Talbot Lanham Jennings (August 25, 1894 – May 30, 1985) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received two

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations for co-writing the screenplays for ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

'' (1935) and '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946).

Biography

He was born in 1894 in

Shoshone, Idaho Shoshone () is the county seat and largest city of Lincoln County, Idaho, United States. The population was 1,461 at the 2010 census. In contrast to the Shoshone Native American tribe for which it is named, the city's name is correctly pron ...

, his father was an Episcopal archdeacon for Idaho and Wyoming. He attended Nampa High School before World War I in which he saw active service. After to war he went to

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

and graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

in 1924. He was president of the Associated Students and wrote ''Light on the Mountains'', a state history set to music. He also edited the yearbook, ''Gem of the Mountains'', and the ''Blue Bucket'', the English Department literary publication . Jennings did a master's degree at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, then attended

Yale Drama School The David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University is a graduate professional school of Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1924 as the Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts, the school provides training in e ...

. Talbot wrote and co-wrote 17 screenplays including ''Mutiny on the Bounty'', '' Romeo and Juliet'', '' Anna and the King of Siam'', '' Knights of the Round Table'', ''

The Good Earth ''The Good Earth'' is a historical fiction novel by Pearl S. Buck published in 1931 that dramatizes family life in a Chinese village in the early 20th century. It is the first book in her ''House of Earth'' trilogy, continued in ''Sons'' (1932) ...

'' and ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...

''. He wrote many screenplays for television also. A story he wrote became ''

The Sons of Katie Elder ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' is a 1965 American Western (genre), Western film in Panavision, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. It was filmed principally in Mexico. Plot The four adult sons of Katie Elder – Jo ...

'' (1965), and was his last film. In the 1940 B-movie The Devil's Pipeline,

Richard Arlen Richard Arlen (born Sylvanus Richard Mattimore, September 1, 1899 – March 28, 1976) was an American actor of film and television. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Arlen attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served in Canada as a ...

and

Andy Devine Andrew Vabre Devine (October 7, 1905 – February 18, 1977) was an American character actor known for his distinctive raspy, crackly voice and roles in Western films, including his role as Cookie, the sidekick of Roy Rogers in 10 feature fil ...

play characters named Talbot and Jennings, apparently an inside joke by one of its writers. He died at

East Glacier Park, Montana East Glacier Park (Blackfeet: , "Big Tree Lodge") is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The population was 363 on the 2010 United States Census. The Great Northern Railway pla ...

Plays

*''No More Frontier'' (1931) *''This Side of Idolatry'' (1933)

Films

*''

We Live Again ''We Live Again'' is a 1934 film directed by Rouben Mamoulian and starring Anna Sten and Fredric March. The film is an adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1899 novel ''Resurrection'' (''Voskraeseniye''). The screenplay was written by Maxwell Anderson with ...

'' (1934) (uncredited) *''

'' (1935) *'' Romeo and Juliet'' (1936) *''

'' (1936) *''

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, t ...

'' (1937) *'' Marie Antoinette'' (1938) – uncredited *''

Spawn of the North ''Spawn of the North'' is a 1938 American adventure film about rival fishermen in Alaska starring George Raft and featuring Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff and John Barrymore. The picture was directed by Henry Hathaway and was an ...

'' (1938) – uncredited *''

Rulers of the Sea ''Rulers of the Sea'' is a 1939 American historical drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Margaret Lockwood and Will Fyffe. The film's story is based on the voyage of the , the first steamship to cross the North ...

'' (1939) *''

'' (1940) *''

Edison, the Man ''Edison, the Man'' is a 1940 biographical film depicting the life of inventor Thomas Edison, who was played by Spencer Tracy. Hugo Butler and Dore Schary were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Writing, Original Story for their work on t ...

'' (1940) *''

So Ends Our Night ''So Ends Our Night'' is a 1941 drama directed by John Cromwell (director), John Cromwell and starring Fredric March, Margaret Sullavan and Glenn Ford. The screenplay was adapted by Talbot Jennings from the novel ''Flotsam (novel), Flotsam'' by G ...

'' (1941) *''

Ten Gentlemen from West Point ''Ten Gentlemen from West Point'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring George Montgomery, Maureen O'Hara and John Sutton. Its cinematography was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943. George Montgomery replac ...

'' (1942) – uncredited *'' Frenchman's Creek'' (1944) *'' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1946) *''

Landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

'' (1949) *''

The Black Rose ''The Black Rose'' is a 1950 American-British adventure film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Tyrone Power and Orson Welles. Talbot Jennings' screenplay was loosely based on a 1945 novel of the same name by Canadian author Thomas B. Co ...

'' (1950) *'' Across the Wide Missouri'' (1951) *''

Scaramouche Scaramouche () or Scaramouch (; from Italian Scaramuccia , literally "little skirmisher") is a stock clown character of the 16th-century commedia dell'arte (comic theatrical arts of Italian literature). The role combined characteristics of the ...

'' (1952) *'' Knights of the Round Table'' (1953) *'' Untamed'' (1955) *''

Escape to Burma ''Escape to Burma'' is a 1955 American Technicolor adventure film directed by Allan Dwan starring Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and David Farrar (actor), David Farrar. The film was based on the short story "Bow Tamely to Me" by Kenneth Perkins, ...

'' (1955) *'' Pearl of the South Pacific'' (1955) *'' Gunsight Ridge'' (1957) *'' The Naked Maja'' (1958) *''

77 Sunset Strip ''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith, Richard Long (from 1960 to 1961) and Edd Byrnes (billed as Edward Byrnes). Each episode was o ...

'' (1959) – "Abra-Cadaver" *''

The Alaskans ''The Alaskans'' is a 1959–1960 ABC/Warner Bros. western television series set during the late 1890s in the port of Skagway, Alaska. The show features Roger Moore as "Silky Harris" and Jeff York as "Reno McKee", a pair of adventurers int ...

'' (1959) – "Starvation Stampede", "Winter Song" *'' Adventures in Paradise'' (1960) – "The Siege of Troy" *'' The Roaring '20s'' (1960) – "Among the Missing" *''

'' (1965) (written in 1965)

References

External links

* 1894 births 1985 deaths American male screenwriters American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights University of Idaho alumni Harvard University alumni Yale School of Drama alumni Screenwriters from Idaho People from Shoshone, Idaho American military personnel of World War I 20th-century American screenwriters {{US-screenwriter-stub