Richard Maibaum
Encyclopedia
Richard Maibaum was an American
film producer
, playwright
and screenwriter
best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's
James Bond
novels.
Maibaum was born in New York City
, and attended New York University
and the University of Iowa
before working as an actor and playwright on Broadway
.
His first film as screenwriter was in 1937, and after military service in World War II
he joined Paramount Pictures
as a writer and producer on films such as The Big Clock
and The Great Gatsby
. Maibaum established a friendship with Alan Ladd
and in addition to writing several screenplays for Ladd, Maibaum acted as a script supervisor for Ladd. In the 1950s he became the favoured screenwriter for Irwin Allen
and Albert R. Broccoli
, who were making action films in UK under their Warwick Films
banner. When Broccoli signed Ladd on for a three picture deal for Warwick, Ladd insisted on Maibaum co-writing the screenplays. His working relationship with Broccoli would extend into the phenomenally successful James Bond series, with Maibaum contributing to the screenplays of all but three of the films from Dr. No
in 1962 until Licence to Kill
in 1989. However, his contributions to Licence to Kill were disrupted by a strike by the Writers Guild of America
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
best known for his adaptations of Ian Fleming's
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
novels.
Maibaum was born in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
before working as an actor and playwright on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
His first film as screenwriter was in 1937, and after military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he joined Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
as a writer and producer on films such as The Big Clock
The Big Clock (1948 film)
The Big Clock is a 1948 film noir thriller directed by John Farrow, adapted by renowned novelist-screenwriter Jonathan Latimer from the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing....
and The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby (1949 film)
The Great Gatsby is a 1949 film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Elliott Nugent and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume based on the novel of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play by Owen Davis. The music score was by Robert...
. Maibaum established a friendship with Alan Ladd
Alan Ladd
-Early life:Ladd was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was the only child of Ina Raleigh Ladd and Alan Ladd, Sr. He was of English ancestry. His father died when he was four, and his mother relocated to Oklahoma City where she married Jim Beavers, a housepainter...
and in addition to writing several screenplays for Ladd, Maibaum acted as a script supervisor for Ladd. In the 1950s he became the favoured screenwriter for Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen
Irwin Allen was a television and film director and producer nicknamed "The Master of Disaster" for his work in the disaster film genre. He was also notable for creating a number of television series.- Biography :...
and Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
, who were making action films in UK under their Warwick Films
Warwick Films
Warwick Films was the name of a film company founded by film producers Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli in London in 1951. The name was taken from the Warwick Hotel in London...
banner. When Broccoli signed Ladd on for a three picture deal for Warwick, Ladd insisted on Maibaum co-writing the screenplays. His working relationship with Broccoli would extend into the phenomenally successful James Bond series, with Maibaum contributing to the screenplays of all but three of the films from Dr. No
Dr. No (film)
Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
in 1962 until Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
in 1989. However, his contributions to Licence to Kill were disrupted by a strike by the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
.
Selected films as screenwriter
- We Went to College (1936)
- They Gave Him a GunThey Gave Him a GunThey Gave Him a Gun is a 1937 American drama film directed by W. S. Van Dyke- Cast :* Spencer Tracy: Fred P. Willis* Gladys George: Rose Duffy* Franchot Tone: James 'Jimmy' Davis* Edgar Dearing: Sgt. Meadowlark* Mary Treen: Saxe...
(1937) - The Lady and the Mob (1939)
- Coast GuardCoast guardA coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
(1939) - The Amazing Mr. Williams (1939)
- I Wanted WingsI Wanted WingsI Wanted Wings is a 1941 American drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Ray Milland and William Holden. It also stars Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy, Constance Moore and Veronica Lake. Production began in the summer of 1940 at Randolph Field near San Antonio, Texas...
(1941) - Ten Gentlemen from West PointTen Gentlemen from West PointTen Gentlemen from West Point is a 1942 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars George Montgomery and Maureen O'Hara. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1943. -Cast:*George Montgomery as Joe Dawson*Maureen O'Hara as Carolyn Brainbridge...
(1942) - O.S.S.O.S.S. (film)O.S.S. is a 1946 war film starring Alan Ladd, Colton Winters and Geraldine Fitzgerald about the Office of Strategic Services....
(1946) - The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby (1949 film)The Great Gatsby is a 1949 film made by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Elliott Nugent and produced by Richard Maibaum, from a screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume based on the novel of the same title by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the play by Owen Davis. The music score was by Robert...
(1949) - The Red BeretThe Red BeretThe Red Beret is a 1953 British made Technicolor war film starring Alan Ladd, Leo Genn and Susan Stephen. It deals with the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War. It is notable as the first film made by Warwick Films with many of the crew working on various Warwick Films and Albert R....
(1953) - Hell Below ZeroHell Below ZeroHell Below Zero is a 1954 murder mystery film, starring Alan Ladd in the second of his films for Warwick Films.The film was directed by Mark Robson, and was written by Alec Coppel and Max Trell...
(1954) - Cockleshell Heroes (1955)
- Bigger Than LifeBigger Than LifeBigger Than Life is an American film made in 1956 directed by Nicholas Ray and starring James Mason, who also co-wrote and produced the film, about a school teacher and family man whose life spins out of control upon becoming addicted to cortisone. The film co-stars Barbara Rush as his wife and...
