Lem Dobbs (born Anton Lemuel Kitaj; 24 December 1958) is a British-American screenwriter, best known for the films '' Dark City'' (1998) and ''

The Limey ''The Limey'' is a 1999 American crime film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Lem Dobbs. The film features Terence Stamp, Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzmán, Barry Newman, Nicky Katt, and Peter Fonda. The plot concerns an English care ...

'' (1999). He was born in

Oxford, England Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, and is the son of the painter R. B. Kitaj. The

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

"Dobbs" was taken from the character played by

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

in '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'' (1948).

Career

Dobbs's earliest work in the film industry was as a child actor in '' The Boy Who Turned Yellow'' (1972), a short film that was the last collaboration between director

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...

and the screenwriter/producer

Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...

. In 1979, Dobbs wrote ''Edward Ford'', an original screenplay that remains unproduced. Critic Matthew Dessem has called the script "famously brilliant, famously unproduced", and asserts that "most of Hollywood" agrees it is a "masterpiece". On the basis of another unproduced screenplay, ''The Marvel of the Haunted Castle'', Dobbs was hired to rewrite Diane Thomas's screenplay for '' Romancing the Stone'' (1984), though his contributions went uncredited. He described his on-location experience as a matter of "helping to solve logistical problems on a daily basis, making constant adjustments" and later claimed it was his only attempt at "classic script doctoring." Following that film's success, several films based on Dobbs's screenplays were produced: '' Hider in the House'' (1989), '' The Hard Way'' (1991), '' Kafka'' (1991), which Dobbs wrote in the 1970s, and ''

'' (1999). He was also credited as co-writer on '' Dark City'' (1998), ''

The Score The Score may refer to: Films and television * The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet'' * The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...

'' (2001) and '' Haywire'' (2011), an action-thriller directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

(who also directed ''Kafka'' and ''The Limey''). Dobbs has spoken on DVD and blu-ray commentary tracks for his films ''Dark City'' and ''

'', and (as a film historian) for the unrelated '' In the French Style'' (1963), '' Von Ryan's Express'' (1965), '' The Sand Pebbles'' (1966), '' The Chase'' (1966), '' 10 Rillington Place'' (1971) and ''

Double Indemnity ''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. Wilder and Raymond Chandler adapted the screenplay from James M. Cain's Double Indemnity (novel), novel of the same na ...

'' (1945), the last due to his personal friendship with the director

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an American filmmaker and screenwriter. His career in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and ver ...

Filmography

Feature films

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Hollywood: Lem Dobbs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobbs, Lem 1958 births British emigrants to the United States American male screenwriters English screenwriters English male screenwriters Living people Writers from Oxford