HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American
screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...
, journalist, and
film reviewer Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
, who wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' before leaving journalism for Hollywood. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953 and twice won the
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...
for Best Written American Comedy. The
Writers Guild of America, West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...
ranks his screenplay for ''
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...
'' (1956) among the top 101 screenplays of all time.


Early life and film criticism

Nugent was born in New York City on May 27, 1908, the son of Frank H. and Rebecca Roggenburg Nugent. He graduated from Regis High School in 1925 and studied journalism at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, graduating in 1929, where he worked on the student newspaper, the ''
Columbia Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...
''. He started his journalism career as a news reporter with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in 1929 and in 1934 moved to reviewing films for that newspaper. At the end of 1936 Nugent succeeded
Andre Sennwald Andre David Sennwald (August 4, 1907 — Jan 12, 1936) was a motion picture critic for ''The New York Times''. Life After graduating from Columbia University School of Journalism, Sennwald was hired as a reporter for ''The New York Times'' in 193 ...
as its motion picture editor and critic, and held the post until 1940. In that position he wrote very favorable reviews of ''
Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands and dock worke ...
'' (1936), and of '' The Wizard of Oz'' and ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...
'' (1939). One account of his output at the ''Times'' says that "He was known for his acerbic wit and poison-tipped pen, and even his news articles had verve and voice; his features were chatty, clever, and intimate, if occasionally smug." Nugent praised director John Ford without reservation, writing of ''Stagecoach'' in 1939: Of Ford's ''
The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Priz ...
'', released the following year, he wrote: His critiques were sometimes sharp-tongued. He called ''
Mannequin A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. ...
'' with
Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...
and
Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
a "glib, implausible and smart-gowned little drama, as typical Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as Leo himself". Of ''
The Hunchback of Notre Dame ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (french: Notre-Dame de Paris, translation=''Our Lady of Paris'', originally titled ''Notre-Dame de Paris. 1482'') is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story ...
'' (1939), he wrote: "The film is almost unrelievedly brutal and without the saving grace of unreality which makes Frankenstein's horrors a little comic." He aimed his barbs at individuals as well, like "the screen's latest leading man, John Trent, former transport pilot. Mr. Trent is square-jawed, rangy and solidly masculine. Eventually he may deteriorate and become an actor as well." He particularly disliked the work of
Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James (193 ...
for
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
, and began his review of ''
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell ''The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' is a somewhat fictionalized 1939 biographical film of the famous inventor. It was filmed in black-and-white and released by Twentieth Century-Fox. The film stars Don Ameche as Bell and Loretta Young as Mab ...
'' (1939) by saying: "If only because it has omitted Tyrone Power, 20th Century Fox's icturemust be considered one of that company's more sober and meritorious contributions to the historical drama." In response, Fox and the theater that presented the film reduced their advertising in ''The New York Times'' for months, costing the paper $50,000. His review of Fox's ''The Grapes of Wrath'' led to an offer from Fox studio head
Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
to work as a script editor for $400 a week, a very generous salary at the time. By then he had written almost a thousand film reviews for the ''Times''.


