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Melvin Frank

Melvin Frank

Writing

Biography

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Melvin Frank (13 August 1913 in Chicago, Illinois – 13 October 1988 in Los Angeles, California) was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He is known for his work on films such as Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), The Court Jester (1956), and A Touch of Class (1973). Born to a Jewish family, Frank graduated from the University of Chicago, where he met his future collaborator Norman Panama. They went on to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades. Some of their most notable films as co-writers include Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) and White Christmas (1954), among many others, and co-directing films such as The Court Jester (1956). They wrote a Broadway play together, which was later adapted into Li'l Abner (1959), directed by Frank. They also worked on two films in the popular Road to ... series, Road to Utopia (1946) and The Road to Hong Kong (1962). Frank went on to a successful solo career as a film director, most notably directing the acclaimed romantic comedy A Touch of Class (1973), starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and Jackson won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. Subsequent films directed by Frank include The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976) and Lost and Found (1979). Over the course of his career, Frank was nominated for five Academy Awards. In 1984, he received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America. Frank's first wife was Anne Ray, younger sister of actress Jigee Viertel. At the time of his death he was still married to his second wife, Juliet. He had three children, Pulitzer Prize-winning daughter Elizabeth Frank and sons Andrew and James. Description above from the Wikipedia article Melvin Frank, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Dinah!
7.0

Dinah's show premiered 9 September 1974 and continued through to 4 September 1981. She started out the 70's with Dinah's Place which usually featured one guest and was more of a home oriented show about cooking, crafts and occasionally music. This format lasted until May of 1974. When the show came back in October of 1974 the format had changed drastically to a variety talk show which was called Dinah. and went on until 1981. This show was also known as "Dinah and Friends" during the summer of 1976.

Dinah!

1974
Are We Done Yet?
5.9

Newlyweds Nick and Suzanne decide to move to the suburbs to provide a better life for their two kids. But their idea of a dream home is disturbed by a contractor with a bizarre approach to business.

Are We Done Yet?

2007
The Trap
6.9

Lawyer Ralph Anderson arrives in Tula, an amazingly remote town in the desert, as reluctant emissary of mob chief Victor Massonetti, who wants the airstrip clear for his unofficial exit from the country. Ralph's arrival has a profound effect on his estranged father, the sheriff; his brother Tip, an alcoholic deputy; and his ex-sweetheart Linda, now married to Tip. Tension builds as a small army of gangsters takes over the town. Then the situation abruptly changes...

The Trap

1959
White Christmas
7.2

Two talented song-and-dance men team up after the war to become one of the hottest acts in show business. In time they befriend and become romantically involved with the beautiful Haynes sisters who comprise a sister act.

White Christmas

1954
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
6.1

A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

1966
The Prisoner of Second Avenue
6.6

Mel Edison has just lost his job after many years and now has to cope with being unemployed at middle age during an intense NYC heat wave.

The Prisoner of Second Avenue

1975
The Jayhawkers!
6.1

Before the U.S. Civil War rebel leader Luke Darcy sees himself as leader of a new independent Republic of Kansas but the military governor sends an ex-raider to capture Darcy.

The Jayhawkers!

1959
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
7.0

An advertising executive dreams of getting out of the city and building a perfect home in the country, only to find the transition fraught with problems.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

1948
The Court Jester
7.3

A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against a usurper who has overthrown the rightful king of England.

The Court Jester

1955
Above and Beyond
6.2

The story of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although unaware of the full potential of this new weapon, he knows that it can do tremendously more damage than any other weapon used before, and that the death toll resulting from it will be huge. He is reluctant to be the person who will end so many lives, but as time goes on, the pressure upon him only increase.

Above and Beyond

1953
Star Spangled Rhythm
6.2

Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.

Star Spangled Rhythm

1942
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox
6.1

A female hustler is chasing after rich men, but becomes repeatedly mixed up with a suave con man and card shark through a series of misadventures before falling in love with him.

The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox

1976
A Touch of Class
6.1

Steve, a happily married American man living in London meets Vicki, an English divorcée and run off to Marbella for a rollicking week of sex. They then return to London to set up a cozy menage, despite the fact that he loves his wife and children, and now realize that he and Vicki have also fallen in love.

A Touch of Class

1973
Strange Bedfellows
6.0

After a hasty wedding, Carter and Toni find that they disagree on everything. They separate and seven years later, on the eve before their divorce, meet again and spend the night together. Reality sets in when morning comes and they begin arguing again. Once again, divorce proceedings are on — until Carter finds out that an important promotion hinges on whether he's married.

Strange Bedfellows

1965
Walk Like a Man
4.9

Bobo, a feral man raised by wolves, is reunited with his family by a researcher. However, this disappoints his brother, Reggie, who has no intentions of sharing the family inheritance with him.

Walk Like a Man

1987
Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell
5.9

After the end of WWII, an Italian woman receives child support payments from three former US soldiers who all believe themselves to be the father of her daughter, Gia.

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell

1968
Thank Your Lucky Stars
6.2

An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

1943
Callaway Went Thataway
5.6

Two smart marketing people resurrect some old films starring cowboy Smoky Callaway and put them on television. The films are a big hit and the star is in demand. Unfortunately no one can find him. When a lookalike sends in a photo, the marketing team hires him to impersonate Callaway. Things get sticky when the real Callaway eventually shows up.

Callaway Went Thataway

1951
That Certain Feeling
5.6

When Larry Larkin's comic strip needs some freshening up, he calls in ghost-writer Francis X. Dignan to help him with the strip. Things get complicated when Francis rekindles his love for his ex-wife, who happens to be Larkin's secretary and soon-to-be wife.

That Certain Feeling

1956
Road to Utopia
6.7

While on a ship to Skagway, Alaska, Duke and Chester find a map to a secret gold mine, which had been 'stolen' by thugs. In Alaska to recover her father's map, Sal Van Hoyden falls in with Ace Larson, who secretly wants to steal the gold mine for himself. Duke, Chester, the thugs, Ace and his henchman chase each other all over the countryside—for the map.

Road to Utopia

1946