William Jacobs

Birth : 1887-10-31, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Death : 1953-09-30

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Jacobs (October 31, 1887 - September 30, 1953) was an American screenwriter and producer for Warner Bros. He wrote 13 Hollywood movies and produced 59 more, including musicals. Jacobs joined Warner Bros. as a screenwriter in 1934. From 1938 to his death he produced movies for the studio. Movies he produced include Calamity Jane (1953), Christmas in Connecticut (1945), and Tea for Two (1950). William Jacobs died in 1953 in Beverly Hills, California, at age 65.

Movies

Calamity Jane
Producer
Sharpshooter Calamity Jane takes it upon herself to recruit a famous actress and bring her back to the local saloon, but jealousy soon gets in the way.
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Producer
Marjorie Winfield's engagement to Bill Sherman, who has just arrived home from fighting in World War I, serves as the backdrop for the trials and tribulations of her family.
April in Paris
Producer
A series of misunderstandings leads to a chorus girl traveling to Paris to represent the American theater, where she falls in love with a befuddled bureaucrat.
Close to My Heart
Producer
A journalist's wife insists on adopting an abandoned child.
On Moonlight Bay
Producer
The Winfield family moves into a new house in a small town in Indiana. Tomboy Marjorie Winfield begins a romance with William Sherman who lives across the street. Marjorie has to learn how to dance and act like a proper young lady. Unfortunately William Sherman has unconventional ideas for the time. His ideas include not believing in marriage or money, which causes friction with Marjorie's father, who is the local bank vice president
Rocky Mountain
Producer
A Confederate troop, led by Captain Lafe Barstow, is prowling the far ranges of California and Nevada in a last desperate attempt to build up an army in the West for the faltering Confederacy. Because the patrol saves a stagecoach, with Johanna Carterr as one of the passengers, from an Indian attack, and is marooned on a rocky mountain, it fails in its mission but the honor of the Old South is upheld.
Tea for Two
Producer
In this reworking of "No, No, Nanette," wealthy heiress Nanette Carter bets her uncle $25,000 that she can say "no" to everything for 48 hours. If she wins, she can invest the money in a Broadway show featuring songs written by her beau, and of course, in which she will star. Trouble is, she doesn't realize her uncle's been wiped out by the Stock Market crash.
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
Producer
An Irish horsecar driver's daughter meets New York showman Tony Pastor and goes into vaudeville.
Montana
Producer
An Australian sheep man comes to Montana looking for grazing space, is opposed by local ranchers and a wealthy cattle-woman.
Look for the Silver Lining
Producer
Musical biography of Marilyn Miller, who overcame heartache to become a Broadway star
Whiplash
Producer
An artist follows a woman from California to New York, where he boxes for her mobster husband.
April Showers
Producer
A married couple who have a song-and-dance act in vaudeville are in trouble. Their struggling act is going nowhere, they're almost broke and they have to do something to get them back on top or they'll really be in trouble. They decide to put their young son in the act in hopes of attracting some new attention. The boy turns out to be a major talent, audiences love him and the act is on its way to the top. That's when an organization whose purpose is to stop children from performing on stage shows up, and they're dead set on breaking up the act.
My Wild Irish Rose
Producer
Musical biography of Irish 19th century tenor Chauncey Olcott.
Love and Learn
Producer
A wealthy socialite bored with her life meets and falls in love with a struggling songwriter on the verge of leaving New York and quitting the music business.
Nora Prentiss
Producer
Quiet, organised Dr Talbot meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss when she is slightly hurt in a street accident. Despite her misgivings they become heavily involved and Talbot finds he is faced with the choice of leaving Nora or divorcing his wife. When a patient expires in his office, a third option seems to present itself.
The Verdict
Producer
After an innocent man is executed in a case he was responsible for, a Scotland Yard superintendent finds himself investigating the murder of his key witness.
Never Say Goodbye
Producer
Phil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is very unhappy that her parents are not together. Flip starts a correspondence with a Marine, sending a picture of her beautiful mother as the author of Flip's flirtatious letters. When the Marine shows up to meet his pen pal, Ellen takes the opportunity to make her ex-husband jealous.
Shadow of a Woman
Producer
Brooke's marital life with Eric takes a downturn when she starts suspecting that her husband is starving his son from a prior marriage to death in order to claim his inheritance.
Too Young to Know
Producer
A returning GI searches for the wife who left him and gave away their son.
Danger Signal
Producer
After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.
Christmas in Connecticut
Producer
While recovering in a hospital, war hero Jefferson Jones grows familiar with the "Diary of a Housewife" column written by Elizabeth Lane. Jeff's nurse arranges with Elizabeth's publisher, Alexander Yardley, for Jeff to spend the holiday at Elizabeth's bucolic Connecticut farm with her husband and child. But the column is a sham, so Elizabeth and her editor, Dudley Beecham, in fear of losing their jobs, hasten to set up the single, childless and entirely nondomestic Elizabeth on a country farm.
Conflict
Producer
Unhappily married Richard Mason concocts a meticulous scheme to kill his shrewish wife so that he'll be free to marry her sister.
Shine on Harvest Moon
Producer
Biographical movie about the early 20th century broadway stars Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth.
Find the Blackmailer
Producer
A private eye is hired by a mayoral candidate to prevent any sort of adverse publicity. It seems that, somewhere in town, there's a talking blackbird who insists upon saying that the candidate will commit a murder. When the killing occurs, the candidate is implicated, and the detective is off on a hectic pursuit of the incriminating crow and the actual murderer.
Wagon Wheels West
Screenplay
In this short western, a U.S. marshal seeks vengeance against the man who killed his father.
Wagon Wheels West
Original Story
In this short western, a U.S. marshal seeks vengeance against the man who killed his father.
The Hidden Hand
Associate Producer
Peter Thorne is a young attorney who works for an eccentric old woman, Lorinda Channing, who uses her insane brother, John Channing, to frighten her other relatives because they are after her money. Further complications arise when another murderer arrives on the scene and plants the blame on John.
Escape from Crime
Producer
An ex-con becomes a daredevil photojournalist.
Always in My Heart
Associate Producer
A man is pardoned from prison and returns to Santa Rita, CA to be with his family, but discovers his children have been told he's dead and his wife is in love with another man.
Nine Lives Are Not Enough
Associate Producer
A reporter is constantly in trouble for jumping to conclusions.
Underground
Associate Producer
A World War II Hollywood propaganda film detailing the dark underside of Nazism and the Third Reich set between two brothers, Kurt and Erik Franken, whom are SS officers in the Nazi party. Kurt learns and exposes the evils of the system to Erik and tries to convince him of the immoral stance that marches under the symbol of the swastika.
The Nurse's Secret
Associate Producer
An apparent suicide by a rich woman leads her nurse and a policeman to an insurance scam.
A Shot in the Dark
Associate Producer
A reporter and a police detective sort through the clues in a night-club owner's murder.
Shadows on the Stairs
Associate Producer
Occupants of a London boarding house become suspects as a string of murders are discovered.
The Great Mr. Nobody
Associate Producer
A publicity man promotes his newspaper, but finds his boss always steals the credit.
She Couldn't Say No
Producer
Two big city lawyers are handed an important case but then find it requires them to deal with the oddball and very shrewd characters in a small town.
Father Is A Prince
Associate Producer
Director Noel Smith's comic 1940 morality tale, about a carpet sweeper manufacturer who sacrifices his family's happiness for his business, stars Grant Mitchell, Nana Bryant, Jan Clayton, George Reeves, Lee Patrick, John Litel, Billy Dawson, Richard Clayton, Frank Ferguson, Vera Lewis, Pierre Watkin, Frank Wilcox, John Ridgely and Frank Orth.
Flowing Gold
Associate Producer
In the American oilfields, a fugitive from justice's destiny is intertwined with the fortunes and the misfortunes of a small oil company that hires him as a roughneck.
Money and the Woman
Associate Producer
An embezzler's wife begs his boss for forgiveness, only to fall in love with him.
River's End
Associate Producer
An escaped criminal pretends to be a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in order to prove his innocence of murder. Star Dennis Morgan plays two roles.
Ladies Must Live
Associate Producer
A small town farmer, who happens to be very wealthy, meets and falls for an actress, but his friends warn him she's only interested in his money.
Penrod and His Twin Brother
Screenplay
Penrod Schofield's mischievous dog, Duke, is falsely accused of biting Penrod's spoiled friend, Rodney.
Sergeant Murphy
Screenplay
An Army private proves his horse is fit for service and wins his colonel's daughter.
Over the Goal
Screenplay
The Carlton State star quarterback is wrongly thrown in jail, almost guaranteeing a major loss as well as costing the college a donation which would save the school from closing.
Talent Scout
Screenplay
A Hollywood heartthrob helps a small-town girl achieve stardom.
Dance Charlie Dance
Screenplay
A stage-struck small-towner is tricked in backing a bad straight play, but it turns out to be a unintentional comedy hit. Problems arise, when he is sued for plagiarism.
Isle of Fury
Screenplay
An island fugitive and his bride make room for a shipwrecked detective.
Down the Stretch
Story
A jockey tries to overcome the reputation of his father, who once threw a race.
Down the Stretch
Screenplay
A jockey tries to overcome the reputation of his father, who once threw a race.
Hot Money
Screenplay
Salesman develops a fake stock plan in new invention before it is finished.
The Big Noise
Screenplay
The Big Noise is retired textile manufacturer Julius Trent (Guy Kibbee). Seeking a new outlet for his entrepreneurial energies, Trent buys a half interest in a thriving dry-cleaning establishment. This gets him mixed up with a gang of protection racketeers, who promise dire consequences if Trent doesn't dance to their tune.
Treachery Rides the Range
Screenplay
The Indians need the Buffalo to survive and the Government has promised to keep the herds free from hunters. But Carter, of Carter and Barton, just signed a big contract for furs and Buffalo meat so they want the herds. The only way they can get them is to rile the Indians up enough to go on the warpath and break the treaty. After the trouble starts, the Indians get the Colonel's daughter and hold her prisoner. Written by Tony Fontana
Treachery Rides the Range
Story
The Indians need the Buffalo to survive and the Government has promised to keep the herds free from hunters. But Carter, of Carter and Barton, just signed a big contract for furs and Buffalo meat so they want the herds. The only way they can get them is to rile the Indians up enough to go on the warpath and break the treaty. After the trouble starts, the Indians get the Colonel's daughter and hold her prisoner. Written by Tony Fontana
Song of the Saddle
Story
Frank Sr. sells his supplies to Hook, but then Hook has the Bannion Boys bushwhack his wagon to get the money back. Frank is murdered, but Junior gets away. He comes back 10 years later to settle the score as the Singing Cowboy. He finds that Hook is still doing his dirty deeds on the unsuspecting people. Along the way, Frank meets the lovely Jen, who came out in the same wagon train 10 years before.
Moonlight on the Prairie
Story
A singing medicine-show cowboy and his magician partner catch a killer.
Swellhead
Screenplay
Baseball player Terry McCall is a very good baseball player, who doesn't mind bragging about his skills on the baseball diamond and also his off-the-field skills at wooing and winning women. An accident causes his luck to turn bad and results in him turning blind, but he later regains his sight after being instrumental in saving the life of Mickey Malone, the team's young mascot. He then promises Mary Malone, Mickey's sister, for whose affection he has been competing with a teammate, that he is through showing off and bragging. But, in the end, he is still blowing smoke.
Unwelcome Stranger
Story
Horse-breeder Howard Chamberlain has many superstitious quirks but his primary one is that he believes orphans are bad luck and a jinx to be around. This is bad news when 'Gimpy", an orphan, shows up at Chamberlain's horse-ranch in search of a place to stay. But Howard's soft-hearted wife, Madeline, allows the young boy to stay on and work in the barn with the horses. And "Gimpy" breaks Chamberlain's "orphan-jinx" in a big way.
Night of Terror
Writer
The heirs to a family fortune are required to attend a seance at the spooky old family mansion. However, throughout the night members of the family are being killed off one by one.