Norman Panama

Norman Panama (born April 21, 1914 in Chicago , Illinois , † January 13, 2003 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American screenwriter , film producer , film director and writer .

Live and act

Panama had met fellow student Melvin Frank while studying at the University of Chicago and with him wrote his first play ( Keep Off the Grass , performed on Broadway in 1940 ). In 1938 both friends went to Los Angeles, wrote manuscripts for numerous radio comedy shows and made their first contact with film in 1941 with the story of the Bob Hope fun play " Geliebte Spionin " (My Favorite Blonde). The following year, both men began working as screenwriters.

In 1950 Panama and Frank were given the first opportunity to direct. They began to film their own scripts, most successfully with turbulent stories with star comedian Danny Kaye ( The Laughing Bomb , White Christmas , The Court Jester ). In addition, Bob Hope in particular was the preferred star of the duo ( I will marry my wife , Such an Affair and under the sole direction of Norman Panama: The Way to Hong Kong ). Occasional excursions into the dramatic subject ( The Trap of Tula ) were far less successful. Norman Panamas / Melvin Frank's best-known play was Li'l Abner, which both men successfully staged on Broadway in the fall of 1956 and which Panama also staged for television.

After 1961, the two filmmakers went their separate ways. While Frank implemented amusing, tabloid comedies with punchy dialogues, Norman Panama remained largely inactive in the cinema. Instead, he directed television programs: Barnaby and Me, The Stewardesses, Mrs. Katz and Katz, How Come You Never See Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Together ?, Coffee, Tea or Me? . Norman Panama also wrote the novel The Glass Bed and the plays A Talent for Murder and The Bats of Portobello .

Panama was nominated for an Oscar three times : in 1947 for The Road to Utopia , 1955 for The Laughing Bomb and 1961 for Such an Affair .

Filmography (selection)

• 1950: The predator is going on (The Reformer and the Redhead)
• 1951: Strictly Dishonorable
• 1951: The Cowboy Who Was Twice (Callaway Went Thataway)
• 1952: The Final Decision (Above and Beyond)
• 1954: The Laughing Bomb (Knock on Wood)
• 1955: The Court Jester (The Court Jester)
• 1956: I'm Marrying My Wife (That Certain Feeling)
• 1959: The Trap
• 1962: The Road to Hong Kong (Road to Hong Kong)
• 1966: Stay away from my wife (Not with My Wife, You Don't)
• 1969: The Maltese Bippy
• 1969: How to Commit Marriage
• 1976: I want, I want ... maybe? (I Will, I Will ... for Now)

literature

• International Motion Picture Almanac 1965. New York 1964, p. 221

Web links

• Norman Panama in the Internet Movie Database (English)