Harry Brown is an author of poetry, fiction, and drama, but he is probably best known for his twenty screenplays. Most of Brown's screenplays are adaptations, and he tended to work close to his literary sources. No dominant subject, style, or theme marks Brown's body of work because his choice of materials, approaches, and ideas was eclectic. Brown seems to be a literary figure captivated by Hollywood; he came to movies from literature, and after making a reasonable living he went back to fiction writing. He occasionally succumbed to the pressure of the Hollywood system, involving himself with weak properties. As a result, his screenwriting is uneven in terms of artistic quality and commercial success. Nonetheless, Harry Brown has produced several fine works for the screen.

Harry Peter McNab Brown was born in Portland, Maine, the son of Harry McNab and Bessie Hiles Brown. He attended Harvard University...