F. McGrew Willis
Birth : 1891-08-18, Pleasanton, Iowa, USA
Death : 1957-10-13
History
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
F. McGrew Willis (August 18, 1891 – October 13, 1957) was an American screenwriter of the silent and early sound film eras. Born Frank McGrew Willis on August 18, 1891, in Pleasanton, Iowa, he broke into the film industry writing film shorts in 1914 and 1915 as a freelance screenwriter. His first feature credit came in 1915, with The Quest, the first of three features he would pen in 1915. Over the next fourteen years he would write the scripts or stories for 43 silent films, three of which, The Girl in the Pullman (1927), Annapolis (1928), and A Blonde for a Night (1928), he also produced for either De Mille Pictures and/or Pathé Exchange. He would also produce another three films in 1928. In 1929, and through the next 6 years of the blossoming talking picture era, he would write the screenplays or stories for another 18 films. In the late 1930s he would work in England, where he scripted 6 films during the remainder of the decade. His final screenwriting credit would come on 1941's Sis Hopkins, for which he wrote the story. Willis died on October 13, 1957, in Menlo Park, California, and was buried in Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.
Story
An unsophisticated farm girl enrolls in college and stars in the campus musical.
Writer
A London nightclub hostess pretends to fall for the mobster who killed her husband.
Writer
In Paris a leading theatre impresario is murdered on opening night, shortly after replacing his leading lady. A police Inspector in the audience takes over the investigation. The film was shot at Elstree Studios. It was a close remake of the 1937 Austrian film Premiere and re-used a number of musical scenes from the original which were dubbed into English.
Adaptation
A mild-mannered, somewhat mousy man is astounded when his reflection in a mirror comes to life and begins to do all the wild and crazy things that he always wanted to but never could.
Screenplay
World War I drama about a soldier and the wild horse he befriends.
Dialogue
A young, unmarried theatrical couple befriend an out-of-work housekeeper and introduce her to another new acquaintance, a man of means, unaware that he is married and going through a messy divorce.
Story
A young, unmarried theatrical couple befriend an out-of-work housekeeper and introduce her to another new acquaintance, a man of means, unaware that he is married and going through a messy divorce.
Screenplay
Director Christy Cabanne's 1933 film dramatizes one year in the lives of four midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Story
The Llano Kid is robbing stages but only taking money from Montana Slade's Cottonwood Mine. He then gives the money to those cheated by Slade. The Sheriff is after him and eventually obtains a picture and displays wanted posters and is soon after him.
Screenplay
A wealthy young socialite gets the gambling bug, and soon it goes from being just a fun pastime to an addiction, and she begins to lose more and more of her fortune.
Writer
O'Hara has been hired to lead a wagon train west. Instead he has led it off the trail to where it can be attacked by his Indian friends. But Tennessee Mathews is familiar with O'Hara's tactics and sends for the soldiers.
Dialogue
Three US sailors aboard a decoy ship fight German U-boats in World War I and try to win Sally who works on the Coney Island midway.
Screenplay
A gambler, hopelessly in debt, agrees to pay off his debt by allowing his creditor to take out a life insurance policy on him and collecting once the one-year suicide clause has elapsed.
Writer
Gertrude Lennox, a dominating woman who controls every aspect of her household, is preparing a reception for famous novelist Philip Lord, who is to arrive shortly from England. Gertrude is also laying plans to marry Doris Bellamy, her ward and the sister of her first husband, to Victor Staunton.
Story
An Irish policeman handles gangsters, a mystery woman and a wise-guy reporter.
Screenplay
An Irish policeman handles gangsters, a mystery woman and a wise-guy reporter.
Dialogue
An Irish policeman handles gangsters, a mystery woman and a wise-guy reporter.
Writer
Frances, a salesgirl, is planning a summer vacation at the beach with a girlfriend, who also works at her store. Just as she is getting ready to leave home, Dave, a handsome young plumber, arrives to repair a leaky faucet. Her vacation turns into a bust when it rains at the beach, but a hunky lifeguard shows up to brighten her day. Then, of all people, Dave the plumber shows up, too. Complications ensue.
Producer
Bill is a young man who arrives at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He is an incorrigible know-all, and emerges a sober man. Meanwhile, Bill is accused of a crime committed by his friend, and because he doesn't squeal, he wins the heart and hand of the blond Betty. She is his friend's girl.
Writer
Bill is a young man who arrives at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. He is an incorrigible know-all, and emerges a sober man. Meanwhile, Bill is accused of a crime committed by his friend, and because he doesn't squeal, he wins the heart and hand of the blond Betty. She is his friend's girl.
Writer
After an argument, a newlywed decides to test her husband's fidelity by disguising herself as a blonde.
Director
After an argument, a newlywed decides to test her husband's fidelity by disguising herself as a blonde.
Adaptation
Attorney Ken Walrick, not quite realizing the difference between a garter and a bracelet, gives Gertie Darling a bejewelled garter with his photograph in miniature attached. But then he must cover his indiscretion by getting the garter back before his fiancee finds out.
Writer
Henry Williams, out in Arizona looking for a cure for his imaginary ills, stops at the ranch of Jud Morgan, and decides to stay. Jud's daughter, Sally, attracts his attention, although she is engaged to be married to Sheriff Bob Wells. Henry rides with her to town, where she wants to go shopping for her wedding clothes, but they run out of gas. No, problem' Henry holds up a passing motorist, with a monkey-wrench, and takes gasoline out of his car. They stop at a ranch where the foreman makes them become the cook and dishwasher. Then Jerome Underwood and his daughter, Harriet, arrive and they recognize Henry and Sally as the ones who held them up for gas. The jealous sheriff adds to the complications.
Writer
Marcia, a pretty young girl, goes to work as a model for a lecherous dress-shop owner. She resists his advances, despite his giving her expensive gifts. One day Mrs. Reilly, a prominent society woman and a customer of the shop, invites Marcia to a party she's throwing. Marcia winds up impersonating a famous writer in order to impress a "duke" for Mrs. Reilly, who doesn't know the "duke" isn't really a duke. Complications ensue.
Screenplay
Mabel catches her husband buying lingerie, and he won't explain who it's for. She divorces him, but later learns he was buying her an anniversary gift. She becomes determined to win him back.
Screenplay
A cross-dressing farce, adapted from "Madame Lucy" by Jean Arlette, in which to help a friend in a lawsuit, Jack Mitchell disguises himself as the mysterious "Madame Brown," a missing witness important to the case of the plaintiff. He attracts the romantic attention of two old roués and one hot Broadway showgirl.
Writer
Produced under the supervision of the U.S. Navy. James Randall, an upperclassman at the Naval Academy, falls in love with Patricia Lawrence, the sister of a plebe. She is engaged to Basil Courtney, a wealthy reprobate who arranges with Rita to discredit James.
Writer
Fred Prouty and his wife, Nettie, are living happily until the day that his aged father shows up on their doorstep. He immediately begins creating havoc, upsetting the once-orderly household and trying to force his opinions on everyone. Nettie does her best to be patient with the old man, but the day comes when he brings a group of his pals over while she is holding a meeting of a fashionable club.
Adaptation
The Million
Dollar Handicap
Writer
Screenplay
About Dick Heldar, an aspiring artist. Although he is devoted to his childhood sweetheart, Maisie Wells, his ambition drives him to faraway places. He meets Torpenhow, a war correspondent, at Port Said, and accompanies him into battle.
Adaptation
About Dick Heldar, an aspiring artist. Although he is devoted to his childhood sweetheart, Maisie Wells, his ambition drives him to faraway places. He meets Torpenhow, a war correspondent, at Port Said, and accompanies him into battle.
Writer
The story of Ethel Armstrong and her father Henry looking forward to her marriage to the ambitious attorney Bruce Steele. Bruce is elected district attorney and goes after a group of food profiteers. Ethel breaks the engagement when her father falls under suspicion as one of the food hoarders.
Writer
Wall Street financier Frederick Searles goes bankrupt, prompting his mercenary wife to marry their eldest daughter Needa to the wealthy, disreputable John Davis Warren, despite Needa's love for Hugh Stanton.
Writer
Count Camello lives on his fine estate in Italy, near the home occupied by Sir James Drake and his family. Gregory Baldi, a parasitical cousin of the count, is courting Mary Drake, and although the count also loves the girl, he conceals his feelings out of respect for his cousin. When war breaks out, Camello enlists while Gregory convinces Mary's brother Oliver that Oliver has killed an opponent in a duel and that the only way to escape a murder charge is to disguise himself by going to war under Gregory's name. Wounded, Count Camello returns from the front and, after Gregory is reported dead, proposes to Mary. On the eve of their wedding, Gregory returns unexpectedly and, in dire need of money, buries his cousin alive in the family vault.
Writer
A love story that takes place at the time of the gold rush. Prospector Allister Burke is in love with Mary, but he believe the slanderous lies that are spread by Burke, his competitor.
Writer
On a beach in southern Italy, Gianna Russelli practices her dancing with her devoted brother Russino, looking forward to the day when she will begin formal dance studies. One day the beautiful Countess Michetti comes to the village and engages in a flirtation with Russino, but when her former lover, Prince Viscomte, arrives with his closest friend, Count Paul Trovelli, the countess resumes her affair with the prince.
Scenario Writer
Stage actors Della and Julian, while playing a series of one-night-stands, miss their train and the troupe on it. They move into a hotel. A fight breaks out.
Writer
A cub reporter investigates a gang of counterfeiters.
Scenario Writer
A wealthy old man is murdered after deciding to write his nephew out of his will. Fearing that he will be accused of the murder his nephew takes flight but, with the help of a young woman whose life he saves, he has to try and track down the real murderer.
Writer
A husband orders his wife to keep their marriage a secret, in order to better continue his affair with a married woman.
Story
James Gordon, Sr., owner of the Gordon syndicate, dispatches his roughneck son Jimmy to investigate why production has fallen off in his opal mine on an island off the coast of lower California. After an argument with his fiancée, socialite Lucy Andrews, Jimmy leaves for the island where he is met by Juan, McCool's servant who, along with Jasper Sneedham, has been cheating the company. On the launch, Juan tries to eliminate Jimmy by hitting him over the head, but the lad escapes and swims to shore where he is rescued by Sneedham's stepdaughter Nadine. Nadine takes Jimmy to the hut of mine foreman Fred Haimer, the only honest man on the island.
Story
Carillo and his wife Selma are devoted to each other. As a sculptor, Carillo has achieved the qualities of honor and love until the Devil seeks to overturn these accomplishments by sending his imps Lust, Drink and Self Pity to the artist's home. Carillo succumbs to lust and sells his honor to the Devil.
Story
After a prologue that takes place in Hell, young millionaire Mason Van Horton becomes involved with Doria, the vampish wife of influential businessman John Manners. When Mason falls in love with Beverly Hope, however, he rejects Doria, who, out of revenge, tells John that Mason tried to seduce her and then begs her husband to ruin him.
Writer
A rancher moves to the city, and finds competition for the affections of an heiress in the form of a doppelganger.
Scenario Writer
A rancher moves to the city, and finds competition for the affections of an heiress in the form of a doppelganger.
Writer
George Bell, a wild young man, lives with his rancher father, Thomas Bell, in Paradise Valley, California. When George sells his father's favorite horse, Mr. Bell turns him out, and George becomes a grain salesman in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Polly Martin lives with her father Bill, an ex-businessman who has sunk to day-labor because of his addiction to alcohol. Bill frequently abuses Polly, and when he falls to his death from a high girder, Polly becomes a nurse in the Salvation Army in St. Louis. George falls in love with Polly after he saves her from the advances of a drunk, but she will not marry him because of his wild past.
Story
George Bell, a wild young man, lives with his rancher father, Thomas Bell, in Paradise Valley, California. When George sells his father's favorite horse, Mr. Bell turns him out, and George becomes a grain salesman in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Polly Martin lives with her father Bill, an ex-businessman who has sunk to day-labor because of his addiction to alcohol. Bill frequently abuses Polly, and when he falls to his death from a high girder, Polly becomes a nurse in the Salvation Army in St. Louis. George falls in love with Polly after he saves her from the advances of a drunk, but she will not marry him because of his wild past.
Writer
Carter Raymond is a New York playboy who squanders his inherited fortune. All he has left is an abandoned mine in California, so Carter goes West to work it. "Big Jim" Helton and his daughter Mary have been squatters on the mine for years, and "Placer" Murray, from an adjoining camp, has been trying to run them off. When Carter arrives, Mary shoots him, thinking he works for Murray. Mary soon realizes her mistake, and she and her father agree to nurse Carter back to health.
Scenario Writer
J. Warren Kerrigan plays the standard Vance hero, a devil-may-care Irish mercenary named Terrence O'Rourke. While knocking about in India, O'Rourke comes into possession of the Pool of Flame, a valuable ruby stolen from a Hindu temple. Typically, whosoever possesses this gem is marked for death, but O'Rourke hopes to beat the odds by utilizing the Pool of Flame to insure, rather than impede, his good luck.
Screenplay
Inheriting his father's alcoholism, Lawyer Tom Gallatin goes into the woods to rehabilitate himself. Once there, he loses his way and then meets Jane Loring, who is also lost. They are attracted to each other, but when Jane offers him a drink from a flask, Tom takes more than just a few sips, and then tries to rape her.
Scenario Writer
Inheriting his father's alcoholism, Lawyer Tom Gallatin goes into the woods to rehabilitate himself. Once there, he loses his way and then meets Jane Loring, who is also lost. They are attracted to each other, but when Jane offers him a drink from a flask, Tom takes more than just a few sips, and then tries to rape her.
Screenplay
Gubernatorial candidate Walter Croyden is in love with Beatrice, but he acts obnoxiously when he drinks, so she flees to Europe to re-evaluate the relationship.
Writer
After political boss Tim Noland adopts Roy, the infant son of a dead crony, he reluctantly gives the boy up to a doctor who claims that, if raised in an respectable environment, the child will grow into a model citizen. Twenty years later, Roy comes back to live with Tim, and is appalled at his unscrupulous methods of conducting business. Then, he falls in love with Enid Winslow, the daughter of a social reformer who is running for office against Tim. Largely due to Roy's financial support, Winslow wins the election, but, holding a grudge against Tim and anyone connected to him, he refuses to let Enid marry Roy.
Scenario Writer
Though a spendthrift and a layabout, Lord Arthur Waring (J. Warren Kerrigan) is universally loved by his tenants. The same cannot be said for Arthur's half-brother Mark (Bertram Grassby), a tyrannical tightwad. Disowned by his family, Arthur finds himself strapped for cash when he promises to finance the operation of Helene von Gerald (Lois Wilson), whom he accidentally crippled in a riding mishap.
Scenario Writer
Third episode in the New Adventures of Terence O'Rourke series of 2-reel shorts.
Scenario Writer
John Douglas, a high-society playboy, is a cynic concerning the women of his social set, and has a pictured ideal of the girl of his dreams. Wising to avoid the upcoming social season, he hops a freighter bound for the Orient. It sinks in mid-ocean and he, as the sole survivor, is washed upon a island, where he is rescued by Nia, daughter of the tribal chief, Neto.John is puzzled as all of the tribe are white people, but he learns from the tribal chief they are descendant's of English-origin who also are on the island because of a ship wreck a few hundred years ago.
Story
John Douglas, a high-society playboy, is a cynic concerning the women of his social set, and has a pictured ideal of the girl of his dreams. Wising to avoid the upcoming social season, he hops a freighter bound for the Orient. It sinks in mid-ocean and he, as the sole survivor, is washed upon a island, where he is rescued by Nia, daughter of the tribal chief, Neto.John is puzzled as all of the tribe are white people, but he learns from the tribal chief they are descendant's of English-origin who also are on the island because of a ship wreck a few hundred years ago.
Scenario Writer
Lillian is an unfortunate woman. After leaving her baby at the door of a hospital she meets David, the author of her misfortune. It is a case of starvation or the "easiest way." She chooses the "easiest way." After eighteen years she again shows up, a social outcast and a tool for David's black profession.
Story
The woman has been leading an adventurous life. Her admirer grows tired and casts her off. She departs and sinks down in the street, tired mentally and bodily. The artist is painting the Madonna. His model fails to give him the inspiration needed and he discharges her. Passing down the street he observes the woman with the beautiful tired face, speaks to her and finally persuades her to go with him and be his model and embrace a better life. The painting is finished. The woman has supplied the inspiration. She tires and longs for the old, merry life. She meets the tempter once more and goes with him to his home.
