John Michael Hayes, 1919 - 2008.

The screenwriter, who died on November 19 at age 89, had a remarkable career. The highlight was easily the four consecutive films he wrote for Alfred Hitchcock in the mid-1950s: Rear Window, The Trouble With Harry, To Catch A Thief and the remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much. This remarkable run led to a falling out with Hitchcock; in Hayes's words, "we parted because I was being too identified with him." Hayes would make out just fine on his own, receiving an Academy Award nomination for his adaptation of Grace Metalious's Peyton Place and writing the script for Butterfield 8.

Vince Keenan.

It was Mr Hayes's idea to add sly romantic banter - even a love interest at all - to Rear Window (1954), which he helped transform from a slender Cornell Woolrich short story into what many critics regard as a masterpiece of suspense.

Adam Bernstein, Washington Post.

On later films, such as Torn Curtain (1966) and Topaz (1969), where the scripts had run into trouble, Hitchcock's personal assistant, Peggy Robertson, suggested calling in Hayes. Not one to swallow his pride, Hitchcock ignored her advice.

The London Times.

See also: The site, the Wikipedia entry, Chris Wehner's 2002 interview for Screenwriter's Monthly and Charles LP Silet's assessment for Film Reference.

Posted by dwhudson at November 25, 2008 11:25 AM