W.P. LipscombFilmography

Robbery under Arms

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Peter Finch, Ronald Lewis, Laurence Naismith, Maureen Swanson, David McCallum

Synopsis: One of several feature film versions of the late 19th century novel by Rolf Boldrewood, this frontier adventure is set not in the Wild West of the U.S., but in the equally untamed Australian Outback of the same era. Two brothers, Jim (David McCallum) and Dick Marsten (Ronald Lewis) follow in their Read More

A Town Like Alice

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch, Marie Lohr, Renee Houston, Jean Anderson

Synopsis: A harrowing WWII drama that was a huge critical and commercial success in England, this British production was based on a novel by Nevil Shute. During the war, a group of prisoners, mostly women and children, are led by Japanese soldiers on a brutal march through Malaysia. Some die by the roadside Read More

Make Me an Offer

Crew: Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Peter Finch, Adrienne Corri, Rosalie Crutchley, Finlay Currie, Meier Tzelniker

Synopsis: While ethnic humor was pretty much avoided by Hollywood in the politically touchy 1950s, Great Britain continued to turn out comedies relying upon accents and gentle stereotypes for laughs. Make Me an Offer stars Peter Finch as a stylish antique dealer who covets a precious vase. Among the many Read More

His Excellency

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Eric Portman, Cecil Parker, Helen Cherry, Susan Stephen, Edward Chapman

Synopsis: In this British drama a veteran laborer rises above the turmoil of unionization to become the governor of Artista, an industrial island that finds itself further embroiled in a terrible fight over low pay and terrible working conditions. A strike ensues, but the new governor remembers what it Read More

Ivory Hunter

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Anthony Steel, Dinah Sheridan, Harold Warrender, Meredith Edwards, William Simons

Synopsis: Anthony Steel plays a humane British game warden who sets up an African wildlife preserve. Ivory poachers sign up for the preserve's safari tour in hopes of bagging a few pachyderms. Steel and his wife Dinah Sheridan foil the villains, whose leader (Harold Warrender) is shot by the police while Read More

Bitter Springs

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Tommy Trinder, Chips Rafferty, Gordon Jackson, Jean Blue, Charles "Bud" Tingwell

Synopsis: British comic actor Tommy Trinder and Australia's biggest film star Chips Rafferty teamed up for the 1950 film Bitter Springs. The plot is propelled along by Rafferty, who intrudes on the sacred hunting grounds of an aborigine tribe. Though tempers flare, everyone eventually buries the hatchet. Read More

The Mark of Cain

Crew: Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Sally Gray, Eric Portman, Patrick Holt, Dermot Walsh

Synopsis: In this costume drama, a woman finds herself the prize in a battle between two jealous brothers. Eventually she marries the suave one, but finds that he is most displeased by her inability to behave in a matter he deems appropriate for a woman of her station. The sad wife takes her troubles to the Read More

Beware of Pity

Crew: Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Lilli Palmer, Albert Lieven, Cedric Hardwicke, Gladys Cooper, Linden Travers

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Stefan Zweig, this is the story of a baroness who believes she has found love with an officer but discovers that his marriage proposal was not made for love but because of her physical handicap and his pity for her. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide Read More

Forever and a Day

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Brian Aherne, Merle Oberon, Ida Lupino, Gladys Cooper, C. Aubrey Smith, Claude Rains, Robert Cummings, Anna Neagle, Roland Young

Synopsis: The 80-star cast of Forever and a Day would certainly not have been feasible had not most of the actors and production people turned over their salaries to British war relief -- a point driven home during the lengthy opening credits by an unseen narrator. The true star of the film is a stately old Read More

Pacific Blackout

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Robert Preston, Philip Merivale, Eva Gabor, Louis Jean Heydt

Synopsis: Midnight Angel was the title of this Paramount actioner when it was first released in December of 1941. But by the time the film reached the hinterlands, America had entered WW2, and thus it was that Midnight Angel was rechristened Pacific Blackout, which remained its title to this very day. Read More

Moon over Burma

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Dorothy Lamour, Robert Preston, Preston S. Foster, Doris Nolan, Albert Basserman

Synopsis: Dorothy Lamour once again wraps a variety of alluring costumes around her hourglass frame in the Paramount bread-and-butter feature Moon Over Burma. Lamour is cast as Aria Dean, an American showgirl stranded in Rangoon. It doesn't take long before Aria becomes the romantic bone of contention Read More

The Sun Never Sets

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Basil Rathbone, Barbara O'Neil, Lionel Atwill, Virginia Field

Synopsis: In this patriotic British adventure, two courageous brothers try to keep war from erupting in Africa and stop a megalomaniacal arms baron from ruling the world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Pygmalion

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Wendy Hiller, Leslie Howard, Wilfred Lawson, Marie Lohr, Scott Sunderland

Synopsis: Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller star in Anthony Asquith's and Leslie Howard's classic version of George Bernard Shaw's satiric comedy. Henry Higgins (Howard) is an upper class phonetics professor who encounters low-class guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle (Hiller) and bets his friend Colonel Pickering (Scott Sunderland Read More

A Message to Garcia

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Wallace Beery, Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, Alan Hale, Herbert Mundin

Synopsis: The real "message to Garcia" was delivered by an American lieutenant to Cuban rebel General Garcia, asking for the General's help in the Spanish-American war. The fact that the lieutenant made his way to Garcia in absolute safety was ignored in 20th Century-Fox's Message to Garcia--which is just Read More

The Garden of Allah

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Basil Rathbone, C. Aubrey Smith, Joseph Schildkraut, Tilly Losch

Synopsis: Marlene Dietrich stars as the noble Domini Enfilden in this third film version of Robert Hichens' 1904 novel. After caring for her dying father, Domini is told by her Mother Superior (Lucille Watson) that she should go to the Algerian desert to rest and seek sanctuary. On her way to the town of Read More

Under Two Flags

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor McLaglen, Rosalind Russell, Gregory Ratoff

Synopsis: Two silent film versions preceded this 1936 Hollywood adaptation of the 19th century novel by the writer Ouida Bergere. It is set in Saharan Africa but was filmed in the Arizona desert. Ronald Colman is Corporal Victor, a man who has taken the rap for a crime committed by his younger brother. Read More

Troubled Waters

Crew: Screen Story

Synopsis: A British town, desperate to save its dying mineral spring water business, launches a bizarre conspiracy to attract badly needed attention for the town. They do so by claiming that a local man who died in an auto accident was a victim of murder. A government agent comes to investigate and learns Read More

Clive of India

Crew: Play Author, Screenwriter

Actors: Ronald Colman, Loretta Young, Colin Clive, Francis Lister, C. Aubrey Smith

Synopsis: Ronald Colman plays Robert Clive, a true-life 18th century Britisher who works up the ranks to become leader of Britain's military forces in India. Though produced on a superficially lavish scale, the film inexpensively sidesteps several of Clive's more famous battles with Indian insurrectionists Read More

The Ivory-Handled Gun

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Buck Jones, Charlotte Wynters, Walter Miller, Carl Stockdale, Frank Rice

Synopsis: In this Western, neighboring sheep farmers engage in a long-standing feud over that results in tragedy. The problem began when someone began stealing their livestock. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Ronald Colman, Elizabeth Allan, Edna May Oliver, Reginald Owen, Basil Rathbone

Synopsis: It is a tale known well, filmed many times over the years, but never better than this early black and white version from the MGM Studios, David O. Selznick producing. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"-- Charles Dickens juxtaposes England and France, George and Louis, tradition Read More

Les Miserables

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Fredric March, Charles Laughton, Cedric Hardwicke, Rochelle Hudson, John Beal, Marilyn Knowlden, Frances Drake

Synopsis: Richard Boleslawski directed this lavish adaptation of Victor Hugo's oft-filmed epic novel. Fredric March stars as Jean Valjean, who is hauled into prison for stealing a loaf of bread. After ten years at hard labor, he escapes from the merciless prison but the years have taken their toll and Read More

Cardinal Richelieu

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: George Arliss, Halliwell Hobbes, Edward Arnold, Katherine Alexander

Synopsis: Released generally as Cardinal Richelieu, this George Arliss vehicle was based on the popular 19th-century blank-verse play by Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Downplaying the more villainous aspects of the character, Arliss portrays Richelieu as a dry-witted foxy-grandpa type, manipulating the Read More

Me and Marlborough

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Tom Walls, Barry Mackay, Alfred Drayton, Iris Ashley

Synopsis: In this British comedy, the owner of a country pub finds her wedding night ruined when a man comes up and offers her husband a shilling. He accepts it, but discovers that it is really the Queen's bounty for enlistment and that the kindly man is the local recruiting officer. The bride decides she Read More

Loyalties

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Basil Rathbone, Heather Thatcher, Miles Mander, Joan Wyndham, Philip Strange

Synopsis: In this British drama, based on a popular play, a wealthy young Jew goes to a weekend house party and finds himself victimized by anti-Semitic guests. To add insult to injury, his wallet is then stolen. The fellow exposes the pilferer and threatens to take him to court until the other guests Read More

The Camels Are Coming

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this British comedy an officer in the Camel Corps pretends to be an Egyptian sheik so he can catch drug smugglers in action. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Colonel Blood

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this costume drama, Colonel Blood, a notorious Irish patriot/outlaw, tries to steal the British Crown Jewels. He is caught and taken before King Charles II. The king finds the rogue colonel so charming that he pardons him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Channel Crossing

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Matheson Lang, Constance Cummings, Anthony Bushell, Dorothy Dickson, Nigel Bruce, Edmund Gwenn

Synopsis: In this drama a rich banker loses his fortune in the stock market. His secretary's lover finds out that the banker has been using fake bonds to make a deal. The opportunistic young lout then begins threatening to blackmail the financier. In a panic, the banker tosses the extortionist overboard. Read More

The King of Paris

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Cedric Hardwicke, Marie Glory, Ralph Richardson, Phyllis Monkman, John Deverell

Synopsis: In this drama, a prominent playwright and thespian prides himself on his ability to take any woman and turn them into excellent actresses. He discovers a Russian girl whom he falls in love with. He convinces her to marry him, but when she meets his friend, she falls for him instead and leaves the Read More

I Was a Spy

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Madeleine Carroll, Conrad Veidt, Edmund Gwenn, Herbert Marshall, Donald Calthrop, Gerald du Maurier

Synopsis: This story of espionage in World War I is based on a true story. Marthe McKenna (Madeleine Carroll) is a nurse from Belgium who uses her beauty and charm to serve her native land during the war. McKenna is able to ferret out secret information from German officers and pass it along to Allied Read More

Night and Day

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Winifred Shotter, Francis Lister, Peter Gawthorne

Synopsis: In this British comedy, a clumsy young man must make do by joining the police force instead of Scotland Yard like his father, who thinks the boy is ill-suited to be a detective. His father may well be right, yet, somehow, the lad manages to stumble after some famed jewel thieves and redeem Read More

The Woman in Command

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Edward Everett Horton, Anthony Bushell, Dorothy Hyson, Frank Cellier, Bransby Williams

Synopsis: The Woman in Command in this well-appointed British musical is vaudeville star Maisie Marvello, played by Cicely Courtenedge. Born into a theatrical family that dates back to the 16th century, Maisie has every intention of carrying on the tradition into the 1930s, even though money is in short Read More

There Goes the Bride

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Jessie Matthews, Owen Nares, Carol Goodner, Jerry Verno, Charles Carson, Barbara Everest

Synopsis: In this comedy, a young woman rebels against her betrothal and runs away to Paris. While on the train she meets and falls for a handsome man. It is a tumultuous courtship, but in the end, romantic bliss ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Man from Toronto

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Frederick Kerr, Ian Hunter, Margaret Yarde, Lawrence Hanray

Synopsis: In this romance, two people who have never met will inherit a million dollars if they marry each other. Neither is thrilled with the prospect, and the woman, to meet him, impersonates his new maid. Soon they fall in love for real. A lawyer mediates. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Good Companions

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Jessie Matthews, Edmund Gwenn, John Gielgud, Mary Glynne, Max Miller, Percy Parsons

Synopsis: Based on a novel by J. B. Priestley, this British musical-comedy follows an unlikely trio as they try to revive the fortunes of a floundering touring theatrical troupe. Inigo Jolifant (John Gielgud) is a schoolteacher with a talent for songwriting, and Jess Oakroyd (Edmund Gwenn) is a man with Read More

