Bertram Millhauser and the Sherlock Holmes Films

Bertram Millhauser is a familar name to any mystery fan, for he penned five scripts for the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films of the 1940s. Millhauser obviously loved mysteries himself. His personal life is shrouded in mystery and even his portrait bears a striking resemblance to Edgar Allen Poe, looking like it belongs hanging on the walls of the Haunted Mansion. 

Millhauser was born in New York City in 1892. He began his career as a stenographer in the advertising department of Pathe films. While still a teenager, he worked his way up to the script department penning scenarios and then full scripts to a number of short films starring Pearl White, including the famous serial The Perils of Pauline ( 1914 ).

Throughout the 1920s Bertram Millhauser kept busy at Pathe devising story plots for dramas and action and adventure flickers such as The Timber Queen ( 1922 ), The Eagle's Talons ( 1923 ), Code of the Sea ( 1924 ) and Feet of Clay ( 1924 ). He also tried his hand at producing, and he put the money down on a film he helped write, The Leopard Lady ( 1928 ) for the DeMille Corporation. 

Millhauser got a foretaste of his future bread-and-butter, the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, when he was called upon to write the script for the last Holmes film to feature the stone-faced English actor, Clive Brooks - Conan Doyle's Master Detective Sherlock Holmes - in 1932. This script was far removed from the Holmes scenarios that Arthur Conan Doyle had made so popular in his serialization of the character in the Strand Magazine. It pitted Holmes against his arch-nemesis Moriarty who unleashed a group of international criminals in London, plotting to introduce the "American method" of organized crime - protection rackets - unto the public. Gone was the Victorian London of yor, for Holmes was now a detective in a modern 1930s setting.

While Holmes remained true to character, Millhauser obviously must have had very little regard for Dr. Watson ( portrayed admirably by Reginald Owen) because he gives the old boy the brush-off after only two scenes. When Holmes learns of the American hoodlums plotting their mob rule in London, this exchange takes place : 

Sherlock

"There's only one way to deal with these alien butchers.....Their own way. Shoot first, investigate afterwards."

Dr. Watson

"But is it sporting, old chap?"

Sherlock

"Oh, get out, Watson."

Times have indeed changed from Conan Doyle's days! Poor Watson leaves the scene, never to appear again in the film. 

While the production values to Conan Doyle's Master Detective Sherlock Holmes were high, the script bogged the film down, and Clive Brook would later confess that his last outing as Holmes was in "a terrible film". 

Perhaps Millhauser's mind was on a project more dear to his heart at the moment. In 1932 he was adapting his own novel - "The Life of Jimmy Dolan" - into a film starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Loretta Young. Millhauser was no longer devising merely scenarios for budget action films and was now working steadily on scripts for productions that starred top-drawing actors such as Kay Francis ( Storm at Daybreak ), Barbara Stanwyck ( Ever in My Heart ) and James Cagney ( Jimmy the Gent ). 

It was during this time that Millhauser hit his stride, penning a number of great budget mystery films including The Garden Murder Case ( one of the Phylo Vance series ), Magnificent Brute ( 1936 ), Under Cover of Night ( 1937 ), The Crime Nobody Saw ( 1937 ), and Nick Carter, Master Detective ( 1939 ). 

Universal Studios beckoned in 1942 when they called Bertram over to pen a screenplay for the next entry in their popular Sherlock Holmes series starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce - Sherlock Holmes in Washington. Universal made an exclusive $300,000 deal with the Conan Doyle estate which gave the studio title to the characters for a seven-year period, along with rights to 21 of Doyle's original stories. Universal quickly decided to depart from the traditional Victorian era setting that the 20th Century Fox films had established ( The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ) and feature the detecting duo in a series of brashly up-to-the-minute espionage intrigues : Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror and Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon. 

Sherlock Holmes in Washington was the last in the series to feature Nazis as the main antagonists, and also the last in which Rathbone sports his Caesarian haircut. Millhauser fancied himself capable of creating his very own Holmes yarn without referring to the Conan Doyle stories, but sadly, his ego would be wounded. The story to Sherlock Holmes in Washington ( 1943 ) relied too heavily on coincidence to generate much excitement, and Millhauser's script was surprisingly lackluster considering the premise itself was quite clever. It concerned an all-important piece of microfilm hidden in a matchbox. The British have it, then lose it; the Americans want it, and the Nazis will fight for it; but only Sherlock obtains it in the end. 