Career in films

Nugent continued to write for the ''Times'' on a freelance basis during his first several years in Hollywood. For Zanuck he worked on scripts, reviewing others' screenplays and providing criticism. He said later that "Zanuck told me he didn't want me to write, that he just thought the studio would save money if I criticized the pictures before they were made." Fox terminated him in 1944 and Nugent turned to work as a freelance writer. His sharp critiques served Zanuck, but won him no screenwriting work, while his criticism of his colleagues' work, just as clever as when he was a journalist, was not designed to win collaborators. He returned one script to Zanuck with a note saying: "My opinion of this script is unchanged. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with it that a waste basket can't cure." Nugent was working on a magazine article about '' The Fugitive'' (1947), while the film was being shot, when he met the film director
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
on the set in Mexico. Their meeting led to Nugent's long and fruitful association with the John Ford Stock Company. Ford hired him to work on his next film, '' Fort Apache'' (1948), and Nugent wrote screenplays for several more of Ford's
westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
, including ''
3 Godfathers ''3 Godfathers'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and filmed (although not set) primarily in Death Valley, California. The screenplay, written by Frank S. Nugent and Laurence Stallings, is based on the 1913 novelette '' T ...
'' (also 1948), ''
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with '' Fort Apache'' (1948) and '' Rio Grande'' (1950). With a b ...
'' (1949), ''
Wagon Master ''Wagon Master'' is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The screenplay concerns a Mormon pioneer wagon train to the San Juan River in Utah. The ...
'' (1950) and ''The Searchers''. Of the 21 film scripts Nugent worked on, 11 were for Ford. They had a difficult working relationship, as did everyone who worked with Ford, but Nugent later said "it was a small price to pay for working with the best director in Hollywood." In assessing their work together,
Glenn Frankel Glenn Frankel is an author, academic and winner of the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. He spent 27 years with ''The Washington Post'', where he was bureau chief in Richmond (Va.), Southern Africa, Jerusalem and London, and editor o ...
credits Nugent with providing Ford with more sophisticated male-female relationships than his other scripts and tempering the racism so endemic to the western genre's portrayal of Native Americans. Nugent's screenplay for ''Fort Apache'', for example, altered his source material's "visceral loathing" for the Indigenous characters, transforming them into "victims of government-sanctioned criminal exploitation". In the place of like-minded Native leaders, he introduced contrast between the young, hot-blooded warrior and the wiser veteran, which became a standard feature of the Hollywood western. His screenplay for ''The Searchers'' (1956), has been ranked among the top 101 screenplays of all time by the Writers Guild of America, West. It was named the Greatest Western of all time by the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...
in 2008. It placed 12th on the American Film Institute's 2007 list of the 100 Greatest American Films. He wrote other westerns for Stuart Heisler (''
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
''), for
Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...
(''
Two Flags West ''Two Flags West'' is a 1950 Western drama set during the American Civil War, directed by Robert Wise and starring Joseph Cotten, Jeff Chandler, Linda Darnell, and Cornel Wilde. The opening credits contain the following statement: On Decemb ...
''), for
Raoul Walsh Raoul Walsh (born Albert Edward Walsh; March 11, 1887December 31, 1980) was an American film director, actor, founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), and the brother of silent screen actor George Walsh. He wa ...
('' The Tall Men''), and for
Phil Karlson Phil Karlson (born Philip N. Karlstein; July 2, 1908 – December 12, 1982) was an American film director. Karlson directed ''99 River Street'', ''Kansas City Confidential'' and '' Hell's Island'', all with actor John Payne, in the early 1950s ...
(''
They Rode West ''They Rode West'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Phil Karlson. It reunites the stars of '' The Caine Mutiny'', Robert Francis, Donna Reed, May Wynn and Philip Carey. Based on the story ''Wood Hawk'' by Leo Katcher, it was filmed ...
'' and ''
Gunman's Walk ''Gunman's Walk'' is a 1958 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Van Heflin and Tab Hunter. Plot Davy Hackett (James Darren) and his hot-tempered, arrogant older brother Ed (Tab Hunter) are about to assist the ...
''). Nugent also worked on '' Mister Roberts''. His screenplays in other genres include '' The Red Beret'', '' North West Frontier'', ''
Trouble in the Glen ''Trouble in the Glen'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, Forrest Tucker and Victor McLaglen. It is loosely based on Maurice Walsh's 1950 novel of the same name. It was filmed i ...
'', ''
The Quiet Man ''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'', '' The Rising of the Moon'' and ''
Donovan's Reef ''Donovan's Reef'' is a 1963 American adventure comedy film starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. It was directed by John Ford and filmed in Kauai, Hawaii, but is set in French Polynesia. The supporting cast features Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warde ...
''. For his work on for ''
The Quiet Man ''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'', he received a nomination for the
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, music ...
. ''The Quiet Man'' won the
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility ...
for Best Written American Comedy in 1953 and he won the same award in 1956 for '' Mister Roberts'' (1955). Of his long association with Ford, Nugent once wrote: Nugent served as the President of the
Writers Guild of America, West The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 me ...
(WGAW) from 1957 to 1958 and as its representative on the Motion Picture Industry Council from 1954 to 1959. He also served a three-year stint (1956–59) as chairman of the building fund committee that oversaw the construction of its headquarters in
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
.


