Nunnally Johnson(1897-1977)
- Writer
- Producer
- Director
The son of a railway superintendent, Nunnally Johnson was schooled in
Columbus, Georgia, graduating in 1915. He worked for the local
newspaper as a delivery boy, became a junior reporter for the Savannah
Press and then moved on to New York in 1919. There, his journalistic
career really took off, particularly as a principal news reporter for
the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Evening Post for which he
wrote a humorous weekly column. An exceptionally literate individual,
possessed of great wit, he was at his best writing social satire,
lampooning conventions. This side of him was well showcased by some
fifty short stories he submitted to the Saturday Evening Post and the
New Yorker between 1925 and 1932.
Stymied in his efforts at writing film critique, Johnson made his way
to Hollywood in 1932 and was initially signed by United Artists as a
screenwriter. He only stayed a year before joining 20th Century Fox,
where he became closely associated with
Darryl F. Zanuck, not only in the
capacity of writer, but also as associate producer and occasional
director. His first contract ran from 1935 to 1942, his second from
1949 to 1963. During the interval, he co-founded International Pictures
with independent producer William Goetz
but the venture proved to be short-lived. The company was absorbed
after less than three years by Universal, Goetz becoming head of
production for the expanded Universal-International. Johnson
returned to Fox.
During his time as a screenwriter, Johnson rarely ever worked in collaboration. Instead he showcased his own original work as well as displaying an innate flair for adapting classic novels
into film scripts. Of particular note are his efforts for director
John Ford, which included
John Steinbeck's
The Grapes of Wrath (1940),
Erskine Caldwell's
Tobacco Road (1941) and - also as
producer/director - the psychological drama
The Three Faces of Eve (1957).
Add to that the gangster satire
Roxie Hart (1942), and the brilliantly
clever Fritz Lang-directed film noir
The Woman in the Window (1944),
both of which Johnson also produced. Not confined to any single genre,
Johnson applied himself with equal vigour to westerns
(The Gunfighter (1950)), war films
(The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951))
and comedies
(How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)).
His consistently intelligent treatment of such diverse A-grade material
made him the highest paid writer in Hollywood.
Columbus, Georgia, graduating in 1915. He worked for the local
newspaper as a delivery boy, became a junior reporter for the Savannah
Press and then moved on to New York in 1919. There, his journalistic
career really took off, particularly as a principal news reporter for
the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Evening Post for which he
wrote a humorous weekly column. An exceptionally literate individual,
possessed of great wit, he was at his best writing social satire,
lampooning conventions. This side of him was well showcased by some
fifty short stories he submitted to the Saturday Evening Post and the
New Yorker between 1925 and 1932.
Stymied in his efforts at writing film critique, Johnson made his way
to Hollywood in 1932 and was initially signed by United Artists as a
screenwriter. He only stayed a year before joining 20th Century Fox,
where he became closely associated with
Darryl F. Zanuck, not only in the
capacity of writer, but also as associate producer and occasional
director. His first contract ran from 1935 to 1942, his second from
1949 to 1963. During the interval, he co-founded International Pictures
with independent producer William Goetz
but the venture proved to be short-lived. The company was absorbed
after less than three years by Universal, Goetz becoming head of
production for the expanded Universal-International. Johnson
returned to Fox.
During his time as a screenwriter, Johnson rarely ever worked in collaboration. Instead he showcased his own original work as well as displaying an innate flair for adapting classic novels
into film scripts. Of particular note are his efforts for director
John Ford, which included
John Steinbeck's
The Grapes of Wrath (1940),
Erskine Caldwell's
Tobacco Road (1941) and - also as
producer/director - the psychological drama
The Three Faces of Eve (1957).
Add to that the gangster satire
Roxie Hart (1942), and the brilliantly
clever Fritz Lang-directed film noir
The Woman in the Window (1944),
both of which Johnson also produced. Not confined to any single genre,
Johnson applied himself with equal vigour to westerns
(The Gunfighter (1950)), war films
(The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951))
and comedies
(How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)).
His consistently intelligent treatment of such diverse A-grade material
made him the highest paid writer in Hollywood.