Anthony Veiller
Encyclopedia
Anthony Veiller was an American
screenwriter
and film producer
. The son of the screenwriter Bayard Veiller
and the English actress Margaret Wycherly
, Anthony Veiller wrote for 41 films between 1934
and 1964
.
) the screenplay for Stage Door
, starring Katharine Hepburn
, Ginger Rogers
and Adolphe Menjou
. This very loose adaptation of the play by George S. Kaufman
and Edna Ferber
was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
.
Veiller was also Oscar-nominated for writing (with uncredited help from John Huston
and Richard Brooks
) The Killers
(1946), an adaptation of the short story by Ernest Hemingway
. This seminal example of film noir
, which introduced Burt Lancaster
to filmgoers, won an Edgar Award
as best mystery film of 1946, and in 2008 was enshrined in the United States National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Veiller frequently worked with top directors. During the Second World War he worked with Frank Capra
on several films in the documentary/propaganda film series collectively titled Why We Fight
. In 1946 (the same year as The Killers), Veiller co-wrote The Stranger
, directed by and starring Orson Welles
. For State of the Union
(1948), again directed by Capra, Veiller was credited as co-producer as well as co-writer. Veiller worked with director John Huston
on several films: Moulin Rouge
(1952), Beat the Devil (1953), The List of Adrian Messenger
(1963), and The Night of the Iguana
(1964), the film of the Tennessee Williams
play that became Veiller's final screen credit. Veiller died the following year, of cancer
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. The son of the screenwriter Bayard Veiller
Bayard Veiller
Bayard Veiller was an American screenwriter, producer and film director. He wrote for 32 films between 1915 and 1941...
and the English actress Margaret Wycherly
Margaret Wycherly
Margaret Wycherly was an English stage and film actress.-Early life:Wycherly was born Margaret De Wolfe in London, England of American parents, Dr. and Mrs. J. L. De Wolfe. She was married to writer Bayard Veiller in 1901. They had a son, Anthony Veiller , who also became a writer...
, Anthony Veiller wrote for 41 films between 1934
1934 in film
-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
and 1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
.
Career and Awards
Veiller was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. In 1937, he co-wrote (with Morrie RyskindMorrie Ryskind
Morrie Ryskind was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and motion pictures, who became a conservative political activist later in life.-Biography:...
) the screenplay for Stage Door
Stage Door
Stage Door is a RKO film, adapted from the play by the same name, that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier,...
, starring Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
, Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
and Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Menjou
Adolphe Jean Menjou was an American actor. His career spanned both silent films and talkies, appearing in such films as The Sheik, A Woman of Paris, Morocco, and A Star is Born...
. This very loose adaptation of the play by George S. Kaufman
George S. Kaufman
George Simon Kaufman was an American playwright, theatre director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals, notably for the Marx Brothers...
and Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
Veiller was also Oscar-nominated for writing (with uncredited help from John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
and Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks
Richard Brooks was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and occasional film producer.-Early life and career:...
) The Killers
The Killers (1946 film)
The Killers is a 1946 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak. It is based in part on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film features Burt Lancaster in his screen debut, as well as Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, and Sam Levene...
(1946), an adaptation of the short story by Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. This seminal example of film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
, which introduced Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
to filmgoers, won an Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
as best mystery film of 1946, and in 2008 was enshrined in the United States National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Veiller frequently worked with top directors. During the Second World War he worked with Frank Capra
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...
on several films in the documentary/propaganda film series collectively titled Why We Fight
Why We Fight
Why We Fight is a series of seven war information training films commissioned by the United States government during World War II whose purpose was to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S...
. In 1946 (the same year as The Killers), Veiller co-wrote The Stranger
The Stranger (1946 film)
The Stranger is an American film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young. The film was based on an Oscar-nominated screenplay written by Victor Trivas. Sam Spiegel was the film's producer, and the film's musical score is by Bronisław Kaper...
, directed by and starring Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. For State of the Union
State of the Union (film)
State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures...
(1948), again directed by Capra, Veiller was credited as co-producer as well as co-writer. Veiller worked with director John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
on several films: Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (1952 film)
Moulin Rouge is a 1952 film directed by John Huston, produced by Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and released by United Artists. The film is set in Paris in the late 19th century, following artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the city's bohemian sub-culture in and around the...
(1952), Beat the Devil (1953), The List of Adrian Messenger
The List of Adrian Messenger
The List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 black and white crime thriller about a retired British intelligence officer investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. It is directed by acclaimed film director John Huston...
(1963), and The Night of the Iguana
The Night of the Iguana (film)
The Night of the Iguana is a 1964 film based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston, it starred Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best...
(1964), the film of the Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
play that became Veiller's final screen credit. Veiller died the following year, of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
.
Filmography as Screenwriter
- The Witching Hour (1934)
- Menace (1934)
- The Notorious Sophie Lang (1934)
- Jalna (1935)
- Break of Hearts (1935)
- Star of MidnightStar of MidnightStar of Midnight is an American mystery-comedy film released by RKO Pictures in 1935. William Powell was loaned out in this movie from MGM to star with Ginger Rogers.-Plot:...
(1935) - Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935)
- The Ex-Mrs. BradfordThe Ex-Mrs. BradfordThe Ex-Mrs. Bradford is a mystery film starring William Powell and Jean Arthur as a divorced couple who investigate a murder at a racetrack. This was the last film directed by Stephen Roberts before his untimely death from a heart attack.-Plot:...