Undeterred by this stilted script, Universal assigned Bertram Millhauser to create another Holmes mystery, and their faith in his writing ability paid off....Sherlock Holmes Faces Death was one of the best in the series. This time Millhauser worked from a Conan Doyle story - "The Sign of Four" - to create a really taut screenplay set in an army officers convalescence home called Musgrave House, in which three murders have taken place - always after the clock strikes thirteen! Holmes ingeniously discovers - with the aid of boozy butler Brunton - that an old spoken inheritance ritual is in fact a clue, passed down from generation to generation, pointing the way to a long forgotten land grant buried in the cellar of the manor. 

"Hurlstone? Grim old pile. Very spooky"

Dr. Watson

"Don't tell me you met a ghost?"

Sherlock Holmes

"No, not so spooky as that. Ghosts don't stab people in the neck, do they? Or do they?"

Dr. Watson

"Not well-bred ghosts, Watson."

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes Faces Death dispensed with the Nazis and had Sherlock using his powers of deduction to solve crimes committed by devious criminals. This film captured an almost Gothic atmosphere and the script implied an acceptance of the supernatural, for the first four lines of the Musgrave ritual - "Who first shall find it, were better dead; who next shall find it, perils his head; the last to find it, defies dark powers; and brings good fortune to Hurlstone Towers" take on the air of prophecy when it comes true. Bertram wove a number of great classic mystery elements together - the dark stormy night, secluded manor, hidden passages, and the old chestnut of the clock striking 13 - into an engrossing and sprightly paced film. 

Since he was so successful in adapting a Conan Doyle story, Millhauser decided to use them as reference again for the sixth Sherlock Holmes film, The Pearl of Death ( 1944 ), which had Holmes chasing after a stolen pearl hidden within the bust of a Napoleon statue. This scenario, based upon "The Six Napoleons", had the elements of being a highly entertaining film, but Millhauser did not expand on some of its most promising plot innovations ( the public 'disgrace' of Holmes, for example ) and instead chose to throw in the brutish Oxton Creeper to give the film more of the Universal horror touch. 

Millhauser's last Sherlock Holmes script was undoubtably his best. He combined elements from six of Conan Doyle stories into one of the most delightful Sherlock Holmes films in the series - The Spider Woman ( 1944 ). This film pitted Holmes against Adrea Spedding, a female Moriarity, who selects gamblers down in their luck as her victims in a series of "pyjama murders". The film itself is only 63 minutes and yet it included some of the most memorable scenes in the entire series - Holmes' "demise" in a roaring turrent ( taken from "The Final Problem" ) and the mourning by Mrs. Hudson, Watson, and Lestrade ( each of whom wanted his pipe ); the pygmy killer; Holmes' disguise as Maharajah Singh; the fake entomologist; and the smoke-bomb ruse Ms. Spadding employed at 221B Baker Street. 

"Of all the transparent old fakers I ever saw!...."Gilflower" what a name to pick!..."Bullflower"...."Bullfrog"...."Wiggle-woggle"! Why, you can do better than that....those dark glasses! That preposterous wig! Come out from behind those silly whiskers - I know you!"

Dr. Watson, talking to an aged entomologist he believes is Holmes in disguise

In 1944, Bertram Millhauser took a brief break from the Sherlock Holmes series to pen two other mysteries for Universal : The Invisible Man's Revenge and Enter Arsene Lupin, before he completed his last Holmes film, The Woman in Green ( 1945 ). This was certainly the most ghoulish premise in the series with Holmes hunting for a killer who blackmails innocent people by convincing them, with the placement of a severed finger in their pocket and some clever hypnotizing, that they committed the crimes themselves. This film had its memorable moments, but it lazily approached its climax and Sherlock Holmes himself seemed rather tired with the whole mystery. 

