Frances Doel
Frances Doelis a British writer and story editor, notable for her long association withRoger Corman.Doel was head of the script department atNew World Pictures;Jon Davisonsaid that at one stage Doel "wrote just about every first draft of every picture" at New World.[1]
Joe Dantesaid there was a theory that the two people most responsible for Corman's success wereCharles B. Griffithand Doel.Filminkmagazine stated "Doel’s actual script credits don’t do justice to her career – she surpasses Griffith as the most influential writer in Corman’s career."[2]
Corman met Doel when looking for an assistant in the mid-1960s. He contacted a tutor atOxford Universityand asked him who his finest student was; the tutor suggested Doel.[3]
Corman liked to recruit writers from the world of novels and short stories rather than movies and TV, and relied on Doel to make recommendations. She helped discoverJohn Sayles,being impressed by the latter's short stories and arranging for him to rewritePiranha.[4][5]Sayles observed, "I always thought of Frances as the opposite of the kid who’s supposed to be reading Chaucer, but inside the book he’s got a comic book. She had the comic book on the outside and was actually reading the Atlantic.”[6]
In the early 1980s, Doel worked atOrion Picturesas an executive.
She was married toClint Kimbrough.
Select credits
[edit]- Big Bad Mama(1974)
- Crazy Mama(1975) - story
- Deathsport(1978) - story
- Avalanche(1978) - story
- Raptor(2001)
- Dinocroc(2004)
- Supergator(2007)
- Dinoshark(2010)
References
[edit]- ^Chris Nashawaty,Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie,Abrams, 2013 p 130
- ^Vagg, Sephen (13 May 2024)."Top Ten Corman – Part Two: Top Ten Screenwriters".Filmink.
- ^Roger Corman & Jim Jerome,How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never lost a Dime,Muller, 1990 p 124
- ^Interview with John Sayles at The Hollywood Interview 2 March 2008accessed 11 June 2012
- ^'Interview with Frances Doel' atDerek Castle's 1982 Screenplay Sales Directoryreproduced inTemple of Schlock11 August 2001accessed 11 June 2012
- ^Nashawaty p 155