Richard Connell was born in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York, the son of Richard Edward Connel Sr. (1857—1912) and Mary Miller Connel, He had an older sister and two younger sisters. His father was a reporter and editor of the local newspaper. Connell Sr. subsequently began his political career when he took the position of Police Commissioner in Poughkeepsie. In 1896, he was unsuccessful in a bid for the 55th United States Congress and failed again in 1898 and 1900 when he ran for the State assembly. He did become a delegate to the Democratic National Convention where he served in 1900 and 1904. Eventually Richard’s father won an election for the 62nd United States Congress in March 4, 1911 where he served until his death a year later on October 30, 1912. In 1912, he had been nominated as the Democratic candidate for reelection to the Sixty-third Congress.
It was while his father was editor of the Poughkeepsie News-Press that Richard Jr. started writing. He was only ten years old. He covered baseball games and was paid 10 cents a game for his stories. His love of baseball would later resurface in short stories like The Umps and Pitchers Are Peculiar. By the time he was 18 he had been made city editor of the paper and his pay had risen to a whopping $16 a week.
Richard went to Georgetown College for a year. In 1910, when his father was elected to the House of Representatives, Richard left college to become his father's secretary. Sadly, only two years later, in 1912, Richard Edward Connell Sr. died. Richard Sr. had spent a lifetime devoted to the region where he was born. As child he had attended St. Peter's Parochial School in Poughkeepsie and when he died he was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in Poughkeepsie. But his son, Richard Jr., would travel the world and leave Poughkeepsie far behind him.
Richard returned to college; this time to Harvard, where he became editor of The Harvard Lampoon and The Crimson. While writing for The Crimson he berated a New York newspaper editor who didn't take the criticism very well. The man sued the Harvard newspaper for libel. Connell graduated from Harvard in 1915 and went to work for the newspaper editor that had sued over his editorial.
While Connell was working as a reporter for the The New York American he received a better offer from the J. Walter Thompson Company and he left the newspaper business to write advertising copy. Even World War I couldn't keep Connell from writing. He enlisted and served with the 27th New York Division, where he became the editor of the camp newspaper, Gas Attack. His unit spent a year in France.
After the war he returned to writing ad copy for a short time. His experiences in advertising inspired many of his later short stories, such as Heart of a Sloganeer and Once a Sloganeer.
1919 Connell married Louise Herrick Fox. It was at this time that Connell sold his first short story and he left advertising for good. As a short story writer he was incredibly prolific. Connell claimed that he had written over 300 short stories, but I have only been able to account for about 200 of them. They are listed in the bibliography section of these pages. His stories were published in the top magazines of the day, such as The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's.
In 1920 the Connells moved to Paris. Later they moved to London.
In 1923 his story, A Friend of Napoleon, which had appeared in the June 30, 1923, issue of The Saturday Evening Post won the second annual O'Henry Memorial Prize.
In 1924 they went to visit California and ended up making it their permanent residence. Connell enjoyed gardening and deep sea fishing, so California was perfect for him. His wife became the Hollywood editor of the magazine You and Richard began to write screen plays for silent movies. Over the years he was under contract to United Artists, Paramount, Universal, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
In 1924 Connell's comedy, Trophic of Capricorn, was made into the movie East of Broadway. This was the story of a short Irishman, who wanted to join the police force, but didn't meet the height requirement. The police chief felt so sorry for the enthusiastic young man that he gave him a trial run. Needless to say, he became a big hero. Paul Schofield worked with Connell on the screen adaptation. This was the first in a long line of successful movie scripts that Connell wrote.
The year 1924 would be very good to Connell. His story, The Most Dangerous Game, which had been published in the January 19, 1924 edition of Collier's Magazine, won the O. Henry Memorial Prize. So for two years in a row Connell had won the top short story prize in the country. The Most Dangerous Game would become his most famous story and is considered one of the best in literature. There would be numerous film versions of it.
In 1925 Connell's story, A Little Bit of Broadway, which had been published as a four-part serial in Liberty Magazine, from September 6th to the 27th of 1924, was made into the movie, Bright Lights. It was the story of an awkward country boy who put on aires to win the heart of a big city girl only to find out that what the girl liked about him was his country ways.
In 1927 Connell's story, Isles of Romance, which had been published in the April 12, 1924 edition of The Saturday Evening Post, was made into the movie, No Place to Go, which was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starred Mary Astor. Mary desired a real he-man type and believed her boyfriend to be kind of a pantywaist but when they ended up stranded on a desert island the boyfriend saved her from cannibals and proved himself to be more than worthy of her, thus establishing Mary Astor as the most delicious dish of the 1920's.
1927 also saw the publication of Connell's first novel, The Mad Lover. It had been serialized in The Saturday Evening Post the previous year. The Mad Lover was the story of a millionaire who changed his ways when he fell in love with a poor girl.
In 1929 Connell's second novel, Murder At Sea, was published. It featured the consulting detective, Matthew Kelton, who also appeared in his short story, The Sting of the Wasp. In Murder At Sea a man was found murdered in the cabin of a ship bound for Bermuda but Kelton believed that the victim might have been murdered before the ship ever left New York.
1929 was also the year that the first talking picture based on a Richard Connell story appeared. New Years Eve was based on Connell's story, One Hundred Dollars. This time we had Mary Astor in a drama. She played a young lady down on her luck who fell into the hands of a gambler who found her just as scrumptious as the cannibals in the last movie did. While she was fending off his advances, the guy got bumped off and she ended up facing a murder rap. By now you've probably figured out that Connell wrote crowd-pleasers and guessed that the real murderer was caught and Mary went free.
Next came Connell's, Dark Streets, directed by Frank Lloyd, a crime drama about twin brothers on opposite sides of the law.
The story that had won Connell his first O'Henry Award, A Friend of Napoleon, came to the screen as Seven Faces, and starred Paul Muni. This was the charming story of the caretaker of a wax museum in Paris who was so upset when the museum closed for good that he stole a statue of Napoleon. Muni played seven different characters (all museum statues of famous people) and gave a tremendous performance.
In 1930 Connell's story, If I Was Alone With You, came to the screen as, Cheer Up and Smile. When a radio station was held up during a live broadcast, one of the culprits put a gun to Arthur Lake's head and ordered him to sing. Naturally, he became a singing sensation.
In 1932 Connell's most famous story, The Most Dangerous Game, came to the screen. It would be remade many times, but this was easily the best version. It was made at RKO studios by Willis O'Brien, who was also making King Kong at the same time. The same sets that were used for King Kong were used for The Most Dangerous Game, along with cast members, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Noble Johnson, and Steve Clemente. Joel McCrea played the hero and Leslie Banks played the evil General Zaroff. There was no 'love interest' in Connell's original story but Fay Wray was added because its always wise to throw a good-looking blonde into all movies. (It also put an end to those rumors about General Zaroff and his mute servant, Ivan, being gay lovers.)
In 1936 Connell helped to adapt Lynn Root and Harry Clork's broadway play, The Milky Way, for the screen. Comedian Harold Lloyd starred as the timid milkman who accidentally knocked out a champion boxer and ended up with a very unwanted reputation. Many consider this Lloyd's best comedy.
That same year Connell's story, F- Man, came to the screen. Jack Haley wanted to be a government agent and he became such a pest that he was given a chance. He ended up a big hero. The plot line is very similar to East of Broadway. We often find timid types proving their courage in Connell's stories.
Next Connell worked on a film based loosely on W.W. Jacobs' story, The Money Box. Jacobs is best know for his horror story, The Monkey's Paw, but he also wrote humor and The Money Box was well-written and hilarious. The movie version starred Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and, to make matters even more chaotic, their long-lost twin brothers are here also. While Stan and Ollie are straight-arrow, good-husband, pillar-of-the-community types, their long-lost twins are drunken, carousing, sailors. Naturally a few cases of mistaken identity occur. The movie was given the title, Our Relations, and was one of the funniest movies they ever made.
1936 also saw the publication of Connell's third novel, Playboy. Here we had Mike Van Dyke, heir to a large fortune, pretending to be an ordinary working stiff and going to work in one of the stores that his family owned in order to prove that he wasn't just a worthless blue blood.
In 1937 Richard Connell worked as a screenwriter on the comedy, Love On Toast. It dealt with a soda jerk who was awarded the title, 'Mr. Manhattan'.
Connell's novel, What Ho! was published in 1937. Here we had Ernest Bingley, a taxidermist from a small midwestern town, going to visit relatives that he was distantly related to at Bingley Castle in England. The daughter of the Earl of Bingley mistook him for an eccentric American millionaire and romance and adventure ensued.
In 1938 Connell adapted O. Henry's story, The Badge of Policeman O'Roon, for the Bing Crosby musical, Dr. Rhythm. Bing played a doctor who was helping out pal, Andy Devine, by posing as a cop.
In 1940 Connell's story, Brother Orchid, was filmed, starring Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart. This is one of my favorite films. When rival gangster, Bogart, had Robinson taken for a one-way ride, Robinson survived the attempt on his life and took refuge in a monastery. Eddy G. didn't take too well to the monastic life. When he was sent to milk the cows he added water to the milk so he won't have work so hard. He hired a local kid to do his gardening for him. But in the end he became a reformed man. Its pure schmaltz, but very enjoyable.
That same year he adapted George Beck's story, Hired Wife, for the screen. Brian Aherne played a businessman who, for financial reasons, had to put his business into someone else's name so he hired his secretary, Rosalind Russell, to play the part of his wife. Surprise! Surprise! The businessman actually fell in love with his secretary and they lived happily ever after.
In 1941 Connell adapted Phyllis Duganne's play, Nice Girl?, for the screen under the same title. Deanna Durbin played the sweet young innocent thing who got a bad reputation.
