#andré hélèna

[amsaklapper-blog]

André Hélèna  La planète des cocus

Le Crépuscule, 1952

André Hélèna was best well known for his hardboiled novels - in which he sometimes denounced some methods of the police (Les flics ont toujours raison), of the justice (Le Bon Dieu s’en fout), of the governments (La peau de Salvador, Les salauds ont la vie dure, Le festival des Macchabées) and he was sentenced three times for “délit de presse”.  Here he wrote a satirical novel that stigmatizes the faults of Mankind. Un pamphlet de 400 pages.

Cover art: Jef de Wulf

Publisher: Editions Armand Fleury, rue de Miromesnil, Paris

Publishing director:Roger Dermée

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

collection La Panthère

13 titles between 1953 and 1955. Each novel was devoted to a woman “whom the history of the world, in its most agitated periods, has marked with its sign: that of the Panther”.

1 Maria Reine des flibustiers, Saint-Valéry, impression 1953 Copyright 1954 2 Elsa la révoltée, Saint-Valéry, 1954 3 Stella Montini, Saint-Valéry, 1954 4 Jiss-Day, Fille du Surinam, Jean Normand, 1954 5 Nioussia l'insaisissable, Jacques Destier, 1954 6 Nita l'impitoyable, Jacques Destier, 1954 7 L'esclave souveraine, Saint-Valéry, 1954 8 L'Impératrice aux mille amants, Louis Saurel, 1954 9 L'Amazone de Kérestat, Saint-Valéry, 1954 10 Théodora (du lupanar au trône), Louis Saurel, 1954 11 La Fille de Mandrin, Claude Ferny, 1954 12 Mademoiselle Sans Quartier..., Claude Ferny, 1955 13 Margot La Folle épouse du Vert Galant, Louis Saurel, 1955

Each title was copyrighted by its author & Eugène Maréchal (who was the literary agent of the collection)

Saint-Valery was a pen-name of Jacques Thinus, except for #1 where it’s André Hélèna. Jacques Destier is also a pen name of Jacques Thinus. Louis Saurel is a real name. Jean Normand is the main pen-name of this prolific pulp writer (real name: Raoul Antoni Lematte). Not to forget our old friend Claude Ferny, the literary madman.

cover art: Jef de Wulf

publisher:La Flamme d’Or, Paris

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

Les Grands Romans Noirs - Série Magnum

Four titles in this crime novels collection. All issued 1953. “Les Grands Romans Noirs” -série Magnum was like a special issue of the collection “Les Grands Romans Noirs”: série Magnum, because of the number of pages. 

This was heavy stuff. Hard-boiled. Also ambitious as regards the topics. André Hélèna and his hard-boiled, desesperate dark romance during the Occupation. Paul Daunay (pen-name of Paul Daubannay)  and his private-eye investigating on the heels of a killer “sissy”. Luc Marny (pen-name of Georges Younes) author/character choosing the path of a blood-stained retaliation... The writing was not ever “à la hauteur” but...

At the request of the “Supervisory Commission”: all titles prohibited by Decree of the Ministry of the Interior

cover art: Mik

Publisher: Editions Le Trotteur

publishing director:Roger Dermée

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

Collection Black Out  [second part]

22 titles in 1952-1953. André Hélèna featured in the collection with two novels among the first issues so that we thought during a long time that Allan Blyth was one more of his pen-names [some serious studies still mention that Allan Blyth is a pen-name of André Hélèna]. More probably Allan Blyth, as well as Percy Wall and Al Caussin were pen-names of Alex Caussin de Perceval who passes for having been  a friend of André Hélèna. It might be that Hélèna had lend a hand for the novels of Caussin de Perceval but which ones?

However André Hélèna really used pen-names in the collection: he signed Budy Wesson & Terry Crane

Cover art: Jef de Wulf

Publisher: La Flamme d’Or, Paris

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

collection RAFALE

French crime novels collection issued in 1954/55. Eight items only: Diego Michigan (collective pen-name, 5), Diego Suarez (pen-name of André Duquesne/ aka Peter Randa, 2) and Kathy Woodfield (pen-name of André Hélèna, 1) and all are reissues with a new title.

cover art: Jean David

publisher:Editions de la Seine, Paris

publishing director: André Guerber

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

Collection Noire Franco-Americaine

23 titles between 1951 & 1953. This was the second collection called “Collection Noire Franco-Américaine”. The first serie was published at Editions du Globe and had 15 issues - non illustrated black and yellow covers - when Roger Dermée bought it and relaunched it from # 1 on with illustrated overlays. The 3 first issues of this second serie were still labeled Editions du Globe, the rest Editions Le Trotteur.

Dermée’s main authors were all in the collection: Robert Tachet (collective house name), André Hélèna, George Maxwell, Terry Stewart, Claude Ferny, Jacques Auburtin,Oscar Montgomery, Paul Daunay...

Seven of the twenty-three titles will be "banned", following a request by the Commission for the Supervision and Control of Publications for Children and Adolescents.

cover art: Salva, Mik, Brantonne

Publisher:Editions Le Globe/Editions Le Trotteur, 5 rue des Moulins, Paris

Publishing director: Patrick Rossart (= Roger Dermée)

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

Black Out    [Fourth Part : some old acquaintances  ]

22 titles in 1952/1953. Hardboiled crime stories, semi-slang language. Here we have four novels written by old familiars.

Jean Normand was the main pseudonym of Raoul Antoni Lematte (1885-1956), he was a very prolific pulp writer between the 30′s and the mid 50′s.

Charles-Antoine Gonnet (1897 - 1985) was an athlete (olympic medal in rugby, 1924) at the same time as a journalist and a sportsman - he began to write popular novels from all genres for pulps and paperback editions in the late 20′s and was present until the mid 50′s (though there exist a couple of novels in the early 80′s, reissues?). He signed also with pen names Jack Screen and Claude Petitjean.

Terry Crane was a pen-name of André Hélèna (1919-1972)

Max Dixon is our old acquaintance George Maxwell (Georges Esposito, 1910-1962) about whom you’ll find stuff elsewhere on my blog. His “Drôle de salade” is clearly in relation with his series featuring a feminine character as heroine “La Mome Double Shot”, “Le Jaguar”, “Miss One -Shot”, “Baby Colt”, and so on) 

Cover art: Jef de Wulf

Publisher:La Flamme d’Or, Paris

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

L’ARISTO

Old French Nobility with the motto: “ill-gotten gains only benefit me”.

The Aristo presents his homage to you and is pleased to announce you that, without the least of the world withdrawing from "business", he undertook to tell the most striking of his exploits to his old friend André Hélèna, for he writes all this black on white with a beautiful cover of Jef de Wulf.

You will see the Aristo enriching his collection of Masters’paintings and rare books, you will see him relieve misery - preferably with the money of others - you will see him always arrive pile to pick in passing "ill-gotten goods" and make a noble and aristocratic use of it.

16 titles between 1953 & 1955.

cover art: Jef de Wulf

publisher: Editions de la Flamme d’Or, rue d’Hauteville, Paris

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

André Hélèna  J’aurai la peau de Salvador !

Editions Franco-Belges, 1949

Story of a Republican after the fall of Barcelona, marking the end of the Spanish Civil War. Having lost everything, Ruiz collaborates with smugglers, french escape networks (for refugees escaping the Occupation of France) and some allied secret agents who have a rather special face. But what motivates him is vengeance. He will have no rest until he has had the skin of Salvador, a Phalangist who took him the only woman to whom he really held.

Andre Helena was long ignored by the critics. He gained some fame only many years later and is now considered as a major author of the french  hard-boiled crime novel of the fifties. His work appears as a Human Comedy of the Underworld, of the gangsters, of the “Bas-Fonds”.

publisher: Editions Franco-Belges, Bois-Colombes (Seine), France

publishing director: Roger Dermée

source:amsaklapper’s collection

[amsaklapper-blog]

Les tripes du Diable 

Alex Cadourcy is a pen-name of André Hélèna, famous french writer in hard-boiled genre, “un maître du roman noir des années 50″.

Les tripes du Diable?  “Une gauloiserie”, would have said a friend of mine.

Three titles signed “Alex Cadourcy” are known in this collection: La ceinture de chasteté, Le voyage à Marseille, Les tripes du Diable. All issued 1961.

publisher: Le Lucane, 16 rue Herold, Paris

source:amsaklapper’s collection.