View source for Frank Fenton (writer)

{{Short description|American writer (1903–1971)}}
{{About|the writer|the actor of the same name|Frank Fenton (actor)}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Frank E. Fenton
| image         =
| imagesize     =
| caption       =
| birth_name     = Frank Edgington Fenton
| birth_date     = February 13, 1903
| birth_place      = [[Liverpool]], [[England]]
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1971|8|23|1903|3|12|mf=y}}
| death_place    = [[Los Angeles]], [[California]]
| othername     =
| homepage      =
| spouse        = June Martel (1941-1943)<br>Mary Jane Hodge (1945-1957)
}}
'''Frank Edgington Fenton''' (February 13, 1903 – August 23, 1971) was an American writer of screenplays, short stories, magazine articles, and novels.
==Working writer==
In the fall of 1934, Fenton co-wrote an original story, "Dinky," with [[John Fante]], which they soon sold to Warner Bros. Studios on the strength of the latter's exaggerated resume.{{sfn|Cooper|2005|pp=140-41}} Within five years, Fenton's partner would write the novel, ''[[Ask the Dust]]'', but at the time he was just another fledgling screenwriter and novelist. In 1935, Fenton began working with another friend with writing ambitions. Lynn Root, an acting protégé of [[Antoinette Perry]],<ref>''Variety'', August 26, 1997</ref> had four Broadway roles under his belt, and the two chose to collaborate on a play of their own.
"Stork Mad" premiered at Broadway's Ambassador Theater on September 30, 1936.<ref>''New York Times'', September 27, 1936, Pg. X1</ref> The show, which starred the comically taciturn [[Percy Kilbride]], met with tepid reviews<ref>''New York Times'', October 1, 1936, Pg. 28</ref> and closed after five performances. The two wrote one other play, "It's a Cinch,"<ref>''New York Times'', April 19, 1937, Pg. 26</ref> which remained un-produced.<ref>''New York Times'', May 4, 1937, Pg. 28</ref> But the pair reworked "Stork Mad" and shopped it to Twentieth Century-Fox, who bought it as a vehicle for child-star Jane Withers.<ref>''New York Times'', November 28, 1936, Pg. 13</ref>
From 1937 to 1946, Fenton and Root partnered on twenty-one film projects for Twentieth Century-Fox, Goldwyn, RKO and MGM.
In 1938, Fenton branched out into magazine writing, penning a total of nine short stories for ''Collier's'' in just over a two-year period (see "Short Stories" in "Selected bibliography" below). He also wrote what many consider to be a classic (and satirically biting) look at the way "original stories" and screenplays were produced in Hollywood in an article for ''The American Mercury''.<ref>"Hollywood Literary Life" ''American Mercury'' 45:280-86, November 1938</ref> During these years, Fenton could be found in one of three primary places: behind his typewriter, out on the town with his writer friends (often in the back room of Musso & Frank's restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard),{{sfn|Starr|1997|pp=298-300}} or on a golf course.
==Novelist==
On July 29, 1942, Fenton's debut novel, "A Place in the Sun," was published by [[Random House]] to positive reaction on both coasts. This from ''The New York Times'':
<blockquote>
Fenton's [book] is notable for its sensitive portrayal of a young man who lived with the inferiority of a physical handicap. [He] does a masterly job of balancing the forces which molded the character of Rob Andrews...[and] he succeeds in giving the story the glow of human fulfillment.<ref>''New York Times'', August 2, 1942, Pg. BR13</ref>
</blockquote>
Out west, the ''Los Angeles Times'' critic had this to say:
<blockquote>
Rob Andrews is a cripple, but he is also an everyman struggling to find his role in living. But the symbol never obscures the story. This does not follow a pat pattern. It is a strange and powerful tale, with deep tragedy, groping for meaning, and many scenes of lyrical beauty. There's humor in it too...Mr. Fenton's narrative is as absorbing as it is meaningful.<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', August 16, 1942, Pg. C6</ref>
</blockquote>
Over the next few years, others continued to champion the novel. San Francisco book critic Joseph Henry Jackson included a chapter from the novel in ''Continent's End'',{{sfn|Jackson|1944}} his 1944 anthology of California writing. In 1946, [[Carey McWilliams (journalist)|Carey McWilliams]], one of the most prolific, talented and influential of all western writers of non-fiction, placed Fenton's novel in high company in his remarkable (and still in print) ''Southern California Country: An Island on the Land'':
<blockquote>
No region in the United States has been more extensively and intensively reported, of recent years, than Southern California...And yet, offhand, I can think of only four novels that suggest what Southern California is really like: ''The Day of the Locust'' by [[Nathanael West]], ''Ask the Dust'' by John Fante, ''A Place in the Sun'' by Frank Fenton, and ''The Boosters'' by Mark Lee Luther.{{sfn|McWilliams|1946|p=364}}
</blockquote>
Fenton's second novel, titled ''What Way My Journey Lies'', arrived in late April, 1946 to similar acclaim. It's the story of a war-weary WWII veteran returning home to a life filled with changing worldviews and difficult choices. Again, ''The Los Angeles Times'':
<blockquote>
Fenton has a deft facility in that most difficult of all the novel's techniques—the overlaying, underlying and intertwining of the many moods that go to make up life...The dialogue is marvelous, more right than Parker or Hemingway and more human.<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', April 28, 1946, Pg. C1</ref>
</blockquote>
More recently, historian [[Kevin Starr]] used Fenton's "tightly written, highly philosophical second novel"{{sfn|Starr|2002|pp=194-95}} as a good example of the challenges faced by returning WWII veterans in ''Embattled Dreams'', the sixth volume in his ''Americans and the California Dream'' series.
