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{{Short description|British screenwriter (1903–1962)}}
'''Angus MacPhail''' (born 8 April 1903, [[London]] – 22 April 1962) was an [[England|English]] [[screenwriter]], active from the late 1920s, who is best remembered for his work with [[Alfred Hitchcock]].
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{not to be confused with|Agnes MacPhail}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Angus MacPhail
| birth_date = 8 April 1903
| birth_place = [[London]], England, UK
| death_date = {{death date and age|1962|4|22|1903|4|8|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Sussex]], England, UK
| alma_mater = [[Westminster School]]<br />[[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
| genre = [[Screenwriting]], [[film]]
| occupation = [[Screenwriter]]
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
}}


'''Angus Roy MacPhail''' (8 April 1903 &ndash; 22 April 1962) was an [[England|English]] [[screenwriter]], active from the late 1920s. He is best remembered for his work with [[Alfred Hitchcock]].<ref name=screnonline>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/447569/index.html|title=Angus McPhail|work=Screenonline}}</ref>
He was educated at [[Westminster School]] and [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] where he studied English and edited ''[[Granta]]''. He first worked in the film business in 1926 writing [[subtitles]] for [[silent films]]. He then began writing his own scenarios for [[Gaumont British]] Studios and later [[Ealing Studios]] under Sir [[Michael Balcon]]. During [[World War II]] he made films for the [[Ministry of Information]].


==Early life and education==
One of Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite devices for driving the plots of his stories and creating suspense was what he called the '[[MacGuffin]]'. [[Donald Spoto]], the writer on Hitchcock, attributes the coining of the term to MacPhail.<ref>Donald Spoto ''The Life of Alfred Hitchcock: The Dark Side of Genius'' (1983) p.145</ref>
Son of merchant clerk Angus MacPhail and Fanny Maud (née Karlowa), he was born in [[Lewisham]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://the.hitchcock.zone/wiki/Angus_MacPhail|title = Angus MacPhail - the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki}}</ref> [[London]], and educated at [[Westminster School]] and [[Trinity Hall, Cambridge]] where he studied English and edited ''[[Granta]]''. At Cambridge, he was a close friend of fellow Old Westminsters [[Ivor Montagu]], later a filmmaker, who described MacPhail as "a red-haired and rather gauche Scot from Blackheath", and [[Arnold Haskell]], later a dance critic and headmaster of the [[Royal Ballet School]].<ref>The Youngest Son: Autobiographical Sketches, Ivor Montagu, Lawrence & Wishart, 1970, p. 225</ref><ref>Balletomane at Large: an autobiography, Arnold Haskell, Heinemann, 1972, p. 15</ref>


==References==
==Career==
He began to work in the film business in 1926, writing [[subtitles]] for [[silent films]]. He began writing his scenarios for [[Gaumont British]] Studios and later [[Ealing Studios]] under Sir [[Michael Balcon]]. During [[World War II]], he made films for the [[Ministry of Information (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Information]]. MacPhail wrote several screenplays for director [[Alfred Hitchcock]]. One of the latter's favourite devices for driving the plots of his stories and creating suspense was what he called the [[MacGuffin]]. His old friend Ivor Montagu, who worked with Hitchcock on several of his British films, attributes the coining of the term to MacPhail.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4e85e2047df93 |title=Working with Hitchcock |work=[[British Film Institute|BFI]] |author=Montagu, Ivor |publisher=[[Sight & Sound]] |volume=49 |date=1980 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027063009/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4e85e2047df93 |archivedate=27 October 2013 }}</ref>
{{Reflist}}


