Heck Allen
Writing
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen (September 12, 1912 – October 26, 1991) was an American author and screenwriter. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the American West were published under the pen names Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen's screenplays and scripts for animated shorts were credited to Heck Allen and Henry Allen. In 1937 Allen began working as a contract screenwriter for MGM animation division. While his early work was for Harman and Ising's Barney Bear series, his longest collaboration was with director Tex Avery. Allen was credited as story artist on many classic Avery shorts, included Swing Shift Cinderella, King-Size Canary, and The First Bad Man, among many others. Allen downplayed his contributions to the shorts, claiming that Avery merely used him as a sounding board for his own ideas. Allen's career as a novelist began in 1952, with the publication of his first Western No Survivors. Allen, afraid that the studio would disapprove of his moonlighting, used a pen name to avoid trouble. He would go on to publish over 50 novels, eight of which were adapted for the screen. Most of these were published under one or the other of the pseudonyms Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen was a five-time winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America and a recipient of the Levi Strauss Award for lifetime achievement.
Known For
A bandit kidnaps a Marshal who has seen a map showing a gold vein on Indian lands, but other groups are looking for it too, while the Apache try to keep the secret location undisturbed.
Mackenna's Gold
Two brothers discharged from the Confederate Army join a businessman for a cattle drive from Texas to Montana where they run into raiding Jayhawkers, angry Sioux, rough terrain and bad weather.
The Tall Men
A fur-trapper named Kelly, who once saved the life of a Sioux chief, is allowed to set his traps in Sioux territory during the late 1870s. Reluctantly he takes on a tenderfoot assistant named Anse and together they give shelter to a runaway Arapaho woman. Tensions develop when Anse falls in love with this woman and when the Sioux chief arrives with his warriors to re-claim her.
Yellowstone Kelly
A peace-loving man named Ben Kane takes a job as deputy marshal of Lords, in the old West. Kane is no lawman, but he accepts the badge because he has an old score to settle with the town's chief trouble-maker. Once on the job, Kane must also deal with a young sharpshooter named Billy Young and a sharp and sassy saloon dancer, Lily.
Young Billy Young
At the beginning of the Civil War, seven friends embark on a cross-country journey in order to join the Confederate army.
Journey to Shiloh
First Sergeant Emmett Bell faces off with Apache chieftain Kamiakin in this nuanced portrayal of racial tensions between Native Americans and white settlers in 1860s Oregon Country.
Pillars of the Sky
Two outlaws are trying to steal a shipment of gold being guarded by Deputy Droopy, and have to keep quiet to avoid alerting the sheriff.
Deputy Droopy
A much-abused cat really hates living with people, so decides to go to the moon for some peace and quiet.
The Cat That Hated People
A disgraced Indian scout and his partner are hired to escort a wagonload of guns through Indian territory.
Santa Fe Passage
A series of gags showing how much more productive farms would be if farmers started crossbreeding their animals to create weird but useful hybrids.
The Farm of Tomorrow
Barney Bear heads to Jellystone National Park for a vacation while another bear, native to the park, notices Barney's picnic lunch and makes various attempts to steal the food.
Barney's Hungry Cousin
The king of the jungle, after a well spent day terrorising the rest of the animals, is petrified by a mouse.
Slap Happy Lion
A dopey Pilgrim goes hunting a turkey who speaks in a Jimmy Durante impersonation and runs the local black market. War and rationing gags abound (Pilgrims line up behind a sign reading "Ye Cigarettes Today"), as well as a running gag featuring a bear wearing an "Eat at Joe's" sandwich sign. The turkey harnesses the power of gags to save himself.
Jerky Turkey
A murder has occurred at Gruesome Gables, and the dog detective trying to find the killer has to deal with some suspicious suspects and a haunted house.
Who Killed Who?
A veteran B-29 propeller plane, struggling to find work after the war, is upset after his wife gives birth to a little jet. When he tries to compete with modern planes in an around-the-world race, Junior comes to his aid. This short is virtually identical in plot terms and other items to One Cab's Family (1952), but this time around, it concerns a family of aeroplanes, and the problems Mom and Pop have with Junior, whose obsession with speed leads him to acquire a jet engine.
Little Johnny Jet
Barney Bear is forced to give hibernation lodgings in his home to his neighbor Jimmy Squirrel, who makes it impossible to get any sleep.
Sleepy-Time Squirrel
A bounty hunter searches the west for a wanted outlaw named Red Roundtree.
Into the Badlands
Woody Woodpecker gallops into a wild western town, which can't keep a sheriff very long due to the notorious outlaw (and sheriff-killer) Buzz Buzzard. Woody volunteers for the position but barely has time to shine up his badge before Buzz rides in with intent to do harm to Sheriff Woody. But Woody has no intentions of allowing Buzz to follow through on his intents.
Wild and Woody!
In this variation on "The Three Little Pigs", Droopy and his brothers, Snoopy and Loopy, repeatedly outwit the big bad wolf, a dogcatcher who tries to find a way to get the pooches out of their house of bricks.
The Three Little Pups
The big bad wolf starts out chasing Little Red Riding Hood but switches to Cinderella after seeing the film's title, and ends up being chased in turn by her fairy godmother.