(1936) - The Lady Consents (1936)
- WintersetWinterset (film)Winterset is a 1936 crime film directed by Alfred Santell, based on the play by Maxwell Anderson.The film greatly changes the ending of the play, in which the lovers Mio and Miriamne are shot to death by gangsters...
(1936) - A Woman RebelsA Woman RebelsA Woman Rebels is a 1936 RKO film adapted from the novel Portrait of a Rebel by Netta Syrett and starring Katharine Hepburn as Pamela Thistlewaite, who rebels against the social mores of Victorian England...
(1936) - Swing TimeSwing TimeSwing Time is a 1936 RKO musical comedy film set mainly in New York City and stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields...
(1936) (contributing writer - uncredited) - The Soldier and the Lady (1937)
- Stage DoorStage DoorStage Door is a RKO film, adapted from the play by the same name, that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier,...
(1937) - Radio City Revels (1938)
- Gunga DinGunga Din (film)Gunga Din is a 1939 RKO adventure film directed by George Stevens, loosely based on the poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, combined with elements of his novel Soldiers Three...
(1939) (contributing writer - uncredited) - Disputed Passage (1939)
- Let Us Live (1939)
- Her Cardboard Lover (1942)
- Why We Fight: Prelude to WarPrelude to WarPrelude to War was the first film of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight propaganda film series, commissioned by the Office of War Information and George C. Marshall. It was made to convince American troops of the necessity of combating the Axis Powers during World War II...
(1942) - Why We Fight: The Nazis StrikeThe Nazis StrikeThe Nazis Strike was the second film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It introduces Germany as a nation whose aggressive ambitions began in 1863 with Otto von Bismarck and with the Nazis as their latest incarnation....
(1943) - Why We Fight: The Battle of BritainThe Battle of BritainThe Battle of Britain was the fourth of Frank Capra's Why We Fight series of seven propaganda films, which made the case for fighting and winning the Second World War...
(1943) (co-director only) - Why We Fight: The Battle of RussiaThe Battle of RussiaThe Battle of Russia is the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series, and the longest film of the series.The film begins with an overview of previous failed attempts to conquer Russia: by the Teutonic Knights in 1242 , by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704 The Battle of Russia is...
(1943) - Assignment in Brittany (1943)
- Tunisian Victory (documentary) (1944)
- Adventure (1945)
- War Comes to AmericaWar Comes to AmericaWar Comes to America was the seventh and final film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight World War II propaganda film series.The early part of the film is an idealized version of American history which includes mention of the first settlements, the American Revolutionary War , and the ethnic diversity of...
(1945) - Two Down and One to GoTwo Down and One to GoTwo Down and One to Go was a short propaganda film produced in 1945; as its title might suggest, its overall message was that the first two Axis powers, Italy and Germany, had been defeated, but that one, Japan, still had to be dealt with....
(1945) - Here is GermanyHere Is GermanyHere is Germany was a 1945 propaganda documentary film directed by Frank Capra. Like its companion film, Know Your Enemy: Japan, the film is a full-length exploration of why one of the two major Axis countries started World War II and what had to be done to keep them from "doing it again".The film...
(1945) - The KillersThe Killers (1946 film)The Killers is a 1946 American film noir directed by Robert Siodmak. It is based in part on the short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film features Burt Lancaster in his screen debut, as well as Ava Gardner, Edmond O'Brien, and Sam Levene...
(1946) - The StrangerThe Stranger (1946 film)The Stranger is an American film noir directed by Orson Welles and starring Welles, Edward G. Robinson, and Loretta Young. The film was based on an Oscar-nominated screenplay written by Victor Trivas. Sam Spiegel was the film's producer, and the film's musical score is by Bronisław Kaper...
(1946) - State of the UnionState of the Union (film)State of the Union is a 1948 film adaptation written by Myles Connolly and Anthony Veiller of the Russel Crouse, Howard Lindsay play of the same name. Directed by Frank Capra and starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, the film is Capra's first and only project for MGM Pictures...
(1948) (and producer) - Moulin RougeMoulin Rouge (1952 film)Moulin Rouge is a 1952 film directed by John Huston, produced by Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and released by United Artists. The film is set in Paris in the late 19th century, following artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the city's bohemian sub-culture in and around the...
(1952) - Red Planet MarsRed Planet MarsRed Planet Mars is a 1952 science fiction film released by United Artists based on a 1932 play Red Planet written by John L. Balderston and John Hoare...
(1952) (and co-producer) - Beat the Devil (1953) (screenplay collaboration - uncredited)
- That Lady (1955)
- Safari (1956)
- Monkey on My Back (1957)
- Timbuktu (1959)
- Solomon and ShebaSolomon and ShebaSolomon and Sheba is a 1959 Biblical epic film made by Edward Small Productions and distributed by United Artists. The film stars Yul Brynner, Gina Lollobrigida, George Sanders and Marisa Pavan, with David Farrar, Harry Andrews, Jack Gwillim, Laurence Naismith, William Devlin, Jean Anderson and...
(1959) (also directed) - The List of Adrian MessengerThe List of Adrian MessengerThe List of Adrian Messenger is a 1963 black and white crime thriller about a retired British intelligence officer investigating a series of apparently unrelated deaths. It is directed by acclaimed film director John Huston...
(1963) - The Night of the IguanaThe Night of the Iguana (film)The Night of the Iguana is a 1964 film based on the 1961 play The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams. Directed by John Huston, it starred Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, and Deborah Kerr. It won the 1964 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best...
(1964)