Writing

Robert Benton

Born September 29, 1932 · Waxahachie, Texas, USA

Died May 11, 2025 · aged 92

Robert Douglas Benton (September 29, 1932 - May 11, 2025) was an American screenwriter and film director. Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Dorothy (née Spaulding) and Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company employee. He attended the University of Texas and Columbia University. Benton has enjoyed a highly successful career in film, winning numerous prestigious awards for both w…

Known For

Superman

Superman · 1978

MovieScience FictionAction

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde · 1967

Bonnie and Clyde

MovieCrimeDrama

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow, and together they start a violent crime spree throughout the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer · 1979

Kramer vs. Kramer

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

The Human Stain

The Human Stain · 2003

The Human Stain

MovieDramaRomance

Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.

Places in the Heart

Places in the Heart · 1984

Places in the Heart

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Nobody's Fool

Nobody's Fool · 1994

MovieDramaComedy

A rascally nearing-retirement man juggles a workers' compensation suit while secretly working for his nemesis and flirting with his nemesis' young wife. As his estranged son returns, he faces new family responsibilities, while a banker plots to evict him from his home.

The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest · 2005

The Ice Harvest

MovieCrimeComedy

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Billy Bathgate

Billy Bathgate · 1991

In the year 1935, a teen named Billy Bathgate finds first love while becoming the protégé of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz.

Filmography

Sort

Superman

Superman · 1978

MovieScience FictionAction

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

Screenplay

Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde · 1967

Bonnie and Clyde

MovieCrimeDrama

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow, and together they start a violent crime spree throughout the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

Writer

Kramer vs. Kramer

Kramer vs. Kramer · 1979

Kramer vs. Kramer

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

Director

The Human Stain

The Human Stain · 2003

The Human Stain

MovieDramaRomance

Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.

Director

Places in the Heart

Places in the Heart · 1984

Places in the Heart

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Director

Nobody's Fool

Nobody's Fool · 1994

MovieDramaComedy

A rascally nearing-retirement man juggles a workers' compensation suit while secretly working for his nemesis and flirting with his nemesis' young wife. As his estranged son returns, he faces new family responsibilities, while a banker plots to evict him from his home.

Director

The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest · 2005

The Ice Harvest

MovieCrimeComedy

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

Executive Producer

Billy Bathgate

Billy Bathgate · 1991

In the year 1935, a teen named Billy Bathgate finds first love while becoming the protégé of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz.

Director

Twilight

Twilight · 1998

MovieCrimeThriller

A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.

Director

Feast of Love

Feast of Love · 2007

MovieRomanceDrama

A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.

Director

What's Up, Doc?

What's Up, Doc? · 1972

What's Up, Doc?

MovieComedyCrime

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.

Screenplay

Still of the Night

Still of the Night · 1982

Still of the Night

MovieThrillerDrama

When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.

Director

There Was a Crooked Man...

There Was a Crooked Man... · 1970

There Was a Crooked Man...

A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

Writer

The House on Carroll Street

The House on Carroll Street · 1988

The House on Carroll Street

MovieDramaThriller

A reporter, fired after refusing to give names to a 1951 House Un-American Activities Committee, takes a part-time job as companion to an old lady. While working she overhears a noisy argument in the neighboring house, being conducted largely in German and involving her HUAC prosecutor. She begins to investigate, enlisting the help of the FBI Agent initially detailed to surveil her.

Executive Producer

Bad Company

Bad Company · 1972

MovieWesternDrama

After Drew Dixon, an upright young man, is sent west by his religious family to avoid being drafted into the Civil War, he drifts across the land with a loose confederation of young vagrants.

Director

Death Valley

Death Valley · 1946

A dance hall girl is murdered and her body robbed of a quantity of gold obtained illegally. The killer flees into Death Valley and encounters the rightful owner of the gold and her sweetheart.

Duke

The Late Show

The Late Show · 1977

MovieMysteryCrime

An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.

Director

Nadine

MovieRomanceComedy

Hairdresser Nadine Hightower wants to retrieve the risqué photos she once posed for, but when she visits the photographer at his office, he's murdered by an intruder. Nadine talks her estranged husband, Vernon, into going along when she returns to the office, where they stumble across plans for a less than legal construction project. But when Vernon tries to turn the documents into a cash windfall, he and Nadine are pursued by goons with guns.

Director

Oh! Calcutta!

Oh! Calcutta! · 1972

MovieComedyMusic

Based on the controversial off-Broadway musical comedy revue, "Oh! Calcutta!" is a series of musical numbers about sex and sexual mores. Most of the skits feature one or more performers in a state of undress, simulating sex, or both. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time because it featured extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by Clovis Trouille, itself a pun on "O quel cul t'as!" French for "What an arse you have!".

Writer

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! · 1975

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!

MovieComedyTV Movie

TV adaptation of the campy 1960s Broadway musical about the Man of Steel, his friends, his enemies, and his self-image problems.

Writer

A Texas Romance, 1909

A Texas Romance, 1909 · 1964

A Texas Romance, 1909

MovieDocumentary

The film recreates the world of a small Texas town in 1909, based on photos and letters. It tells the story of a local mailman who falls in love, marries, and tragically loses his wife soon after.

Director