Melvin Frank

Director

About

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Also Known As

Melvyn Frank

Birth Place

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Born

August 13, 1913

Died

October 13, 1988

Cause of Death

Complications Following Open-Heart Surgery

Biography

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Began his career, with partner Norman Panama, as a writer for the Bob Hope radio show. The pair graduated to feature film writing in 1942, subsequently collaborating on the Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour "Road" movies as well as a number of noted romantic comedies including "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948), which they also produced. From 1949 onward Frank and Panama alterna...

Filmography

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Walk Like A Man (1987)

Lost And Found (1979)

The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1974)

A Touch Of Class (1973)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

Photos & Videos

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Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The (1975) -- (Movie Clip) You've Been Tense For A Week!

Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, A -- (Movie Clip) Comedy Tonight!

Family & Companions

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Juliet Frank

Wife

Second wife.

Biography

Began his career, with partner Norman Panama, as a writer for the Bob Hope radio show. The pair graduated to feature film writing in 1942, subsequently collaborating on the Hope/Bing Crosby/Dorothy Lamour "Road" movies as well as a number of noted romantic comedies including "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" (1948), which they also produced. From 1949 onward Frank and Panama alternated directing and producing duties on several films, including the Danny Kaye vehicles "Knock on Wood" (1954) and the especially good "The Court Jester" (1956), before amicably dissolving the partnership in 1960. Each subsequently pursued a successful solo career. Frank's credits gradually became more intermittent but he still helmed some enjoyable comedies, the best of which were probably "Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell" (1968) and "A Touch of Class" (1973).

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

Walk Like A Man (1987)

Lost And Found (1979)

The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1974)

A Touch Of Class (1973)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

The Facts of Life (1960)

Li'l Abner (1959)

The Jayhawkers! (1959)

The Court Jester (1956)

That Certain Feeling (1956)

Knock on Wood (1954)

Above and Beyond (1953)

Callaway Went Thataway (1951)

Strictly Dishonorable (1951)

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)

Writer (Feature Film)

Are We Done Yet? (2007)

Source Material

Lost And Found (1979)

A Touch Of Class (1973)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Not With My Wife, You Don't! (1966)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

The Road to Hong Kong (1962)

The Facts of Life (1960)

Li'l Abner (1959)

The Jayhawkers! (1959)

The Court Jester (1956)

That Certain Feeling (1956)

White Christmas (1954)

Written for Screen by

Knock on Wood (1954)

Above and Beyond (1953)

Strictly Dishonorable (1951)

Written for Screen by

Callaway Went Thataway (1951)

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)

The Return of October (1948)

A Southern Yankee (1948)

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

Wrt for the Screenplay by

It Had to Be You (1947)

Road to Utopia (1946)

Original Screenplay

Monsieur Beaucaire (1946)

Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946)

Duffy's Tavern (1945)

Original Screenplay

Duffy's Tavern (1945)

And the Angels Sing (1944)

Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943)

Star Spangled Rhythm (1943)

Happy Go Lucky (1943)

My Favorite Blonde (1942)

Producer (Feature Film)

Lost And Found (1979)

The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1974)

A Touch Of Class (1973)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

The Road to Hong Kong (1962)

The Jayhawkers! (1959)

Li'l Abner (1959)

The Trap (1959)

The Court Jester (1956)

That Certain Feeling (1956)

Knock on Wood (1954)

Above and Beyond (1953)

Callaway Went Thataway (1951)

Strictly Dishonorable (1951)

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

Music (Feature Film)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

Production Companies (Feature Film)

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1969)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Strange Bedfellows (1965)

The Road to Hong Kong (1962)

Life Events

Photo Collections

Above and Beyond - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Here are a few photos taken behind-the-scenes during production of MGM's Above and Beyond (1953), starring Robert Taylor and Eleanor Parker and produced and directed by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama.

Videos

Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The (1975) -- (Movie Clip) You've Been Tense For A Week! In a Manhattan heat wave, advertising man Mel (Jack Lemmon) awakens and alarms his notably compassionate spouse Edna (Anne Bancroft), in director Melvin Frank's The Prisoner Of Second Avenue, 1975, from Neil Simon's play and screenplay.

Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, A -- (Movie Clip) Comedy Tonight! Director Richard Lester with the opening tune, as catchy as any in composer Stephen Sondheim's catalog, delivered with the credits by star Zero Mostel as slave "Pseudolus," who gets caught by his owners (Michael Hordern, Patricia Jessel), in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, 1966.

Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, A -- (Movie Clip) Erotic Pottery Michael Crawford as Roman Hero finishes his Sondheim tune with the slave girl Philia (Annette Andre) he hopes to buy, his family's head slave Hysterium (Jack Gilford) objecting, and his underling Pseudolus (Zero Mostel) advocating, in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, 1966.

Callaway Went Thataway (1951) -- (Movie Clip) What Would You Say To A Martini? Now in Hollywood, reluctantly convinced to pretend he’s the missing old-time singing cowboy who’s become a TV star, Howard Keel as Shep, impersonating “Smoky Callaway,” escorted by his de facto agents (Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire) blunders with MGM celebrities (Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable) at Mocambo, then with the sponsor and wife (Fay Roope, Natalie Schaefer) in Callaway Went Thataway, 1951.

