A Northwestern University alumnus, American screenwriter Jules Furthman paid his literary dues as a magazine and newspaper writer. He was 30 years old and an established talent when he entered the upstart film industry in 1915. During World War I, Furthman sidestepped the anti-German sentiments of the era by using the "nom de plume" Jules Grinnell. A brief fling at film directing between 1919 and 1921 did not set box-office fires, but did imbue Furthman with a heightened understanding of directorial pressures and responsibilities. Thus armed, he was able to work harmoniously with contentious "genius" director Josef von Sternberg, contributing screenplays to many of Sternberg's best efforts, including Underworld (1927), The Docks of New York (1928), Shanghai Express (1932) and Blonde Venus (1932). He also produced Sternberg's last American film, the risible Jet Pilot (1957). As an adaptor of literary works, Furthman possessed the newspaperman's knack of boiling down reams of detail to the bare essentials, as witness his contributions to Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) and The Big Sleep (1945); conversely, he could take a slight literary piece and successfully build it up to feature length, as he did in collaboration with William Faulkner in the movie version of Hemingway's To Have and Have Not (1944). The last three mentioned films were directed by Howard Hawks, with whom Furthman also worked successfully on Only Angels Have Wings (1939) and Rio Bravo (1959). Perhaps Jules Furthman's most delicate assignment (in concert with Von Sternberg, Geza Herczeg and Karl Vollmoeller) was to take the censor-baiting stage play The Shanghai Gesture, change its locale from a brothel to a gambling house, and alter the main character's name from Mother Goddam to Mother Gin Sling--and still retain the smoky, exotic, verboten atmosphere of the original material.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Rio Bravo
Screenwriter |
1959 | |||
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Jet Pilot
Producer, Screenwriter |
1957 | |||
|
Peking Express
Screenwriter |
1951 | |||
|
Pretty Baby
Screen Story |
1950 | |||
|
Moss Rose
Screenwriter |
1947 | |||
|
Nightmare Alley
Screenwriter |
1947 | |||
|
The Big Sleep
Screenwriter |
1946 | |||
|
To Have and Have Not
Screenwriter |
1944 | |||
|
The Outlaw
Screenwriter |
1943 | |||
|
The Shanghai Gesture
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
|
The Way of All Flesh
Screen Story, Screenwriter |
1940 | |||
|
Only Angels Have Wings
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
|
Spawn of the North
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
|
Come and Get It
Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
China Seas
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
|
Mutiny on the Bounty
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
|
Bombshell
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
Blonde Venus
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Shanghai Express
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Body and Soul
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Merely Mary Ann
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Over the Hill
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
The Yellow Ticket
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Common Clay
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Morocco
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Renegades
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Case of Lena Smith
Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
New York Nights
Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
Thunderbolt
Screen Story, Screenwriter |
1929 | |||
|
Aaron Slick
Screenwriter |
1928 | |||
|
The Docks of New York
Screenwriter |
1928 | |||
|
The Dragnet
Screenwriter |
1928 | |||
|
Barbed Wire
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Casey at the Bat
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Fashions for Women
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Hotel Imperial
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
The City Gone Wild
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
The Way of All Flesh
Screenwriter |
1927 | |||
|
Wise Guy
Screen Story, Screenwriter |
1926 | |||
|
You'd Be Surprised
Screen Story, Screenwriter |
1926 | |||
|
Any Woman
Screenwriter |
1925 | |||
|
Big Pal
Screen Story, Screenwriter |
1925 | |||
|
Romola
Intertitle Writer |
1925 | |||
|
Sackcloth and Scarlet
Screenwriter |
1925 | |||
|
Call of the Mate
Screenwriter |
1924 | |||
|
In Calvert's Valley
Screenwriter |
1923 | |||
|
Lovebound
Screenwriter |
1923 | |||
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North of Hudson Bay
Screenwriter |
1923 | |||
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St. Elmo
Screenwriter |
1923 | |||
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The Acquittal
Screenwriter |
1923 | |||
|
Arabian Love
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
Calvert's Valley
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
Gleam O'Dawn
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
Pawn Ticket 210
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
Strange Idols
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
The Love Gambler
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
The Ragged Heiress
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
The Yellow Stain
Screenwriter |
1922 | |||
|
Colorado Pluck
Director, Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
Last Trail
Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
Roof Tree
Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
Singing River
Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
The Big Punch
Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
The Blushing Bride
Director, Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
The Cheater Reformed
Screenwriter |
1921 | |||
|
Great Redeemer
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Iron Rider
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Land of Jazz
Director |
1920 | |||
|
Leave It to Me
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Lincoln Highwayman
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Man Who Dared
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Sister to Salome
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Skywayman
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
The Texan
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Twins of Suffering Creek
Screenwriter |
1920 | |||
|
Brass Buttons
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Some Liar
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Sporting Chance
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Victory
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
When a Man Rides Alone
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Where the West Begins
Screenwriter |
1919 | |||
|
Camouflage Kiss
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
Hearts or Diamonds?
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
Hobbs in a Hurry
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
Up Romance Road
Screenwriter |
1918 | |||
|
The Frame Up
Screenwriter |
1917 |

