Claude Binyon (October 17, 1905

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois – February 14, 1978

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

) was a

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. His genres were

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, and romances. As a

-based

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for the ''

Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * ...

'' newspaper, he became city editor of the show business trade magazine '' Variety'' in the late 1920s. According to Robert Landry, who worked at ''Variety'' for 50 years including as managing editor, Binyon came up with the famous 1929

stock market crash A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a major cross-section of a stock market, resulting in a significant loss of paper wealth. Crashes are driven by panic selling and underlying economic factors. They often fol ...

headline, " Wall Street Lays An Egg." (However, writer Ken Bloom ascribes the headline to ''Variety'' publisher

Sime Silverman Simon J. Silverman (May 19, 1873 – September 22, 1933) was an American journalist and newspaper publisher. He was the founder of the weekly newspaper '' Variety'' in New York City in 1905, which gave theatre and vaudeville reviews and the Ho ...

.) He switched from writing about movies for ''Variety'' to screenwriting for the Paramount Studio with 1932's ''

If I Had A Million ''If I Had a Million'' is a 1932 American pre-Code Paramount Studios anthology film starring Gary Cooper, George Raft, Charles Laughton, W. C. Fields, Jack Oakie, Frances Dee and Charlie Ruggles, among others. There were seven directors: ...

''; his later

screenwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, dev ...

credits included '' The Gilded Lily'' (1935), '' Sing You Sinners'' (1938), and ''

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

'' (1940). Throughout the 1930s, Binyon's screenplays were often directed by

Wesley Ruggles Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. Life and work He was born in Los Angeles, California, younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a doz ...

, including the "classic" '' True Confession'' (1938). Fourteen feature films by Ruggles had screenplays by Binyon. Claude Binyon was also the scriptwriter for the second series of the

Bing Crosby Entertains ''Bing Crosby Entertains'' was a weekly radio show which ran for two seasons during 1933–1935, and was to cement Bing Crosby's reputation as a radio star. ''Bing Crosby Entertains'' was Crosby's most important radio series to date, and it enabl ...

radio show (1934–1935). In 1948, Binyon made his directorial bow with '' The Saxon Charm'' (1948), for which he also wrote the screenplay. He went on to write and direct the low-key comedy noir '' Stella'' (1950), '' Mother Didn't Tell Me'' (1950), '' Aaron Slick of Pun'kin Crick'' (1952), and the Clifton Webb farce '' Dreamboat'' (1952). He directed, but didn't write, '' Family Honeymoon'' (1949) as well as

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

's sole venture into 3-D, '' Here Come the Girls'' (1953). After his death on February 14, 1978, he was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in

Selected filmography

* '' Cross My Heart'' (1946) * '' Mother Didn't Tell Me'' (1950) *'' Kisses for My President'' (1964) (co-writer)

References

External links

* Variety (magazine) people American male screenwriters 1905 births 1978 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Writers from Palm Springs, California Film directors from California Screenwriters from California 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screen-writer-1900s-stub

Selected filmography

References

Further reading

External links