Millhauser typed out the scripts to a few other mysteries in the late 1940s such as The Web ( 1948 ) and Toyko Joe ( 1949 ) starring Humphrey Bogart, before he decided that television would provide him with more creative opportunities. He worked on several episodes of Chevron Theatre, and the Lux Video Theatre, and worked as story editor on over 39 episodes of The Lone Ranger before he put the dust cover on his typewriter for good. Millhauser passed away in 1958 at the age of 66. 

This post is our contribution to the Classic Movie Blog Association's spring blogathon "Words, Words, Words" running from April 11th to April 15th. Be sure to head on over to CMBA's website to check out more posts on screenwriters, authors, and writers featured in movies. 

Bill Walsh - Disney Legend

Bill Walsh was a prolific screenwriter and producer at Walt Disney Studios and his name is probably very familiar to Disney fans because it appeared on the credits of just about every live-action film the Studio made during the 1960s. Yes, this man was busy, busy, busy! And oddly enough, quantity had no effect on quality, nor on box-office receipts….Bill was one of the most successful producers in Hollywood and each and every one of his releases were practically guaranteed “winners”. 

In 1973 Variety magazine listed seven of his features as all-time box office champions. Quite an impressive record. Some of these films were The Shaggy Dog, The Absent Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat, The Love Bug and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

“ I don't believe in giving animals ridiculous names. I call him Cosmic Creepers, because that's the name he came with.” – Eglantine Price                                                               Bedknobs and Broomsticks 1971 


                     

Bill Walsh was very close in spirit to Walt Disney and shared all of his ideas of what kind of features and programs the Studio should release. In fact, in 1966, when Walt Disney died, the Studio executives were considering who should replace Disney at the helm and Bill Walsh was the man they selected. He had the experience, the creativity, and the operational know-how to lead the company forward, but Bill liked to work on independent projects and didn’t want to oversee the entire Studio, and so he declined.

But loyal he was to Walt Disney ….he continued to work for the Studio up until his death in 1975, in spite of numerous offers from other Hollywood motion picture studios who wanted a top producer like him on their staff.

" Good night, old woman, I can't hear a word you're saying, but whatever it is, I disagree with you one hundred percent! " - Mr.MacDougall  
                                                                            That Darn Cat 1965

Born in New York City in 1914, Bill was often known as the “Midwesterner” around the Studio because he spent his childhood and teen years in Cincinnati, Ohio and it was there, at the University of Cincinnati, that his love for writing for the stage began.

                     

After college he joined Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay’s theatre company “Tattle Tales” as a rewrite man and gained experience writing and improving on a variety of different script scenarios, from westerns to crime dramas to sophisticated comedies.

Jane – " Wanted: a nanny for two adorable children. "
Mr. Banks – " Adorable? Well, that’s debatable, I must say "

                                                         Mary Poppins 1965

He headed to Hollywood in 1934 and joined a publicity office where he worked writing press releases and copy for advertisements for such company clients as Elizabeth Arden and the Brown Derby. But it was another client, Edgar Bergen, who offered him his big break – an invitation to write gags for his comedy routines. And writing lines for puppets Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snird soon led to writing comic book lines for that nationally famous marsupial Mickey Mouse……because Edgar Bergen just happened to be a good friend of Walt Disney’s. The hand of Fate at work!

He worked for the Studio all through the 1940s and one day in 1950 Walt asked him to write and produce One Hour in Wonderland, Disney’s very first venture into the fledgling medium of Television. As Bill recalled….

"Walt called me into his office and said he'd decided to go into television and I was the guy who was going to do it. I looked stunned and said, "But I don't know anything about television." Walt smiled back at me and said, "That's okay. Nobody does!"

Bill Walsh had a creative way with words and an ingenious talent for dreaming up new and unique ideas. During the 1950s he produced The Mickey Mouse Club ( including its numerous serials of the Hardy Boys and Annette ) and it was he who thought of dividing the show into different “lands” and choosing weekly themes. Also, it was Walsh who came up with the Mickey Mouse ears.

It was in the feature film department though, that he really made his mark, writing and co-scripting over 30 films ….from the very first Davy Crockett film in 1955 to his last motion picture, One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing,  released in 1975. 

