{{Short description|American novelist (1902–1930)}} {{Infobox person | name = Armitage Trail | image = | caption = | birth_name = Maurice R. Coons | birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|07|18}} | birth_place = Madison, Nebraska, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1930|10|10|1902|07|18}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | resting_place = Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, California | other_names = | occupation = Author | notable_works = ''Scarface'', ''The Thirteenth Guest'' | spouse = | parents = Oscar Athol Coons, Alice Lucille Coons | relatives = {{plainlist| * Hannibal (Stanley) Coons (brother) * Eugene L. Coons (brother) * Evelyn Coons (sister) * Mary J. McIntyre (grandmother) }} | website = }}
'''Maurice R. Coons''' (July 18, 1902 – October 10, 1930), known by the pen name '''Armitage Trail''', was an American pulp fiction author, known best for his 1929 novel ''Scarface''. This novel was based on the life of gangster Al Capone, and was adapted as the 1932 film ''Scarface'' directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes.<ref>{{cite web|title=Scarface: The Shame of the Nation (1932)|accessdate=February 2, 2017|url=http://www.filmsite.org/scar.html}}</ref> The story was later modernized and remade in the 1983 film ''Scarface'' directed by Brian De Palma starring Al Pacino. Coons's only other significant work is the detective novel ''The Thirteenth Guest'', though he is speculated to have used a variety of pseudonyms.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Inquiry: MAURICE COONS Aka ARMITAGE TRAIL|accessdate=January 24, 2017|url=http://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=303}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://freeread.de/@RGLibrary/MauriceCoons/Coons-Biblio.html|title=The Works Of Maurice Coons (Armitage Trail)(1902-1930)|website=www.freeread.de|access-date=2026-03-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqlgaZqW67EC&pg=PA422&dq=maurice+coons+best+novels&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNgYrCxJaTAxWynWoFHQ3pCDsQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=maurice%20coons&f=false|title=The Chicago of Fiction|year=2011|isbn=9780810877245|language=en|access-date=2026-03-11}}</ref><ref name=coons>{{cite news|title=Lindy Coons, Nephew of Author of "Scarface" tells story back of writing of book on Gangsters|newspaper=The Houston Chronicle|date=6 May 1932|page=18}}</ref> == Biography ==
=== Early life === Armitage Trail was born Maurice R. Coons on July 18, 1902, in Madison, Nebraska. He was the oldest child of Oscar A. Coons and Alice L. Coons, living also with Alice's mother, Mary J. McIntyre. He had two brothers, Hannibal (born Stanley J. Coons) and Eugene, as well as a sister named Evelyn.<ref>Ancestry.com - 1910 United States Federal Census. Accessed February 2, 2017.</ref><ref name=":4">Ancestry.com - 1920 United States Federal Census. Accessed February 2, 2017.</ref> Oscar's job as a road tour manager for the New Orleans Opera Company required the family to relocate multiple times before Trail became an adult, with one definite location being New Orleans.<ref name=":4" /> While a student at Patterson High School, Trail developed a passion for writing, winning a state-wide essay contest of schools on "We should Buy War Savings Stamps"<ref>{{cite news|title=Thrift Stamp Prize Won By Maurice Coons of Patterson|newspaper=The Morgan City Daily Review|date=22 April 1918|page=}}</ref>, Trail would leave school to devote his time to writing, later accepting the position of managing editor of the Patterson Tribune.<ref>{{cite news|title=Patterson Tribune's New Manager-Editor|newspaper=The Morgan City Daily Review|date=13 February 1919|page=}}</ref> Likewise, his interest in gangsters such as Al Capone began at a young age, and it was stated by Hannibal Coons that his brother Maurice "was interested in gangsters as other men are interested in postage stamps, old coins, or spread-eagled butterflies".<ref name="pulp"/> Throughout the rest of his teens and early twenties, Maurice Coons used a variety of pseudonyms, writing various crime and detective stories for pulp magazines. During this time, he visited New York City, eventually quitting home to live in the vicinity of Chicago, where he wrote ''Scarface''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=pulp>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k54nLojgIrwC&pg=PA259&dq=w.r.+burnett+armitage+trail&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_87HEipqTAxWAnWoFHWa4KEs4HhDoAXoECAsQAw#v=onepage&q=Armitage%20trail&f=false|title=Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers|year=2014|isbn=9781438109121|language=en|access-date=2026-03-15}}</ref>
=== Chicago and ''Scarface'' === Not much is known about Trail's time in Illinois. He lived in Oak Park, Illinois, a town adjacent to the west side of Chicago, where he worked as a reporter for the Chicago Examiner<ref name="coons"/> and as an editor for Best Novels Magazine,<ref name="news"/> writing detective stories in his leisure time. He began composing material for his book ''Scarface'' during his off hours, spending sleepless nights in his sun-room apartment, jotting down notes, and traveling to New York for information on the gun battle between Francis Crowley and the New York Police Department, according to a relative, Trail, suffering from health issues at the time, had called his brother Hannibal to Chicago, to finish typing the closing pages of ''Scarface'', telling his brother, "Kid, keep it hot and true to life. In the end send that guy to his doom".<ref name="coons"/> He did not live there long enough to be recorded by an official U.S. Census. Trail spent much of the rest of his time in Chicago, supposedly being associated with local Sicilian gangs by an Italian-American lawyer with whom he was acquainted. From then on, Trail spent his nights socializing with gang members in order to gain ideas for his novel.<ref name=":0" /> Trail published ''Scarface'' in 1930. Though Trail never met Al Capone, with whom his novel was mainly concerned, Capone may have known of the work.
=== Selling ''Scarface'' === Producer Howard Hughes eventually approached Trail about his novel with the interest of adapting it as a movie. Trail sold the rights to ''Scarface'' to Hughes for $25,000, relocating to Los Angeles in the process,<ref>{{cite news|title=Maurice Coons Signed to Write Originals|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|date=19 January 1930|page=}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Gets Services of Novelist: Amritage Trail Joins Pathe Writers|newspaper=Evansville Press|date=19 January 1930|page=}}</ref> where he lived at 3811 Delmas Terrace St.<ref name=":2">Ancestry.com - 1930 United States Federal Census. Accessed February 2, 2017.</ref> After selling the rights to ''Scarface'', W.R. Burnett, who worked on the screenplay, stated that Trail began to struggle with alcoholism.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sWewbX79ISsC&pg=PA59&dq=w.r+burnett+scarface&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiss4H5paGTAxXWkyYFHWsiBEkQ6AF6BAgMEAM#v=onepage&q=Armitage%20trail&f=false|title=Backstory Interviews with Screenwriters of Hollywood's Golden Age|year=1986|isbn=|language=en|access-date=2026-03-15}}</ref> Trail lived flamboyantly in Hollywood, rapidly gaining weight,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWPlAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA39&dq=maurice+coons+chicago&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjHovuJ4qaTAxXynCYFHYD3IFgQ6AF6BAgQEAM#v=onepage&q=maurice%20coons&f=false|title=The Lyceum Magazine: Volume 35|year=1925|isbn=|language=en|access-date=2026-03-18}}</ref> wearing wide-brimmed Borsalino hats, and hiring a black chauffeur and a servant named Elijah Ford.<ref name=":2" />
=== Death === Trail never lived to see the movie ''Scarface'' finished, as during October 1930 he died of a heart attack at the Paramount Theatre<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dY83BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT81&dq=w.r.+burnett+scarface&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-24GRipqTAxXhlmoFHYkyB_4Q6AF6BAgKEAM#v=onepage&q=w.r.%20burnett%20scarface&f=false|title=Bullets Over Hollywood The American Gangster Picture From The Silents To "The Sopranos"|year=2009|isbn=9780786738755|language=en|access-date=2026-03-15}}</ref><ref name=":3">Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d Ed. (2 Volume Set)''. McFarland, 2016.</ref>. He is buried in building C, crypt 237, at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.<ref name=":3" />
== ''The Thirteenth Guest'' == Trail's first novel, ''The Thirteenth Guest'', was originally published in 1929 under the title of ''The Morgan Murders'', and concerned the investigation of the murder of fictional character Marie Morgan. A private detective, named in the first movie as Phil Winston and in the second as Johnny Smith, surveys the crime scene. The scene is Morgan's grandfather's mansion, where he was also murdered 13 years prior.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=March 18, 2026|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422201038/http://www.thrillingdetective.com/more_eyes/13th_guest.html|archivedate=April 22, 2016|title=The Thirteenth Guest|author=kevinburtonsmith|date=|url=http://www.thrillingdetective.com/more_eyes/13th_guest.html}}</ref> The novel was later adapted as the film ''The Thirteenth Guest'' in 1932 by Albert Ray, and then was remade as ''Mystery of the 13th Guest'' in 1943 by William Beaudine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/the-mystery-of-the-13th-guest|title=Mystery of the 13th Guest|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113003313/http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/the-mystery-of-the-13th-guest/|archivedate=November 13, 2013|date=2013|publisher=MSN|accessdate=August 3, 2015}}</ref>
== ''Scarface'' == Trail's most famous novel, published in 1930, details the life of Tony "Scarface" Camonte, a character based on gangster Al Capone. The protagonist has the same first name for all three of the ''Scarface'' works. After the release of the 1932 movie, at which time Trail was already dead, Capone reportedly sent some of his men to question screenwriter Ben Hecht after Capone was offended at the movie's portrayal of him by actor Paul Muni.<ref name=":0" />
== Other works == Trail also wrote numerous pulp stories, supposedly even whole magazines of them, It has been speculated that Trail wrote under a variety of pseudonyms.<ref name=":0" />
* ''The Clue in the Mail'' - Mystery Magazine, August 1, 1923 * ''Queered by Queer'' - Detective Tales, October 1923 * ''Egan's Hardest Case'' - Real Detective Tales, June 1924 * ''The Devilish Contrivance'' - Mystery Magazine, September 1, 1923 * ''Hate That Would Not Die'' - Flynn's, November 1, 1923<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSMkAAAAMAAJ&q=maurice+coons&dq=maurice+coons&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJkpzzsZWTAxXAliYFHQEuC304FBDoAXoECA4QAw#maurice%20coons|title=Strange Horizons: The Spectrum of Science Fiction|year=1976|isbn=9780684147741|language=en|access-date=2026-03-11}}</ref> * ''Threads of Guilt'' - Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories, February 1925 * ''The Skeleton of Warwick Manor'' - Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories, August-November 1925 * ''The Royal Street Riddle'' - Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories, November 1926 * ''Dead Game'' - Real Detective Tales and Mystery Stories, August 1927 * ''Might'' - Best Novels, September 1927<ref name=news>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kyAdAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA21-PA7&dq=maurice+coons&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOwJTJsZWTAxVXmGoFHZPVKQI4ChDoAXoECA0QAw#v=onepage&q=maurice%20coons&f=false|title=The American News Trade Journal: Volumes 8-9|year=1926|isbn=|language=en|access-date=2026-03-11}}</ref> * ''The Morgan Mysteries'' - The Dragnet Magazine, November 1928-March 1929 * ''Machine Gun Annie'' - The Underworld Magazine, February 1929 * ''Night Hawks'' - The Underworld Magazine, February 1929 * ''The Gun-Girl'' - The Underworld Magazine, March-July 1929<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Racketeer Justice'' - The Dragnet Magazine, April 1929<ref name="mystery"/> * ''The Sword of Damocles'' - Spy Stories Vol. 1, #2, April 1929<ref name="mystery"/> * ''The Wolves of Broadway'' - The Underworld Magazine, August 1929<ref name="mystery"/> * ''The Mark of Death'' - The Underworld Magazine, November 1929-January 1930<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Machine Guns'' - The Dragnet Magazine, January 1930<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Burnt'' - The Underworld Magazine, February 1930<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Double Toll'' - The Underworld Magazine, March 1930<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Hi-Jackers'' - The Underworld Magazine, April 1930 * ''Death Limited'' - Complete Underworld Novelettes, Spring 1932<ref name=mystery>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/mysterydetective0000cook_e7g0/page/94/mode/1up?q=Armitage+Trail|title=Mystery, Detective, and Espionage Fiction : a Checklist of Fiction in U.S. Pulp Magazines, 1915-1974|website=archive.org|access-date=2026-04-07|df=mdy-all}}</ref> * ''Broadway Wolves'' - Complete Underworld Novelettes, Winter 1932<ref name="mystery"/> * ''Flatfoot, Flatfoot'' - Detective Book Magazine, Fall 1937
== References == <references/>
== Bibliography == {{wikisource|works=or}} * Server, Lee. ''Encyclopedia of Pulp Fiction Writers''. New York, NY (2002)<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --> * {{cite book|author=Trail, Armitage|title=Scarface|date=1930|publisher= D.J. Clode|edition=1ST|asin= B00085TELI}} * {{cite book|author=Trail, Armitage|title=The Thirteenth Guest|publisher=Whitman|edition= First|date=1929|asin=B000KD7C8U}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0870660}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trail, Armitage}} Category:20th-century American novelists Category:American crime fiction writers Category:American male novelists Category:Novelists from Nebraska Category:1902 births Category:1930 deaths Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers Category:People from Madison, Nebraska