Humphrey Pearson Explained

Humphrey Pearson
Birth Date:30 November 1893
Birth Place:Columbus, Ohio, United States
Death Place:Hollywood, California, United States
Occupation:Screenwriter, playwright
Spouse:Rive King Pearson
Yearsactive:1929–36

Humphrey Pearson (November 30, 1893 – February 24, 1937) was an American screenwriter and playwright of the 1930s. During his brief career, he penned a Broadway play and 22 screenplays. His promising career was cut short when he was found shot to death, under mysterious circumstances in his home, in early 1937.

Life and career

Pearson was born on November 30, 1893, in Columbus, Ohio. He would break into the film industry in 1929, writing the dialogue and titles to Mervyn LeRoy's Hot Stuff, which was one of the few films Hollywood produced which was a silent film with sound sequences.[1] Pearson's play, Shoestring, would serve as the basis for Robert Lord's screenplay On With the Show!, which in 1929 became the first color sound film.[2] [3] [4]

In the next two years Pearson would pen another seven screenplays, including Bride of the Regiment, starring Vivienne Segal and Allan Prior, and featuring Walter Pidgeon and Myrna Loy;[5] Michael Curtiz' Bright Lights (1930);[6] Going Wild, starring Joe E. Brown, and Walter Pidgeon;[7] and another Mervyn Leroy film, Top Speed, again starring Joe E. Brown.[8] 1930 would also see Pearson's play, They Never Grow Up, be produced. It would be the only play written by Pearson produced on Broadway, having a short run at the Theatre Masque, lasting for 24 performances. Its cast included Florence Auer, and Otto Kruger.[9]

Between 1931 and 1936 Pearson would be responsible for another fourteen screenplays.[10] These would include Consolation Marriage, with Irene Dunne and Pat O'Brien; George Archainbaud's The Lost Squadron, starring Richard Dix, Mary Astor, Robert Armstrong, Joel McCrea, and Erich von Stroheim;[11] Westward Passage, starring Ann Harding, Laurence Olivier, and ZaSu Pitts;[12] Face in the Sky, starring Spencer Tracy;[13] 1935's Ruggles of Red Gap, which stars Charles Laughton, Mary Boland, Charlie Ruggles, ZaSu Pitts, Roland Young, and Leila Hyams, which The Film Daily rated one of the ten best films of 1935;[14] [15] and Red Salute, starring Barbara Stanwyck.[16]

Pearson's last screenplay was 1936's Palm Springs.[17] In February 1937, after a night of drinking, Pearson was killed by a gunshot wound to the chest at his home in Palm Springs, California. His death occurred under mysterious circumstances. Initially, it was not clear whether the death was a suicide or at the hand of his wife, Rive King Pearson, but eventually the Palm Springs chief of police ruled it accidental.[18] [19] [20]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Hot Stuff: Detail View . American Film Institute . January 26, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140419020056/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=9828 . April 19, 2014.
  2. Web site: On With the Show . Silent Era . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140427083738/http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/O/OnWithTheShow1929.html . April 27, 2014.
  3. News: Warner Archive releases early musicals . LA Times . December 2, 2009 . March 29, 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20121103175226/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/02/entertainment/la-et-classic-hollywood2-2009dec02 . November 3, 2012.
  4. Web site: On With the Show!: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140402172937/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=11115 . April 2, 2014.
  5. Web site: Bride of the Regiment: Detail View . American Film Institute . January 26, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140402182436/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=3031 . April 2, 2014.
  6. Web site: Bright Lights: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140402174740/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=3039 . April 2, 2014.
  7. Web site: Going Wild: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140419023759/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=9416 . April 19, 2014.
  8. Web site: Top Speed: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140402002601/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=12779 . April 2, 2014.
  9. Web site: They Never Grow Up . Internet Broadway Database . March 29, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20140811221727/http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=11097 . August 11, 2014.
  10. Web site: Humphrey Pearson . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015.
  11. Web site: The Lost Squadron: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150108010232/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=4079 . January 8, 2015.
  12. Web site: Westward Passage: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328180846/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=5585 . March 28, 2014.
  13. Web site: Face in the Sky: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328170404/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=4159 . March 28, 2014.
  14. Web site: The Ruggles of Red Gap: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221213916/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=1104. February 21, 2015.
  15. News: The Film Daily . Humphrey Pearson, Author, is Found Shot to Death . February 26, 1937 . 2. March 29, 2015.
  16. Web site: Red Salute: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140328171142/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=7964 . March 28, 2014.
  17. Web site: Palm Springs: Detail View . American Film Institute . March 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150204123916/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=7835 . February 4, 2015.
  18. News: The San Bernardino County Sun. Guns Found As Mystery Veils Scenarist's Death at Palm Springs Home . February 26, 1937 . 14 .
  19. News: The Times and Daily News Leader, San Mateo . District Attorney Redwine Clears Mrs. Pearson in Mate's Death . March 2, 1937 . 3 .
  20. News: Santa Cruz Evening News . Wife Quizzed in Death of Film Writer . February 25, 1937 . 1 .

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