F. Hugh Herbert
1897 - 1958Frederick Hugh Herbert (May 29, 1897 - May 17, 1958) was a playwright, screenwriter, novelist, short story writer, and infrequent film director. Born in Vienna, Austria, Herbert was educated at the University of London. He began his film career in 1926 with two projects starring Conrad Nagel, The Waning Sex and There You Are!, the latter adapted from his play of the same title. His screenwriting credits included Vanity Fair, Fashions of 1934; Smarty in 1934, adapted from his own play; Sitting Pretty; Dark Command; Our Very Own; The Little Hut; Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! and The Girls of Pleasure Island, the last two of which he also directed. He co-wrote a few films in which the similarly named, but unrelated actor Hugh Herbert appeared: Fashions of 1934 (1934), We're in the Money (1935) and Colleen (1936).
One of Herbert's most enduring creations was the character of American teenager Corliss Archer, who was introduced in his 1943 play Kiss and Tell and played on screen by Shirley Temple in the 1945 film adaptation. The character went on to appear in a series of magazine articles, another Temple film, and a radio and television series called Meet Corliss Archer.
Herbert's play The Moon Is Blue had a run of 924 performances on Broadway, which was adapted for the screen version produced and directed by Otto Preminger, who had been responsible for the stage production. The film adaptation, released in 1953, was controversial at the time owing to its frank language and sexual themes. When the Breen office refused to give it a Motion Picture Production Code seal of approval, United Artists opted to release the film without one, and the success of the film was instrumental in weakening the long-standing influence of the Code.
Herbert won the Writers Guild of America Award for Sitting Pretty and was nominated for The Moon is Blue. The uncle of actress Kathleen Hughes, he died in Beverly Hills.
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
F. Hugh Herbert
June Haver, Lon McCallister
Light-hearted, old-style romance about a farm-hand who arranges to buy a pair of mules from his employer. No one is able to handle the mules and he must train them. Adding to his dilemma, he pursues his boss's daughter who gets her kicks out of keeping him guessing about her true feelings. Of course, at the end he tames both the mules and the girl.
Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay!
The Girls of Pleasure Island
Alvin Ganzer, F. Hugh Herbert
Don Taylor, Leo Genn
In the spring of 1945, World War II is coming to a close. Roger Halyard, a dignified, strait-laced Englishmen, lives on a South Sea atoll with his three daughters, Gloria, Hester and Violet, along with the housekeeper, Thelma, who has raised the girls since childhood. Other than their father, the girls have never seen another man. Halyard is informed that 1500 U.S. Marines will soon arrive to establish an air base on the island. Halyard is rather apprehensive over the prospect of his daughters, who have never met another man, being thrown together with 1500 Marines who haven't seen a woman in months.
The Girls of Pleasure Island