Melvin Frank

Melvin Frank was born on Aug 13, 1913 in USA. Melvin Frank's big-screen debut came with Star Spangled Rhythm directed by George Marshall in 1942. Melvin Frank is known for The Court Jester directed by Melvin Frank, Danny Kaye stars as Hubert Hawkins and Glynis Johns as Maid Jean. Melvin Frank has got 7 awards and 16 nominations so far. The most recent award Melvin Frank achieved is Writers Guild of America, USA. The upcoming new movie Melvin Frank plays is Are We Done Yet? which will be released on Apr 04, 2007.

Melvin Frank was half of a famous screenwriting partnership. The other half of the collaborative effort was Norman Panama. The two men became close friends while attending the University of Chicago. Frank had initially pursued a degree in engineering, but was persuaded by Panama to switch to English instead. In 1938 he and Panama moved to Hollywood and embarked on a career writing radio scripts and gags for Bob Hope and Milton Berle. Specializing in light comedy, they came up with the original story line for Hope's La blonde de mes rêves (1942). This opened the door for a joint screenwriting contract with Paramount (1941-46), their prolific work together culminating in an Oscar nomination for the popular Bob Hope-Bing Crosby vehicle, En route pour l'Alaska (1945).Continuing their run of witty comedies, Frank and Panama next wrote and produced the Cary Grant-Myrna Loy box-office hit Un million clefs en main (1948), adapted from a satirical novel by Eric Hodgins (about a couple whose dream of home ownership turns into a nightmare). From then on Frank and Panama alternated as directors and producers, first at MGM (1950-52), then at Paramount (1954-59). Of some ten top-grossing collaborations, their most rewarding effort was the highly entertaining medieval adventure spoof, Le bouffon du roi (1955), starring Danny Kaye, lavishly filmed in VistaVision and Technicolor. They also turned out an award-winning Broadway play, "Li'l Abner", based on a comic strip by Al Capp. It premiered in November 1956 and ran for 653 performances over 87 weeks, before closing in July 1958. Frank and Panama brought it to the screen (Li'l Abner (1959)) the following year.The successful partnership came to an end with the final installment in the Hope-Crosby "road pictures", Astronautes malgré eux (1962). Subsequently, Frank and Panama--cordially--went their separate ways, Frank becoming a solo director and (from 1965) producer, but continuing to write comedy scripts in conjunction with others. In retrospect, his career over the next two decades was by far the more productive of the two, encompassing as producer/director the bittersweet adaptation of a play by Neil Simon, The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975); and as producer/director/writer of the popular sex comedy Une maîtresse dans les bras, une femme sur le dos (1973), nominated for an Academy Award as Best Picture.