Personal life

On January 3, 1939, he married Dorothy J. Rivers. New York Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from ...
performed the ceremony in his City Hall chambers. They divorced in 1952. He married his second wife, Jean Lavell, in 1953. Nugent suffered from heart problems for several years before dying of a heart attack on December 29, 1965, in Los Angeles.


Feature film screenwriting credits

Credited as ''Frank S. Nugent'' or ''Frank Nugent'' for screenplay or the story that provides the basis for the screenplay. *'' Fort Apache'', 1948 *''
3 Godfathers ''3 Godfathers'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and filmed (although not set) primarily in Death Valley, California. The screenplay, written by Frank S. Nugent and Laurence Stallings, is based on the 1913 novelette '' T ...
'', 1948 *''
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...
'', 1949 *''
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with '' Fort Apache'' (1948) and '' Rio Grande'' (1950). With a b ...
'', 1949 *''
Wagon Master ''Wagon Master'' is a 1950 American Western film produced and directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Joanne Dru, and Ward Bond. The screenplay concerns a Mormon pioneer wagon train to the San Juan River in Utah. The ...
'', 1950 *''
Two Flags West ''Two Flags West'' is a 1950 Western drama set during the American Civil War, directed by Robert Wise and starring Joseph Cotten, Jeff Chandler, Linda Darnell, and Cornel Wilde. The opening credits contain the following statement: On Decemb ...
'', 1950 *''
The Quiet Man ''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'', 1952 *'' Angel Face'', 1952 *''
Paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during Worl ...
'', released in the UK as ''The Red Beret'', 1953 *''
They Rode West ''They Rode West'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Phil Karlson. It reunites the stars of '' The Caine Mutiny'', Robert Francis, Donna Reed, May Wynn and Philip Carey. Based on the story ''Wood Hawk'' by Leo Katcher, it was filmed ...
'', 1954 *''
Trouble in the Glen ''Trouble in the Glen'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Margaret Lockwood, Orson Welles, Forrest Tucker and Victor McLaglen. It is loosely based on Maurice Walsh's 1950 novel of the same name. It was filmed i ...
'', 1954 *'' Mister Roberts'', 1955 *'' The Tall Men'', 1955 *''
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...
'', 1956 *'' The Rising of the Moon'', 1957 *''
Gunman's Walk ''Gunman's Walk'' is a 1958 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Van Heflin and Tab Hunter. Plot Davy Hackett (James Darren) and his hot-tempered, arrogant older brother Ed (Tab Hunter) are about to assist the ...
'', 1958 *'' The Last Hurrah'', 1958 *'' North West Frontier'', 1959 *''
Two Rode Together ''Two Rode Together'' is a 1961 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring James Stewart, Richard Widmark, and Shirley Jones. The supporting cast includes Linda Cristal, Andy Devine, and John McIntire. The film was based upon th ...
'', 1961 *''
Donovan's Reef ''Donovan's Reef'' is a 1963 American adventure comedy film starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. It was directed by John Ford and filmed in Kauai, Hawaii, but is set in French Polynesia. The supporting cast features Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warde ...
'', 1963 *'' Incident at Phantom Hill'', 1966


References


Additional sources

* Richard Corliss, ''Talking Pictures: Screenwriters in the American Cinema, 1927-1973'' (Overlook Press, 1974) * Arleen Keylin and Christine Bent., eds, ''The New York Times at the Movies'' (Arno Press, 1979), * Peter Lehman, ''Close Viewings: An Anthology of New Film Criticism'' (
University Press of Florida The University Press of Florida (UPF) is the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida, representing Florida's twelve state universities. It is located in Gainesville near the University of Florida, one of the state's majo ...
, 1990), * Joseph McBride, "The Pathological Hero's Conscience: Screenwriter Frank S. Nugent Was the Quiet Man Behind John Ford", ''Written By'', May 2001


External links

*
Frank S. Nugent's Reviews
for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' * Frank Nugent, Alan Le May, John Ford, ''The Searchers: Screenplay'' (Warner Bros, 1956
available online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent, Frank S. 1908 births 1965 deaths Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American male screenwriters American film critics Writers Guild of America Award winners 20th-century American non-fiction writers Regis High School (New York City) alumni 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters