Robert Benton

Writing

Robert Benton

Born 1932-09-29 · Waxahachie, Texas, USA

Robert Douglas Benton (September 29, 1932 - May 11, 2025) was an American screenwriter and film director. Benton was born in Waxahachie, Texas, the son of Dorothy (née Spaulding) and Ellery Douglass Benton, a telephone company employee. He attended the University of Texas and Columbia University. Benton has enjoyed a highly successful career in film, winning numerous prestigious awards for both writing and directing. He was also the art director at Esquire magazine in the early 1960s. In 2006, he appeared in the documentary Wanderlust, as did a number of other well-known people. Benton's family originally hailed from Northumberland in Great Britain, where the Bentons held a seat long before the Norman Conquest. Many family members settled in America, including Abigail and Isabel Benton, who settled in Virginia in 1642; George Benton, who settled in Barbados in 1669; and Robert Benton, who settled in Virginia in 1635. Benton was once a noble family, but they became commoners after the Norman invasion. Robert Benton still has relatives living in England who trace their origins to the seventeenth century. Other prominent Bentons include: Thomas Hart Benton and William Burnett Benton. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Benton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.​

Acting credits

Death Valley poster
5.7

A dance hall girl is murdered and her body robbed of a quantity of gold obtained illegally. The killer flees into Death Valley and encounters the rightful owner of the gold and her sweetheart.

Death Valley

1946

You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman poster
6.0

A 5-part documentary of the history of Superman in the movies. • Origin - Superman in the media and the challenges the Salkinds faced • Vision - Creating the right script, Choosing the right director and casting the right actors • Ascent - The production and launch of a new kind of fantasy film • Crisis - Complications and conflicts between the creative forces behind Superman II • Redemption - Criticisms and burnout of Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman

2006

Godard Made in USA poster
NR

Documentary by Luc Lagier exploring Godard's career as a filmmaker, the production of Breathless and his influence and his relationship with American cinema.

Godard Made in USA

2010

Finding the Truth: The Making of 'Kramer vs. Kramer' poster
5.0

A behind-the-scenes look at this Oscar-winning classic about a man who finds himself a single parent after his wife walks out on him, then is forced to fight for custody of his child in court. Includes interviews with the stars of the film, including Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, giving their views of what it was like to make this picture.

Finding the Truth: The Making of 'Kramer vs. Kramer'

2001

Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film poster
6.9

Produced for Turner Classic Movies, this documentary looks at the early days of the gangster film.

Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Film

2008

Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde' poster
4.6

The making-of documentary of Bonnie and Clyde.

Revolution! The Making of 'Bonnie and Clyde'

2008

Wanderlust poster
5.9

A look at the mystique of road movies, combining interviews, film clips, music, photography, literature and a narrative storyline featuring Paul Rudd and Tom McCarthy.

Wanderlust

2006

No artwork available
3.3

An intimate window into one of the great movements in film history that brought about an evolution in the art of cinema. The documentary portrays the movement with insight on the lives and works of Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and other principal players in the New Wave.

Cinéma! Cinéma! The French New Wave

1992

Behind the camera

Superman poster
7.2

Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

Superman

1978

Bonnie and Clyde poster
7.5

In the 1930s, bored waitress Bonnie Parker falls in love with an ex-con named Clyde Barrow, and together they start a violent crime spree throughout the country, stealing cars and robbing banks.

Bonnie and Clyde

1967

The Human Stain poster
6.0

Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.

The Human Stain

2003

Places in the Heart poster
7.2

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Places in the Heart

1984

Places in the Heart poster
7.2

In 1935 rural Texas, recently widowed Edna Spaulding struggles to survive with two small children, a farm to run, and very little money in the bank - not to mention a deadly tornado and the unwelcome presence of the Ku Klux Klan. Edna is aided by her beautician sister, Margaret; a blind boarder, Mr. Will; and a would-be thief, Moze, who decides to teach Edna how to plant and harvest cotton.

Places in the Heart

1984

Kramer vs. Kramer poster
7.6

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

Kramer vs. Kramer

1979

Kramer vs. Kramer poster
7.6

Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy.

Kramer vs. Kramer

1979

The Ice Harvest poster
5.9

A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.

The Ice Harvest

2005

Nobody's Fool poster
6.9

A rascally nearing-retirement man juggles a workers' compensation suit while secretly working for his nemesis and flirting with his nemesis' young wife. As his estranged son returns, he faces new family responsibilities, while a banker plots to evict him from his home.

Nobody's Fool

1994

Nobody's Fool poster
6.9

A rascally nearing-retirement man juggles a workers' compensation suit while secretly working for his nemesis and flirting with his nemesis' young wife. As his estranged son returns, he faces new family responsibilities, while a banker plots to evict him from his home.

Nobody's Fool

1994

Billy Bathgate poster
5.8

In the year 1935, a teen named Billy Bathgate finds first love while becoming the protégé of fledgling gangster Dutch Schultz.

Billy Bathgate

1991

What's Up, Doc? poster
7.4

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.

What's Up, Doc?

1972

Feast of Love poster
6.2

A meditation on love and its various incarnations, set within a community of friends in Oregon. It is described as an exploration of the magical, mysterious and sometimes painful incarnations of love.

Feast of Love

2007

Twilight poster
6.1

A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.

Twilight

1998

Twilight poster
6.1

A retired detective accepts a simple task, unaware that it will tear open old, forgotten, but deadly wounds.

Twilight

1998

Still of the Night poster
5.7

When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.

Still of the Night

1982

Still of the Night poster
5.7

When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.

Still of the Night

1982

There Was a Crooked Man... poster
6.8

A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

There Was a Crooked Man...

1970

Bad Company poster
6.4

After Drew Dixon, an upright young man, is sent west by his religious family to avoid being drafted into the Civil War, he drifts across the land with a loose confederation of young vagrants.

Bad Company

1972

Bad Company poster
6.4

After Drew Dixon, an upright young man, is sent west by his religious family to avoid being drafted into the Civil War, he drifts across the land with a loose confederation of young vagrants.

Bad Company

1972

The Late Show poster
6.3

An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.

The Late Show

1977

The Late Show poster
6.3

An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.

The Late Show

1977

Oh! Calcutta! poster
3.4

Based on the controversial off-Broadway musical comedy revue, "Oh! Calcutta!" is a series of musical numbers about sex and sexual mores. Most of the skits feature one or more performers in a state of undress, simulating sex, or both. The show sparked considerable controversy at the time because it featured extended scenes of total nudity, both male and female. The title is taken from a painting by Clovis Trouille, itself a pun on "O quel cul t'as!" French for "What an arse you have!".

Oh! Calcutta!

1972

Nadine poster
5.4

Hairdresser Nadine Hightower wants to retrieve the risqué photos she once posed for, but when she visits the photographer at his office, he's murdered by an intruder. Nadine talks her estranged husband, Vernon, into going along when she returns to the office, where they stumble across plans for a less than legal construction project. But when Vernon tries to turn the documents into a cash windfall, he and Nadine are pursued by goons with guns.

Nadine

1987