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peep from anybody else. I said, “Well have to get an okay from Hamilton, but this should be a mere formality. I happen to know that he's a lieutenant on a British carrier, stationed in the Mediterranean. Remember this was in 1942.

You can imagine how a lieutenant in the British Navy would supposedly react to a $25,000 offer for the movie rights to a book which had been published almost a year before. I sent a cable and got back, to my amazement, a cable saying that he wouldn't dream of taking $25,000. $50,000 was his minimum.

By this time, Cregar had gone back to Hollywood so I called Zanuck and said that we had heard from Pat Hamilton and that he demanded $50,000. Zanuck said, “That's the best news I've heard in a long time. I didn't want to do the damn picture anyway. Cregar's been pestering the life out of me, and to shut him up I said that I'd pay $25,000. This gives me an out. I said, “That's how an over-smart young man can negotiate himself out of $25,000! In the Navy, he wouldn't make $25,000 in six years!”

I forgot all about the incident. I told it as an example of an author who priced himself too high. Then about three months later, Fox suddenly called up and said, “We've decided to pay $50,000 for Hangover Square.” I said, “You have?” They said, “Yes. Do you accept our offer?" I said, “Sure. We're delighted.” Usually when you make a deal with a movie company, it takes weeks to get the contract. This time the contracts were on my desk the next day! I signed them. We got our check for $50,000 which was deposited in Pat Hamilton's account.