Callaway Went Thataway (1951) -- (Movie Clip) Open, All In A Day's Work Opening as it becomes apparent that Howard Keel is on TV, the dapper singing cowboy (the girl he rescues is not credited), known as “Smoky Callaway,” with more gags about sponsorship coming, in the Norman Panama/Melvin Frank MGM comedy, generally seen as a spoof on Hopalong Cassidy, Callaway Went Thataway, 1951, starring Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire.

Callaway Went Thataway (1951) -- (Movie Clip) There Is No Smoky Callaway We’ve just met Fred MacMurray as TV ad-man Mike Frye, who introduces Dorothy McGuire as his partner, and through exposition we find out that the old movie singing cowboy they’ve turned into a TV star is missing, Jesse White as his old agent, in Callaway Went Thataway, 1951.

Callaway Went Thataway (1951) -- (Movie Clip) He Died With His Regiment Unable to find washed-up singing cowboy Callaway, who they’ve made a TV star using his old movie serials, Hollywood advertising partners Mike and Deb (Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire) track down the real cowboy (Howard Keel, who also plays Callaway), who wrote to complain because he’s a dead-ringer for the guy, in MGM’s Callaway Went Thataway, 1951.

Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The (1975) -- (Movie Clip) Open, He Makes Me Nervous! Opening with a convincing sampling of Manhattan (though it doesn’t look like the heat wave the radio commentator, Gary Owens, describes) Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft introduced as the leads, from Neil Simon’s play and screenplay, and no less than F. Murray Abraham driving the cab, in The Prisoner Of Second Avenue, 1975.

Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The (1975) -- (Movie Clip) Plenty Of Ponies In My Time Visiting New Jersey and his wealthier older brother Harry (Gene Saks), Mel (Jack Lemmon) grumbles and finally admits he got laid off at the ad firm, preceding the visit of Edna (Anne Bancroft), who doesn’t know, and Harry’s wife (Maxine Stuart), in the Neil Simon Broadway adaptation The Prisoner Of Second Avenue, 1975.

Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The (1975) -- (Movie Clip) People Have To Walk On These Streets In which Jack Lemmon, as unemployed advertising pro Mel, after therapy, bumps into Sylvester Stallone at 5th Ave. and East 68th, then races thru Central Park, with geographically incoherent shots, and eventually tackles him, in Neil Simon’s The Prisoner Of Second Avenue, released in 1975, the year before Stallone’s Rocky, 1976.

Reformer And The Redhead, The (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Man Against Beast Opening from co-writers, directors and producers Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, fat cat Parker (Ray Collins) and daughter (Kathleen Freeman) pontificate while zoologist Kathleen (June Allyson) hurries to support her fired zoo director father (Cecil Kellaway), in The Reformer And The Redhead, 1950.

Reformer And The Redhead, The (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Just The Head And Shoulders Mayoral candidate Andrew (Dick Powell), whose law partner (David Wayne) wants him to kowtow to the local political boss, is visited by zookeeper Kathleen (June Allyson, Powell's wife) who beat up the boss's daughter after he fired her father, the zoo supervisor, in The Reformer And The Redhead, 1950.

Facts of Life, The - (Original Trailer) Suburban marrieds (Bob Hope, Lucille Ball) are tempted to dabble in adultery.

Li'L Abner - (Original Trailer) Al Capp's satirical comic strip becomes a Broadway musical becomes the movie Li'L Abner (1959) with Stubby Kaye and Julie Newmar.

White Christmas - (Original Trailer) Bing Crosby and the most popular song of all time in the colorful seasonal favorite, White Christmas (1954).

My Favorite Blonde - (Original Trailer) Bob Hope gets mixed up with a beautiful blonde spy in My Favorite Blonde (1942), a takeoff of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935).

Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell - (Original Trailer) Gina Lollobrigida leads three U.S. veterans to believe each is the father of her child in Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968).

Thank Your Lucky Stars - (Original Trailer) An Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort in Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943) with guest appearances by Bette Davis, Errol Flynn & Humphrey Bogart.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House - (Re-issue Trailer) A New York businessman's dream of a country home goes awry when he purchases a tumbledown rural shack in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948).

Reformer and the Redhead, The - (Original Trailer) A small-town politician (Dick Powell) falls for an idealistic zoo-keeper (June Allyson) in the comedy The Reformer and the Redhead (1950).

Strictly Dishonorable - (Original Trailer) An opera star risks disaster when he marries a lovesick fan in the musical version of Preston Sturges' stage hit Strictly Dishonorable (1951).

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A -- (Original Trailer) A madcap musical set in ancient Rome starring Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers, Michael Crawford and silent era comic Buster Keaton in a cameo appearance.

Southern Yankee, A - (Original Trailer) Red Skelton masquerades as a spy and lands behind enemy lines during the Civil War in A Southern Yankee (1948) with gags written by Buster Keaton.

Callaway Went Thataway - (Original Trailer) A real cowboy (Howard Keel) signs on to impersonate a faded western star for public appearances.

Family

Elizabeth Frank

Daughter

Author. Pulitzer Prize winner.

Andrew Frank

Son

Composer.

James Frank

Son

Singer, songwriter.

Companions

Juliet Frank

Wife

Second wife.

Bibliography

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