John Richard Briley^[1][2] (b. 25 August 1925^[1][2][3]) is an American writer best known for screenplays of biopics. He won the Academy Award For Best Original Screenplay at the 1982 Oscars for Gandhi.^[1][4] As well as film scripts, he has written for television and theatre, and published several novels.^[1]

[edit] Biography

Briley was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan,^[1][2][3] and served in the United States Air Force, 1943–46, reaching the rank of captain.^[1] At the University of Michigan, he gained a BA in 1950 and an MA in English 1951.^[1] He married Dorothy Louise Reichart in 1950, and they had four children.^[2] He worked in public relations for General Motors before rejoining the air force in 1955.^[1] He was posted to RAF Northolt airbase at South Ruislip near London, where he was director of orientation activities and started writing.^[1]

In 1960, he earned a PhD in Elizabethan drama from the University of Birmingham, left the air force and became a staff writer with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.^[1] He left MGM in 1964.^[1] He also had an uncredited part in the 1965 comedy Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious.^[1][5][3]

[edit] Gandhi

Briley's 1972 script for Pope Joan had attracted the interest of Richard Attenborough, although Attenborough was ultimately not involved in that project,^[6] and the film was critically panned.^[7] Several scripts for Attenborough's Gandhi project had been rejected, and Robert Bolt was scheduled to rewrite his own earlier draft when he suffered a stroke.^[6] Attenborough then turned to Briley.^[6] Briley shifted the focus of the narrative away from the point of view of the British colonists to that of the Indian independence movement.^[6] He originally opposed Ben Kingsley in the title role, favouring John Hurt, but was later glad that Attenborough had gone with Kingsley.^[6] Briley envisaged more emphasis on the relationship between Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, but Kingsley's towering performance came to dominate the finished film.^[6] Briley claims he and Attenborough were personally satisfied with the movie and unconcerned about any critical and commercial success.^[6] In the event, Briley's original screenplay won the Oscar and the Golden Globe.^[1][4][6] Attenborough later said of Briley, "He's a difficult bugger, a bit of a prima-donna, but the bastard's brilliant".^[8]

[edit] Later life

In 1985, Briley began developing a musical about Martin Luther King,^[9][10] writing the book and lyrics^[9] and acting as co-producer, originally for American Playhouse.^[10] He left the project in February 1989 after contract negotiations broke down.^[10] A different version opened in London in 1990. Briley attempted to obtain an injunction, claiming he had paid the King family $200,000 in personality rights.^[10]

In 1987, Briley again teamed up with Attenborough for Cry Freedom, about the South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko.^[8] Briley had disagreements with Donald Woods, the journalist whose books formed the basis of the script.^[8] Briley viewed the nonviolence of the Black Consciousness Movement as principled, whereas Woods felt it was a tactical decision.^[8] Although Woods feared Briley lacked an awareness of the complexities of political debate among black South Africans, those shown a preview of the film felt it was realistic.^[8]

In 1993, Briley switched agents from International Creative Management to the William Morris Agency.^[11] In 1998, he was a founding partner of "the Film Makers Company", a venture intended to encourage film production in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was planning to relocate to there.^[12] He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival in 2000.^[13]

[edit] Works

[edit] Film

[edit] Unproduced scripts

Unproduced scripts on which Briley worked include: adaptations of Henderson the Rain King,^[2][18] Mister God, This Is Anna,^[2] White Fang,^[2] and his own novel How Sleep the Brave;^[2] biopics of Franz Kafka,^[18] Genghis Khan — to have been directed by Shin Sang-ok,^[18] Tina Modotti (A Fragile Life),^[2][19] Beryl Markham (West with the Night), and Pope John Paul II;^[20] The Cross and the Crescent,^[1] about Francis of Assisi and the Crusades;^[21] and a miniseries about the Italian Renaissance.^[22] Briley's adaptation of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible was dropped when Miller's son Robert secured production rights; Arthur Miller himself wrote the screenplay for the 1996 film.^[23]

[edit] Other

[edit] References