Janet Green (screenwriter)

Janet Green (1908–1993) was a British screenwriter and playwright best known for the scripts for the BAFTA nominated films Sapphire and Victim, and for the play Murder Mistaken[1][2] (made into the film Cast a Dark Shadow).[3]

Janet Green
Born
Ethel Victoria Green

(1908-07-04)4 July 1908
Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England
Died30 May 1993(1993-05-30) (aged 84)
Beaconsfield Buckinghamshire, England
OccupationScreenwriter, playwright, actress
Spouse(s)John McCormick

Biography

She was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire on 4 July 1908.[1]

Originally an actress, on stage from 1931, she made appearances in the Aldwych Farces (1930–34) and was involved with entertainment for the armed forces in WW II.[4][5] She gave up acting in 1945 to focus on writing.[6]

Her second husband was the scriptwriter John McCormick, with whom she collaborated on several screenplays.[7][8] They were both under contract to the Rank Organisation from 1956–59.[6]

Green wrote and also collaborated with her husband on screenplays for three of the "social issue" films of producer Michael Relph and director Basil Dearden. These were Sapphire (dealing with racial tension in 1950s London), Victim (the first mainstream examination of homosexuality) and Life for Ruth (religious intolerance).[4][9] They have been described as "three of the finest films in British cinema."[10] Of Sapphire, the New York Post wrote in 1959, "Perhaps the screenplay writer, one Janet Green, deserves her own special notice for a picture that is so special."[10]

She and her husband also wrote John Ford's final film 7 Women (1966).[11]

Green died in Beaconsfield on 30 May 1993.[1]

Filmography
Year Title Notes
1950 The Clouded Yellow original story and screenplay
1953 The Good Beginning story and screenplay
1955 Cast a Dark Shadow based on her play Murder Mistaken
1956 Lost original screenplay
1956 The Long Arm screenplay by Janet Green and Robert Barr
1956 Eyewitness original story and screenplay
1958 The Gypsy and the Gentleman screenplay by Janet Green based on novel by Nina Warner Hooke
1959 Sapphire original screenplay - nominated for a BAFTA award for best British screenplay in 1960 [12]
1960 Midnight Lace based on her 1958 play Matilda Shouted Fire[13]
1961 Victim screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick - nominated for a BAFTA award for best British screenplay in 1962 [14]
1962 Life for Ruth screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick
1966 7 Women screenplay by Janet Green and John McCormick - John Ford's final film

Theatre
Year Title Notes
1952 Murder Mistaken produced in the UK and the USA / adapted for television and for film (as Cast a Dark Shadow)
1958 Matilda Shouted Fire adapted for film as Midnight Lace

References
  1. "Janet Green". BFI.
  2. "Murder Mistaken". Samuel French. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  3. "Cast a Dark Shadow (1955)". BFI.
  4. McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony (May 16, 2016). "The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition". Manchester University Press – via Google Books.
  5. Wearing, J. P. (May 15, 2014). "The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel". Rowman & Littlefield – via Google Books.
  6. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk › download › GB 1456 JGREEN
  7. "Janet Green." Times [London, England] 18 June 1993: 21. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 31 Oct. 2018.
  8. "Janet Green | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos". AllMovie.
  9. "BFI Screenonline: Dearden, Basil (1911-1971) Biography". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  10. Nelmes, Jill; Selbo, Jule (September 29, 2015). "Women Screenwriters: An International Guide". Springer – via Google Books.
  11. "Seven Women". Time Out London.
  12. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
  13. "Midnight Lace". Variety. January 1, 1960.
  14. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2018-11-01.
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