Charles Bennett

Screenwriter

About

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Also Known As

Charles Alfred Bennett

Birth Place

Shoreham-by-Sea, England, GB

Born

August 02, 1899

Died

June 15, 1995

Biography

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Playwright whose first film writing credit was as co-adaptor--with director Alfred Hitchcock--of his own play, "Blackmail" (1929), which also happened to be the first sound film produced in England. Bennett's knack for tense adventure stories fuelled such subsequent Hitchcock outings as "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "Foreign Correspondent" (1940). He also scripted the first screen version of...

Filmography

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No Escape (1953)

Madness of the Heart (1949)

Bend of the River (1952)

It Ain't Hay (1943)

S.P.C.A. driver

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Random Harvest (1942)

Photos & Videos

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Sabotage (1936) -- (Movie Clip) You Made London Laugh

Sabotage (1936) -- (Movie Clip) If The Arsenal Lose

Family & Companions

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Faith Bennett

Wife

Actor; aviator. Marriage ended during WWII.

Betty Bennett

Wife

Died in 1984.

Notes

In 1990 Bennett was hired by producers Stuart Birnbaum and William Blaylock to script a remake of "Blackmail" for 20th Century-Fox.

"I never have been inactive; I never will be. At the age of 91, I want to live to 120 because there is so much I want to write." --Charles Bennett

Biography

Playwright whose first film writing credit was as co-adaptor--with director Alfred Hitchcock--of his own play, "Blackmail" (1929), which also happened to be the first sound film produced in England. Bennett's knack for tense adventure stories fuelled such subsequent Hitchcock outings as "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "Foreign Correspondent" (1940). He also scripted the first screen version of the classic adventure yarn "King Solomon's Mines" (1937) and, in the mid-1950s, began a multi-film association with producer-director Irwin Allen (e.g. "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" 1961, "Five Weeks in a Balloon" 1962). Bennett himself directed several features and from the early 1950s began working extensively in TV.

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

No Escape (1953)

Madness of the Heart (1949)

Cast (Feature Film)

Bend of the River (1952)

It Ain't Hay (1943)

S.P.C.A. driver

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Random Harvest (1942)

A Yank in the R.A.F. (1941)

Man on stretcher

Man Hunt (1941)

Adventure in Diamonds (1940)

The Light That Failed (1940)

Gunga Din (1939)

Telegraph operator

Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)

The Road Back (1937)

The Man Who Cried Wolf (1937)

A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Step Lively, Jeeves! (1937)

Lloyd's of London (1936)

I Live My Life (1935)

Treasure Island (1934)

Narcotic (1933)

The Top of New York (1922)

All Wrong (1919)

Donald Thompson

The Bride of Fear (1918)

Martin Sterling

The Rainbow Girl (1917)

Tillie's Punctured Romance (1914)

Writer (Feature Film)

Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962)

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)

The Lost World (1960)

The Big Circus (1959)

Curse of the Demon (1957)

The Story of Mankind (1957)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

Based on a Story by

The Phenix City Story (1955)

Dangerous Mission (1954)

No Escape (1953)

The Green Glove (1952)

Original story and Screenplay

Kind Lady (1951)

Where Danger Lives (1950)

Black Magic (1949)

The Sign of the Ram (1948)

Unconquered (1947)

The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)

Forever and a Day (1943)

Joan of Paris (1942)

Reap the Wild Wind (1942)

They Dare Not Love (1941)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Balalaika (1939)

The Girl Was Young (1938)

The Young in Heart (1938)

King of the Damned (1936)

Secret Agent (1936)

Sabotage (1936)

The 39 Steps (1935)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1935)

The Clairvoyant (1935)

Blue Smoke (1935)

Blackmail (1929)

Play As Source Material

Blackmail (1929)

Music (Feature Film)

No Escape (1953)

Cast (Short)

Teddy at the Throttle (1917)

Recreation (1914)

Life Events

1914

Film acting debut, "Tillie's Punctured Romance"

1929

First screenplay (from play), first collaborated and co-wrote with Alfred Hitchcock, "Blackmail"; Britain's first produced sound film

1937

Wrote original script, "King Solomon's Mines"

1937

Relocated to USA

1938

First US produced feature, adaptation credit for, "The Young in Heart"

1940

Final official screenplay credit (from story) in collaboration with Hitchcock, "Foreign Correspondent"

1942

Consulted on Hitchcock's "Saboteur"; took no credit

1949

Feature directorial debut, "Madness of the Heart"

1950

First assistant director credit on Douglas Sirk's, "Mystery Submarine"

1952

TV series debut as a director, "Cavalcade of America"; later known as "The DuPont Theater"

1953

US directorial debut, also wrote, "No Escape"; marks final segue into directing

1965

Final feature screenplay credit, "War Gods of the Deep"

1968

Final TV credit, wrote for the series, "Land of the Giants"

Videos

Sabotage (1936) -- (Movie Clip) You Made London Laugh On location at the London zoo aquarium, financially motivated amateur terrorist Verloc (Oscar Homolka), having staged a blackout the night before, meets mysterious paymaster Vladimir (Austin Trevor), with a famous effect by director Alfred Hitchcock, in Sabotage, 1936.

