Films written by Francis Durbridge.

As well as the theatre Francis Durbridge was interested in the cinema and a number of his works were made into feature films often with him contributing to the scripts written by others. There were also two unauthorised films produced in Germany by unscrupulous producers who attempted to cash in on his enormous popularity in that market, particularly surrounding the Tim Fraser serials.

The Paul Temple films are to be found on the Paul Temple films page. Other films based upon his work are:

• The Broken Horseshoe (1953) based upon the television serial of the same title starring Robert Beatty, produced by Ernest G. Roy and directed by Martyn C. Webster for Butchers/Nettlefold Films.
• Operation Diplomat (1953) based on the television serial of the same title starring Patricia Dainton, Sydney Taffler and Anton Diffring and produced by Ernest G. Roy and directed by John Guillermin for Butchers/Nettlefold Films.
• The Teckman Mystery (1954) based upon the television serial The Teckman Biography starring Margaret Leighton, Roland Culver and Michael Medwin, produced by Josef Somlo and directed by Wendy Toye for Corona/British Lion Films.
• Portrait of Alison (1955) based upon the television serial of the same title starring Robert Beatty, produced by Frank Godwin and directed by Guy Green for Insignia/Anglo Amalgamated.
• The Vicious Circle (1957) based upon the television serial My Friend Charles starring John Mills, produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas for Romulus/Beaconsfield/Independent Film Distributors. The screenplay of this film is wholly credited to Francis Durbridge

In 1962 Francis Durbridge wrote a film treatment for Zakary an espionage thriller set in Japan between the Wars to be produced by the acclaimed film producer Dino De Laurentis (1919-2010) and directed by the well-known director Michael Anderson but sadly it never went into production.

Serials and Short Stories by Francis Durbridge.

Francis Durbridge was frequently asked by major UK newspapers to write short stories or serials. These were usually original stories that were not turned into radio or television serials. These include:

• Paul Temple’s White Christmas (1946) a short story published in the Radio Times.
• A Present for Paul (1946) a short story published in the Yorkshire Evening Post and the London Evening Standard.

In 1947 Francis Durbridge wrote 12 Paul Temple short stories which were published in the London Evening Standard between January and March.

[For a list of titles please see the drop down list below.]

Other longer pieces by Francis Durbridge include:

• Light-Fingers (1950) an eight-Page Paul Temple story in the Daily Mail Annual for Boys and Girls.
• A Present from Paul Temple (1951) a twelve-page story in the Daily Mail Annual for Boys and Girls.
• The Ventriloquist’s Doll (1952) an eight-page story in the Daily Mail Annual for Boys and Girls.
• Paul Temple and the Nightingale (1952) a three-page story in Late Extra - a Miscellany of ‘Evening News’ Writers, Artists and Photographers.
• The Nylon Murders (1953) a twelve-part serial published in the Sunday Dispatch.
• The Yellow Windmill (1954) an eleven-part serial published in the Sunday Dispatch.
• The Man Who Beat the Panel (1955) a six-part serial published in the TV Mirror.
• The Face of Carol West (1959) an eight-part serial published in The News of the World.