Willis Goldbeck (October 24, 1898 – September 17, 1979) 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. ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and producer. He wrote for 40 films between 1923 and 1962. He also directed ten films between 1942 and 1951. Willis graduated from

Worcester Academy Worcester Academy is a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is the oldest educational institution founded in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one of the oldest day-boarding schools in the United States. A coeducational prepara ...

Biography

Willis Goldbeck was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. A former journalist, Goldbeck entered films as a screenwriter in the early 1920s. He wrote most of the "Dr. Kildare" series for MGM, starting with the first one, ''

Young Dr. Kildare ''Young Dr. Kildare'' is a 1938 film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and starring Lew Ayres as Dr. James Kildare, an idealistic, freshly graduated medical intern, who benefits greatly from the wise counsel of his experienced mentor, Dr. Leonard G ...

'' (1938), and directed several of them. Although he directed several more films after that—including one of

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

's early swashbucklers, ''

Ten Tall Men ''Ten Tall Men'' is a 1951 American adventure film starring Burt Lancaster about the French Foreign Legion during the Rif War in Morocco. Though co-written and directed by Willis Goldbeck, Goldbeck walked off the film due to disputes with Lancaste ...

'' (1951)—he mainly concentrated on screenwriting, and in the mid-1950s turned to producing. He retired from films in 1962. He died September 17, 1979 in

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the ...

, a month before his 81st birthday.

Partial filmography

* ''

The Side Show of Life ''The Side Show of Life'' is a 1924 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players-Lasky, directed by Herbert Brenon and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on the 1920 novel ''The Mountebank'' by William J. Locke, whi ...

'' (1924) * '' Open All Night'' (1924) * ''

The Alaskan ''The Alaskan'' is a 1924 American silent adventure drama film based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood set in northwoods country, as his novels tend to be, in this case Alaska. The film was produced and released by Paramount Pictures and dire ...

'' (1924) * ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'' (1924) * '' Flower of Night'' (1925) * ''

A Kiss for Cinderella ''A Kiss for Cinderella'' is a play by J. M. Barrie. It was first produced in London at Wyndham's Theatre on March 16, 1916, starring Gerald du Maurier and Hilda Trevelyan, enjoying great success over 156 performances, and with several annual Ch ...

'' (1925) * ''

Mare Nostrum ''Mare Nostrum'' (; Latin: "Our Sea") was a Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea. In Classical Latin, it would have been pronounced , and in Ecclesiastical Latin, it is pronounced . In the decades following the 1861 unification of ...

'' (1926) * ''

Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

'' (1927) * '' The Garden of Allah'' (1927) * '' The Enemy'' (1927) * '' Lilac Time'' (1928) * ''

Diamond Handcuffs ''Diamond Handcuffs'' is a 1928 American drama silent film directed by John P. McCarthy and written by Joseph Farnham, Willis Goldbeck and Bradley King. The film stars Eleanor Boardman, Lawrence Gray, Sam Hardy, Gwen Lee and Lena Malena. T ...

'' (1928) * '' Wild Orchids'' (1929) * ''

Desert Nights ''Desert Nights'' (also known as ''Thirst'') is a 1929 American silent adventure/romantic drama film starring John Gilbert, Ernest Torrence, and Mary Nolan. Directed by William Nigh, the film is the last silent film starring John Gilbert. Plo ...

'' (1929) * ''

Freaks Freak has several meanings: a person who is physically deformed or suffers from an extraordinary disease and condition, a genetic mutation in a plant or animal, etc. Freak, freaks or The Freak may also refer to: Fictional characters * Freak (Ima ...

'' (1932) * ''

The Penguin Pool Murder ''The Penguin Pool Murder'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy/mystery film starring Edna May Oliver as Hildegarde Withers, a witness in a murder case at the New York Aquarium, with James Gleason as the police inspector in charge of the case, ...

'' (1932) * ''

Murder on the Blackboard ''Murder on the Blackboard'' is a 1934 American pre-Code mystery/comedy film starring Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers and James Gleason as Police Inspector Oscar Piper. Together, they investigate a murder at Withers' school. I ...

