Frank Fenton

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. Within five years, Fenton's partner would write the classic 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, 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. The show, which starred the comically taciturn Percy Kilbride, met with tepid reviews and closed after five performances. The two wrote one other play, “It’s a Cinch,” which remained un-produced. But the ever-resilient pair reworked “Stork Mad” and shopped it to Twentieth Century-Fox, who bought it as a vehicle for child-star Jane Withers. Following their initial success on juvenile scripts for Withers and others, the two expanded into screwball comedy (Woman Chases Man, Keep Smiling), intrigue (International Settlement and While New York Sleeps) and happy hokum (Down on the Farm). They also provided two scripts for both the Saint (The Saint in London and The Saint Takes Over) and Falcon (The Gay Falcon and A Date with the Falcon) series pictures. Both series starred George Sanders.