Gordon Wellesley

Gordon Wellesley Wong was born in Australia, of English and Chinese descent and was educated in London.{{cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/east-liverpool-review-jun-22-1932-p-12/|newspaper=East Liverpool Review|date=22 June 1932|page=12 |title=East Liverpool Review Archives, Jun 22, 1932, p. 12 }}According to a 1952 article, Wellesley was born in Sydney in 1906 and lived there until 1933 when he moved to Malaya. {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49478621 |title=This Week's Films |newspaper=Northern Standard |volume=7 |issue=332 |location=Northern Territory, Australia |date=31 October 1952 |access-date=1 January 2019 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} However considering he was regularly publishing stories in the 1920s, it is more likely his birthdate was earlier.

By 1923 his short stories such as A Lesson in Cocktails were appearing in magazines.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234291282 |title=A Lesson in Cocktails |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=5 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 March 1923 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}} A biography around this time called him "one of the best known commercial men in the Federated Malay states."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234290097 |title=THE BAIT |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=26 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=18 August 1923 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In 1931 he was living in Kuala Lumpur.Oriental Writer Here on Visit Los Angeles Times 19 Feb 1931: A5. (Another article says he was from Singapore.Visitor Studies Courts Here: Singapore Barrister Occupies Bench Los Angeles Times 16 Sep 1932: A5.) He was reportedly "a business man as well as a traveler, writer, explorer and official film producer for the Malayan government." A 1931 profile said he was educated at the University of London and had directed a Malayan picture called Black Sands "which created a lot of excitement in Europe".Sugar and Spice

Whitaker, Alma. Los Angeles Times 15 Mar 1931: B18

He travelled to Hollywood in 1931, when he was 36 years old. He sold the film rights to his novel, Pagan River to Universal. He also sold a story he wrote about the Sino-Japanese war called Shanghai Interlude which was going to be made by director John Ford and star Lew Ayres.

He was using the name "Wong Wellesley" around this time. He says he did this "because with a Chinese surname I might be expected to write nothing but Chinese stories."

Pagan River was filmed as Nagana (1933).{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181149576 |title=Entertainments |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=18 March 1933 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=11 (LATE CITY) |via=National Library of Australia}}Flashes from Studios New York Times 17 Apr 1932: X5.

Wellesley also worked on the script for Shanghai Madness (1933) made with Spencer Tracy.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118539086 |title=Entertainments |newspaper=Queensland Times |volume=LXXIV |issue=14,776 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=22 March 1934 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=10 (DAILY.) |via=National Library of Australia}} In July 1933 he left Los Angeles for London.News and Reviews of the Stage, Screen and Music; Gossip of Studio and the Theater Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 28 July 1933: 11.

He moved to Britain in 1933.Lunt (H.M. Inspector of Taxes) v Wellesley (1943-1947) 27 TC 78 https://library.croneri.co.uk/cch_uk/btc/27-tc-78 He wrote scripts for The Right to Live (1933) for Fox, and Over the Garden Wall (1934) for British International Pictures.

Wellesley wrote a series of films for Associated Talking Pictures, the forerunner of Ealing Studios: Love, Life and Laughter (1934) with Gracie Fields and Java Head (1934) with Anna May Wong directed by Thorold Dickinson; the latter had Carol Reed as assistant director. Wellesley wrote a second film for Fields, Sing As We Go (1934), directed by Basil Dean.

Also for Dean he wrote Lorna Doone (1934) and a third with Fields, Look Up and Laugh (1935).

He was loaned out to work on the script for Death Drives Through (1935), independently done at Ealing, then helped write a comedy, No Limit (1935) for a new star, George Formby.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32882723 |title=British Production Notes |newspaper=The West Australian |volume=51 |issue=15,298 |location=Western Australia |date=5 July 1935 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} It was a big hit and helped turn Formby into a movie star.{{cite book|title=The Age of the Dream Palace: Cinema and Society in 1930s Britain|first=Jeffrey |last=Richards|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6E-caLC4HZEC&dq=No+Limit+%281935+film%29+-fact+box+office+success&pg=PA198 198]|isbn=9781848851221}}

Wellesley worked on a biopic of Mozart for Dean, Whom the Gods Love (1936), with Margaret Kennedy, to whom he became close.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/constantnovelist00powe/page/197/mode/1up?q=%22Gordon+Wellesley%22|page=194|title= The constant novelist : a study of Margaret Kennedy 1896-1967|last=Powell|first= Violet|year=1983|publisher=Heinemann |isbn=9780434599516 }} He did another for Fields, Queen of Hearts (1936). Wellesley wrote Laburnum Grove (1936), directed by Carol Reed and produced by Dean.

Wellesley turned producer with The High Command (1937) for director Thorold Dickinson and Fanfare Films.Films of the Day: A Light Mixture

Campbell, George. The Bystander; London Vol. 135, Iss. 1755, (Aug 4, 1937): 192.

In early 1939 a short story of his was published, “Report on a Fugitive”.Report on a Fugitive: A Drama of the Secret Service

Gordon Wellesley. Britannia and Eve; London Vol. 18, Iss. 2, (Feb 1939): 49, 48, 50-51, 110, 112-114. It was bought by 20th Century Fox who turned it into Night Train to Munich (1940), directed by Reed and written by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. The film was very successful in the UK and the US. In February 1942, Wellesley earned an Oscar nomination for his story for Night Train. It was the only nomination given to a British film that year.Citations Listed for Film Awards: Selection of 10 Best Pictures Among 50 Nominations Made by Academy Presentations On Feb. 26 Bette Davis Receives Mention Again -- Screen Writers and Directors Honored

New York Times 09 Feb 1942: 18.

Wellesley did some uncredited work on the script Sailors Three (1940) for Ealing. He also helped write Freedom Radio (1941), Atlantic Ferry (1941), and This Was Paris (1942). In 1941 a script was being prepared based on a story of his, Lisbon Clipper.Screen News Here and in Hollywood by Douglas W. Churchill New York Times 3 Oct 1941: 27.

He wrote two films for Walter Forde at Warners, Flying Fortress (1942) and The Peterville Diamond (1942).

Wellesley turned director with The Silver Fleet (1942), a film whose storyline was based on a suggestion of President Roosevelt. He wrote and directed it in tandem with Vernon Sewell, replacing Clive Brook, and the film was produced by Powell and Pressburger."The Silver Fleet": The Film Roosevelt Suggested to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands The Tatler and Bystander; London Vol. 165, Iss. 2151, (Sep 16, 1942): 365. According to Sewell Wellesley "wanted to be a director and I said ‘No, co-director out! I won't have it. Only one director.’ So anyway, he had his name put on with me as 'written and directed by' but he wrote the script, he had nothing to do with doing direction in the movie at all."{{cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/vernon-sewell|website=British Entertainment History Project|title=Vernon Sewell| date=8 July 1994|first=Roy|last= Fowler}}

However Wellesley is credited as sole director on Rhythm Serenade (1943) with Vera Lynn.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26040849 |title=Authentic Basis For Home-Front Story |newspaper=The Mercury |volume=CLX |issue=23,084 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=25 November 1944 |access-date=8 January 2019 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Wellesley returned to working just as a writer: The Shipbuilders (1943) and Mr. Emmanuel (1944). A story A Bed in Paradise was discussed as possibly being filmed by Launder and Gilliat in 1947.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/KineWeeklyStudioReview/page/91/mode/1up?q=%22Gordon+Wellesley%22|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|title=Individual Pictures|date=18 December 1947|page=91}} He worked as story editor for Rank and wrote The Lost People (1949), and The Reluctant Widow (1950) (which he also produced). He ran a program for younger writers including William Rose at Denham Studios.{{Cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/default/files/BEHP%200143%20T%20Sidney%20Gilliat%20Transcript.pdf|website=British Entertainment History Project|date=15 May 1990|title=Interview with Sidney Gilliat| first1=Roy|last1= Fowler|first2=Taffy|last2= Haines|pages=102–103}}

He wrote episodes of Douglas Fairbanks Presents as well as the features The Green Scarf (1954) and The March Hare (1956)

Most of his later work was for TV: The Gay Cavalier, White Hunter, The Young Jacobites, International Detective, Sir Francis Drake and Beware of the Dog. He still wrote features such as The Malpas Mystery (1960), Passport to China (1961) (for Hammer), Dead Man's Evidence (1962), and Doomsday at Eleven (1962).

In 1967 he was awarded a Writers Guild Award for distinguished service.{{cite web | url=https://writersguild.org.uk/writers-guild-awards-1967/ | title=Writers' Guild Awards 1967 }}

• Nagana (1933) - writer of original novel
• Shanghai Madness (1933) - writer
• The Right to Live (1933) - writer
• Love, Life and Laughter (1934) - writer
• Over the Garden Wall (1934) - writer
• Java Head (1934) - writer
• Sing As We Go (1934) - script editor
• Lorna Doone (1934) - writer
• Look Up and Laugh (1935) - scenario editor
• Death Drives Through (1935) - scenario editor
• No Limit (1935) - scenario editor
• Whom the Gods Love (1936) - writer
• Queen of Hearts (1936) - scenario editor
• Laburnum Grove (1936) - scenario editor
• The High Command (1936) - producer{{cite web|title=The High Command|url=http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/node/4525|work=Colonial Film: Moving Pictures of the British Empire|access-date=8 April 2013}}
• Night Train to Munich (1940) - original story
• Three Cockeyed Sailors (1940) - uncredited contribution to story
• Freedom Radio (1941) aka A Voice in the Night - story
• Atlantic Ferry (1941) - writer
• This Was Paris (1942) - story
• Flying Fortress (1942) - writer
• The Peterville Diamond (1942) - writer
• The Silver Fleet (1943) - co-director, writer
• Rhythm Serenade (1943) aka I Love to SingBritish Studio Gossip Nepean, Edith. Picture Show; London Vol. 47, Iss. 1209, (Apr 24, 1943): 4.- director
• The Shipbuilders (1943) - writer, dialogue editor
• Mr. Emmanuel (1944) - writer
• The Lost People (1949) - producer
• The Reluctant Widow (1950) - writer, producer
• Rheingold Theatre (1953) (TV series) - episode "The Heel" - writer
• The Green Scarf (1954) - writer
• The March Hare (1956) - writer
• The Gay Cavalier (1956–57) (TV series) - writer
• White Hunter (1957) (TV series) - writer
• The Young Jacobites (1960) - writer
• International Detective (1960) (TV series) - writer
• Passport to China (1961) - writer
• Dead Man's Evidence (1962) - script supervisor
• Sir Francis Drake (1962) (TV series) - writer
• Doomsday at Eleven (1962) - director
• Beware of the Dog (1964) (TV series) - writer
• Trouble with Junia (1967) (short) - director
• The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1967) (TV series) - writer - episode "The Malpas Mystery"

• ”A Lesson in Cocktails” (1923) - magazine story{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234291282 |title=A Lesson in Cocktails |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=5 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 March 1923 |access-date=1 January 2019 |page=25 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• The Bait (1923) - magazine serial{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234290097 |title=THE BAIT |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=26 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=18 August 1923 |access-date=1 January 2019 |page=21 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• ”Anything Might Happen” (1923) - magazine story{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234288503 |title=Anything Might Happen |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=36 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 October 1923 |access-date=1 January 2019 |page=23 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• ”The Proper Thing” (1923) - magazine story{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234287736 |title=The Proper Thing |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=V |issue=42 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=8 December 1923 |access-date=1 January 2019 |page=27 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• Pagan River (1931) - magazine serial
• ”Report on a Fugitive: A Drama of the Secret Service” (1939) - magazine story
• ”Lisbon Clipper” (1941) - magazine story.Screen News Here and in Hollywood New York Times 3 Oct 1941: 27.
• The Silver Fleet: The Story of the Film Put Into Narrative (1943) - book
• Sec and the Occult (1973) - book

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• [http://bearalley.blogspot.com/2009/11/paperback-cover-cavalcade-6.html Biography of Gordon Wellesley]

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Category:Australian television writers

Category:Australian screenwriters

Category:1894 births

Category:1980 deaths

Category:Australian people of Chinese descent

Category:Australian people of English descent

Category:Australian emigrants to England

Category:Writers from Sydney

Category:Australian expatriates in the United States

Category:20th-century Australian screenwriters

Category:Australian male television writers