François Boyer (1920 – 24 May 2003) was a French

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He achieved considerable success with his first attempt at screenwriting, ''

Forbidden Games ''Forbidden Games'' () is a 1952 French war drama film directed by René Clément and based on François Boyer's novel ''Les Jeux Interdits''. While not initially successful in France, the film was a hit elsewhere. It won the Golden Lion at the ...

'' (1952). Initially, he found no studio interested in his work, so he redesigned the

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

as a

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

and published it in 1947 under the title ''The Secret Game''. Although the novel achieved little or no success in its native country, it became a huge commercial success in America. All of a sudden, Boyer's novel was a hot property, so director

René Clément René Clément (; 18 March 1913 – 17 March 1996) was a French film director and screenwriter. He is known for directing the films ''The Battle of the Rails'' (1946), ''Forbidden Games'' (1952), ''Gervaise (film), Gervaise'' (1956), ''Purple No ...

, in conjunction with two writers Jean Aurenche and

Pierre Bost Pierre Bost (5 September 1901 – 6 December 1975) was a French screenwriter, novelist, and journalist. Primarily a novelist until the 1940s, he was known mainly as a screenwriter after 1945, often collaborating with Jean Aurenche. In his 1954 a ...

, helped turn it into a screenplay. While Boyer receives story credit for the film, little is known of how much of his own screenplay made it to the screen. The film was a huge international success, and won an Honorary

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for the best foreign language film of its year. Although Boyer remained prolific throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, little of his subsequent work had as much impact as ''Forbidden Games''. His 1962 film '' La Guerre des Boutons'', however, was remade by producer

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (; born 25 February 1941), is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include '' Chariots of Fire' ...

in 1994 as '' The War of the Buttons''.

Selected filmography

* '' Les Intrigantes'' (1954) * ''

Wild Fruit ''Wild Fruit'' ( French: ''Les fruits sauvages'') is a 1954 French drama film directed by Hervé Bromberger and starring Estella Blain, Évelyne Ker and Nadine Basile. It was shot at the Saint-Maurice Studios in Paris and distributed by Cinédis. ...

'' (1954) * '' The Little Rebels'' (1955) *'' A Kiss for a Killer'' (1957) * '' Under the Sign of the Bull'' (1969)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Francois 1920 births 2003 deaths French male screenwriters 20th-century French screenwriters 20th-century French male writers Institut des hautes études cinématographiques alumni