(1956) - ZarakZarakZarak is a 1956 British Warwick Films CinemaScope action film based on the 1949 book The Story of Zarak Khan by A.J. Bevan. It was directed by Terence Young with assistance from John Gilling and Yakima Canutt...
(1956) - Ransom!Ransom!Ransom! is a 1956 crime drama examining the reactions of parents, police, and the public to a kidnapping. Written by Richard Maibaum and Cyril Hume, the film was based on a popular episode of "The United States Steel Hour" titled "Fearful Decision," which aired in 1954...
(1956) - Dr. NoDr. No (film)Dr. No is a 1962 spy film, starring Sean Connery; it is the first James Bond film. Based on the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, it was adapted by Richard Maibaum, Johanna Harwood, and Berkely Mather and was directed by Terence Young. The film was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R...
(1962) - From Russia with LoveFrom Russia with Love (film)From Russia with Love is the second in the James Bond spy film series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1963, the film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the...
(1963) - GoldfingerGoldfinger (film)Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
(1964) - ThunderballThunderball (film)Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
(1965) - Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
(1968) — additional dialogue - On Her Majesty's Secret ServiceOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the sixth spy film in the James Bond series, based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. Following the decision of Sean Connery to retire from the role after You Only Live Twice, Eon Productions selected an unknown actor and model, George Lazenby...
(1969) - Diamonds Are ForeverDiamonds Are Forever (film)Diamonds Are Forever is the seventh spy film in the Eon Productions James Bond series, and the sixth and final Eon Productions film to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film is based on Ian Fleming's 1956 novel of the same name, and is the second of four James Bond films...
(1971) - The Man with the Golden GunThe Man with the Golden Gun (film)The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
(1974) - The Spy Who Loved MeThe Spy Who Loved Me (film)The Spy Who Loved Me is a spy film, the tenth film in the James Bond series, and the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum...
(1977) - For Your Eyes OnlyFor Your Eyes Only (film)For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
(1981) - OctopussyOctopussyOctopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights...
(1983) - A View to a KillA View to a KillA View to a Kill is the fourteenth spy film of the James Bond series, and the seventh and last to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adapted from Ian Fleming's short story "From a View to a Kill", the film is the fourth Bond film after The Spy Who Loved...
(1985) - The Living DaylightsThe Living DaylightsThe Living Daylights is the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series and the first to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent 007. The film's title is taken from Ian Fleming's short story, "The Living Daylights"...
(1987) - Licence to KillLicence to KillLicence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
(1989) - Ransom (1996) — story
Selected films as producer
- O.S.S.O.S.S. (film)O.S.S. is a 1946 war film starring Alan Ladd, Colton Winters and Geraldine Fitzgerald about the Office of Strategic Services....
(1946) - The Big ClockThe Big Clock (1948 film)The Big Clock is a 1948 film noir thriller directed by John Farrow, adapted by renowned novelist-screenwriter Jonathan Latimer from the novel of the same name by Kenneth Fearing....
(1948) - The Sainted SistersThe Sainted SistersThe Sainted Sisters is a 1948 comedy film starring Veronica Lake and co-starring Joan Caulfield, Barry Fitzgerald, George Reeves, William Demarest and Beulah Bondi...
(1948) - Bride of VengeanceBride of VengeanceBride of Vengeance is a 1949 adventure film directed by Mitchell Leisen. Mary Grant designed the film's costumes. It stars Paulette Goddard and John Lund.-Cast:*Paulette Goddard as Lucrezia Borgia*John Lund as Alfonso d'Este...
(1949) - The Great GatsbyThe Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....
(1949) - Song of SurrenderSong of SurrenderSong of Surrender is a 1949 drama film directed by Mitchell Leisen. It stars Wanda Hendrix and Claude Rains.It is the latest-released Paramount film to end up with EMKA, Ltd., after MCA purchased the pre-December 1949 Paramount Pictures sound feature film library...
(1949) - Dear WifeDear WifeDear Wife is a 1949 comedy film starring Joan Caulfield and William Holden. It is the sequel to Dear Ruth, which was based on the Broadway play of the same name by Norman Krasna.J. D...
(1949) - No Man of Her OwnNo Man of Her OwnNo Man of Her Own is a 1950 drama starring Barbara Stanwyck.It was the second she made with director Mitchell Leisen. It was based on a Cornell Woolrich novel, I Married a Dead Man. Woolrich is credited as William Irish in the film's opening credits.The film was later remade in 1996 as Mrs....
(1950) - Captain Carey, U.S.A.Captain Carey, U.S.A.Captain Carey, U.S.A. is a 1950 drama film starring Alan Ladd, Wanda Hendrix, and Francis Lederer. An American returns to post-World War II Italy to bring a traitor to justice.The film was based on the novel No Surrender by Martha Albrand...
(1950) - Battle at Bloody BeachBattle at Bloody BeachBattle at Bloody Beach is a 1961 Drama directed by Herbert Coleman, starring Audie Murphy and Gary Crosby. Battle at Bloody Beach is only the second Audie Murphy movie set in WWII, after his autobiographical To Hell and Back.-Plot:...
(1961)