Agnes Christine Johnston was an American
screenwriter
A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based.
...
who wrote for more than 80 films between 1915 and 1948.
Biography
Early life
Johnston was born in
Swissvale, Pennsylvania, to John Johnston and Isabel McElhany. She attended the
Horace Mann School and later took a playwright class at Harvard.
Her sister
Isabel Johnston
Isabel Johnston (1898–1981) was an American screenwriter active during Hollywood's silent era. She also worked as a journalist and writer of short stories.
Biography
Johnston was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Isabel McElh ...
also became a screenwriter.
Career
When
Vitagraph gave her an assignment to write a scenario for a
James Oliver Curwood novel ''God's Country and the Woman'', she reportedly completed the scenario in 24 hours.
Johnston penned a number of
Andy Hardy
Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful att ...
films starring
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
—among them ''
The Hardys Ride High
''The Hardys Ride High'' (1939) is the sixth film of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Andy Hardy series.
Plot summary
Judge Hardy learns that he has inherited two million dollars. He and his family travel to Detroit to claim the inheritance and they exp ...
'', ''
Andy Hardy's Double Life
''Andy Hardy's Double Life'' is a 1942 comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It was the thirteenth installment of MGM's enormously popular Andy Hardy film series starring Mickey Rooney as the title character.
It was the feature film debut ...
'', and ''
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
''Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble'' is a 1944 romantic comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It is the fourteenth link starring Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy. In the film, Andy goes to college, but soon gets in trouble with some pretty co-eds.
Pl ...
''.
Her other films included the comedy ''
Seventeen
Seventeen or 17 may refer to:
*17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18
* one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017
Literature
Magazines
* ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine
* ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
'', the romantic comedy ''
Janie Janie may refer to:
* Janie (given name)
* ''Janie'' (1944 film), an American romantic comedy
* ''Janie'' (2006 film), a short
*Janie, West Virginia
Janie is an unincorporated community and former coal town known as Mordue in Boone County, We ...
'' and its sequel, ''
Janie Gets Married'', plus the 1946 adaptation of ''
Black Beauty''. She also wrote the musical comedy ''
The Time, the Place and the Girl''.
Personal life
Johnson was married to fellow screenwriter
Frank Mitchell Dazey
Frank Mitchell Dazey (April 30, 1892 – June 16, 1970) was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 50 films between 1914 and 1954. He was born in Quincy, Illinois. Son of Charles T. Dazey.
Selected filmography
* '' Manhattan Madness'' (19 ...
; the couple had three children together. Agnes died in
San Diego, California, in 1978.
Partial filmography
* ''
An Amateur Orphan'' (1917)
* ''
The Fires of Youth'' (1917)
* ''
It Happened to Adele'' (1917)
* ''
Her New York
''Her New York'' is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by O. A. C. Lund and Eugene Moore and starring Gladys Hulette, William Parke Jr. and Riley Chamberlin.Connelly p.361
Cast
* Gladys Hulette as Phoebe Lester
* William Parke Jr. as ...
'' (1917)
* ''
When Love Was Blind'' (1917)
* ''
How Could You, Caroline?'' (1918)
* ''
The Great Adventure'' (1918)
* ''
Daddy-Long-Legs'' (1919)
* ''
Alarm Clock Andy'' (1920)
* ''
Her Husband's Friend'' (1920)
* ''
Home Stuff'' (1921)
* ''
Rich Men's Wives
''Rich Men's Wives'' is a lost 1922 American silent drama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring House Peters, Claire Windsor and Gaston Glass.
Synopsis
A bored wife of a wealthy man is irritated by his neglect, and is drawn into a flirt ...
'' (1922)
* ''
Children of Dust'' (1923)
* ''
Poor Men's Wives'' (1923)
* ''
Mothers-in-Law
''Mothers-in-Law'' is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by Louis J. Gasnier and starring Ruth Clifford, Gaston Glass, and Vola Vale.Munden p. 528
Cast
* Ruth Clifford as Vianna Courtleigh
* Gaston Glass as David Wingate
* Vola Vale as I ...
'' (1923)
* ''
The Female'' (1924)
* ''
Forbidden Paradise
''Forbidden Paradise'' is a 1924 American silent drama film, directed by Ernst Lubitsch, produced by Famous Players-Lasky, and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a 1922 Broadway play, ''The Czarina'', by Edward Sheldon, who ...
'' (1924)
* ''
For Another Woman
''For Another Woman'' is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by David Kirkland and starring Kenneth Harlan, Florence Billings, and Tyrone Power Sr.
Synopsis
A New York City wastrel inherits an estate in Canada.
Cast
Preservation
A cop ...
'' (1924)
* ''
Proud Flesh
Granulation tissue is new connective tissue and microscopic blood vessels that form on the surfaces of a wound during the healing process. Granulation tissue typically grows from the base of a wound and is able to fill wounds of almost any size ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Don't
Don't, Dont, or DONT may refer to:
Films
* ''Don't'' (1925 film), a 1925 silent comedy film
* ''Don't'' (1974 film), a 1974 film about the monarch butterfly
* ''Don't'', a fake trailer from the film ''Grindhouse'' (2007)
Songs
* "Don't" (Bill ...
'' (1925)
* ''
The Denial
''The Denial'' is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Hobart Henley. The film stars Claire Windsor, Bert Roach, William Haines, Lucille Ricksen, and Robert Agnew. The film was written by Agnes Christine Johnston based on the play ''T ...
'' (1925)
* ''
Lovey Mary'' (1926)
* ''
The Enemy'' (1927)
* ''
The Patsy'' (1928)
* ''
The Shannons of Broadway'' (1929)
* ''
The Divine Lady'' (1929)
* ''
Lucky Devils'' (1933)
* ''
Headline Shooter'' (1933)
* ''
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
''Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble'' is a 1944 romantic comedy film directed by George B. Seitz. It is the fourteenth link starring Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy. In the film, Andy goes to college, but soon gets in trouble with some pretty co-eds.
Pl ...
'' (1944)
* ''
Mickey'' (1948)
References
External links
*
Agnes Christine Johnson at Women Film Pioneers Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Agnes Christine
1896 births
1978 deaths
American women screenwriters
People from Swissvale, Pennsylvania
Women film pioneers
Screenwriters from Pennsylvania
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American screenwriters