Sabotage (1936) -- (Movie Clip) If The Arsenal Lose We know grocer Ted (John Loder) is a policeman, Sylvia Sidney at the ticket box doesn't know the guys (William Dewhurst, Peter Bull, then Torin Thatcher) visiting her husband (Oscar Homolka) are terrorists, her young brother (Desmond Tester) also an innocent, in Hitchcock's Sabotage, 1936.

Blackmail (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Flying Squad Part of the prologue, from the shot-silent portion of the film, with sound effects added, many tricks from the director, John Longden the young cop and leading man introduced, from what is generally seen as the first British talkie, Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail, 1929.

Blackmail (1929) -- (Movie Clip) Got A Real Criminal To Direct The director very much at play here, his cameo on the London underground, then protagonists Alice (Anny Ondra, voice by Joan Barry) and boyfriend policeman Frank (John Longden) feuding at tea, with witty insights about the pictures, in Alfred Hitchcok's first partial-talkie, Blackmail, 1929.

Blackmail (1929) -- (Movie Clip) I'd Better Go Polish-born Anny Ondra here as straying "Alice," is lip-synching to the off-camera voice of Joan Barry, Alfred Hitchcock directing his first talkie, quite deliberate with the shadow on the face of "the artist" Cyril Ritchard, who goes a bit too far for her, in Blackmail, 1929.

Foreign Correspondent (1940) -- (Movie Clip) May I Have Your Picture? Reporter "Haverstock" (Joel McCrea) is baffled when Dutch diplomat Van Meer (Albert Bassermann) doesn't know him, Charles Waggenheim as the assassin, and pursuit with friend Carol (Laraine Day) and fellow reporter ffolliott (George Sanders), in Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent, 1940.

Where Danger Lives (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Tell Yourself A Bedtime Story From the credits, looks like San Francisco, Dr. Cameron (Robert Mitchum) displaying compassion and good surgical mask hygiene for the kids in the ward, in Where Danger Lives, 1950, co-starring Faith Domergue in her debut for Howard Hughes' RKO.

Where Danger Lives -- (Movie Clip) Appealing, Isn't She? Inebriated Dr. Cameron (Robert Mitchum) was just leaving after discovering Margo (Faith Domergue) forgot to tell him she was married to Lannington (Claude Rains) in John Farrow's Where Danger Lives, 1950.

Where Danger Lives (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Before I Pass Out Presuming one could tell the difference, en route to the Mexican border, Dr. Cameron (Robert Mitchum) explains to fellow fugitive lover Margo (Faith Domergue) that he'll soon be unconscious, in Where Danger Lives, 1950.

Where Danger Lives (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Whiskers Week Absurdity from sometime-Hitchcock screenwriter Charles Bennett, as fugitive murder suspects Jeff (Robert Mitchum) and Margo (Faith Domergue), headed for the Mexican border, get busted in Arizona for insufficient facial hair, in Where Danger Lives, 1950.

Man Who Knew Too Much, The (1956) -- (Movie Clip) I Am Ambrose Chappell American Dr. McKenna (James Stewart), caught up in international intrigue, confronts two taxidermists named Chappell before he realizes he's on the wrong trail, in Alfred Hitchcock's often comic remake of his own 1935 hit, The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956.

Curse Of The Demon (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Doth Walk In Fear And Dread American scientist Holden (Dana Andrews), lured to dinner with schoolteacher Joanna (Peggy Cummins), whose scientist uncle was killed by the devil cult, still won't believe there's magic afoot, in director Jacques Tourneur's Curse Of The Demon, 1957.

Foreign Correspondent - (Original Trailer) A camera with gun attachment, trick windmills and a mid-ocean plane crash are some of the predicaments facing Alfred Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent (1940).

Dangerous Mission -- (Original Trailer) A woman flees westward after witnessing a mob killing in Dangerous Mission (1954) starring Victor Mature Piper Laurie, Vincent Price and Dennis Weaver.

Kind Lady - (Original Trailer) A con artist (Maurice Evens) and his criminal cohorts hold an old lady (Ethel Barrymore) hostage in her own home in KInd Lady, 1951, directed by John Sturges.

Where Danger Lives - (Original Trailer) A psychopath draws her doctor into her murderous schemes in Where Danger Lives (1950), a film noir directed by John Farrow and starring Robert Mitchum and Faith Domergue.

Joan Of Paris -- (Original Trailer) Michele Morgan is a waitress who risks her life to help downed pilots escape occupied France in Joan Of Paris (1942).

Balalaika - (Original Trailer) Refugees from the Russian Revolution build a new life in Paris in Balalaika (1939) starring Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey.

Family

John Bennett

Son

Survived him.

Companions

Faith Bennett

Wife

Actor; aviator. Marriage ended during WWII.

Betty Bennett

Wife

Died in 1984.

Bibliography

Notes

In 1990 Bennett was hired by producers Stuart Birnbaum and William Blaylock to script a remake of "Blackmail" for 20th Century-Fox.

"I never have been inactive; I never will be. At the age of 91, I want to live to 120 because there is so much I want to write." --Charles Bennett

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