and spare, yet immersive, and they knew how to quickly hook readers into propulsive plots. Their settings sprang vividly to life, and they were capable of subtle and even nuanced character development and dialogue. Ten years ago I’d never heard of them; now I consider them among my very favorite writers.”
— Howard Andrew Jones (March 2020)
NOVELS
As “Wade Miller,” unless otherwise noted
- Deadly Weapon (1946; Walter James) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Guilty Bystander (1947; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Pop Goes The Queen (1947; aka “As Murder-Queen High”)
- Fatal Step (1948; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Uneasy Street (1948; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Zero A.D. (1948; science-fiction) | Kindle It!
- Devil On Two Sticks (1949; aka “Killer’s Choice,”)
- Calamity Fair (1950; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Devil May Care (1950)
- Murder Charge (1950; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Stolen Woman (1950)
- The Killer (1951)
- Shoot To Kill (1951; Max Thursday) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- The Tiger’s Wife (1951)
- Memo For Murder (1951; by Dale Wilmer)
- The Case of the Lonely Lovers (1951; by Will Daemer)
- Branded Woman (1952)
- South Of The Sun (1953)
- The Big Guy (1953)
- Dead Fall (1954; by Dale Wilmer)
- Jungle Heat (1954; by Dale Wilmer)
- All Through The Night (1955, aka “A Cry In The Night:” by Whit Masterson)
- Dead, She Was Beautiful (1955; Mort Hagen; by Whit Masterson) | Buy this book | Kindle It!
- Mad Baxter (1955)
- Kiss Her Goodbye (1956)
- Badge Of Evil (1956, aka “Touch Of Evil;” by Whit Masterson) | Kindle It!
- Murder Bait (1956; aka “The Case of the Lonely Lovers;” by Will Daemer)
- A Shadow in the Wild (1957; by Whit Masterson)
- Kitten With A Whip (1959)
- The Dark Fantastic (1959; by Whit Masterson)
- Sinner Take All (1960)
- A Hammer In His Hand (1960; by Whit Masterson)
- Nightmare Cruise (1961; aka “The Sargasso People”)
- Evil Come, Evil Go (1961; by Whit Masterson)
As “Whit Masterson” (Robert Wade only)
- The Girl From Midnight (1962)
- Murder Bait (1956; aka “The Case of the Lonely Lovers;” by Will Daemer)
- The Man on a Nylon String (n.) Dodd 1963; by Whit Masterson)
- 711-Officer Needs Help (1965; aka “Warning Shot” “Killer With a Badge”)
- Play Like You’re Dead (1967)
- The Last One Kills (1969)
- The Death of Me Yet (1970)
- The Gravy Train (1971; aka “The Great Train Hijack)
- Why She Cries, I Do Not Know (1972)
- The Undertaker Wind (1973)
- The Man with Two Clocks (1974)
- Hunter of the Blood 1977)
- The Slow Gallows (1979)
SHORT STORIES
As “Wade Miller,” unless otherwise noted
- “The Author Confesses” (September 1946, Mammoth Detective)
- “This Deadly Weapon” (September 1946, Mammoth Detective)
- “Devil on Two Sticks” (November 1949, Famous Detective)
- “Murder Has Girl Trouble” (Spring 1950, Mystery Book Magazine; Max Thursday)
- “The Corpse Walked Away” (January 1951, Two Complete Detective Books; Max Thursday)
- “Invitation to an Accident” (July 1955, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
- “A Bad Time of Day” (September 1956, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
- “Midnight Caller” (January 1958, Manhunt)
- “Suddenly It’s Midnight” (January 1958, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; by Whit Masterson).
- “The Women in His Life” (June 1958, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; by Whit Masterson)
- “The Memorial Hour” (March 1960, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
- “We Were Picked as the Odd Ones” (July 1960, The Saint Mystery Magazine)
- “Seek Him in Shadows” (April 1966, Argosy; aka “What Happened to Timothy Owen?; by Whit Masterson)
FILMS
- GUILTY BYSTANDER | Watch it now!
(1950, Film Classics)
Screenplay by Don Ettlinger
Based on the novel by Wade Miller
Directed by Joseph Lerner
Produced by Rex Carlton
Starring Zachary Scott as Max Thursday
Also starring Faye Emerson, Mary Boland, Sam Levene, J. Edward Bromberg, Kay Medford - A CRY IN THE NIGHT
(1956 Warner Brothers)
Based on the novel All Through the Night by Whit Masterson
Written by David Dortort
Directed by Frank Tuttle
Starring Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr, Edmond O’Brien, Brian Donlevy
Everyone’s favourite heavy, Raymond Burr, kidnaps teenage daughter (Wood) of a police captain. - TOUCH OF EVIL | Buy the DVD | Buy the Blu-Ray | Watch it now!
(1958, Universal)
Based on the novel Badge Of Evil by Whit Masterson
Written by Orson Welles, Franklin Coen, Paul Monash
Directed by Orson Welles
Starring Orson Welles, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Marlene Dietrich
One of the all-time great noirs, strung along the Mexican/American border, a seedy masterpiece full of murder, kidnapping, and corruption. Notable for Welles’ direction, and Heston being cast as a Mexican cop. - KISS HER GOODBYE
(1959)
Based on the novel by Wade Miller
Screenplay by Alan Marcus, Bill Miller
Directed by Albert Lipton
Starring Elaine Stritch, Steven Hill, Gene Lyons, Andrew Prine, Sharon Farrell. - THE YELLOW CANARY
(1959)
Based on the novel Evil Come, Evil Go by Whit Masterson
Screenplay by Rod Serling
Directed by Buzz Kulik
Starring Pat Boone, Barbara Eden, Steve Forrest
From the sublime to the ridiculous… - KITTEN WITH A WHIP
(1964)
Based on the novel by Wade Miller
Screenwriter & director: Douglas Heyes
Starring Ann-Margret and John Forsythe
TELEVISION
- A CRY IN THE NIGHT
(aka “All Through the Night”)
(1956,
Based on the novel All Through the Night by Whit Masterton
Directed by Frank Tuttle - ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS
(1955-65, CBS/NBC)- “Invitation to an Accident” (June 21, 1959)
Based on the story by Wade Miller
Teleplay by Robert C. Dennis
Directed by Don Taylor
Starring Gary Merril, Joanna Moore
- “Invitation to an Accident” (June 21, 1959)
- WARNING SHOT
(1963)
Based on the novel 711–Officer Needs Help by Whit Masterson
Screenplay by Mann Rubin
Directed by Buzz Kulik
Starring David Jannsen, Edc Begley, Keenan Wynn, Stefanie Powers, Steve Allen, Joan Collins
Above average made-for-TV flcik with Jannsen as a cop who kills a suspect, only to discover the dead man was a well-respected doctor. - THE BOLD ONES: THE LAWYERS
(1969-72)
Created by Roy Huggins
Starring Burl Ives, Joseph Campanella, James Farentino- “A Game of Chance” (September 21, 1969)
Based on the (possibly unpublished) novel by Whit Masterson
Teleplay by Roy Huggins
Directed by Douglas Heyes
- “A Game of Chance” (September 21, 1969)
- THE DEATH OF ME YET
(1969 TV movie)
Based on the novel by Whit Masterson
Teleplay by A.J. Russell
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey
Starring Doug McClure, Darren McGavin, Rosemary Forsyth
The past of a small-town newspaper editor catches uop with him, in the form of a Soviet agent.
FURTHER INVESTIGATION
- Wade Miller’s Max Thursday Novels
Mark M.’s intriguing tribute site to Max Thursday. My favourite part? His hunt for the San Diego locations used in the books. - The Authors Who Were Wade Miller: Robert Wade And Bill Miller
A Mystery*File deep dive (or should that be wade?) into one of the all-time great mystery writing teams, featuring essays, reviews and tributes by Ed Lynskey, Steve Lewis, Marv Lachman, Gary Warren Niebuhr, Richard Moore, Bill Crider, Ted Fitzgerald and Bill Pronzini.