But despite the positive reaction to his work, Fenton didn't write another novel, returning instead to the frustrating but lucrative world of screenwriting. The remainder of his print work constituted one short story in each of two early '50s science fiction anthologies,<ref>''New Stories of Space and Time'', Edited by Raymond J. Healy (1951)</ref><ref>''9 Stories of Space and Time'', Edited by Raymond J. Healy (1954)</ref> two magazine articles<ref>"Hollywood's Message," Nation 179:424, November 13, 1954</ref><ref>"Why is it All So Lousy?" Esquire 59:46, 48, 50 February 1963</ref> and an introduction to a quiz book.<ref>''I Knew It All the Time'', Edited by Raymond J. Healy (Holt, 1953)</ref>
==From film to television==
By 1950, Fenton was divorced from June Martel, had two children (a boy, Mark, and a daughter, Joyce) with his second wife, actress Mary Jane Hodge (whom he'd married on February 10, 1945, in Las Vegas, Nevada)<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', May 6, 1957, Pg. 4</ref> and was living in a two-story rural English home in the [[Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles|Cheviot Hills]] section of Los Angeles,<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', June 4, 1950, Pg. F3</ref> just down the street from the former California Country Club, where he was a member.
Professionally, he'd graduated to "A" pictures by the mid-1940s, and was now writing bigger scripts with longer development periods for the likes of [[James Stewart]] & [[Spencer Tracy]] (''[[Malaya (film)|Malaya]]''), [[Robert Mitchum]] (''[[His Kind of Woman]]''), [[Stewart Granger]] (''[[The Wild North]]''), [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]] (''[[Ride, Vaquero!]]''), [[William Holden]] (''[[Escape from Fort Bravo]]''), Mitchum, [[Marilyn Monroe]] & [[Rory Calhoun]] (''[[River of No Return]]''), [[Gary Cooper]] & [[Richard Widmark]] (''[[Garden of Evil]]''), [[Tyrone Power]] & [[Susan Hayward]] (''[[Untamed (1955 film)|Untamed]]''), [[James Cagney]] & [[Barbara Stanwyck]] (''[[These Wilder Years]]'') and [[John Wayne]] (''[[The Wings of Eagles]]''). His final produced screenplay was for the Paramount release, ''[[The Jayhawkers!]]'' (1959), starring [[Jeff Chandler (actor)|Jeff Chandler]] and [[Fess Parker]].
By the end of the decade, however, things had become less steady. Mary Jane Fenton filed for divorce in 1957,<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', May 6, 1957, Pg. 4</ref> and the near-constant shake-ups and re-organizations in the studio world had led to several announced writing projects being put on the back burner or simply being cancelled. Fortunately for Fenton, the early 1960s brought him steady work in the voracious television market, where he successfully adapted some of his unproduced screenplays for the small screen programs ''Kraft Mystery Theater'' and ''Kraft Suspense Theater''. Another project originally developed by MGM for the big screen, ''The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones'', was instead released in 1966 through their television arm.
