Robert Buckner (May 28, 1906 – August 18, 1989) was an American film screenwriter, producer and short story writer.

Biography

Buckner studied at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He began his professional writing career at age 20, as London correspondent for the ''New York World''. He wrote a play ''An Affair of the State''; the novels ''Sigrid and Sergeant'' (1959), ''Tiger By the Tail'' (1960) and ''Starfire'' (1960); and the short story " The Man Who Won the War" (1936).

Screenwriter

Bucker joined Warner Bros as a writer. His first credit was '' Gold Is Where You Find It'' (1938). He did some uncredited work on ''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
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'' (1938) and wrote '' Love, Honor and Behave'' (1938), '' Comet Over Broadway'' (1939), '' The Oklahoma Kid'' (1939), and '' You Can't Get Away with Murder'' (1939). Bucker had a big hit with ''

Dodge City Dodge City is the county seat of Ford County, Kansas, United States, named after nearby Fort Dodge. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 27,788. The city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier ...

'' (1939) starring

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

, based on his original screenplay. He was credited on '' Angels Wash Their Faces'' (1939), and '' Espionage Agent'' (1939) was based on his story. Bucker wrote a follow up to ''Dodge City'', '' Virginia City'' (1940) with Flynn, and worked on the script for '' My Love Came Back'' (1940). Bucker received acclaim for a biopic, '' Knute Rockne All American'' (1940). He did a third Western for Flynn, '' Santa Fe Trail'' (1940) and was put on a war film for Flynn, ''

Dive Bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that Dive (aviation), dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the Aerial bomb, bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to ...

'' (1941). Bucker had a huge success with his script for '' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) a biopic of George M Cohan. This resulted in Bucker being promoted to producer at Warners.

Producer

Buckner's first film as producer was '' Gentleman Jim'' (1943) a biopic of Jim Corbett starring Flynn. He produced '' Mission to Moscow'' (1943) a biopic of Joseph E Davies and wrote and produced ''

The Desert Song ''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Moroccan fighters, against French co ...

'' (1943). Bucker made another movie with Flynn, '' Uncertain Glory'' (1944). He made '' God Is My Co-Pilot'' (1945), and wrote and produced '' Confidential Agent'' (1945) with

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

. Buckner produced a popular Western with Flynn, ''

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'' (1945). He did a biopic of the

Brontë family The Brontës () were a nineteenth-century literary family, born in the village of Thornton and later associated with the village of Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848) ...

, '' Devotion'' (1946), and did a crime drama, '' Nobody Lives Forever'' (1946). Buckner produced a Western, ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian languages, Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized tribe, federally recognize ...

'' (1947), and the prestigious stage hit '' Life with Father'' (1947). In June 1947 Buckner left Warner Bros for Universal.

Universal

Buckner's first film at Universal was '' Rogues' Regiment'' (1948), which he wrote and produced, from a story by Buckner and director

Robert Florey Robert Florey (14 September 1900 – 16 May 1979) was a French-American director, screenwriter, film journalist and actor. Born as Robert Fuchs in Paris, he became an orphan at an early age and was then raised in Switzerland. In 1920 he worked a ...

. He went on to wrote and produce '' Sword in the Desert'' (1948), based on an old story of Buckner's which he had turned into a novel called ''Night Watch''. It helped make a star of Jeff Chandler. He wrote and produced '' Free for All'' (1949), '' Deported'' (1950), shot in Italy with Chandler, and '' Bright Victory'' (1951).

Freelance writer

Buckner provided the story for '' When in Rome'' (1952) and '' The Man Behind the Gun'' (1953). He went to England to write ''

To Paris with Love ''To Paris with Love'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Alec Guinness, Odile Versois and Vernon Gray. Premise A father and son play matchmaker for each other during a trip to Paris. Cast *Alec Guinness as Col ...

'' (1955), '' House of Secrets'' (1956) and two for Warwick Films, ''

A Prize of Gold ''A Prize of Gold'' is a 1955 Technicolor film noir crime film directed by Mark Robson partly filmed in West Berlin. The film stars Richard Widmark as a United States Air Force Air Police Master Sergeant motivated by love and compassion t ...

'' (1956) and ''

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

'' (1956). Buckner began writing for TV, adapting '' Twentieth Century'' and '' A Bell for Adano'' for '' Ford Star Jubilee''.

20th Century Fox

Back in Hollywood Buckner wrote '' Love Me Tender'' (1956) at

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

, a film best remembered as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's debut movie. In 1957 he wrote ''Sigrid and the Sergeant'', his first prose in almost twenty years. The following year he wrote and produced '' From Hell to Texas'' (1958) directed by

Henry Hathaway Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films. Backgro ...

at Fox. Also for Fox Bucker created a TV series ''

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

'' (1960–61) starring

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ''The Time Machine'' (1960), ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), '' The Birds'' (1963), and '' I ...

