HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Frank Stanley Nugent (May 27, 1908 – December 29, 1965) was an American
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 ...
, journalist, and film reviewer. He wrote 21 film scripts, 11 for director
John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
. He wrote almost a thousand reviews for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' 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 Th ...
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 m ...
ranks his screenplay for ''
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American 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–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...
'' (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 in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, graduating in 1929, where he worked on the student newspaper, the '' Columbia Spectator''. He started his journalism career as a news reporter with ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 1929 and in 1934 moved to reviewing films for that newspaper. At the end of 1936 Nugent succeeded Andre Sennwald 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 theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...
'' (1936), and of ''
The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...
'' and ''
Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel 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 Prize ...
'', released the following year, he wrote: His critiques were sometimes sharp-tongued. He called ''
Mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and 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 dif ...
'' with
Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
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 Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the ...
a "glib, implausible and smart-gowned little drama, as typical Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as Leo himself". Of '' The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' (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., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
, and began his review of '' The Story of Alexander Graham Bell'' (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. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...
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), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...
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, including '' 3 Godfathers'' (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 budge ...
'' (1949), '' Wagon Master'' (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 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 History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
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 Stuart Heisler (December 5, 1896 – August 21, 1979) was an American film and television director. He was a son of Luther Albert Heisler (1855–1916), a carpenter, and Frances Baldwin Heisler (1857–1935). He worked as a motion picture editor ...
(''
Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...
''), for
Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American filmmaker. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of Music'' (1965). He was als ...
('' Two Flags West''), 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 cinema 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. Later noted as a ''film noir'' specialist, Karlson directed ''99 River Street'', ''Kansas City Confidential'' and ''Hell's Island'', all ...
('' They Rode West'' and ''
Gunman's Walk ''Gunman's Walk'' is a 1958 American CinemaScope Western (genre), 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 ab ...
''). Nugent also worked on '' Mister Roberts''. His screenplays in other genres include '' The Red Beret'', '' North West Frontier'', '' Trouble in the Glen'', '' The Quiet Man'', '' The Rising of the Moon'' and '' Donovan's Reef''. For his work on for '' The Quiet Man'', he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. ''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 Th ...
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 m ...
(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, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
.


Personal life

On January 3, 1939, he married Dorothy J. Rivers. New York Mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Y ...
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'', 1948 *''
Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...
'', 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 budge ...
'', 1949 *'' Wagon Master'', 1950 *'' Two Flags West'', 1950 *'' The Quiet Man'', 1952 *'' Angel Face'', 1953 *''
Paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...
'', released in the UK as ''The Red Beret'', 1953 *'' They Rode West'', 1954 *'' Trouble in the Glen'', 1954 *'' Mister Roberts'', 1955 *'' The Tall Men'', 1955 *''
The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American 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–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...
'', 1956 *'' The Rising of the Moon'', 1957 *''
Gunman's Walk ''Gunman's Walk'' is a 1958 American CinemaScope Western (genre), 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 ab ...
'', 1958 *'' The Last Hurrah'', 1958 *'' North West Frontier'', 1959 *'' Two Rode Together'', 1961 *'' Donovan's Reef'', 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 maj ...
, 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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' * 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