Casey Robinson

Described by film critic Richard Corliss as "the master of the art -- or craft -- of adaptation," screenwriter Casey Robinson was the son of a Brigham Young University music/drama instructor. Graduating from Cornell at 19, Robinson briefly taught English before opting for a career in journalism. Through one of his newspaper contacts, he made his entree into films in 1927 as a title writer. He spent most of the 1930s and a portion of the early '40s at Warner Bros., where he scripted such memorable literary and theatrical adaptations as Captain Blood (1935), Four Daughters (1938), Dark Victory (1939), Now, Voyager (1941), and Kings Row (1942). Because he preferred to remain faithful to his source material (within time and censorial limits, of course), Robinson was much admired by the authors whose works he brought to the screen. He also preferred to receive sole screen credit, which is why he refused billing for such collaborative script-writing efforts as Casablanca (1942). After a sojourn at MGM in the mid-'40s, which left him unsatisfied because he felt that the studio had stagnated since the death of producer Irving Thalberg, Robinson entered into a more satisfactory arrangement with 20th Century Fox, where he spent the 1950s as a writer/producer. In addition to his aforementioned credits, he directed four short subjects in 1931-1932, one of which, Singapore Sue, featured an unbilled Cary Grant in his movie debut. He retired in 1962. Casey Robinson was at one time married to prima ballerina Tamara Toumanova. - Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide