Harry Hervey

Harry Hervey (November 5, 1900 – August 12, 1951) was one of the most highly sought screenplay writers of the first half of the 20th century, praised by critics of literature, stage and screen.

Early life Harry Hervey was born on November 5, 1900, in Beaumont, Texas, the son of Harry Clay and Jane Louise Hervey. His father managed small hotels, and therefore the family traveled a lot: Mobile, Tallahassee, Pensacola.

In 1916 Hervey entered Sewannee Military Academy in Tennessee for three years and did the last year of high school at the Georgia Military Academy in Atlanta. From 1926 to 1932, they spent the summers in New York City and the winters in Charleston or Savannah. Devil dance, a play in three acts (1927), Pico Iyer in the foreword to Congai said "Hervey opened the door to the way we would be seeing Indochina—on the page and in our heads—well into the 21st century…even in his wildest moments Hervey caught something true that those of us more than twice his age can only bow before."

In 1931 Paramount Pictures asked Hervey to adapt an old movie, The Cheat, for Tallulah Bankhead; the villain was Japanese, and by that time Hervey was considered an authority in Asian themes. Hervey and Hildreth moved to Hollywood, California, where Hervey worked as screenwriter.

In 2013 "King Cobra – Mekong Adventures in French Indochina" was republished, and one year later, in 2014, "Congai – Mistress of Indochine", both with a foreword by Pico Iyer.