Twenty years of movie magic with many box office successes in between and each and every one of his films are still a delight to watch.

Helen Deutsch - Screenwriter

After watching several hundred MGM films, one begins to pay attention to the credits; and when one pays attention to the credits, one begins to notice that a number of names crop up recurrently, such as Clarence Brown, Wally Westmore, Cedric Gibbons, and Douglas Shearer. For us, Helen Deutsch is another one of those names. At first we thought she was a hairdresser ( getting her innocently mixed up with the great Helen Rose ), but when we sat down and watched National Velvet ( 1944 ) recently her name stood out in blazing lights.  Helen Deutsch was a screenwriter at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer from 1944-1955, and in addition to being a screenwriter, she was also a short story writer, a songwriter ( penning tunes with Jay Livingston, Bronislau Kaper and Bernard Green ), and an avid bibliophile. For those who would like to know a little bit more about this fascinating woman, read on dear reader, read on. 

                              ________________________________________________

Helen Deutsch was born on March 21, 1906 in New York City, New York. While in her senior year at Bernard College, she worked as a play reader for the Provincetown Players in Greenwich Village. After the group disbanded, Deutsch collaborated with Stella B. Hanau to write a history of the famed theatre, "The Provincetown: A Story of the Theatre", first published in 1931. 

This successful book inspired her to take up freelance writing and she began writing short stories for the now defunct Brooklyn Eagle, the Saturday Evening Post, McCalls, Ladies Home Journal and Redbook magazines. These short stories caught the attention of Hollywood, and Deutsch was hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to rewrite Theodore Reeve's screenplay adaptation of the Enid Bagnold novel, National Velvet ( 1944 ). Deutsch was faithful to the novel and yet added many subtle touches that heightened the films appeal and bits of dialogue that gave added depth to the characters. 

"That'll be a dispute to the end of time, Mr. Brown : whether it's better to do the right thing for the wrong reason or the wrong thing for the right reason "

That same year she was put to work on an screenplay based on the novel, The Seventh Cross, which told the story of a man escaping from a Nazi prison camp. Spencer Tracy gave one of his best performances in this film of the same name. Most of the scripts she did for MGM were adaptations of other works, including Golden Earrings ( 1947 ) from a novel by Yolanda Foldes and Rudyard Kipling's Kim ( 1950 ). 

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Deutsch worked on a diverse range of scripts, including adventure films ( King Solomon's Mines, Golden Earrings ), dramas ( I'll Cry Tomorrow, Plymouth Adventure ), and fairy tales ( The Glass Slipper ). 

This was also the decade that she wrote what some consider her best film - Lili ( 1953 ). Based on a story by Paul Gallico ( The Three Lives of Thomasina ) it tells the delightful tale of an orphan, played by Leslie Caron, who joins a traveling circus. It also featured a memorable song, "Hi-Lilli-Hi-Lo", which was penned by Deutsch. The film earned her a Golden Globe Award, a Writers Guild of America award, as well as an Academy Award nomination. "Hi-Lilli-Hi-Lo" was considered to be a front-runner to win an Academy Award for Best Song as well, but it was deemed ineligible because some of the lyrics had previously been published and did not receive a nomination....which is just as well since Deutsch herself dismissed the song as being "dreadful". 

By 1956, Helen Deutsch was tiring of the old Hollywood grind, and the Lucille Ball/Desi Arnaz comedy, Forever Darling, was the final film she made for a major studio...at least for a while. She switched to the small screen and obtained a contract with NBC which stated that she work on three specials over the next three years. Deutsch uprooted herself from California and headed back to Manhattan at this time where, in between writing for these productions ( Jack and the Beanstalk, The General Motors Fiftieth Anniversary Show, and The Hallmark Christmas Tree ), she spent her days pursuing her old love of the stage. Deutsch took on many roles in show business including helping to run a theater company, working as an assistant to the executive director for the Theatre Guild, helping to co-found the NY Drama Critics Circle ( as a protest to the Pulitzer Prize selections ), and working as a publicist and theatre critic for the NY Herald and New York Times. 

