Melvin Frank
Melvin Frank was an influential American screenwriter, director, and producer, born on August 13, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois. He began his writing career at a young age while recovering from pneumonia and later studied playwriting at the University of Chicago. His professional partnership with Norman Panama began after graduation, leading them to write for prominent comedians like Milton Berle and Bob Hope. Frank and Panama wrote several successful films for Hope, including "My Favorite Blonde" and "Road to Utopia," for which they received three Academy Award nominations. They also created the Broadway musical "Li'l Abner," which enjoyed an impressive run and was adapted into a film. Frank's notable works include the romantic comedies "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House" and "A Touch of Class," the latter of which garnered critical acclaim and an Oscar for Best Actress for Glenda Jackson. Over his career, Frank contributed to thirty-three screenplays and directed or codirected seventeen films, primarily in the comedy genre. He passed away on October 13, 1988, in Los Angeles, leaving behind a legacy in American film and theater.
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Melvin Frank
- Born: August 13, 1913
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: October 13, 1988
- Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Biography
Melvin Frank was born August 13, 1913, in Chicago, Illinois. He began writing as an adolescent while recovering from pneumonia and studied playwriting at the University of Chicago under Thornton Wilder. After graduating, Frank and classmate Norman Panama began a partnership that lasted until 1960, beginning as writers for comedians such as Milton Berle and Bob Hope.
The pair started their screenwriting careers with Hope’s My Favorite Blonde and went on to write several more films for the comedian, including Road to Utopia, for which they received their first of three Academy Award nominations. The others came for Knock on Wood and The Facts of Life. Frank and Panama also wrote the Broadway musical Li’l Abner, based on the Al Capp comic strip. It ran for eighty-six weeks and was made into a film directed by Frank.
With The Reformer and the Redhead, the partners began codirecting their films. They directed seven films jointly. The Frank/Panama partnership ended amicably after The Road to Hong Kong, also the final Hope/Crosby film, directed by Panama. Frank eventually contributed to thirty-three screenplays and directed or codirected seventeen films. Most were comedies and often featured, in addition to Hope, comedians such as Danny Kaye and Red Skelton.
Frank’s biggest commercial success was the Kaye-Crosby musical White Christmas, written with Panama and Norman Krasna and directed by Michael Curtiz. In addition to his work with Hope, including Monsieur Beaucaire, considered by many to be the comedian’s best film, Frank is best known for writing, with Panama, the Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, one of the first films to address the post-World War II move from the city to the suburbs, and A Touch of Class, starring George Segal and Glenda Jackson. This surprise 1973 hit attempted to recreate the type of romantic comedy popular in the 1940’s. A Touch of Class, which Frank produced, directed, and wrote with Jack Rose, was nominated for Academy Awards for best original screenplay and best picture and won the best actress Oscar for Jackson, which Frank accepted in his star’s absence. A second Jackson-Segal comedy, Lost and Found, was much less critically and commercially successful.
Although Frank’s writing style, which often centered on spoofs of movie genres, seemed suitable for television, the only work he did in that medium was providing one-liners for Hope’s appearances as the host of the Oscars. Frank died of complications from open-heart surgery in Los Angeles on October 13, 1988.