. It only lasted a season, Bucker produced the pilot for a follow up, ''Dateline: San Francisco'' but it did not result in a regular series. At Disney he provided the story for '' Moon Pilot'' (1962). Buckner went on to write episodes of '' The Rogues'', '' Burke's Law'', '' The Wackiest Ship in the Army'', ''

The Name of the Game Name of the Game may refer to: Television * ''The Name of the Game'' (TV series), a 1968–1971 American drama ** ''Fame Is the Name of the Game'', a 1966 American television film and pilot for the series * "The Name of the Game" (''Grey's Anato ...

'' and ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

''. He also wrote the features '' Return of the Gunfighter'' (1967).

Later life

In his later life, Buckner lived in

San Miguel de Allende San Miguel de Allende () is the principal city in the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, located in the far eastern part of Guanajuato, Mexico. A part of the Bajío region, the city lies from Mexico City, 86 km (53 mi) from Quer� ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. He was a fine artist and recognized leader in the art community there. He died and was buried in San Miguel in 1989.

Works

*" The Man Who Won the War", 1936 (short story) *'' Gold Is Where You Find It'' (1938) – writer *''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

'' (1938) – uncredited writer *'' Love, Honor and Behave'' (1938) – writer *'' Comet Over Broadway'' (1938) – writer *'' The Oklahoma Kid'' (1939) – writer *'' Espionage Agent'' (1939) – writer *'' The Angels Wash Their Faces'' (1939) – writer *''

'' (1939) – writer *'' You Can't Get Away with Murder'' (1939) – writer *'' Santa Fe Trail'' (1940) – writer *'' Knute Rockne All American'' (1940) – writer *'' My Love Came Back'' (1940) – writer *'' Virginia City'' (1940) – writer *''

'' (1941) – writer *'' Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) – writer *'' Gentleman Jim'' (1942) – producer *'' Mission to Moscow'' (1943) – producer *''

'' (1943) – writer, producer *'' Roaring Guns'' (1944) (short) – writer *'' Uncertain Glory'' (1944) – producer *'' God is My Co-Pilot'' (1945) – producer *''

'' (1945) – producer *'' Confidential Agent'' (1945) – writer, producer *'' Devotion'' (1946) – producer *'' Nobody Lives Forever'' (1946) – producer *''Night Watch'' (1947) (novel) – writer – became '' Sword in the Desert'' *''

'' (1947) – producer *'' Life with Father'' (1947) – producer *'' Rogues' Regiment'' (1948) – writer, producer, co-story *''Portrait of a Lady'' (1949) (play) – writer *'' Sword in the Desert'' (1949) – writer, producer *'' Free for All'' (1949) – writer, producer *'' Deported'' (1950) – writer, producer *'' Bright Victory'' (1951) – writer, producer *'' When in Rome'' (1952) – writer *'' The Man Behind the Gun'' (1953) – writer *''

'' (1955) – writer *''

'' (1955) – writer *'' Ford Star Jubilee'' (1956) – various episodes – writer *''

'' (1956) – writer *'' Love Me Tender'' (1956) – writer *''

Triple Deception ''House of Secrets'' (1956 in film, 1956) is a British crime film directed by Guy Green (filmmaker), Guy Green, filmed in Technicolor and VistaVision, and starring Michael Craig (actor), Michael Craig, Anton Diffring, and Gérard Oury. Cast * Mi ...

'' (1956) – writer *''Sigrid and the Sergeant'' (1957) (novel) – writer *'' From Hell to Texas'' (1958) – writer, producer *''

'' (1960–61) – creator, writer, producer *''

Dateline San Francisco A dateline is a brief piece of text included in news articles that describes where and when the story was written or filed, though the date is often omitted. In the case of articles reprinted from wire services, the distributing organization i ...

'' (1962) (TV pilot) – writer *'' Moon Pilot'' (1962) – writer, based on his 1960 novel ''Starfire'' *'' The Rogues'' (1965) – various episodes – writer *'' Burke's Law'' (1965) (TV series) – various episodes – writer *'' The Wackiest Ship in the Army'' (1966) – episode "The Lamb Who Hunted Wolves" – writer *'' Return of the Gunfighter'' (1967) – writer *''

'' (1969) – episode "The Suntan Mob" – writer *''

'' (1970) – episode "The Gold Mine" - writer

References

External links

*
Robert Buckner
at BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckner, Robert 1906 births 1989 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh University of Virginia alumni People from Crewe, Virginia American male screenwriters New York World American male short story writers American film producers American emigrants to Mexico 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from Virginia Robert Meltzer Award winners 20th-century American screenwriters