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IMDbPro

Frank S. Nugent(1908-1965)

  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Frank S. Nugent was an American screenwriter known for his collaborations with director John Ford. For a writer with only 21 feature films credited to his name, his influence is surprisingly ubiquitous and far-reaching. During his lifetime Nugent won two WGA Awards for Best Written Comedy for The Quiet Man (1952) and Mister Roberts (1955) respectively. He also wrote two films in Ford's famous "Cavalry Trilogy" and his script for The Searchers (1956) has been named by the WGA as one of the 101 greatest screenplays of all time. It's no exaggeration to say that every subsequent western movie bore the influence of Nugent's writing.

Nugent began his career as a film critic for The New York Times. He was very prolific and became known for his vicious reviews of popular movies. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck noticed his writings and decided to hire him as a script doctor. After working on a number of scripts, Nugent met John Ford (a director he liked) and the two decided to work together, thus beginning one of Hollywood's most fruitful writer-director collaborations. Nugent wrote for Ford for several decades, writing some of his best-known and most successful films.
BornMay 27, 1908
DiedDecember 30, 1965(57)
BornMay 27, 1908
DiedDecember 30, 1965(57)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 2 wins & 3 nominations total

Known for

Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, and Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)
The Quiet Man
7.7
  • Writer
  • 1952
James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell in Mister Roberts (1955)
Mister Roberts
7.6
  • Writer(as Frank Nugent)
  • 1955
John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)
The Searchers
7.8
  • Writer
  • 1956
Shirley Temple and John Agar in Fort Apache (1948)
Fort Apache
7.4
  • Writer
  • 1948

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer



  • Dan Duryea, Robert Fuller, and Jocelyn Lane in Incident at Phantom Hill (1966)
    Incident at Phantom Hill
    6.2
    • screenplay (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1966
  • Empire (1962)
    Empire
    7.7
    TV Series
    • written by
    • 1962–1963
  • John Wayne and Lee Marvin in Donovan's Reef (1963)
    Donovan's Reef
    6.7
    • screenplay (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1963
  • James Stewart and Richard Widmark in Two Rode Together (1961)
    Two Rode Together
    6.7
    • screenplay (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1961
  • Lauren Bacall and Kenneth More in North West Frontier (1959)
    North West Frontier
    7.1
    • adapted from a screenplay by (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1959
  • Spencer Tracy, John Carradine, Jeffrey Hunter, Basil Rathbone, Pat O'Brien, Ricardo Cortez, Edward Brophy, Donald Crisp, Wallace Ford, Dianne Foster, James Gleason, and Basil Ruysdael in The Last Hurrah (1958)
    The Last Hurrah
    7.3
    • screen play (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1958
  • Gunman's Walk (1958)
    Gunman's Walk
    7.0
    • screen play (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1958
  • The Rising of the Moon (1957)
    The Rising of the Moon
    6.6
    • screenplay
    • 1957
  • The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1955)
    The 20th Century-Fox Hour
    7.0
    TV Series
    • story
    • 1957
  • John Wayne, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Jeffrey Hunter, and Vera Miles in The Searchers (1956)
    The Searchers
    7.8
    • screenplay
    • 1956
  • Screen Directors Playhouse (1955)
    Screen Directors Playhouse
    7.1
    TV Series
    • written by (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1955
  • Clark Gable, Jane Russell, and Robert Ryan in The Tall Men (1955)
    The Tall Men
    6.7
    • screen play by (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1955
  • James Cagney, Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, and William Powell in Mister Roberts (1955)
    Mister Roberts
    7.6
    • screenplay (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1955
  • Donna Reed, Philip Carey, Robert Francis, and May Wynn in They Rode West (1954)
    They Rode West
    5.9
    • screenplay (as Frank Nugent)
    • 1954
  • Trouble in the Glen (1954)
    Trouble in the Glen
    5.3
    • screenplay
    • 1954

Personal details

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  • Alternative name
    • Frank Nugent
  • Born
    • May 27, 1908
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • December 30, 1965
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(heart attack)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Following his journalistic beginnings, he worked under contract as a script doctor for 20th Century Fox. After leaving Fox, he became a freelance journalist and columnist for magazines like "Colliers", "Saturday Evening Post" and "Good Housekeeping". In addition to his subsequent work for John Ford (of whom he had been an ardent admirer from his time as a key reviewer for "The New York Times"), he was a contract writer for Columbia from 1957-60.
  • Quotes
    [reviewing 'Show Boat' (1936)]: Universal's excellent screen transcription, preserving the Jerome Kern score and accepting Oscar Hammerstein's book and lyrics, is the pleasantest kind of proof that it was not merely one of the best musical shows of the century but that it contained the gossamer stuff for one of the finest musical films we have seen.
  • Nickname
    • Frank Nugent

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