Aeneas MacKenzie, or Æneas MacKenzie (August 15, 1889 in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

– June 2, 1962 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

), was a Scottish-American screenwriter. MacKenzie wrote many notable

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 ...

films, including: ''

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex ''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'', for a time also entitled ''Elizabeth the Queen'', is a 1939 American historical romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, and Olivia de Havilland. Based on ...

'' (1939), '' They Died with Their Boots On'' (1941), ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' (1952), and '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956).

Career

MacKenzie came from England to work on a film of '' East Lynne''. In January 1938, he was under contract to Warner Bros. to write what would become ''Juarez''. In February 1939, he was working on a biopic of

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

for James Cagney. He also wrote a biopic of Disraeli for

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supp ...

. Neither were made, but by July 1940, he was working on a biopic of George Custer which became ''They Died with Their Boots On''. MacKenzie wrote ''The Widow of Devil's Island'' for Bette Davis. In March 1942, he was working on a movie about "Sing Sing" prison. In October 1943, RKO announced they would make a film from his original story, ''The Spanish Main''. In July 1946, he wrote a script of ''Ivanhoe'' for Paramount. The project was postponed due to the Palestine Cris and instead MacKenzie was assigned to do a biopic on Ludwig II for producer Robert Fellows. A year later, his ''Ivanhoe'' script was sold to RKO. They sold it to MGM who filmed it several years later. He worked on the script for ''The Black Book'' (1949). In January 1950, he sold a script to Douglas Fairbanks Jr which became '' Against All Flags''. Several months later, MacKenzie sold this story to Universal, who hired him to write the script. Also at Universal, he did ''The Prince Who Was a Thief''. MacKenzie later headed the script team on ''The Ten Commandments''. In July 1957, he was writing ''Peter and Catherine'' about Russia in the 18th century for Ross Hunter at Universal. In late 1958, MacKenzie was reported to be working on a biopic of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

for Evyan Perfumes.

Filmography

*'' Juarez'' (1939) *''

'' (1939) *'' They Died with Their Boots On'' (1941) *'' The Navy Comes Through'' (1942) *'' The Woman of the Town'' (1943) *''

The Fighting Seabees ''The Fighting Seabees'' is a 1944 American war film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward. The supporting cast includes Dennis O'Keefe, William Frawley, Leonid Kinsky, Addison Richards and Grant Withers. ''The Fighti ...

'' (1944) *'' Buffalo Bill'' (1944) *'' Back to Bataan'' (1945) *'' The Spanish Main'' (1945) *''

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

'' (1949) * '' The Avengers'' (1950) *'' Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' (1951) *'' The Prince Who Was a Thief'' (1951) *''

'' (1952) *'' Face to Face'' (1952) *'' Against All Flags'' (1952) *''L'amante di Paride'' ('' Loves of Three Queens'') (1954) *'' The Ten Commandments'' (1956) *'' The King's Pirate'' (1967)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Aeneas 1889 births 1962 deaths People from Stornoway 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Scottish screenwriters British emigrants to the United States