The same year Connell and Robert Presnell co-wrote the script for Frank Capra's movie, Meet John Doe. Here we had Barbara Stanwyck being fired from her job at a newspaper and in her last column before she left she included a letter from a 'John Doe' who said he was going to jump off the City Hall on Christmas Eve. The letter was pure fiction and there was no 'John Doe', but the ideas expressed in the letter moved the public to such a degree that the paper figured that they better come up with one. Gary Cooper was hired to the play the part. But once 'John Doe' became a public icon everybody wanted to manipulate him.
Connell and Presnell were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Story. The competition was tough. They were up against, The Lady Eve, Ball of Fire, Night Train, and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Unfortunately for Connell, Harry Segall won for Here Comes Mr. Jordan.
In 1942 Connell worked on Rio Rita. Originally, Rio Rita had been a Ziegfeld production on Broadway. In 1929 RKO made it into a movie starring the comedy team of Wheeler and Woolsey. The 1942 version starred Abbott and Costello and bore little resemblance to either the play or the first movie. Basically the boys were being chased by Nazi spies.
In 1943 Connell did the screenplay for, Presenting Lily Mars, a Judy Garland musical. Judy was the understudy for the star in a big broadway musical and when the star walked off and Judy got her chance the audience liked her better than the star of the show and she went on to fame and fortune. How's that for originality?
In 1944 Connell and Gladys Lehman co-wrote the screenplay, Two Girls and a Sailor. The movie had an all-star cast that included June Allyson, Gloria DeHaven, Van Johnson, Gracie Allen, Jimmy Durante, Lena Horne, Xavier Cugat, Harry James, Buster Keaton, and a young Ava Gardner, as a Rockette. To be honest, the plot wasn't much. It was one of those war time musicals that were ground out like hamburger. June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven talked millionaire, Van Johnson, into sponsoring a USO type showplace.
Rather amazingly Connell and Lehman were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screen Play. They were beaten by Lamar Trooti, who won for Wilson.
1945 brought us, Thrill of a Romance, where Van Johnson fell in love with a swimming instructor. In those days, whenever there was water involved, Esther Williams got the part.
Later that year, Connell did the screenplay for Her Highness and the Bellboy. Hedy Lamarr played a European princess who fell in love with a reporter and while that was happening a bellhop fell in love with her and then another girl fell in love with the bellhop and...Well, you get the picture.
It was in 1945 that RKO studios did the first remake of Connell's classic story, The Most Dangerous Game. Being war time, the villain was changed to a nazi. It was so low budget that the chase scenes from the original film were spliced in. This would be the first of several abusive re-births that the story would endure.
1946 saw more recycling when Connell's screenplay from 1936 for The Milky Way was used almost verbatim for the Danny Kaye comedy, The Kid From Brooklyn.
In 1948 Connell did his last screenplay, the musical, Luxury Liner, which may have in some ways inspired Gale Storm's later TV series, Oh, Susanna!, and the even later TV series, The Love Boat.
Connell died of a heart attack on Tuesday, November 22, 1949, in his home in Beverly Hills. But, even after his death, his work continued to reach the screen. His stories, The Unfamiliar, which originally appeared in The Century Magazine in September of 1923, and A New York Knight, which originally appeared in the April 21, 1923 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, were both done as episodes of the TV show, General Electrical Theater in 1953.
Also, in 1953, Joseph Marzano directed and starred in the second remake of The Most Dangerous Game which was simply titled, Dangerous Game.
Remake number three was, Run for the Sun. It was released in 1956 and starred Richard Widmark and Trevor Howard. This time the villain was a British traitor collaborating with the nazis.
Remake number four was, Bloodlust!. It was released in 1961. It starred Robert Reed, who would later play the dad on The Brady Bunch
Remake number five, Woman Hunt, offered somewhat of a change when hunters captured women and released them in the jungle so they could be hunted. John Ashley starred in this 1972 version. Probably enjoyable for people who think fox hunting should be outlawed - Women's rights advocates may look at it differently.
Remake number six was 1974's, Touch Me Not. Lee Remick was the hunted person here.
Just when you thought it couldn't possibly get worse, we had, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, in 1987, where female slaves escaped to a jungle covered planet and were hunted.
Remake number eight brought us up to more modern times in 1988 when mercenaries kidnaped people and hunted them in their training camp in Deadly Prey.
The women got the last laugh in remake number nine, 1990's, Lethal Woman, where rape victims bought an island, released their attackers, and hunted them down like dogs.
Wait! We're not done yet. We haven't hit rock bottom, but we will. How about a version starring rapper, Ice-T? That's what we got in remake number ten, Surviving the Game. Yes, in 1994, this epic offered us CIA agents that were hiring the homeless for hunting prey.
And there may be more. I am currently working on a screen play where Elmer Fudd captures Charleton Heston, releases him in the headquarters of The National Rifle Association and hunts him down. I'm having a little trouble getting the principle players to go along with it, but I still have hopes for it.
Several collections of Richard Connell's short stories were published, included Apes and Angels, Ironies, Variety, and The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon.
The following poem was found on a piece of paper in one of his autographed books -
"An author is a funny apeHis antics made the public gapeHe bares his soul - (As if it mattered!)And, great or small, loves to be flattered."
Richard ConnellGreen's Farm, Conn.October 24, 1927