In the early 1960s she was once again in the spotlight when "Carnival", based on her screenplay for Lili, was turned into a Broadway production and won a Tony Award. She also worked with Meredith Wilson in adapting his stage musical, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, for the big screen. This brought her back to Hollywood temporarily and also led to her being selected as one of the writers for Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls ( 1967 ). Deutsch was not pleased with the final film version released to the public and disavowed any association with the film. All writers have a few works that they are ashamed of, and obviously Deutsch was no different. 

Writing and her love of the theatre must have absorbed quite a significant amount of her attention, but nevertheless her personal life was not devoid of romance. Helen Deutsch was briefly married to educator Spencer Pollard and then she went on to have several relationships with high profile figures ( cough-cough ). The most notable of these being Clifford Odets, the playwright. 

In addition to being a talented writer, Deutsch had a number of  interesting hobbies, the best of which was being an avid bibliophile. She amassed a tidy amount of rare books and manuscripts, which she generously donated to Boston University. She was also a student of medieval English, French, and German, and a Sanskrit scholar. Deutsch had a multi-faceted life indeed.  She passed away at the age of 85 but left behind quite a memorable array of screen work. 

Screenwriter - Philip Dunne

Certain names, when rolling on the credits, are guarantees that you are in for a good film. Philip Dunne is one of those names. He was one of the most prolific writers at 20th Century Fox during the heydey when Darryl F. Zanuck headed the studio, writing the scripts to films such as How Green Was My Valley, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, David and Bathsheba and The Robe. 

Philip Dunne started working at Fox studios in 1930 as a script reader but when they fired him, during one of their recurring financial crises, he obtained a job at MGM where he worked on his first script, The Student Tour. Although the script was very bad, according to Dunne's own opinion, it led him to becoming a junior writer for Jesse L. Lasky, an independent producer at Fox. Here, he collaborated with Rowland Lee on an original script for a film called I Am Suzanne and on the swashbuckler The Count of Monte Cristo ( 1934 ) starring Robert Donat. The New York Times praised the script and its high fidelity to Dumas dialogue, remarking that it was amazing how well his words had survived in lucidity and grandeur through over a century. In truth, only seven words of dialogue were from Dumas' own writing! Philip Dunne had not even read the book prior to writing the script. 

Later, Dunne attributed the success he achieved in his career as a screenwriter to Rowland Lee. After contributing work on several screenplays for Jesse L. Lasky ( Helldorado, Under Pressure, Magnificent Obsession, The Last of the Mohicans ), Dunne received a telegram in 1935 announcing that he had received a long-term contract from Darryl F. Zanuck to work at 20th Century Fox studios. He remained there for twenty-five years. 

Angharad: 

Look now, you are king in the chapel. But I will be queen in my own kitchen. 

Mr. Gruffydd 

You will be queen wherever you walk.

Angharad 

What does that mean? 

Mr. Gruffydd 

I should not have said it. 

Angharad 

Why?

Mr. Gruffydd 

I have no right to speak to you so. [he starts to leave]

Angharad 

Mr. Gruffydd, if the right is mine to give, you have it. 

The 1940s were Dunne's golden decade, an era when he wrote a number of extremely fine scripts for some of the best films to come out of 20th Century Fox. It all began with Stanley and Livingstone, released during that prime year in Hollywood - 1939. This film established Dunne as an excellent screenwriter at the studio and led him to many other fine projects, such as The Rains Came ( based on Louis Bromfield's bestseller ), and Johnny Apollo. In late 1940, Zanuck handed Dunne the novel "How Green Was My Valley" and asked him to write an epic script for an epic film. How Green Was My Valley was going to be 20th Century Fox's answer to Gone with the Wind. Twelve weeks later, when Dunne submitted his four-hour long script, as promised, he was told that it was "twice too long". Along with director William Wyler, Dunne worked to cut the script to a manageable length, but couldn't find out how until Roddy MacDowall was selected as the leading character, Huew. He was such a delightful child that Dunne and Wyler decided to eliminate their original idea of having Huew grow to manhood mid-way through the film ( Tyrone Power was supposed to have played Huew as a man ). 

