James Ruffin Webb (October 4, 1909 – September 27, 1974) was an American screenwriter. He was best known for writing the screenplay for the film '' How the West Was Won'' (1962), which garnered widespread critical acclaim and earned him an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

Biography

Early life

Webb was born in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

in 1909 and graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1930. He became a fiction writer for national magazines, including '' Collier's: The National Weekly'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', and ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'', in 1936 and a screenwriter two years later.

Early screenplays

Webb's early screenplays were written for

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

. He did a series of films starring

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998), nicknamed the King of the Cowboys, was an American singer, actor, television host, and Rodeo, rodeo performer. Following early work under his given name, first as a c ...

and directed by Joseph Kane: '' Nevada City'' (1941), '' Bad Man of Deadwood'' (1941), '' Jesse James at Bay'' (1941) and '' South of Santa Fe'' (1942) with

. He also did ''

Rags to Riches Rags to riches (also rags-to-riches) refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype i ...

'' (1941) directed by Kane.

World War II

Webb was commissioned an army officer in June 1942 and became a personal aide to General Lloyd R. Fredendall who was commander of the II Corps. Webb accompanied Fredendall to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in October 1942 and participated in the invasion of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

in November 1942 when the Second Corps captured the city of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

. The Second Corps then attacked eastward into

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. In February 1943 the German army launched a counterattack at Kasserine Pass which repulsed the Second Corps and nearly broke through the Allied lines. The Supreme Commander

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

relieved Fredendall of command in March 1943 and sent him back to the United States where he became deputy commander of the

Second United States Army Second Army was most recently located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia as a Direct Reporting Unit to Headquarters U.S. Army, Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6. Under the CIO/G-6, Second Army served as the single point of contact for Army missions an ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Webb returned to the United States with Fredendall and later served in the

European Theater The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main Theater (warfare), theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allies of World War II, Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the ...

Post-war career

Webb left the Army after the war and returned to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, where he continued his work as a screenwriter. He returned to Republic for '' California Firebrand'' (1948). In 1948 he sold a story to Universal, ''Going, Going, Gone'' and was going to write the script but no film resulted. A story of his ''Fugitive from Love'', was filmed as '' Woman in Hiding'' (1950).

Warner Bros

Webb signed a contract for Warner Bros for whom he wrote the Westerns ''

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

'' (1950) with

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian and American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, frequent partnerships with Oliv ...

, ''

Raton Pass Ratón Pass is a 7,834 ft (2,388 m) elevation mountain pass on the Colorado–New Mexico border in the western United States. It is located on the eastern side of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Trinidad, Colorado and Raton, N ...

'' (1951), and ''

The Big Trees ''The Big Trees'' is a 1952 American lumberjack Western film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Felix E. Feist. It was Kirk Douglas's final film for Warner Brothers, a film he did for free in exchange for the studio agreeing to release him ...

'' (1952) with

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

. He also wrote '' Close to My Heart'' (1951) based on his own novel, '' Operation Secret'' (1952), ''

The Iron Mistress ''The Iron Mistress'' is a 1952 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd and Virginia Mayo. It ends with Bowie's marriage to Ursula de Veramendi and does not deal with his death at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. ...

'' (1952) for

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

, ''

The Charge at Feather River ''The Charge at Feather River'' is a 1953 American Western film directed by Gordon Douglas. It was originally released in 3D with many arrows, lances, and other weapons flying directly at the audience in several scenes. The movie is most nota ...

'' (1953) a 3-D film, and '' Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954). Webb had a big hit with two films for Burt Lancaster and Robert Aldrich: ''

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

'' (1954) and '' Vera Cruz'' (1954). He wrote episodes of '' The Millionaire'' and ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

'' and '' Illegal'' (1955) with Edward G. Robinson.

Post-Warner Bros

Lancaster hired Webb to do ''

Trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes, metal straps, or chains, from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or ...

'' (1956). He also wrote ''

The Big Country ''The Big Country'' is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, and starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Charles Bickford. The supporting cast features Burl Ives and Chuck Connors. F ...

'' (1958) and '' Pork Chop Hill'' (1959). Webb received critical acclaim for his screenplays for '' Cape Fear'' (1962) and '' How the West Was Won'' (1962). He won an Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for the latter.

Mirisch Brothers

Less well received were ''

Kings of the Sun ''Kings of the Sun'' is a 1963 DeLuxe Color film directed by J. Lee Thompson for Mirisch Productions set in Mesoamerica at the time of the conquest of Chichen Itza by Hunac Ceel. Location scenes were filmed in Mazatlán and Chichen Itza. The ...

'' (1963) for the Mirisch Brothers and '' Cheyenne Autumn'' (1964) for John Ford. He wrote an early draft of ''Chinese Finale'' that became '' 7 Women'', Ford's last film, but Webb is not credited in the final movie. Webb wrote the English language version of '' Guns for San Sebastian'' (1968) and did a script for '' Patton''. He did some historical epics: ''

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

'' (1969), for MGM; '' Sinful Davey'' (1969) for John Huston and the Mirisches; and ''

The Hawaiians Hawaiians are the indigenous people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiians or The Hawaiians may also refer to: * The Hawaiians (WFL), a football team in the World Football League from 1974 to 1975 * ''The Hawaiians'' (film), a 1970 American hi ...

'' (1970), for the Mirsches. His last credits were sequels to ''In the Heat of the Night'', both for the Mirsches: ''

They Call Me Mister Tibbs! ''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'' is a 1970 American DeLuxe Color crime drama film directed by Gordon Douglas (director), Gordon Douglas. The second installment in a trilogy, the release was preceded by ''In the Heat of the Night (film), In the H ...

'' (1970) and '' The Organization'' (1971). In March 1974 the American Writers Guild awarded him the Morgan Award for services to the guild.'TIGER' TOP DRAMA: Writers Guild Awards Given Los Angeles Times 23 Mar 1974: a8 He died on September 27, 1974, and was buried in Los Angeles National Cemetery. He was survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.

Partial filmography

*'' Nevada City'' (1941) - original screenplay *''

'' (1941) - screenplay *'' Bad Man of Deadwood'' (1941) - original screenplay *'' Jesse James at Bay'' (1942) - screenplay *'' South of Santa Fe'' (1942) - original screenplay *'' California Firebrand'' (1948) - story (uncredited) *'' South of St. Louis'' (1949) - screenplay *''

'' (1950) - screenplay *''

'' (1951) - screenplay *'' Close to My Heart'' (1951) - original novel "A Baby for Midge" and screenplay *''

'' (1952) - screenplay *'' Operation Secret'' (1952) - screenplay * ''

'' (1952) - screenplay * ''

'' (1953) - screenplay *'' Phantom of the Rue Morgue'' (1954) - screenplay * ''

'' (1954) - screenplay * '' Vera Cruz'' (1954) - screenplay *'' The Millionaire'' - episode "The Joe Iris Story" (1955) - teleplay *'' Illegal'' (1955) - screenplay *''

'' - episode "West of the River" (1956) - teleplay *''

'' (1956) - screenplay *''

'' (1958) - screenplay *'' Pork Chop Hill'' (1959) - screenplay * '' Cape Fear'' (1962) - screenplay * '' How the West Was Won'' (1963) – screenplay *''

'' (1963) - screenplay * '' Cheyenne Autumn'' (1964) - screenplay * '' La Bataille de San Sebastian'' (1968) - English screenplay * ''

'' (1969) - story and screenplay * '' Sinful Davey'' (1969) - screenplay *''

'' (1970) - screenplay * ''

'' (1970) - screenplay *'' The Organization'' (1971) - screenplay

References

External links

*
James R. Webb overview
at MSN Movies * All Media Guide
James R. Webb biography
VH1.com.

at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, James R. (writer) 1909 births 1974 deaths American male screenwriters 20th-century American short story writers Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners Writers from Denver Stanford University alumni American male short story writers Screenwriters from Colorado United States Army personnel of World War II 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters