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IMDbPro

Claude Binyon(1905-1978)

  • Writer
  • Director
  • Script and Continuity Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
A writer with powerful leanings towards wit and satire, Claude Binyon started out as a reporter for the Chicago Examiner. Unsuited to being a straight newspaperman, he was quickly fired. Nonetheless, the editors of the paper recognised writing skill when they saw it and recommended him to the show biz magazine Variety. Between 1925 and 1932, Binyon contributed not only articles to Variety, but also famous (or infamous) headlines like 'Sticks Nix Hick Pix', a form of slang which translated to 'country folk don't like movies about country life' (Binyon's article disputing Hollywood's long-held belief that rural audiences were loath to watching films about city life). Binyon was eventually dismissed from Variety when he began to moonlight as the author of humorous short stories for other publications.

The second part of Binyon's career was spent at Paramount, where he came under contract as a screenwriter from 1932 until 1946. He was in his element with idiosyncratic or screwball comedy, of particular note being the classic W.C. Fields opus Mississippi (1935), described by Andre Sennwald of the New York Times as 'madly funny at sufficient length'; and two Claudette Colbert ventures, Aller et retour (1935) and À Paris tous les trois (1937). Arguably Binyon's best screenplay was the madcap farce La folle confession (1937), with a clever satirical courtroom scene and witty, rapid-fire dialogue, tailor-made for stars Carole Lombard, Fred MacMurray and John Barrymore.

By the late 1930's, Binyon was also more frequently tasked with non-comedic assignments, effectively handling A-grade musicals (Les bébés turbulents (1938),L'amour chante et danse (1942),La blonde incendiaire (1945)) and, not so effectively, westerns; evidence: Arizona (1940). Binyon combined writing with direction for The Saxon Charm (1948), the ponderous story of an egocentric Broadway producer (played by Robert Montgomery) who inflicts misery on all around him. While not exactly a flop, the film failed to make much headway at the box office. By contrast, Binyon's best effort as writer/director was the satirical Un grand séducteur (1952), which cleverly poked fun at moviedom's chief rival, television, as expressed through the inimitably erudite and barbed delivery of its star, Clifton Webb. Binyon teamed up with another comedy veteran, Leo McCarey (who also produced and directed), for the screenplay of La brune brûlante (1958), which was at once a satire on the American way of life and also sheer slapstick, reminiscent of the Keystone Kops and complete with a frenetic scene played out by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward in a missile control room.

In the 1960's, Binyon's output diminished greatly, though he wrote, in collaboration with John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin, the screenplay for the rollicking western-comedy Le Grand Sam (1960). After disastrous critical reviews for his work (with Robert G. Kane) on Un mari à tout faire (1964), Binyon called it a day and retired. He died in Glendale, California, of heart problems in 1978, at the age of 72.
BornOctober 17, 1905
DiedFebruary 14, 1978(72)
BornOctober 17, 1905
DiedFebruary 14, 1978(72)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Add photos, demo reels
  • Awards
    • 2 nominations total

Known for

Betty Grable and Dan Dailey in Trois gosses sur les bras (1950)
Trois gosses sur les bras
6.1
  • Writer
  • 1950
John Wayne, Capucine, Stewart Granger, Fabian, and Ernie Kovacs in Le Grand Sam (1960)
Le Grand Sam
6.9
  • Writer
  • 1960
Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Virginia Dale, and Marjorie Reynolds in L'amour chante et danse (1942)
L'amour chante et danse
7.3
  • Writer
  • 1942
Adele Jergens, Robert Merrill, Dinah Shore, and Alan Young in Pourquoi croire à l'amour (1952)
Pourquoi croire à l'amour
5.2
  • Writer
  • 1952

Credits

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IMDbPro

Writer



  • Polly Bergen and Fred MacMurray in Un mari à tout faire (1964)
    Un mari à tout faire
    5.5
    • screenplay
    • 1964
  • William Holden, France Nuyen, and Clifton Webb in Une histoire de Chine (1962)
    Une histoire de Chine
    6.0
    • screenplay
    • 1962
  • Fred Astaire in Alcoa Premiere (1961)
    Alcoa Premiere
    6.9
    TV Series
    • teleplay by
    • 1962
  • Pépé (1960)
    Pépé
    5.4
    • screenplay
    • 1960
  • John Wayne, Capucine, Stewart Granger, Fabian, and Ernie Kovacs in Le Grand Sam (1960)
    Le Grand Sam
    6.9
    • screenplay
    • 1960
  • Paul Newman, Joan Collins, Jack Carson, and Joanne Woodward in La brune brûlante (1958)
    La brune brûlante
    5.8
    • screenplay
    • 1958
  • Lili Gentle and Tommy Sands in L'idole qui chante (1958)
    L'idole qui chante
    6.2
    • writer
    • 1958
  • Jack Lemmon and June Allyson in L'extravagante héritière (1956)
    L'extravagante héritière
    5.9
    • Writer
    • 1956
  • Le choix de... (1955)
    Le choix de...
    7.1
    TV Series
    • written by
    • 1956
  • Kraft Television Theatre (1947)
    The United States Steel Hour
    7.8
    TV Series
    • story
    • 1955
  • Les femmes mènent le monde (1954)
    Les femmes mènent le monde
    6.9
    • Writer
    • 1954
  • Un grand séducteur (1952)
    Un grand séducteur
    6.6
    • screenplay
    • 1952
  • Gloria DeHaven, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Greer, William Lundigan, and David Wayne in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952)
    Down Among the Sheltering Palms
    5.5
    • screenplay
    • 1952
  • Adele Jergens, Robert Merrill, Dinah Shore, and Alan Young in Pourquoi croire à l'amour (1952)
    Pourquoi croire à l'amour
    5.2
    • Writer
    • 1952
  • Coup de foudre (1950)
    Coup de foudre
    5.7
    • screenplay
    • 1950

Director



  • Le choix de... (1955)
    Le choix de...
    7.1
    TV Series
    • Director
    • 1956
  • Bob Hope, Arlene Dahl, Rosemary Clooney, and Tony Martin in Il y aura toujours des femmes (1953)
    Il y aura toujours des femmes
    5.8
    • Director
    • 1953
  • Un grand séducteur (1952)
    Un grand séducteur
    6.6
    • Director
    • 1952
  • Adele Jergens, Robert Merrill, Dinah Shore, and Alan Young in Pourquoi croire à l'amour (1952)
    Pourquoi croire à l'amour
    5.2
    • Director
    • 1952
  • Victor Mature and Ann Sheridan in Stella (1950)
    Stella
    6.6
    • Director
    • 1950
  • Mother Didn't Tell Me (1950)
    Mother Didn't Tell Me
    5.7
    • Director
    • 1950
  • Claudette Colbert, Jimmy Hunt, Fred MacMurray, Peter Miles, and Gigi Perreau in Ma femme et ses enfants (1948)
    Ma femme et ses enfants
    6.3
    • Director
    • 1948
  • Susan Hayward, Robert Montgomery, and John Payne in The Saxon Charm (1948)
    The Saxon Charm
    6.6
    • Director
    • 1948

Script and Continuity Department



  • Blythe Danner and Madeline Kahn in Adam's Rib (1973)
    Adam's Rib
    7.5
    TV Series
    • script consultant
    • 1973

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Capt. Claude Binyon
  • Born
    • October 17, 1905
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • Died
    • February 14, 1978
    • Glendale, California, USA(heart ailment)
  • Spouse
    • Florence Binyon? - 1978 (his death, 2 children)

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    While with Variety in 1929, he wrote the famous headline about the stock market crash: "Wall Street Lays an Egg."

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