Seton I. Miller
Encyclopedia
Seton Ingersoll Miller was a Hollywood screenwriter
and producer
. During his career, he worked with many notable American film directors, such as Howard Hawks
and Michael Curtiz
.
genre, collaborating with Hawks and others on one of the most groundbreaking of such pictures, Scarface
(1932). At the time of the Production Code
's enforcement in 1934, Warner Bros.
called in Miller to supply the dialogue and storylines they needed to adapt their pre-Code
bad-guys to the new system. His scripts for G-Men
(1935) and Bullets or Ballots
(1936) successfully transformed big screen gangsters James Cagney
and Edward G. Robinson
, respectively, into crime-fighters. With Norman Reilly Raine
, Miller wrote the script for The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
. Often he adapted popular plays or novels, as with Graham Greene
's Ministry of Fear
for Fritz Lang
's 1944 film. He worked regularly in Hollywood until 1959, when he helped write the thriller The Last Mile, but then left the industry for more than a decade. In his seventies, he made a brief return, providing screenplays for a horror film
, A Knife for the Ladies, and for Disney's Pete's Dragon
.
His youngest daughter, Catherine Miller Spadoro, now resides on the east coast with her three children, Katherine Ann Spadoro, Emily Jasmine Spadoro and Michael Seton Spadoro.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. During his career, he worked with many notable American film directors, such as Howard Hawks
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era...
and Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
.
Career
A Yale graduate, Miller began writing stories for silent films in the late 1920s. In the 1930s, he tended toward the crimeCrime film
Crime films are films which focus on the lives of criminals. The stylistic approach to a crime film varies from realistic portrayals of real-life criminal figures, to the far-fetched evil doings of imaginary arch-villains. Criminal acts are almost always glorified in these movies.- Plays and films...
genre, collaborating with Hawks and others on one of the most groundbreaking of such pictures, Scarface
Scarface (1932 film)
Scarface is a 1932 American gangster film starring Paul Muni and George Raft, produced by Howard Hughes, directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson, and written by Ben Hecht based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail...
(1932). At the time of the Production Code
Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of the vast majority of United States motion pictures released by major studios from 1930 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the Hays Code, after Hollywood's chief censor of the...
's enforcement in 1934, Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
called in Miller to supply the dialogue and storylines they needed to adapt their pre-Code
Pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously...
bad-guys to the new system. His scripts for G-Men
G Men
G Men is a 1935 Warner Bros. crime film starring James Cagney and Ann Dvorak. It also marked Lloyd Nolan's film debut. According to Variety Magazine, it was one of the top-grossing films of 1935....
(1935) and Bullets or Ballots
Bullets or Ballots
Bullets or Ballots is a 1936 gangster film starring Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane and Humphrey Bogart. Robinson plays a police detective who infiltrates a crime gang.-Cast:*Edward G...
(1936) successfully transformed big screen gangsters James Cagney
James Cagney
James Francis Cagney, Jr. was an American actor, first on stage, then in film, where he had his greatest impact. Although he won acclaim and major awards for a wide variety of performances, he is best remembered for playing "tough guys." In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked him eighth...
and Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson
Edward G. Robinson was a Romanian-born American actor. A popular star during Hollywood's Golden Age, he is best remembered for his roles as gangsters, such as Rico in his star-making film Little Caesar and as Rocco in Key Largo...
, respectively, into crime-fighters. With Norman Reilly Raine
Norman Reilly Raine
Norman Reilly Raine was the creator of Tugboat Annie and a prolific screenwriter who won an Oscar for the screenplay of The Life of Emile Zola .-Early years:...
, Miller wrote the script for The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
. Often he adapted popular plays or novels, as with Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's Ministry of Fear
Ministry of Fear
Ministry of Fear is a 1944 film noir directed by Fritz Lang. Based on a novel by Graham Greene, the film tells the story of a man just released from a mental asylum who finds himself caught up in an international spy ring in London during the Blitz, pursued by foreign agents and incriminated for...
for Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's 1944 film. He worked regularly in Hollywood until 1959, when he helped write the thriller The Last Mile, but then left the industry for more than a decade. In his seventies, he made a brief return, providing screenplays for a horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
, A Knife for the Ladies, and for Disney's Pete's Dragon
Pete's Dragon
Pete's Dragon is a 1977 live-action/animated musical film from Walt Disney Productions and the first Disney film to be recorded in the Dolby Stereo sound system...
.
His youngest daughter, Catherine Miller Spadoro, now resides on the east coast with her three children, Katherine Ann Spadoro, Emily Jasmine Spadoro and Michael Seton Spadoro.
Awards
- He received an OscarAcademy Award for Writing Adapted ScreenplayThe Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
with Fred Niblo, Jr.Fred Niblo, Jr.Fred Niblo, Jr. was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. His career began in 1930 and lasted a little over twenty years. He died in Los Angeles, California, in February 1973, aged 70. Niblo, Jr. was the son of director Fred Niblo.- Awards :He was nominated with Seton I...
for their 1930 screen adaptation of Martin FlavinMartin FlavinMartin Archer Flavin was an American playwright and novelist.He was awarded the 1944 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Journey in the Dark.Flavin was born in San Francisco, California, and died in Carmel, California....
's play The Criminal CodeThe Criminal CodeThe Criminal Code is a Hollywood crime film, directed by Howard Hawks, based on a play by Martin Flavin with cinematic adaptation by screenwriters Seton I...
. - He received a second Academy Award in 1941 for the screenplay of Here Comes Mr. JordanHere Comes Mr. JordanHere Comes Mr. Jordan is a comedy film in which a boxer, mistakenly taken to Heaven before his time, is given a second chance back on Earth. It stars Robert Montgomery, Claude Rains and Evelyn Keyes. The movie was adapted by Sidney Buchman and Seton I. Miller from the play Heaven Can Wait by Harry...
.