'' (1934) * '' Wednesday's Child'' (1934) * ''

Two in the Dark ''Two in the Dark'' is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starring Walter Abel, Margot Grahame, Wallace Ford, Gail Patrick, and Alan Hale. The screenplay concerns an amnesiac suspected of murder. In 1945, Stoloff ...

'' (1936) * '' The Garden of Allah'' (1936) * ''

'' (1938) * ''

Calling Dr. Kildare ''Calling Dr. Kildare'' is a 1939 film in the Dr. Kildare series. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet, it stars Lew Ayres as the young Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie, his mentor. The second of MGM's series of Kildare films, it intro ...

'' (1939) * ''

The Secret of Dr. Kildare ''The Secret of Dr. Kildare'' is a 1939 American film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. This was the fourth of a total of ten Dr. Kildare pictures, Lew Ayres starred all but the first. Plot summary Dr. Leonard ...

'' (1939) * '' Dr. Kildare's Strange Case'' (1940) * ''

Dr. Kildare Goes Home ''Dr. Kildare Goes Home'' is a 1940 American Drama (genre), drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore and Laraine Day. It is the fifth in the MGM series of nine films with Lew Ayres as Dr. Kildare made from 193 ...

'' (1940) * ''

Dr. Kildare's Crisis ''Dr. Kildare's Crisis'' is a 1940 drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore and Laraine Day. Mary Lamont's (Laraine Day) financier brother Douglas Lamont (Robert Young (actor), Robert Young) is subject to sei ...

'' (1940) * ''

The People vs. Dr. Kildare ''The People vs. Dr. Kildare'' is a 1941 drama directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, Bonita Granville, and Laraine Day. Dr. Kildare performs an emergency operation on a crash victim. Plot Ice skater Frances Marlo ...

'' (1941) * ''

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day ''Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day'' is a 1941 American drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lew Ayres, Lionel Barrymore, and Laraine Day. It is the eighth of a total of nine Dr. Kildare pictures made by the MGM studios. When MGM decided ...

'' (1941) * '' Dr. Kildare's Victory'' (1942) * ''

Calling Dr. Gillespie ''Calling Dr. Gillespie'' is a 1942 drama film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, starring Lionel Barrymore, Donna Reed and Philip Dorn. This was a continuation of the series that had starred Lew Ayres as Dr. Kildare. Ayres, however, had declared c ...

'' (1942) * ''

Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant ''Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' is a 1942 feature film from MGM in their long-running Dr. Kildare series. Directed by Willis Goldbeck, it introduced two new doctors, Dr. Randall Adams (Van Johnson) and Dr. Lee Wong How (Keye Luke). Plot Physic ...

'' (1942) * ''

Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case ''Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case'' is a 1943 film in the Dr. Kildare series. Based on characters created by Max Brand. The third of MGM's Dr. Gillespie series (6 in all) to dispense with the services of Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayres) (8 in all) after '' ...

'' (1943) * ''

Rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

'' (1944) * '' Three Men in White'' (1944) * '' Between Two Women'' (1945) * ''

She Went to the Races ''She Went to the Races'' is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring James Craig, Frances Gifford and Ava Gardner. The screenplay concerns a team of scientists who discover a seemingly foolproof way of discovering ...

'' (1945) * ''

Love Laughs at Andy Hardy ''Love Laughs at Andy Hardy'' is a 1946 American film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring Mickey Rooney and Lewis Stone. The film is also known under its American promotional title ''Uncle Andy Hardy''. Th ...

'' (1946) * ''

Dark Delusion ''Dark Delusion'' is a 1947 American drama film directed by Willis Goldbeck and starring James Craig, Lionel Barrymore, and Lucille Bremer. Produced and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it was the last film in the Dr. Kildare film series which st ...

'' (1947) * '' Johnny Holiday'' (1949) * ''

'' (1951) * '' Tiger by the Tail'' (1955) * '' The Colossus of New York'' (1958) * ''

Sergeant Rutledge ''Sergeant Rutledge'' is a 1960 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring Jeffrey Hunter, Constance Towers, Woody Strode and Billie Burke. Six decades later, the film continues to attract attention because it was one ...

'' (1960) * ''

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...

'' (1962)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldbeck, Willis 1898 births 1979 deaths American male screenwriters Writers from New York City Worcester Academy alumni People from Sag Harbor, New York Film directors from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters