Wells Root

Birth : 1900-03-21, Buffalo, New York, USA

Death : 1993-03-09

Movies

Texas Across the River
Writer
The Louisiana wedding of debutante Phoebe Ann Naylor to Don Andrea de Baldasar, El Duce de la Casala is stopped by the Cavalry over a matter of honor. Don Andrea flees across the river to Texas, where he meets up with Sam Hollis and his Indian sidekick, Kronk, who are carrying rifles to the town of Moccasin Flats. Don Andrea rescues an Indian maiden, Lonetta, tames some longhorns, competes with Sam for Phoebe's affections, eludes a Comanche war party and the cavalry and ultimately saves the town and gets his girl.
Hell Ship Mutiny
Screenplay
A ship's captain in the South Seas battles a villainous pearl trader who uses island natives as slaves for his business.
Magnificent Obsession
Adaptation
When churlish, spoiled rich man Bob Merrick foolishly wrecks his speedboat, the rescue team resuscitates him with equipment therefore unavailable to aid a local hero, Dr. Wayne Phillips, who dies as a result. Phillips had helped many people, and when Merrick learns of the doctor's way of life-- That is, to selflessly give of himself and his finances, in secret-- Bob attempts it in a ham-handed way. From then on, the lives of Helen Phillips and Bob Merrick intersect, first in tragedy, then in love.
The Prisoner of Zenda
Adaptation
An Englishman vacationing in Ruritania is recruited to impersonate his cousin, the soon-to-be-crowned king after the monarch is drugged and kidnapped.
Stronghold
Screenplay
In 1850s Mexico, the beautiful owner of a silver mine is kidnapped by a bandit leader, who needs money to finance his revolt against the Emperor Maximilian.
Furia roja
Writer
Mother and daughter return to Mexico to escape the US Civil War... and get caught up in the conflict between the French army and the fighters for independence.
Salute to the Marines
Adaptation
It is a comic book propaganda film which has Beery as a retired USMC NCO who, when the Japanese invade the Philippines, leads a heroic defense, first by strangling a Nazi agent, and then dying in his dress blues uniform while blowing up a bridge.
The Man from Down Under
Screenplay
An Australian blowhard raises two orphaned children as his own in the years leading up to WWII.
Tennessee Johnson
Screenplay
The tumultuous presidency of 19th-president Andrew Johnson is chronicled in this biopic. The story begins with Johnson's boyhood and covers his early life. During the Civil War, Johnson stays a staunch Unionist and upon Lincoln's reelection in 1864, becomes his Vice President. After Lincoln's assassination, Johnson becomes the President and became the first U.S. president ever to be impeached.
Mokey
Screenplay
A newlywed tries to deal with her troubled stepchild.
Mokey
Director
A newlywed tries to deal with her troubled stepchild.
Turned Out Nice Again
Theatre Play
George Pearson, an employee at an underwear factory, is caught between his modern wife and his meddling mother. After buying a special yarn and getting his wife to promote it, he has an argument with his boss, Mr Dawson who insults Pearson's wife and refuses to apologise. Pearson then resigns. After finding out that the yarn is actually worth a fair amount, Mr Dawson tries to buy it from Pearson but he has some competition.
The Get-Away
Screenplay
A jailed cop befriends a mob chieftain and stages a breakout with him.
The Bad Man
Screenplay
Lopez is a bandit who has stolen the herd at Gil's ranch, so Hardy is about to foreclose. But Lucia has come back from New York and Gil is happy until he meets her husband, Morgan.
Flight Command
Screenplay
A rookie flyer, Ens. Alan Drake, joins the famous Hellcats Squadron right out of flight school in Pensacola. He doesn't make a great first impression when he is forced to ditch his airplane and parachute to safety when he arrives at the base but is unable to land due to heavy fog. On his first day on the job, his poor shooting skills results in the Hellcats losing an air combat competition. His fellow pilots accept him anyways but they think he's crossed the line when they erroneously conclude that while their CO Billy Gray is away, Drake has an affair with his wife Lorna. Drake is now an outcast and is prepared to resign from the Navy but his extreme heroism in saving Billy Gray's life turns things around.
Thunder Afloat
Screenplay
A tugboat captain serves under his rival as a U-boat chaser in World War I.
Man of Conquest
Screenplay
The story of Sam Houston, hero of the Texas revolution, statesman, and first president of the Republic of Texas.
Sergeant Madden
Screenplay
A dedicated police officer is torn between family and duty when his son turns to a life of crime.
The Prisoner of Zenda
Adaptation
An Englishman who resembles the king of a small European nation gets mixed up in palace intrigue when his look-alike is kidnapped.
The Bold Caballero
Story
The Commandant is making life rough for the colonials in Spanish California. While trying to help, Zorro is charged with the murder of the new Governor, but in the end he triumphs over the evil Commandant.
The Bold Caballero
Screenplay
The Commandant is making life rough for the colonials in Spanish California. While trying to help, Zorro is charged with the murder of the new Governor, but in the end he triumphs over the evil Commandant.
The Bold Caballero
Director
The Commandant is making life rough for the colonials in Spanish California. While trying to help, Zorro is charged with the murder of the new Governor, but in the end he triumphs over the evil Commandant.
Sworn Enemy
Writer
A law student poses as a fight promoter to catch a notorious gangster.
Pursuit
Screenplay
"Mitch" Mitchell is an aviator who has been hired to take a child in a guardianship suit out of California into Mexico. He is accompanied by Maxine Rush, the secretary of the head of a private-detective agency who has been hired to care for the kid until the suit is over. (Overview written by Les Adams )
Public Hero Number 1
Story
G-Man Jeff Crane poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailbreak of the gang's leader, Crane joins him in a Dillinger-like flight across the country.
Public Hero Number 1
Screenplay
G-Man Jeff Crane poses as a crook to infiltrate the notorious Purple Gang, a band of hoodlums which preys upon other hoodlums. Orchestrating the jailbreak of the gang's leader, Crane joins him in a Dillinger-like flight across the country.
Shadow of Doubt
Screenplay
When a Hollywood producer is murdered, the most likely suspect is a man who is smitten with the victim's fiancee.
Paris Interlude
Screenplay
Expatriates and foreign correspondents mix in a Paris bistro...
Black Moon
Writer
A woman returning to her island birthplace finds herself drawn to a voodoo cult.
Night Flight
Writer
Story of South American mail pilots, and the dangers they face flying at night.
I Cover the Waterfront
Writer
An investigative reporter romances a suspected smuggler's daughter.
Racetrack
Story
Joe Tomasso is an Italian-American bookmaker and gambler who, outwardly, is hard but soft-hearted inwardly. He becomes fond of a homeless waif, Jackie Curtis, and begins to look upon him as the son he never had. But when Jackie's mother appears, Joe has a hard decision to make.
Tiger Shark
Screenplay
A Portuguese tuna fisherman catches his bride with his first mate.
Bird of Paradise
Screenplay
When a young South Seas sailor falls overboard, the beautiful daughter of a Polynesian king dives in and saves his life. Thus begins the romance of Johnny and Luana. Though Luana is promised to another man, Johnny whisks her away, and for a brief time the lovers live very happily together. But, when a local volcano threatens their lives, Luana knows that she must sacrifice herself to the volcanic gods in order to save her island.
Politics
Adaptation
A widow's decision to run for mayor kicks off a battle of the sexes in a small town.
The Prodigal
Writer
An aspiring singer, who has fallen on hard times and is now living as a hobo, returns to his wealthy southern family.
The Storm
Screenplay
Burr and Dave, two close friends who have backed each other up in countless difficulties, are torn apart by the arrival of a woman, Manette, who becomes stranded with them in their cabin during a raging blizzard.
Chasing Rainbows
Adaptation
The road-show troupe of a top Broadway show go cross-country while taking the audience along on the on-stage scenes as well as what happens and is happening back stage of the production. The spectacular dancing ensembles and colorful costumes and pulchritude on-stage offers a contrasting background to the drabness of the backstage, where joy, sorrow, tragedies, deception, and romance are intertwined.
Peacock Alley
Screenplay
Claire Tree spends the night in the hotel room of her friend and confidante, saying goodbye to him before her impending marriage the following day. When she returns to the hotel with her husband the following night, the house detective accuses her of prostitution and throws them out. Now Claire must explain everything to her unsympathetic husband.
Peacock Alley
Scenario Writer
Claire Tree spends the night in the hotel room of her friend and confidante, saying goodbye to him before her impending marriage the following day. When she returns to the hotel with her husband the following night, the house detective accuses her of prostitution and throws them out. Now Claire must explain everything to her unsympathetic husband.