Frances Guihan (September 22, 1890 – December 21, 1951) 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.
...
. She worked on more than 40 films during her career, including a number of
B westerns
The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...
.
Biography
Beginnings
Frances was born in
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...
, the youngest daughter of Dennis Guihan and Catherine Fagan. She began her career working in a St. Louis office for $12 a week, writing scenarios at night (most of which were rejected).
Hollywood career
Her scenarios eventually attracted notice from people in high places, and soon she was in Hollywood commanding $70,000 a year.
In those early years, she was known for writing (and, in one case, directing) scenarios for Japanese actor
Sessue Hayakawa
, known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man i ...
. She then transitioned into writing for actress and producer
Ruth Roland
Ruth Roland (August 26, 1892 – September 22, 1937) was an American stage and film actress and film producer.
Early life and career
Roland was born in San Francisco, California to Elizabeth Lillian Hauser and Jack Roland. Her father managed a t ...
.
Over the course of her career, she also wrote at Balboa, Metro, and Haworth.
She'd later work extensively on the
Buck Jones
Buck Jones (born Charles Frederick Gebhart; December 12, 1891 – November 30, 1942) was an American actor, known for his work in many popular Western movies. In his early film appearances, he was credited as Charles Jones.
Early life, milita ...
Westerns.
Personal life
In 1919, she married
Ivan Kahn, an actor, businessman, scenario writer, and amateur boxer. The pair met while Kahn started writing comedies for Pathe and Kalem.
After they divorced, she'd remarry.
She also owned an anti-gray hair tonic company she purchased from a friend. "You'd be surprised how many stars use the stuff," she'd later tell a reporter (although she declined to name names).
Selected filmography
* ''
A Heart in Pawn
''A Heart in Pawn'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by William Worthington. Sessue Hayakawa's Haworth Pictures Corporation produced the film and Worthington played the lead role along with Vola Vale and his wife Tsuru Aoki.
Cast
*S ...
'' (1919)
* ''
The Courageous Coward
''The Courageous Coward'' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by William Worthington and featuring Sessue Hayakawa and Tsuru Aoki in lead roles. It is presumed to be a lost film, with only reel 5 preserved at the EYE Film Institute Neth ...
'' (1919)
* ''
The Cancelled Debt
''The Cancelled Debt'' is a 1927 American silent melodrama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Rex Lease, Charlotte Stevens, and Florence Turner, and was released on September 1, 1927.
Cast list
* Rex Lease as Patrick Burke
* Charlotte St ...
'' (1927)
* ''
She's My Baby'' (1927)
* ''
Thumbs Down
A thumb signal, usually described as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward in approval or disapproval, respectively. These gestures have become metapho ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Closed Gates
''Closed Gates'' is a 1927 American silent melodrama film based on a story by Manfred Lee and directed by Phil Rosen. It stars John Harron, Jane Novak, and Lucy Beaumont, and was released on June 1, 1927.
Cast list
Plot
George Newell Jr. i ...
'' (1927)
* ''
In the First Degree
''In the First Degree'' is a 1927 American silent melodrama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Alice Calhoun, Bryant Washburn, and Gayne Whitman, and was released on April 15, 1927.
Cast
*Alice Calhoun as Barbara Hurd
* Bryant Washburn as ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Face Value
The face value, sometimes called nominal value, is the value of a coin, bond, stamp or paper money as printed on the coin, stamp or bill itself by the issuing authority.
The face value of coins, stamps, or bill is usually its legal value. Howe ...
'' (1927)
* ''
Stranded'' (1927)
* ''
Marry the Girl'' (1928)
* ''
A Million for Love
''A Million for Love'' is a 1928 American silent crime drama film directed by Robert F. Hill and starring Reed Howes, Josephine Dunn and Lee Shumway.Munden p.514
Cast
* Reed Howes as Danny Eagan
* Josephine Dunn as Mary Norfleet
* Lee Shumway as ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Burning Up Broadway
''Burning Up Broadway'' is a 1928 American silent drama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Helene Costello, Robert Frazer, and Sam Hardy, and was released February 1928.
Plot
Spike and Nick own a speakeasy in New York, where the chief cho ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Bachelor's Paradise
''Bachelors' Paradise'' (german: Paradies der Junggesellen) is a 1939 German comedy film directed by Kurt Hoffmann and starring Heinz Rühmann, Josef Sieber, and Hans Brausewetter. It was based on a novel by Johannes Boldt. It was shot at the B ...
'' (1928)
* ''
Midstream
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. The midstream sector involves the transportation (by pipeline, rail, barge, oil tanker or truck), storage, and wholesale marketing of crud ...
'' (1929)
* ''
Cock o' the Walk'' (1930)
* ''
Bulldog Courage'' (1935)
* ''
Empty Saddles'' (1936)
* ''
The Boss Rider of Gun Creek
''The Boss Rider of Gun Creek'' is a 1936 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Frances Guihan. The film stars Buck Jones, Muriel Evans, Harvey Clark, Alphonse Ethier, Tom Chatterton and Josef Swickard. The film ...
'' (1936)
* ''
The Cowboy Star'' (1936)
* ''
Westbound Mail'' (1937)
* ''
Law for Tombstone
''Law for Tombstone'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Buck Jones and W.B. Eason and written by Frances Guihan. The film stars Buck Jones, Muriel Evans, Harvey Clark, Carl Stockdale, Earle Hodgins and Alexander Cross. The film was ...
'' (1937)
*''
Frontier Scout'' (1938)
References
Bibliography
* Pitts, Michael R. ''Western Movies: A Guide to 5,105 Feature Films''. McFarland, 2012.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guihan, Frances
1890 births
1951 deaths
American women screenwriters
20th-century American women writers
20th-century American screenwriters