Robert Ardrey

Screenwriter

About

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Birth Place

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Born

October 06, 1908

Died

January 14, 1980

Cause of Death

Lung Cancer

Biography

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Successful stage writer who began working in films in 1940. Among the better-known films on which Ardrey worked as writer are "The Three Musketeers" (1948), "Madame Bovary" (1949), "Quentin Durward" (1955) and "Khartoum" (1966). An author of both fiction and non-fiction books, Ardrey gained some fame in the 1960s with a series of works on behaviorism, notably "African Genesis" (1961)....

Filmography

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Khartoum (1966)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)

The Wonderful Country (1959)

The Power and the Prize (1956)

Quentin Durward (1955)

The Secret Garden (1949)

Photos & Videos

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Green Years, The - (Original Trailer)

Wonderful Country, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) I Disobey Your Orders

Family & Companions

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Helen Johnson

Wife

First wife.

Bibliography

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"The Social Contract"

Robert Ardrey (1970)

"The Territorial Imperative"

Robert Ardrey (1966)

"African Genesis"

Robert Ardrey (1961)

Biography

Successful stage writer who began working in films in 1940. Among the better-known films on which Ardrey worked as writer are "The Three Musketeers" (1948), "Madame Bovary" (1949), "Quentin Durward" (1955) and "Khartoum" (1966). An author of both fiction and non-fiction books, Ardrey gained some fame in the 1960s with a series of works on behaviorism, notably "African Genesis" (1961).

Filmography

Writer (Feature Film)

Khartoum (1966)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)

The Wonderful Country (1959)

The Power and the Prize (1956)

Quentin Durward (1955)

The Secret Garden (1949)

Madame Bovary (1949)

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Song of Love (1947)

The Green Years (1946)

A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)

They Knew What They Wanted (1940)

Kitty Foyle (1940)

Life Events

1936

Broadway production of his first play "Star Spangled"

1940

Wrote first screenplay "They Knew What They Wanted"

1961

Published "African Genesis"

Videos

Wonderful Country, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) I Disobey Your Orders End of the credits, Exec Producer and star Robert Mitchum not shy about revealing his Mexican affect, exchanging not-quite pleasantries with Pancho (Mike Kellin) as he crosses the Rio Grande delivering loot, opening The Wonderful Country, 1959, directed by Robert Parrish.

Wonderful Country, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) They Don't Stay Very Pretty Forthright Texas Ranger captain Rucker (Albert Dekker) speaks to hired gun Brady (Robert Mitchum) about Ellen (Julie London), the center of attention at a party hosted by her husband Major Colton (Gary Merrill), with whom he soon initiates a difficult conversation, in The Wonderful Country, 1959.

Secret Garden, The (1949) -- (Movie Clip) Who's Going To Take Care Of Me? Mopping up after a cholera epidemic in India, a British officer (Lowell Gilmore) finds himself informing young Mary (Margaret O'Brien) that she's an orphan, early in The Secret Garden, 1949.

Secret Garden, The (1949) -- (Movie Clip) I'd Hoped You Might Be Beautiful Orphan Mary (Margaret O'Brien), caught while seeking the source of the night time screaming, is summoned to see her mysterious uncle (Herbert Marshall) who's adopted her, in The Secret Garden, 1949, directed by Fred M. Wilcox.

Secret Garden, The (1949) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Not At All A Ghost Trying again to find out who’s been screaming in the dark English manor of the uncle who’s adopted her, orphan Mary discovers Colin (Dean Stockwell), her heretofore unknown cousin, who has strange attitudes, in The Secret Garden, 1949, from the Frances Hodgson Burnett novel.

Secret Garden, The (1949) -- (Movie Clip) I Want Another Servant! Orphaned Mary (Margaret O'Brien), just arrived from India, meets her none-too-helpful new servant Martha (Elsa Lanchester) on her first morning in her uncle's home, in The Secret Garden, 1949.

Khartoum (1966) -- (Movie Clip) The Peace Of The Sudan A meeting that never happened, imagined by Robert Ardrey in his Academy Award-nominated screenplay, British General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston) makes his case to the zealot warlord known as "The Mahdi" (Laurence Olivier), in 1883 Sudan, in Khartoum, 1966.

Khartoum (1966) -- (Movie Clip) Leave Egypt Behind Producer Julian Blaustein and director Basil Dearden getting their money's worth, with African locations and narration by Leo Genn, adding gravity by identifying Laurence Olivier as the villain, opening Khartoum, 1966, starring Charlton Heston as General Charles "Chinese" Gordon.

Khartoum (1966) -- (Movie Clip) I Don't Envy God One might almost suspect Prime Minister Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) and General Charles "Chinese" Gordon (Charlton Heston), meeting here for the first time, ca. 1883, knew their conversation would appear in mid-20th century Hollywood epic about British Africa, in Khartoum, 1966.

Khartoum (1966) -- (Movie Clip) It's Good To Be Home Large staging as General Gordon (Charlton Heston), with his nonplussed aide (Richard Johnson), arrives at the surrounded Sudanese city specified in the title, greeted as a hero due to exploits there years earlier, actually shot near the Egyptian city of Sohag, in the epic Khartoum, 1966.

Wonderful Country, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) I Don't Want No Bath Executive Producer Robert Mitchum cleans up good, as American-born Mexican gunman Brady, recuperating in a Texas town, chatting with immigrant "Chico" (Max Slaten), his doctor (Charles McGraw) proposing a conventional Western rite, if he wants to make friends, in Robert Parrish's The Wonderful Country, 1959.

Wonderful Country, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Ever Heard The Word Gringo? American-born gunmam Brady (Robert Mitchum), stuck in Texas with a broken leg, is interviewed by Major Colton (Gary Merrill), who hopes he might rat out his Mexican crime-lord boss, the major's wife (Julie London) taking note, in Robert Parrish's The Wonderful Country, 1959.

Green Years, The - (Original Trailer) An orphaned Irish boy is taken in by his mother's Scottish relations in The Green Years (1946) from the author of The Citadel and The Stars Look Down.

Khartoum - (Original Trailer) Charlton Heston stars as the British general Gordon sent to stop The Mahdi (Laurence Olivier) from taking Khartoum (1966).

Three Musketeers, The (1948) -- (Re-issue Trailer) Gene Kelly, Lana Turner, and Janet Leigh star in The Three Musketeers (1948), a lavish adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic swashbuckler.

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The (1962) - (Original Trailer) Members of an Argentinan family fight on opposite sides during WW II in Vincente Minnelli's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962) starring Glenn Ford.

Madame Bovary (1949) - (Original Trailer) A romantic country girl sacrifices her marriage when she thinks she's found true love in Madame Bovary (1949) starring Jennifer Jones.

Quentin Durward, The Adventures of - (Original Trailer) Robert Taylor is Sir Walter Scott's medieval hero in The Adventures Of Quentin Durward (1955).

Power and the Prize, The - (Original Trailer) Robert Taylor jeopardizes his career to marry a European refugee in the movie of Howard Swiggert's novel The Power and The Prize (1956).

Secret Garden, The - (Original Trailer) An orphaned girl learns to think of others first under the tutelage of The Secret Garden (1949) in the best-loved version of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic tale.

Kitty Foyle (Original Trailer) Ginger Rogers won the Academy Award for Best Actress portaying a girl from the wrong side of the tracks in Kitty Foyle (1940).

Companions

Helen Johnson

Wife

First wife.

Bibliography

"The Social Contract"

Robert Ardrey (1970)

"The Territorial Imperative"

Robert Ardrey (1966)

"African Genesis"

Robert Ardrey (1961)

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