Vernon Harris (26 February 1905 – February 1999) was a British screenwriter. He often worked with the film director

Lewis Gilbert Lewis Gilbert (6 March 1920 – 23 February 2018) was an English film director, producer and screenwriter who directed more than 40 films during six decades; among them such varied titles as '' Reach for the Sky'' (1956), ''Sink the Bismarck!' ...

. Harris was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, musica ...

for his script for film ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

'' (1968). Harris was born in

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

. He worked extensively for radio at the BBC, notably on ''PC49'' and ''

Band Waggon ''Band Waggon'' was a comedy radio show broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940. The first series featured Arthur Askey and Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. In the second series, Askey and Murdoch were joined by Syd Walker, and the third series added ...

''. He died in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Credits

Screenwriter

* ''

Play Up the Band ''Play Up the Band'' is a 1935 British musical comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Stanley Holloway, Betty Ann Davies and Leslie Bradley. The film was made at Ealing Studios by the independent company City Films.Perry p.175 The f ...

'' (1935) * '' Joy Ride'' (1935) - also story * ''

The Improper Duchess ''The Improper Duchess'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Yvonne Arnaud, Hugh Wakefield and Wilfrid Caithness. The film is based on the 1931 play of the same name by J. B. Fagan in which Arnaud had starred. ...

'' (1936) *''

Tropical Trouble ''Tropical Trouble'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Douglass Montgomery, Betty Ann Davies and Alfred Drayton. It was based on the novel ''Bunga-Bunga'' by Stephen King-Hall. A series of misunderstandings lea ...

'' (1936) *''

'' (1940) - also devised by *''

The Adventures of PC 49 ''The Adventures of PC 49'' is a 1949 British crime film directed by Godfrey Grayson, starring Hugh Latimer (actor), Hugh Latimer, John Penrose (actor), John Penrose and Annette D. Simmonds.Chibnall & McFarlane p.241 It is also known by the subt ...

'' (1949) - based on radio series * ''

A Case for PC 49 ''A Case for PC 49'' is a 1951 British mystery film directed by Francis Searle and starring Brian Reece, Joy Shelton and Christine Norden.Chibnall & MacFarlane p.79 It was made by Hammer Films at Bray Studios. The film was based on a popular ra ...

'' (1951) - also based on radio series * ''

Emergency Call Most public switched telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number (sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or the emergency services number) that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assista ...

'' (1952) aka ''The Hundred Hour Hunt'' * '' There Was a Young Lady'' (1953) - original story *''

Cosh Boy ''Cosh Boy'' (released in the United States as ''The Slasher'') is a 1953 British film noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring James Kenney and Joan Collins. It was made at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. Plot Based on an original play ...

'' (1953) aka ''The Slasher'' * '' Albert R.N.'' (1953) aka ''Break to Freedom'' * ''

The Good Die Young ''The Good Die Young'' is a 1954 British crime film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Joan Collins, Stanley Baker, Richard Basehart and John Ireland. It was made by Remus Films from a screenplay bas ...

'' (1954) * ''

The Sea Shall Not Have Them ''The Sea Shall Not Have Them'' is a 1954 British war film starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Steel. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and is based on the 1953 novel by John Harris, about a North Sea rescue during the Second Wo ...

'' (1954) * ''

Reach for the Sky ''Reach for the Sky'' is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Bes ...

'' (1956) - additional scenes * ''

Three Men in a Boat ''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...

'' (1956, joint nomination with

Hubert Gregg Hubert Robert Harry Gregg (19 July 1914 – 29 March 2004) was a British broadcaster, writer and actor. In his later years, he was known for the BBC Radio 2 "oldies" shows ''A Square Deal'' and ''Thanks for the Memory''. He was also a novelist, ...

for

BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay was a British Academy Film Award from 1954 to 1967. 1950s 1954 '' The Young Lovers'' – George Tabori, Robin Estridge * ''The Divided Heart'' – Jack Whittingham * ''Doctor in the House'' – Nichola ...

) * ''

The Admirable Crichton ''The Admirable Crichton'' is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie. Origins Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving Ernest is p ...

'' (1957) aka ''Paradise Lagoon'' * '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958) *''

A Cry from the Streets ''A Cry from the Streets'' is a 1958 British drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert. It was entered into the 1st Moscow International Film Festival, and Vernon Harris's screenplay received a BAFTA nomination. Plot When a man is hanged for murder ...

'' (1958) (nomination for BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay) *''

Ferry to Hong Kong ''Ferry to Hong Kong'' is a 1959 British melodrama/adventure film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Curt Jürgens, Sylvia Syms, Orson Welles and Jeremy Spenser. Plot Mark Conrad, a debonair Anglo-Austrian former playboy and junk owner, n ...

'' (1959) *'' Light Up the Sky!'' (1960) * ''

Almost Angels ''Almost Angels'' (also known in some foreign markets as ''Born to Sing'') is a 1962 American comedy-drama film about a group of boys in the Vienna Boys' Choir. The film centers around the chorister's recruitment process, the rehearsals and the l ...

'' (1962) * ''

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

'' (1962) * ''

'' (1968 - 1969 nominee for

Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

) *''

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...

'' (1971) *''

Paul and Michelle ''Paul and Michelle'' is a 1974 drama film directed and produced by Lewis Gilbert, whose story Vernon Harris and Angela Huth dramatized. It is a sequel to the 1971 film ''Friends (1971 film), Friends,'' by the same director and with the same lead ...

'' (1974)

As script editor

*'' The Adventurers'' (1970) *''

Seven Nights in Japan ''Seven Nights in Japan'' is a 1976 Anglo-French drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Michael York, Charles Gray, and Hidemi Aoki. Story The film is about seven days in the life of Prince George, who is travelling in Japan for the ...

'' (1976) *'' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) *'' Moonraker'' (1979) *''

Educating Rita ''Educating Rita'' is a stage comedy by British playwright Willy Russell. It is a play for two actors set entirely in the office of an Open University tutor. Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, ''Educating Rita'' premièred at The Wa ...

'' (1983)

Storyboard artist

*''

Shirley Valentine ''Shirley Valentine'' is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad. Plot Wondering what has ...

'' (1989)

Actor

*'' Joy Ride'' (1935) * '' Show Flat'' (1936) *''

'' (1936) *'' Farewell Again '' (1937) *'' The Claydon Treasure Mystery'' (1938) *''

The Last Barricade ''The Last Barricade'' is a 1938 British drama film directed by Alex Bryce and starring Frank Fox, Greta Gynt and Meinhart Maur. It was produced by the British subsidiary of 20th Century Fox at the company's Wembley Studios in London for release ...

'' (1938) *'' The Gables Mystery'' (1938)

Radio Writer

*''

'' (1938–40) *''The Adventures of PC 49''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Vernon 1905 births 1999 deaths People from Folkestone English male screenwriters British storyboard artists 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers