Philip Yordan

Producer, Screenwriter

About

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Birth Place

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Born

April 01, 1914

Died

March 24, 2003

Biography

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Novelist and playwright who entered films in 1941 (working uncredited on "The Devil and Daniel Webster") and went on to script such riveting features as "House of Strangers" (1949) and "Detective Story" (1951). Yordan was also responsible for a brace of sophisticated westerns, notably "Johnny Guitar" and "Broken Lance" (both 1954) and allegedly lent his name to a number of scripts penned...

Filmography

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The Unholy (1988)

Bloody Wednesday (1987)

Cry Wilderness (1987)

Night Train to Terror (1985)

Savage Journey (1983)

Captain Apache (1971)

Photos & Videos

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Broken Lance (1954) -- (Movie Clip) The Governor Wants To See You

Broken Lance (1954) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Afraid Of No One But You

Bibliography

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"Man of the West"

Philip Yordan

Biography

Novelist and playwright who entered films in 1941 (working uncredited on "The Devil and Daniel Webster") and went on to script such riveting features as "House of Strangers" (1949) and "Detective Story" (1951). Yordan was also responsible for a brace of sophisticated westerns, notably "Johnny Guitar" and "Broken Lance" (both 1954) and allegedly lent his name to a number of scripts penned by blacklisted writers during the Hollywood witch-hunt.

Yordan produced his first film in 1949 (an adaptation of his stage hit "Anna Lucasta," which he adapted again for an all-black remake in 1958), and his second, the stinging boxing drama, "The Harder They Fall" in 1956. He went on to write or produce a number of increasingly top-heavy extravaganzas, including "El Cid" (1961) and "The Battle of the Bulge" (1965).

Filmography

Writer (Feature Film)

The Unholy (1988)

Bloody Wednesday (1987)

Cry Wilderness (1987)

Night Train to Terror (1985)

Savage Journey (1983)

Captain Apache (1971)

The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)

Battle of the Bulge (1965)

Circus World (1964)

The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)

Original Screenplay

55 Days at Peking (1963)

The Day of the Triffids (1962)

King of Kings (1961)

The Bramble Bush (1960)

Studs Lonigan (1960)

Day of the Outlaw (1959)

The Bravados (1958)

God's Little Acre (1958)

Anna Lucasta (1958)

The Fiend Who Walked the West (1958)

Island Women (1958)

No Down Payment (1957)

Men in War (1957)

Street of Sinners (1957)

Based on a Story by

Four Boys and a Gun (1957)

The Last Frontier (1956)

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Joe MacBeth (1956)

The Man from Laramie (1955)

The Big Combo (1955)

Conquest of Space (1955)

Johnny Guitar (1954)

Broken Lance (1954)

Based on a Story by

The Naked Jungle (1954)

Blowing Wild (1953)

Man Crazy (1953)

Mara Maru (1952)

Detective Story (1951)

Drums in the Deep South (1951)

Edge of Doom (1950)

No Way Out (1950)

Contract Writer

Panic in the Streets (1950)

Contract Writer

Bad Men of Tombstone (1949)

The Black Book (1949)

Story and Screenplay

Anna Lucasta (1949)

House of Strangers (1949)

Whistle Stop (1946)

Wrt for the Screenplay by

Suspense (1946)

Original Screenplay

The Chase (1946)

Written for Screen by

Dillinger (1945)

Original Screenplay

Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1944)

When Strangers Marry (1944)

Unknown Guest (1943)

Syncopation (1942)

Producer (Feature Film)

Bloody Wednesday (1987)

Cry Wilderness (1987)

Savage Journey (1983)

Captain Apache (1971)

The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1969)

Custer of the West (1968)

Crack in the World (1965)

Executive Producer

Battle of the Bulge (1965)

The Day of the Triffids (1962)

Studs Lonigan (1960)

Street of Sinners (1957)

Executive Producer

Four Boys and a Gun (1957)

Men in War (1957)

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Man Crazy (1953)

Anna Lucasta (1949)

Whistle Stop (1946)

Associate Producer

Production Companies (Feature Film)

Bikini Paradise (1967)

Crack in the World (1965)

The Thin Red Line (1964)

Four Boys and a Gun (1957)

Street of Sinners (1957)

The Wild Party (1956)

Life Events

1941

Worked uncredited on screenplay "All that Money Can Buy/The Devil and Daniel Webster"

1942

First film credit as co-writer, "Syncopation"; then under contract to Monogram Pictures for several years

1949

First film as producer (also co-writer; from play), "Anna Lucasta"

Videos

Broken Lance (1954) -- (Movie Clip) The Governor Wants To See You Emerging from a deep dark prison to 20th Century-Fox Cinemascope Technicolor, Robert Wagner as Joe Devereaux gets escorted (by John Epper) to the see the governor at the state capitol, stopping to gaze at a portrait of his dad (Spencer Tracy), opening Edward Dmytryk’s burly Western Broken Lance, 1954.

