John Colton (December 31, 1887 – December 26, 1946) was an American playwright and

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. ...

born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He spent the first 14 years of his life in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

where his English father was a diplomat. After returning to the US he soon worked for a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

newspaper. He is best remembered for adapting, with

Clemence Randolph Clemence, or Clémence, is a name. It may refer to: * Louise Michel (1830-1905), a French anarchist who used Clémence as a pseudonym Given name * Clémence d'Aquitaine (1060–1142) * Clemence of Austria (1262–1293 or 1295) * Clemence of Hung ...

, Somerset Maugham's novella ''

Rain Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

'' into a 1922 smash hit play starring

Jeanne Eagels Jeanne Eagels (born Eugenia Eagles; June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. A former Ziegfeld Girl, Eagels went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films. She was posthumously n ...

. He wrote the original play, ''The Shanghai Gesture,'' produced on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1926. He excelled at writing plays dealing with Americans in far-off lands, an experience Colton knew firsthand from his early youth in Japan. With these huge successes Colton was lured to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, primarily MGM, where he wrote

intertitle In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

s for some silent films and scenarios for others. In the

talking film A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

era he wrote numerous screenplays. Three of his stage plays found motion picture production: ''

'' (1932); ''

The Shanghai Gesture ''The Shanghai Gesture'' is a 1941 American film noir directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Victor Mature, and Ona Munson. It is based on a Broadway play of the same name by John Colton, which was adapted for ...

'' (1941); and, posthumously, '' Under Capricorn'' (1949). His 1933 play ''Nine Pine Street'', written with

Carleton Miles Carleton may refer to: Education establishments * Carleton College, a liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States * Carleton School in Bradford, Massachusetts, United States *Carleton University, a university in Ottawa, Ontario, ...

, was based around the

Lizzie Borden Lizzie Andrew Borden (July 19, 1860 – June 1, 1927) was an American woman tried and acquitted of the August 4, 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. No one else was charged in the murders, and despite ost ...

story. Lizzie Borden's character was changed to "Effie Holden", played by

Lillian Gish Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...

. It ran for only 28 performances. Colton suffered a stroke in 1945. He died of a second stroke in Gainesville, Texas in 1946. Colton, a gay man, never married.''The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine'' by E.J. Fleming c. 2005; McFarland & Company publishers
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References

External links

*
John Colton, in 1935 back row in specs & tie
standing with several literary friends i.e. Blanche Oelrichs,

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

, Peggy Wood,

Howard Greer Howard Greer (16 April 1896 – April 1974, in Los Angeles) was a Hollywood fashion designer and a costume designer in the Golden Age of American cinema. Greer began his fashion career at Lucile in 1916, working in both her New York City an ...

Dudley Murphy Dudley Bowles Murphy (July 10, 1897 – February 22, 1968) was an American film director. Early life Murphy was born on July 10, 1897 in Winchester, Massachusetts, to the artists Caroline Hutchinson (Bowles) Murphy (1868-1923) and Hermann Du ...

''The Shanghai Gesture'' printed programme, the West Coast production (additional notes on Broadway production)
Biltmore Theatre, Los Angeles, June 1927
isolated headshot image of Colton from 1935 group photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colton, John 1887 births 1946 deaths Writers from Minneapolis American gay writers American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights LGBT dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers