Harriet Frank Jr.
Harriet Frank, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Other names | James P. Bonner Harriet Frank |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, producer |
| Years active | 1947–1990 |
| Spouse | Irving Ravetch (1946–present) |
Harriet Frank, Jr. (born 1917) is an American film writer and producer. Working with her husband, Irving Ravetch, with whom she shared acclaim, Frank received four awards during a long career, including the New York Film Critics Circle Awards and the Writers Guild of America Award, and more nominations. Together, Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch are considered one of the all-time great screenwriting couples, and many of their works are considered classics of their genres.
Frank began her writing career after World War II, under Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's young writer's training program, where she met her husband. She married Ravetch in 1946 but worked independently for ten years, finally collaborating with him in 1957, a relationship she continued for the remainder of her career. During 33 years of collaboration, they created the screenplays for a variety of films, mainly adaptations of the works of American authors.
Frank and Ravetch maintained a close working relationship with director Martin Ritt throughout their career, collaborating with him on eight occasions; after initially being suggested by Ravetch to direct The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Ritt would eventually draw the couple out of inactivity on three occasions, hiring them to write the screenplays for Norma Rae (1979), Murphy's Romance (1985) and Stanley & Iris (1990). The latter was both the last film directed by Ritt (he died later that year) and the last for which Frank and Ravetch wrote the screenplay.
Life and career
Early life
Harriet Frank, Jr., was born and raised in Portland, Oregon.[1] While her mother worked as a Hollywood story editor, Frank attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), at the same time as her future husband, Irving Ravetch.[1] Having graduated at different times from UCLA, the two met in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer young writer's training program after World War II.[2][3]
The couple soon married in 1946, but worked independently for over ten years, with Frank writing for projects such as A Really Important Person (1947), Whiplash (1948) and Run for Cover (1955).[2][3] The couple first collaborated on the script of an adaptation of William Faulkner's novel The Hamlet in 1957 (released as The Long, Hot Summer), although Frank later said, "...in the end, we created mostly new material, so it wasn't really a true adaptation".[3]
Collaborations and awards
Martin Ritt, having directed The Long, Hot Summer on suggestion by Ravetch, then directed the couple's next collaboration, The Sound and the Fury (1959), once again an adaptation of a William Faulkner novel.[3] In 1960, Frank and Ravetch collaborated on two films, Home from the Hill, an adaptation of the novel of the same name, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, an adaptation of a Tony award-winning play.[2]
In 1963, Frank and Ravetch reunited with Martin Ritt to write the screenplay for Hud,[2] adapted from the novel Horseman, Pass By.[4][5] The film garnered critical acclaim, with the couple sharing a New York Film Critics Circle Award for "Best Screenplay" and a Writers Guild of America Award (WGA Award) for "Best Written American Drama". They were also nominated for an Academy Award in the category of "Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium".[6]
In 1967, Frank worked alongside her husband and Ritt on Hombre, a Revisionist Western film based on the novel of the same name.[7] The next year, Frank and Ravetch wrote the screenplay for House of Cards, a mystery film directed by John Guillermin. For House of Cards, Frank was credited, together with her husband, under the pen name of "James P. Bonner".[8] In 1969, Frank and Revitch returned to the works of William Faulkner, writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of his last novel The Reivers.[2]
1972 saw Frank and Ravetch write the screenplay for The Cowboys, based on the novel of the same name, and The Carey Treatment, based on the novel A Case of Need by Michael Crichton.[9] For the latter, the couple were credited under "James P. Bonner", the last time they would adopt the pen name. Two years later, the couple reunited once again with Martin Ritt to write the screenplay for Concrack, based on the autobiographical book The Water Is Wide, with Frank also working as producer. The film was commercially and well-received by critics, winning a BAFTA award.[10] In the same year the couple wrote for an adaptation of the novel The Bank Robber, released as The Spikes Gang.
Return to writing
In 1979, following five years of inactivity, Frank and Ravetch returned to screen writing for Norma Rae, with Martin Ritt directing. The film tells the story of a factory worker from the Southern United States who becomes involved in labour union activities.[11] Unusually, for the couple, the film was based on a true story, that of Crystal Lee Jordan.[11] It was arguably their best received film,[12][13] winning numerous awards,[14][15] including two Academy Awards.[16][17]
Six years passed before the couple returned to screen writing, this time for the romantic comedy Murphy's Romance, based on a novel by Max Schott. Once again they worked with director Martin Ritt, their seventh project together, and Sally Field, who had played the titular lead role in Norma Rae. Despite Murphy's Romance being well-received (it was nominated for two Academy Awards) it would be another five years before Frank and Ravetch wrote another screenplay; hired by Martin Ritt, the couple wrote the screenplay for Stanley & Iris, loosely based on the novel Union Street.[18][19]
Legacy
Ten months after the release of Stanley & Iris, on December 8 1990, Martin Ritt died. Together, the trio of Frank, Ravetch and Ritt had collaborated on eight films and achieved considerable successes.[18][20] As well as being the last film Ritt worked on, Stanley & Iris also marked the end of Frank and Ravetch's writing careers.
In a career spanning 43 years and 21 film productions (despite lengthy periods of absence), Harriet Frank, Jr. won 4 awards and received many more nominations, sharing them all with her husband. As well as with her husband and Martin Ritt, Frank collaborated extensively with other well-known actors, such as Paul Newman, writing for three of his film appearances (The Long, Hot Summer, Hud and Hombre).
Many of their films not only received critical acclaim upon release, in the form of awards (Norma Rae and Stanley & Iris), but those such as Hud (1963) are considered classics of their genres. The legacy of Harriet Frank, Jr. is today considered inseparable with that of her husband, Ravetch, and together they are considered one of the all-time great screenwriting teams.[1][21][22]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Notes | |
| 1947 | A Really Important Person | Alternative title: Passing Parade No. 59: A Really Important Person | |
| 1948 | Silver River | ||
| Whiplash | |||
| 1955 | Ten Wanted Men | ||
| Run for Cover | Alternative title: Colorado | ||
| 1958 | The Long, Hot Summer | ||
| 1959 | The Sound and the Fury | ||
| 1960 | Home from the Hill | ||
| The Dark at the Top of the Stairs | |||
| 1963 | Hud | ||
| Baby Makes Three | Television movie Credited as Harriet Frank | ||
| 1967 | Hombre | ||
| 1968 | House of Cards | Credited as James P. Bonner | |
| 1969 | The Reivers | Alternative title: The Yellow Winton Flyer | |
| 1972 | The Cowboys | ||
| The Carey Treatment | Credited as James P. Bonner Alternative titles: Emergency Ward and A Case of Murder | ||
| 1974 | Conrack | Producer | |
| The Spikes Gang | |||
| 1979 | Norma Rae | ||
| 1985 | Murphy's Romance | ||
| 1990 | Stanley & Iris | ||
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Notes | |
| 1965 | The Long Hot Summer | 1 episode | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Result | Category | Film |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Academy Award | Nominated | Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium | Hud (Shared with Irving Ravetch) |
| 1980 | Norma Rae (Shared with Irving Ravetch) | |||
| 1973 | Edgar Award | Nominated | Best Motion Picture | The Carey Treatment |
| 1980 | Golden Globe Award | Nominated | Best Screenplay - Motion Picture | Norma Rae (Shared with Irving Ravetch) |
| 1963 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Won | Best Screenplay | Hud (Shared with Irving Ravetch) |
| 1972 | Western Heritage Awards | Won | Theatrical Motion Picture | The Cowboys (Shared with cast and crew) |
| 1959 | Writers Guild of America Award | Nominated | Best Written American Drama | The Long Hot Summer (Shared with Irving Ravetch) |
| 1964 | Won | Best Written American Drama | Hud (Shared with Irving Ravetch) | |
| 1970 | Nominated | Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium | The Reivers (Shared with Irving Ravetch) | |
| 1975 | Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium | Conrack (Shared with Irving Ravetch) | ||
| 1980 | Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium | Norma Rae (Shared with Irving Ravetch) | ||
| 1988 | Won | Laurel Award for Screen Writing Achievement |
Notes
- ^ a b c Baer, p. 95.
- ^ a b c d e "Harriet Frank Jr". hollywood.com. Retrieved February 18, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Baer, p. 96.
- ^ "Hud Review". Channel 4. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
- ^ AFI, p. 507
- ^ "Academy Awards Database, Harriet Frank, Jr". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
- ^ AFI, p. 482
- ^ AFI, p. 498
- ^ "Michael Chricton Biography". filmreference.com. Retrieved 2009-27-11.
A Case of Need was adapted as the film The Carey Treatment
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "BAFTA Awards Past Winners 1975". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 2009-16-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ a b Niemi, p. 331.
- ^ "Norma Rae (1979)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ^ "'Norma Rae,' Mill-Town Story: Unionism in the South". The New York Times. 1979. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
- ^ "New York Film Critics Circle 1979 Awards". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved 2009-16-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Golden Globes "Norma Rae"". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 2009-16-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Academy Awards "Norma Rae"". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2009-16-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Niemi, p. 332.
- ^ a b "Review/Film; Middle-Aged and Not Quite Middle Class". The New York Times. 1990. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
- ^ "'Stanley and Iris' Carries a Message Of H-O-P-E". The New York Times. 1990. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
- ^ Baer, p. 99
- ^ "Filmmaker tells the story behind the wildlife epic 'Arctic Tale'". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2009.
The 46-year-old California native is the nephew of Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. -- one of the all-time great screenwriting teams
- ^ "Great Film Writers, Screenwriters A-Z". Turner Movie Classics. Retrieved 2009-16-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help)
References
- Baer, William (2007). Classic American Films: Conversations with the Screenwriters. Praeger. pp. 95–109. ISBN 978-0313348983.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - Niemi, Robert (2006). History in the Media: Film and Television. ABC-CLIO. pp. 331–2. ISBN 9781576079522.
{{cite book}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - American Film Institute (AFI) (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520209701. Retrieved September 23, 2009.