Broken Lance (1954) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Afraid Of No One But You Well into the flashback of the last days of the late Spencer Tracy (as rancher Matt Devereaux) we meet Katy Jurado, in one of her best roles, as his wife “Señora” Devereaux, in fact of Native American origin, dressing a wound discussing troubles with his older sons and their one shared, in director Edward Dmytryk’s Broken Lance, 1954.

Broken Lance (1954) -- (Movie Clip) Stay Close To Me Director Edward Dmytryk staging a tense prelude to a big action piece, Spencer Tracy as rancher Devereaux with his sons (Richard Widmark, Hugh O’Brian, Earl Holliman and Robert Wagner as Joe) confronts McAndrews (Robert Burton), boss of the copper mine that’s poisoning his cattle, in Broken Lance, 1954.

House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Vengeance Is A Rare Wine Susan Hayward, not yet identified as Irene, enters the uptown apartment where we’ve just seen Richard Conte, as newly paroled Max Monetti, arrive, after facing off with his brothers at their family-owned Lower Manhattan bank, and their first encounter, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s House Of Strangers, 1949.

House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) The Bank Will Open When I Get There Artful introduction of top-billed Edward G. Robinson as Gino Monetti (we’ve seen his portrait earlier, at the family-owned Manhattan bank), with Richard Conte as just-paroled son Max, visiting the vacant family home, and playing some Verdi, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directing, Luther Adler the elder son, in House Of Strangers, 1949.

House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Money Is A Great Cleanser Having jumped back in time at least seven years, to when Manhattan Italian banker Gino Monetti (Edward G. Robinson) lived, we see the first meeting of Susan Hayward as Irene and Richard Conte as his son and in-house lawyer Max, Paul Valentine as the younger brother and security guard, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s House Of Strangers, 1949.

House Of Strangers (1949) -- (Movie Clip) This Bank Stinks With Tradition From producer Sol Siegel and director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, opening with legit Little Italy location shots, Richard Conte on what looks like Mulberry St., entering the Monetti Loan & Trust, where we learn he’s Max, released from prison, visiting Joseph (Luther Adler) and brothers Pietro and Tony (Paul Valentine, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), in House Of Strangers, 1949.

Panic In The Streets (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Just To Be Important Struggling to contain pneumonic plague in New Orleans, military public health official Reed (Richard Widmark) tries to find common cause with cop Warren (Paul Douglas) who’s not convinced of the emergency and wants to use conventional police tactics, in Panic In The Streets, 1950, directed by Elia Kazan.

No Down Payment (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Born At The Right Time At the barbecue Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens are new arrivals David and Jean, all are accustomed to Tony Randall (as Jerry) drinking, Barbara Rush, Sheree North, Patricia Owens and Joanne Woodward as spouses, Cameron Mitchell as Troy, Pat Hingle the host Herm, in the suburban exposè No Down Payment, 1957.

No Down Payment (1957) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Serving All Of Southern California Pretty fascinating as a record of early suburban LA, interstates and roads around Pacific Palisades, Martin Ritt directing Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens in the car, Cameron Mitchell, Joanne Woodward, Tony Randall, Sheree North, Barbara Rush among their neighbors-to-be leaving church, opening No Down Payment, 1957.

No Down Payment (1957) -- (Movie Clip) This Is A Snap The first full go-round of the four suburban couples, Pat Hingle and Barbara Rush greet new neighbors Jeffrey Hunter and Patricia Owens, observed by Sheree North, then Joanne Woodward with spouse Cameron Mitchell, Tony Randall the last to appear, Martin Ritt directing from the novel by John McPartland, in No Down Payment, 1957.

Battle Of The Bulge (1965) -- (Movie Clip) December, 1944 William Conrad (TV's "Cannon") narrates as Kiley (Henry Fonda) and pilot Joe (Robert Woods) buzz Nazi Hessler (Robert Shaw) and driver (Hans Christian Blech), opening director Ken Annakin's Battle Of the Bulge, 1965.

Battle of the Bulge, The - (teaser trailer) The Battle of the Bulge (1965), a giant all-star movie of the tide-turning WWII battle.

Detective Story -- (Original Trailer) A rigid police detective (Kirk Douglas) accidentally uncovers his wife's shady past life in William Wyler's Detective Story (1951).

King of Kings (1961) - (Original Trailer) Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) tells the life of Jesus Christ in King of Kings (1961).

Bibliography

"Man of the West"

Philip Yordan

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