== Selected filmography ==
== Filmography ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Balaclava (film)|Balaclava]]'' (1928)
* ''[[A Light Woman (1928 film)|A Light Woman]]'' (1928)
* ''[[A South Sea Bubble]]'' (1928)
* ''[[The Return of the Rat]]'' (1929)
* ''[[The Crooked Billet]]'' (1929)
* ''[[The Wrecker (1929 film)|The Wrecker]]'' (1929)
*''[[Taxi for Two]]'' (1929)
*''[[Taxi for Two]]'' (1929)
* ''[[City of Play]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Their Son]]'' (1929)
* ''[[Symphony in Two Flats]]'' (1930)
* ''[[A Warm Corner]]'' (1930)
* ''[[The Sport of Kings (1931 film)|The Sport of Kings]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Third Time Lucky (1931 film)|Third Time Lucky]]'' (1931)
* ''[[The Ringer (1931 film)|The Ringer]]'' (1931)
* ''[[A Night in Montmartre]]'' (1931)
* ''[[The Man They Couldn't Arrest]]'' (1931)
*''[[Hindle Wakes (1931 film)|Hindle Wakes]]'' (1931)
*''[[Hindle Wakes (1931 film)|Hindle Wakes]]'' (1931)
*''[[The Ghost Train (1931 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1931)
*''[[The Ghost Train (1931 film)|The Ghost Train]]'' (1931)
* ''[[The Calendar (1931 film)|The Calendar]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Michael and Mary]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Sunshine Susie]]'' (1931)
* ''[[Love on Wheels (1932 film)|Love on Wheels]]'' (1932)
* ''[[Marry Me (1932 film)|Marry Me]]'' (1932)
* ''[[Lord Babs]]'' (1932)
* ''[[The Frightened Lady (1932 film)|The Frightened Lady]]'' (1932)
* ''[[White Face]]'' (1932)
* ''[[The Faithful Heart (1932 film)|The Faithful Heart]]'' (1932)
* ''[[Love on Wheels (1932 film)|Love on Wheels]]'' (1932)
* ''[[A Cuckoo in the Nest (film)|A Cuckoo in the Nest]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Channel Crossing]]'' (1933)
*''[[The Good Companions (1933 film)|The Good Companions]]'' (1933)
*''[[The Good Companions (1933 film)|The Good Companions]]'' (1933)
*''[[The Foreman Went to France]]'' (1942)
*''[[I Was a Spy]]'' (1933)
*''[[Bon Voyage (1944 film)|Bon Voyage]]'' (1944)
* ''[[A Yank at Oxford]]'' (1938)
*''[[Aventure Malgache]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Kicking the Moon Around]]'' (1938)
*''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Trouble Brewing (1939 film)|Trouble Brewing]]'' (1939)
*''[[Whisky Galore! (film)|Whisky Galore!]]'' (1949)
* ''[[The Four Just Men (1939 film)|The Four Just Men]]'' (1939)
*''[[The Wrong Man]]'' (1956)
* ''[[Return to Yesterday]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Busman's Honeymoon (film)|Busman's Honeymoon]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Let George Do It!]]'' (1940)
* ''[[Saloon Bar]]'' (1940)
*''[[Sailors Three]]'' (1940)
* ''[[The Ghost of St. Michael's]]'' (1941)
* ''[[The Big Blockade]]'' (1942)
* ''[[The Black Sheep of Whitehall]]'' (1942)
* ''[[The Next of Kin]]'' (1942)
* ''[[The Foreman Went to France]]'' (1942)
* ''[[The Goose Steps Out]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Went the Day Well?]]'' (1942)
* ''[[Go to Blazes (1942 film)|Go to Blazes]]'' (1942, short)
* ''[[My Learned Friend]]'' (1943)
* ''[[Bon Voyage (1944 film)|Bon Voyage]]'' (1944, short)
* ''[[Aventure Malgache]]'' (1944, short)
* ''[[The Halfway House]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Fiddlers Three (1944 film)|Fiddlers Three]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Champagne Charlie (1944 film)|Champagne Charlie]]'' (1944)
* ''[[Dead of Night]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' (1945)
* ''[[The Captive Heart]]'' (1946)
* ''[[The Loves of Joanna Godden]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Frieda (film)|Frieda]]'' (1947)
* ''[[It Always Rains on Sunday]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore!]]'' (1949)
* ''[[Train of Events]]'' (1949)
* ''[[The Wrong Man]]'' (1956)
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*{{imdb name|id=0534191|name=Angus MacPhail}}
*{{IMDb name|id=0534191|name=Angus MacPhail}}
*{{screenonline name|id=447569|name=Angus MacPhail}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->

| NAME =Macphail, Angus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macphail, Angus Roy}}
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macphail, Angus}}
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1903 births]]
[[Category:1995 deaths]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English screenwriters]]
[[Category:English male screenwriters]]
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Lewisham]]
[[Category:20th-century English screenwriters]]

[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]

[[Category:People from Lewisham]]
{{UK-film-bio-stub}}

Latest revision as of 18:40, 24 November 2024

Not to be confused with Agnes MacPhail.
Angus MacPhail
Born8 April 1903
London, England, UK
Died22 April 1962(1962-04-22) (aged 59)
Sussex, England, UK
OccupationScreenwriter
NationalityEnglish
Alma materWestminster School
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
GenreScreenwriting, film

Angus Roy MacPhail (8 April 1903 – 22 April 1962) was an English screenwriter, active from the late 1920s. He is best remembered for his work with Alfred Hitchcock.[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Son of merchant clerk Angus MacPhail and Fanny Maud (née Karlowa), he was born in Lewisham,[2] London, and educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge where he studied English and edited Granta. At Cambridge, he was a close friend of fellow Old Westminsters Ivor Montagu, later a filmmaker, who described MacPhail as "a red-haired and rather gauche Scot from Blackheath", and Arnold Haskell, later a dance critic and headmaster of the Royal Ballet School.[3][4]

Career

[edit]

He began to work in the film business in 1926, writing subtitles for silent films. He began writing his scenarios for Gaumont British Studios and later Ealing Studios under Sir Michael Balcon. During World War II, he made films for the Ministry of Information. MacPhail wrote several screenplays for director Alfred Hitchcock. One of the latter's favourite devices for driving the plots of his stories and creating suspense was what he called the MacGuffin. His old friend Ivor Montagu, who worked with Hitchcock on several of his British films, attributes the coining of the term to MacPhail.[5]

Filmography

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Angus McPhail". Screenonline.
  2. ^ "Angus MacPhail - the Alfred Hitchcock Wiki".
  3. ^ The Youngest Son: Autobiographical Sketches, Ivor Montagu, Lawrence & Wishart, 1970, p. 225
  4. ^ Balletomane at Large: an autobiography, Arnold Haskell, Heinemann, 1972, p. 15
  5. ^ Montagu, Ivor (1980). "Working with Hitchcock". BFI. Sight & Sound. Archived from the original on 27 October 2013.
[edit]
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