Writing

Maxwell Anderson

Born December 15, 1888 · Atlantic, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Died February 28, 1959 · aged 70

James Maxwell Anderson (15 December 1888 – 28 February 1959) was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist. Anderson faced many challenges in his career, frequently losing jobs for expressing his opinions or supporting controversial figures. Despite this, he found success as a dramatist and wrote a number of hit plays, including What Price Glory, Both Your Houses, and The Bad …

Known For

Meet Joe Black

Meet Joe Black · 1998

MovieFantasyDrama

Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front · 1930

All Quiet on the Western Front

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man · 1956

MovieCrimeDrama

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 1956

MovieThrillerDrama

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite her secret tendency for selfishness. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels.

Key Largo

Key Largo · 1948

MovieCrimeThriller

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 2018

MovieHorrorThriller

A widower suspects that his seemingly perfect adolescent daughter is a heartless killer.

The Bad Seed Returns

The Bad Seed Returns · 2022

The Bad Seed Returns

MovieHorrorThriller

Several years after the murderous events of the first movie left her father dead, Emma is now living with her aunt Angela and navigating high school. Angela’s husband begins to suspect that Emma may not be as innocent as she appears and suggests sending her off to boarding school. Meanwhile, a new girl at school seems to know Emma’s secrets, leaving Emma no choice but to slip back to her old ways and take care of her enemies by any means necessary.

Anne of the Thousand Days

Anne of the Thousand Days · 1969

Anne of the Thousand Days

MovieDramaHistory

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Filmography

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Meet Joe Black

Meet Joe Black · 1998

MovieFantasyDrama

Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his 65th birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan?

Original Film Writer

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front · 1930

All Quiet on the Western Front

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

Adaptation

The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man · 1956

MovieCrimeDrama

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

Screenplay

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 1956

MovieThrillerDrama

Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite her secret tendency for selfishness. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels.

Theatre Play

Key Largo

Key Largo · 1948

MovieCrimeThriller

A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.

Theatre Play

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 2018

MovieHorrorThriller

A widower suspects that his seemingly perfect adolescent daughter is a heartless killer.

Theatre Play

The Bad Seed Returns

The Bad Seed Returns · 2022

The Bad Seed Returns

MovieHorrorThriller

Several years after the murderous events of the first movie left her father dead, Emma is now living with her aunt Angela and navigating high school. Angela’s husband begins to suspect that Emma may not be as innocent as she appears and suggests sending her off to boarding school. Meanwhile, a new girl at school seems to know Emma’s secrets, leaving Emma no choice but to slip back to her old ways and take care of her enemies by any means necessary.

Theatre Play

Anne of the Thousand Days

Anne of the Thousand Days · 1969

Anne of the Thousand Days

MovieDramaHistory

Henry VIII of England discards his wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn.

Theatre Play

What Price Glory

What Price Glory · 1952

What Price Glory

MovieDramaComedy

Two military men, Captain Flagg and Sergeant Quirt, who are rivals to begin with, grow more at odds with each other when Quirt is made Flagg's top sergeant. And when a local beauty comes between them, their rivalry escalates even further. But when they discover that the woman has marriage in mind, they now compete to try to avoid marching down the aisle - that is, until they are called upon to march into battle.

Theatre Play

Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc · 1948

MovieDramaHistory

In the 15th Century, France is a defeated and ruined nation after the One Hundred Years War against England. The fourteen-year-old farm girl Joan of Arc claims to hear voices from Heaven asking her to lead God's Army against Orleans and crowning the weak Dauphin Charles VII as King of France. Joan gathers the people with her faith, forms an army, and conquers Orleans.

Theatre Play

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 1985

MovieDramaThriller

Rachel is a 9-year-old girl who is perfection itself - unless she's crossed or challenged. Several disturbing recent incidents have led Rachel's mother Christine to suspect that her child is a latent murderess. Upon discovering that she herself is the daughter of a convicted killer, Christine becomes convinced that sweet little Rachel is a "bad seed" - an inherent killer who feels no remorse because she doesn't know any better.

Theatre Play

Midnight Lace

Midnight Lace · 1960

MovieMysteryThriller

Kit Preston begins to unravel when she receives threatening telephone calls informing her she's soon to be murdered.

Songs

Winterset

Winterset · 1936

MovieRomanceCrime

A man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly executed.

Author

We Live Again

We Live Again · 1934

Nekhludoff, a Russian nobleman serving on a jury, discovers that the young girl on trial, Katusha, is someone he once seduced and abandoned and that he himself bears responsibility for reducing her to crime. He sets out to redeem her and himself in the process.

Adaptation

Valley Forge

Valley Forge · 1975

George Washington struggles to hold his army together at a critical point during the Revolutionary War.

Writer

Mary of Scotland

Mary of Scotland · 1936

Mary of Scotland

MovieDramaHistory

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

Theatre Play

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex · 1939

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex

MovieDramaHistory

This period drama frames the tumultuous affair between Queen Elizabeth I and the man who would be King of England.

Theatre Play

Maybe It's Love

Maybe It's Love · 1935

Maybe It's Love

MovieRomanceComedy

Director William C. McGann's 1935 film stars Gloria Stuart and Ross Alexander as a young couple in love who face economic woes once they're wed.

Theatre Play

Rain

Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pago, a small village on a Pacific island where it incessantly rains. Among the stranded passengers are Sadie Thompson, a prostitute, and Alfred Davidson, a fanatic missionary who will try to redeem her.

Screenplay

Death Takes a Holiday

Death Takes a Holiday · 1934

Death Takes a Holiday

MovieFantasyRomance

After years of questioning why people fear him, Death takes on human form so he can mingle among the mortals and find an answer. However, events soon spiral out of control as he falls in love with the beautiful young Grazia, the only woman not afraid of him. As he falls in love with her, her father sees him for what he is and begs him to return to his duties. Death must decide whether or not to seek his own happiness or sacrifice it so that Grazia may live.

Screenplay

So Red the Rose

So Red the Rose · 1935

So Red the Rose

During the American Civil War, Valette Bedford waits patiently for her husband Duncan Bedford, to return home, praying that she will not become a widow.

Writer

The Star Wagon

The Star Wagon · 1966

The Star Wagon is a play in black and white starring Dustin Hoffman.

Writer

The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed · 1963

MovieCrimeDrama

Alev seems like your average, sweet eight-year-old girl. When her rival at school dies in mysterious circumstances at the school picnic her mother starts to suspect that Alev was responsible.

Story

The Royal Games

The Royal Games · 2005

The Royal Games

MovieTV MovieDrama

The story of the relationship between King Henry VIII of England and Anne Boleyn.

Author

NET Playhouse

NET Playhouse · 1966

SeriesDramaFamily

NET Playhouse is an American dramatic television anthology series produced by National Educational Television. NET subsequently merged with WNDT Newark, New Jersey to form WNET and was superseded by the Public Broadcasting Service. American television anthology series of wide range of genres, from history and drama, to fantasy, and science fiction. Fiction novels, stories, stage plays, fairytales, and historic events are dramatized in each episode.

Writer