Early life Webb was born in
Denver in 1909 and graduated from
Stanford University in 1930. in 1936 and a screenwriter two years later.
Early screenplays Webb's early screenplays were written for
Republic Pictures. He did a series of films starring
Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane:
Nevada City (1941),
Bad Man of Deadwood (1941),
Jesse James at Bay (1941) and
South of Santa Fe (1942) with
Roy Rogers. He also did
Rags to Riches (1941) directed by Kane.
World War II Webb was commissioned an army officer in June 1942 and became a personal aide to General
Lloyd R. Fredendall who was commander of the
II Corps. Webb accompanied Fredendall to
England in October 1942 and participated in the invasion of
North Africa in November 1942 when the Second Corps captured the city of
Oran. The Second Corps then attacked eastward into
Tunisia. In February 1943 the German army launched a counterattack at
Kasserine Pass which repulsed the Second Corps and nearly broke through the Allied lines. The Supreme Commander
Dwight D. Eisenhower relieved Fredendall of command in March 1943 and sent him back to the United States where he became deputy commander of the
Second United States Army at
Memphis, Tennessee. Webb returned to the United States with Fredendall and later served in the
European Theater.
Post-war career Webb left the Army after the war and returned to
Hollywood, where he continued his work as a screenwriter. He returned to Republic for
California Firebrand (1948). In 1948 he sold a story to Universal,
Going, Going, Gone and was going to write the script but no film resulted. A story of his
Fugitive from Love, was filmed as
Woman in Hiding (1950).
Warner Bros Webb signed a contract for Warner Bros for whom he wrote the Westerns
Montana (1950) with
Errol Flynn,
Raton Pass (1951), and
The Big Trees (1952) with
Kirk Douglas. He also wrote
Close to My Heart (1951) based on his own novel,
Operation Secret (1952),
The Iron Mistress (1952) for
Alan Ladd,
The Charge at Feather River (1953) a 3-D film, and
Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954). Webb had a big hit with two films for Burt Lancaster and Robert Aldrich:
Apache (1954) and
Vera Cruz (1954). He wrote episodes of
The Millionaire and
Cheyenne and
Illegal (1955) with
Edward G. Robinson.
Post-Warner Bros Lancaster hired Webb to do
Trapeze (1956). He also wrote
The Big Country (1958) and
Pork Chop Hill (1959). Webb received critical acclaim for his screenplays for
Cape Fear (1962) and
How the West Was Won (1962). He won an
Academy Award for Best Story and Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for the latter.
Mirisch Brothers Less well received were
Kings of the Sun (1963) for the
Mirisch Brothers and
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) for John Ford. He wrote an early draft of
Chinese Finale that became
7 Women, Ford's last film, but Webb is not credited in the final movie. Webb wrote the English language version of
Guns for San Sebastian (1968) and did a script for
Patton. He did some historical epics:
Alfred the Great (1969), for MGM;
Sinful Davey (1969) for John Huston and the Mirisches; and
The Hawaiians (1970), for the Mirsches. His last credits were sequels to
In the Heat of the Night, both for the Mirsches:
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and
The Organization (1971). In March 1974 the American Writers Guild awarded him the Morgan Award for services to the guild. He died on September 27, 1974, and was buried in
Los Angeles National Cemetery. He was survived by a wife, a son and a daughter. == Partial filmography ==