Vernon Reginald Harris (26 February 1905 – 26 January 1999) was a British screenwriter. Harris was born in Folkestone. He worked extensively for radio at the BBC, notably on PC49 and Band Waggon.[1][2]
Life and career
Harris often worked with the film director Lewis Gilbert[3] who said:
[Harris] worked with me in some way on almost every film I did over nearly forty years. In those early days, we very often did the complete screenplay together. Vernon’s real strength was as a script editor. We would lay out the scenario together and we would then usually depend upon a dialogue writer to supply the dialogue.[4]
Harris was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for his script for film Oliver! (1968).[5] He died on 26 January 1999, aged 93.[6][7]
Credits
Screenwriter
- Play Up the Band (1935)
- Joy Ride (1935) – also story
- The Improper Duchess (1936)
- Tropical Trouble (1936)
- Band Waggon (1940) – also devised by
- The Adventures of PC 49 (1949) – based on radio series
- A Case for PC 49 (1951) – also based on radio series
- Emergency Call (1952) aka The Hundred Hour Hunt
- There Was a Young Lady (1953) – original story
- Cosh Boy (1953) aka The Slasher
- Albert R.N. (1953) aka Break to Freedom
- The Good Die Young (1954)
- The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1954)
- Reach for the Sky (1956) – additional scenes
- Three Men in a Boat (1956, joint nomination with Hubert Gregg for BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay)
- The Admirable Crichton (1957) aka Paradise Lagoon
- Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)[8]
- A Cry from the Streets (1958) (nomination for BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay)[9]
- Ferry to Hong Kong (1959)
- Light Up the Sky! (1960)
- Almost Angels (1962)
- Emergency (1962)
- Oliver! (1968 – 1969 nominee for Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay)
- Friends (1971)
- Paul and Michelle (1974)
As script editor
- The Adventurers (1970)
- Seven Nights in Japan (1976)
- The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
- Moonraker (1979)
- Educating Rita (1983)
Storyboard artist
- Shirley Valentine (1989)
Actor
- Joy Ride (1935)
- Show Flat (1936)
- Tropical Trouble (1936)
- Farewell Again (1937)
- The Claydon Treasure Mystery (1938)
- The Last Barricade (1938)
- The Gables Mystery (1938)
Radio Writer
- Band Waggon (1938–40)
- The Adventures of PC 49
References
- CRIME DOES PAY: --for Alan Stranks, the writer who created radio's famous characters P.-c. 49 and Flint of the Flying Squad Shirley Long, H W. Answers; London Vol. 122, Iss. 3164, (Dec 20, 1952): 6.
- "Vernon Gilbert Harris | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos". AllMovie.
- "Lewis Gilbert obituary: director who entertained Britain for decades | Sight & Sound". British Film Institute.
- McFarlane, Brian (1997). An autobiography of British cinema : as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it. p. 221.
- 'Friends' Together Again Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 7 Aug 1974: f16.
- "Vernon Reginald Harris b. 1905". GRO Index. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- "Vernon Reginald Harris". Probate Search. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
- Vagg, Stephen (21 June 2025). "Forgotten British Film Studios: The Rank Organisation Films of 1958". Filmink. Retrieved 21 June 2025.
- "Film in 1959 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.