Captain John Overton Cone Orton (30 August 1889 – May 1962) was a British screenwriter.
Early life and military service
Orton was born in
St. John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...
, London in 1889 and lived in
Larchmont, New York, USA for a brief period of his childhood.
In 1909 he joined the
Norfolk Regiment of the
British Army. In 1918 Orton was awarded with the
Military Cross, and was included in the
1919 Birthday Honours
The 1919 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...
when he was awarded the
Air Force Cross.
Film career
He was a head of the story department for
Gaumont-British
The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of the Gaumont Film Company of France.
Film production
Gaumont-British was founded in 18 ...
and was known for writing comedy scripts for such stars as
Will Hay
William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film '' O ...
,
Jack Hulbert and
Arthur Askey.
He also wrote various dramas and directed five movies. His final credit was as co-writer of fellow Gaumont alum
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's short war propaganda film ''
Bon Voyage''.
Val Guest called him "a charming, rather boring, fellow – there was nothing wrong with him, he wasn’t a very creative person unless he’d sold a story and came to work on the thing, but we never sat on a story with Joc and wrote...He was an ideas man, but not a very good one. They would sometimes say to Joc Orton, how he got his credits was, they’d say while we were working on something, Ted would call him or Frank “See if you can get something on the bus service, someone running a pirate bus” and Joc would go away and write a treatment, and the treatment when it came down to us, if it was one for us, … we would read it and say, “Yes its an idea, but that’s fucking awful and that needs more, and Ted would say “Kick it around.”, and we would take the script from there. And do the rewrites. Joc mostly did treatments of ideas they flung at him."
Select credits
* ''
Creeping Shadows
''Creeping Shadows'' is a 1931 British crime film directed by J. O. C. Orton, John Orton and starring Franklin Dyall, Arthur Hardy (actor), Arthur Hardy and Margot Grahame. It was made at the Welwyn Studios of British International Pictures.Wood ...
'' (1931)
* ''
After the Ball'' (1932)
* ''
Leave It to Smith
Leave may refer to:
* Permission (disambiguation)
** Permitted absence from work
*** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee
*** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...
'' (1933)
* ''
Soldiers of the King
''Soldiers of the Queen'' is a song written and composed by Leslie Stuart. The song is often sung and published as "Soldiers of the King" depending on the reigning monarch at the time. The tune was originally composed by Stuart as a march celebr ...
'' (1933)
* ''
Brown on Resolution
''Brown on Resolution'' is a 1929 nautical novel written by C. S. Forester, set during World War I. The hero of the novel, Leading Seaman Albert Brown, is the sole able-bodied survivor of a sunken Royal Navy warship, who single-handedly delay ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Bulldog Jack
''Bulldog Jack'' (released as ''Alias Bulldog Drummond'' in the USA) is a 1935 British film produced by Gaumont British, directed by Walter Forde, and starring Jack Hulbert, Fay Wray, Ralph Richardson and Atholl Fleming.
The film was followed b ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Turn of the Tide
''Turn of the Tide'' (1935) is a British drama film directed by Norman Walker and starring John Garrick, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Wilfrid Lawson. It was the first feature film made by J. Arthur Rank. Lacking a distributor for his film, Rank set ...
'' (1935)
* ''
The Flying Doctor
''The Flying Doctor'' is a 1936 Australian-British drama film directed by Miles Mander and starring Charles Farrell, Mary Maguire and James Raglan. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia operate in the Australian Outback. Noted as Austr ...
'' (1936)
* ''
Jack of All Trades
Jack of all trades may refer to:
*Jack of all trades, master of none, an aphorism
*"Jack of All Trades", a term to reference one with the ability to be proficient in many areas of life
Film and television
*Jack of All Trades (TV series), ''Jack of ...
'' (1936)
* ''
Everything Is Thunder
''Everything Is Thunder'' is a 1936 British thriller film directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Constance Bennett, Douglass Montgomery and Oskar Homolka. Its plot concerns a British officer who attempts to escape from a German Prisoner of War ca ...
'' (1936)
* ''
Non-Stop New York
''Non-Stop New York'' (also known as ''Lisbon Clipper Mystery'') is a 1937 British science fiction crime film directed by Robert Stevenson and starring John Loder, Anna Lee and Francis L. Sullivan. It is based on the 1936 novel ''Sky Stewar ...
'' (1937)
* ''
Oh, Mr Porter!'' (1937)
* ''
Mr. Satan
, known as Hercule in certain edited versions of the English dub and in Viz's English manga, is a character from the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise. Created by Akira Toriyama, he first appears in Chapter 393 of the ''Dragon Ball'' manga entitle ...
'' (1938)
* ''
It's in the Blood'' (1938)
* ''
Many Tanks Mr. Atkins
''Many Tanks Mr. Atkins'' is a 1938 British comedy film, comedy war film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Claude Hulbert, Reginald Purdell and Barbara Greene.
It was made as a quota quickie by Warner Brothers at the company's Teddingt ...
'' (1938)
* ''
Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It
''Inspector Hornleigh Goes To It'' is a 1941 British detective film directed by Walter Forde and starring Gordon Harker, Alastair Sim, Phyllis Calvert and Edward Chapman. It was the third and final film adaptation of the Inspector Hornleigh st ...
'' (1941)
* ''
Cottage to Let
''Cottage to Let'' is a 1941 British spy thriller film directed by Anthony Asquith starring Leslie Banks, Alastair Sim and John Mills. Filmed during the Second World War and set in Scotland during the war, its plot concerns Nazi spies trying to ...
'' (1941)
* ''
Hi Gang!'' (1941)
* ''
For Those in Peril'' (1944)
* ''
Bon Voyage'' (1944)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orton, J.O.C.
1889 births
1962 deaths
British male screenwriters
20th-century British screenwriters