After completing several assignments for episodic series dramas (including six for ''The Virginian''), Fenton's final script — the well-regarded ''[[Something for a Lonely Man]]'' — came in collaboration with an old friend: John Fante. The two had last worked together in 1940 (along with Lynn Root on MGM's ''The Golden Fleecing''), but it was clear that much time had passed, and neither was in good health. Fante would eventually lose both his legs and his eyesight to diabetes, and Fenton's fondness for nightlife and alcohol (bourbon, rum and gin rocks<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', August 19, 1945, Pg. A6</ref>) had taken a toll as well. Neither man would receive another screen credit in their lifetimes.{{sfn|Cooper|2005|pp=333-34}}
On Monday, August 23, 1971, Frank Edgington Fenton died, a week after suffering a stroke.<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', August 25, 1971, Pg. C3</ref>
==In popular culture==
In John Fante's ''Dreams of Bunker Hill'',{{sfn|Fante|1982}} the final installment of The Saga of Arturo Bandini, the author partially based a character on Fenton, a screenwriter named "Frank Edgington".{{sfn|Cooper|2005|p=362}}
He is often confused—in print and online—with film and stage actor [[Frank Fenton (actor)|Frank Fenton]] Moran (April 9, 1906 – July 24, 1957). Even his own obituary had an incorrect age based on the actor's birthdate of 1906.<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', August 25, 1971, Pg. C3</ref>
==Selected bibliography==
===Novels===
*''A Place in the Sun'' (New York: Random House, 1942).
*''What Way My Journey Lies'' (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1946).
===Anthologized work===
*''Continent's End: A Collection of California Writing'' edited by Joseph Henry Jackson (New York: Whittlesey House, 1944) Contains: "Breathe In—Breathe Out" (Chapter 11 of ''A Place in the Sun'')
*''[[New Tales of Space and Time]]'' edited by [[Raymond J. Healy]] (New York: Holt, 1951) Contains: "Tolliver's Travels" An original short story by Fenton and fellow screenwriter [[Joseph Petracca]].
*''[[9 Tales of Space and Time]]'' edited by [[Raymond J. Healy]] (New York: Holt, 1954) Contains: "The Chicken and the Egg-head," an original short story
===Contributions===
*''I Knew It All the Time'' by Raymond J. Healy and John V. Cooper, (New York: Holt, 1953) A hardcover quiz book (74 quizzes/1600 Questions). Fenton wrote the book's introduction.
===Short stories===
*"Jitterbug" ''Collier's'' 102:14-15, December 3, 1938
*"Boy Meets Gorilla" ''Collier's'' 102:16-18, December 31, 1938
*"Interrupted Honeymoon" ''Collier's'' 104:20-21, September 23, 1939
*"Respectable Woman" ''Collier's'' 104:12-13, October 21, 1939
*"Pie-Eyed Piper of Hollywood" ''Collier's'' 105:21-22, April 13, 1940
*"Beautiful People" ''Collier's'' 105:14, April 20, 1940
*"Flying Dutchman" ''Collier's'' 106:9-10, October 20, 1940
*"High Cost of Love" ''Collier's'' 106:14-15, November 2, 1940
*"Actor in the Family" ''Collier's'' 107:16, January 18, 1941
===Magazine articles===
*"Hollywood Literary Life" ''American Mercury'' 45:280-86 (November 1938)
*"Hollywood's Message" ''Nation'' 179:424 (November 13, 1954)
*"Why is it All So Lousy?" ''Esquire'' 59:46, 48, 50 (February 1963)
==Citations==
{{full citations needed|date=May 2023}}
{{reflist|2}}
===Works cited===
*{{cite book |title=Full of Life: A Biography of John Fante |first=Stephen |last=Cooper |edition=rev. |place=Santa Monica|publisher=Angel City Press |year=2005}}
*{{cite book |title=Dreams of Bunker Hill |first=John |last=Fante |place=Santa Barbara |publisher=Black Sparrow Press |year=1982}}
*{{cite book |title=Continent's End |editor-first=Joseph Henry |editor-last=Jackson |place=New York |publisher=Whittlesey House |year=1944}}
*{{cite book |title=Southern California Country |first=Carey |last=McWilliams |place=New York |publisher=Duell, Sloan and Pearce |year=1946}}
*{{cite book |title=The Dream Endures |first=Kevin |last=Starr |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1997}}
*{{cite book |title=Embattled Dreams |first=Kevin |last=Starr |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1971 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:British emigrants to the United States]]