How Green Was My Valley earned ten Academy Award nominations, winning in the best picture, best director, best supporting actor, best cinematography and best art direction categories. Here Comes Mr. Jordan snagged the Best Writing, Screenplay award, which left Dunne disappointed. Nevertheless, he bounced back quickly and began work on Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake ( 1942 ) starring Tyrone Power. 

The Late George Apley ( 1947 ) was another one of Dunne's witty screen adaptations. John P. Marquard, author of the novel, once told Dunne that he preferred his screenplay to the George S. Kaufman stage adaptation. The production was a happy one; it was a great success at its premiere at Radio City Music Hall and the New York Times gave it rave reviews, but alas, outside of the East, it did not fare well at the box-office. Nevertheless, since the production team enjoyed each other's company so much, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, producer Fred Kohlmar and Dunne reunited to bring another best-selling novel to the screen - the delightful The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. 

Dunne spent seven weeks in the desert splendor of Palm Springs working on the script and, even though he did not have to alter the book's dialogue very much, created a highly entertaining fantasy which, once again, only fared moderately upon its release. However, since then, it has become one of 20th Century Fox's most endearing films, and as Dunne said in his autobiography "I am asked more questions about The Ghost and Mrs. Muir than about any other picture of mine except How Green Was My Valley"

Captain Gregg: 

[discussing Mr. Fairley] And the way he was smirking at you, like a cat in the fishmonger's! You should have slapped his face!

Lucy Muir: 

Why? I found him... rather charming.

Captain Gregg: 

"Rather charming" Now you're starting to talk like him!

Lucy Muir: 

How in blazes do you want me to talk?!

Captain Gregg: 

That's better!

In the 1950s, Dunne, his wife Amanda and their three daughters, moved to a Malibu beach house built to suit. It would remain their home for the next 40 years and become a social and political hotspot for Hollywood liberals throughout the next decade. Dunne was active in politics ever since he arrived in Los Angeles in the early 1930s. During World War II he headed the Motion Picture Bureau of the Office of War Information, helped form the Committee for the First Amendment ( along with William Wyler and John Huston ) and was also one of the founders of the American Screen Writers Guild. 

Biblical films were all the rage in the 1950s and it was work on one of these ( David and Bathsheba ) that earned Dunne his second Academy Award nomination. David and Bathsheba proved to be a box-office success and the big brass at Fox, not one to turn their heads to a profit-making venture, decided to plunge the studios talents into another dramatic biblical adaptation - The Robe. This film, starring Richard Burton and Jean Simmons and featuring the talented writing of Dunne, became an even greater success than David and Bathsheba, grossing over $36,000,000 upon its release. 

Quickly following on its heels was a sequel, again penned by Dunne, entitled Demitrius and the Gladiators ( 1954 ). An entertaining - but lesser known - film about an Egyptian doctor during the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, The Egyptian ( 1954 ), was Dunne's final screen assignment before he ventured into becoming both a screenwriter and director. 

One of his first films, The View from Pompey's Head, was a lovely little melodrama, dripping with soap and starring some mighty pretty folk such as Dana Wynter and Richard Egan. Dunne must of enjoyed being in control of the filming of the scripts that he penned, for he directed ten more films in the next ten years, including Ten North Frederick, Blue Denim, In Love and War, Wild in the Country and Lisa. 

His final film, Blindfold ( 1965 ) gave him the cue that it was time to end his directing career. Talented as he was, his pencil was indeed sharper than his camera eye. During the 1970s and 1980s, Dunne quit the entertainment industry entirely and concentrated on writing as a syndicated columnist and essayist for the Los Angeles Times and Time magazine. He also worked on his memoirs, Take Two: A Life in Movies and Politics, which much of this article was based upon. 

Philip Dunne passed away on June 2, 1992 at the age of 84....but like most writers, his words will never pass on, always being revived on the screen with each subsequent viewing of his films.

You must make your own life amoungst the living and, whether you meet fair winds or foul, find your own way to harbor in the end. 
( The Ghost and Mrs. Muir )