A Night Like This

Crew: Screenwriter

Synopsis: In this farce, a playboy falls for a nightclub dancer who is being blackmailed by the club owner over a necklace she borrowed. The playboy and an Irish cop ensure that everything turns out OK. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide Read More

The Sign of Four

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Arthur Wontner, Isla Bevan, Ian Hunter, Gilbert Davis, Graham [Ben] Soutten

Synopsis: In this Sherlock Holmes mystery, the great detective and Dr. Watson help a young woman who has received a giant pearl from a mysterious man. The woman, to whom Watson is very attracted, is also searching for her father who has mysteriously disappeared. Holmes and the Dr. first go to the home of a Read More

The Chance of a Night-Time

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Winifred Shotter, Kenneth Kove, Ralph Lynn

Synopsis: Ralph Lynn (who also co-directed) plays a twittish lawyer whose prior engagements prevent him from attending his sweetheart's birthday party. Thanks to a series of unavoidable (and hilariously unbelievable) coincidences, Lynn ends up at a dance hall with a woman he barely knows. The problem: How Read More

French Leave

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Madeleine Carroll, Sydney Howard, Arthur Chesney, Haddon Mason, Henry Kendall

Synopsis: Madeleine Carroll plays a dual role "sort of" in the WWI comedy French Leave. When her husband Harry (Haddon Mason) marches off to the Front, Dorothy Glennister (Carroll) can't stand the idea of being separated from him. Sooooo, she sneaks into the French town where Harry is stationed and poses as Read More

The Speckled Band

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Lyn Harding, Angela Baddeley, Raymond Massey, Athole Stewart, Nancy Price

Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes and Watson solve the murder of a young woman in this mystery that features Raymond Massey in the title role. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Plunder

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Robertson Hare, Mary Brough, Winifred Shotter, Ralph Lynn

Synopsis: In this British farce, based on a popular play, one fellow joins another in an endeavor to steal his fiancee's jewels back from the housekeeper that bilked her into giving them away. They succeed. Later, the engaged fellow discovers that the housekeeper obtained the valued rocks by committing Read More

Mischief

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: James Carew, Winifred Shotter, Kenneth Kove, Jeanne Stuart

Synopsis: In this British comedy, a normally devoted wife begins entertaining thoughts about an affair. Her husband then goes on a Paris business trip, and she decides to go for it with her new male friend in a certain little cottage. Unfortunately, they are followed by her husband's pals. This leads to the Read More

Tilly of Bloomsbury

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Sydney Howard, Phyllis Konstam, Richard Bird, Edward Chapman, Ellis Jeffreys

Synopsis: In this British drawing room comedy, a wealthy socialite falls in love with a young woman from the lower class. Her mother owns a boarding house and at first, the socialite turns up his blue-blooded nose at them. But then he begins learning more about their lives and gradually changes his mind. He Read More

On Approval

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Tom Walls, Yvonne Arnaud, Edmund Breon, Winifred Shotter, Robertson Hare

Synopsis: Though not as well known as the 1944 remake (which was directed by its star, Clive Brook), this first adaptation of Frederick Lonsdale's stage comedy On Approval was a worthwhile production in its own right. Tom Walls (who, like Brook, also directed) stars as George, the impoverished Duke of Read More

One Embarrassing Night

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Ralph Lynn, Tom Walls, Winifred Shotter, Mary Brough, Robertson Hare

Synopsis: This comedy marks the first sound appearance of the "Aldwych farceurs" three actors known for performing adaptations of then popular playwright Ben Travers' "Aldwych farces." In this one, a young girl flees her home and cruel stepfather. She then is befriended by a married man. Complications Read More

The Great Game

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: John Batten, Renee Clama, Randle Ayrton, Neil Kenyon

Synopsis: The "Great Game" is football -- not the American brand, but the British version. The hero, Dicky Brown (John Batten), is the reserve forward on a championship team. Thanks to the urgings of Dicky's sweetheart Peggy Jackson (Renee Clama), whose father happens to be the team's manager, the young lad Read More

Splinters

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Lew Lake, Nelson Keys, Sydney Howard

Synopsis: In this British WW II comedy set in France, the bored Englishmen stationed there entertain themselves by putting on a vaudeville show. Many of the soldiers have great fun dressing up and performing as women. Just before the show ends, a battle erupts and they must fight. Some of them are still in Read More