Jay Presson Allen

Writing

Jay Presson Allen

Born 1922-03-03 · San Angelo, Texas, USA

Jay Presson Allen (March 3, 1922 – May 1, 2006) was an American screenwriter, television producer and novelist. She was one of few women making a living as a screenwriter at a time when women were a rarity in the profession. She was born as Jacqueline Presson, the only child of Willie Mae, a buyer, and Albert Jack Presson, a department store merchant. She wrote the screenplay for Lord of the Flies (1990) under the pseudonym Sara Schiff.

Acting credits

The Celluloid Closet poster
7.2

Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.

The Celluloid Closet

1996

Rescued from the Closet poster
6.5

Rescued from the Closet is a 2001 documentary consisting of interviews originally recorded for the 1995 film The Celluloid Closet. It explores the history and impact of LGBT representation in cinema, providing insights into the portrayal and evolution of LGBT characters and themes within the film industry.

Rescued from the Closet

2001

Prince of the City: The Real Story poster
NR

The true story behind the Prince of the City.

Prince of the City: The Real Story

2007

Screenwriters on Screenwriting poster
NR

This documentary premiered at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Explore the challenging world of the screenwriter with renowned industry writers.

Screenwriters on Screenwriting

2008

The Trouble with 'Marnie' poster
7.8

This hour long documentary on the making of Alfred Hitchcock's "Marnie" incorporates the usual melange of contemporary interviews with surviving participants and liberal helpings of film clips and production shots. It also presents a nice selection of script pages and memos as well. In the former category we find cast members 'Tippi' Hedren, Diane Baker, and Louise Latham, rejected screenwriters Joseph Stefano and Evan Hunter, final screenwriter Jay Presson Allen, daughter Pat Hitchcock O'Connell, production designer Robert Boyle, makeup artist Howard Smit, unit manager Hilton Green, Hitchcock historian Robin Wood, composer Bernard Herrmann biographer Steven C. Smith, and Hitchcock fan/filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. An entertaining account of the film's production, the participants offer loads of valuable information and anecdotes. Highly enjoyable for Hitchcock fans and the film's growing number of admirers.

The Trouble with 'Marnie'

2000

Behind the camera

Marnie poster
7.1

Marnie is a beautiful but emotionally withdrawn thief, stealing from employers before disappearing under new identities. When her new boss, Mark Rutland, discovers her secret, his fascination turns to obsession, and he blackmails her into marriage, convinced he can cure her. But as he probes deeper into Marnie’s fractured mind, long-buried fears and compulsions begin to surface.

Marnie

1964

Funny Lady poster
5.3

Famous singer Fanny Brice has divorced her first husband Nicky Arnstein. During the Great Depression she has trouble finding work as an artist, but meets Billy Rose, a newcomer who writes lyrics and owns a nightclub.

Funny Lady

1975

Cabaret poster
7.4

Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles and an impish emcee sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force.

Cabaret

1972

Lord of the Flies poster
6.4

When their plane crashes, 25 schoolboys find themselves trapped on a tropical island, miles from civilization.

Lord of the Flies

1990

Deathtrap poster
6.7

A Broadway playwright puts murder in his plan to take credit for a student's script.

Deathtrap

1982

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie poster
6.9

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

1969

Prince of the City poster
7.0

New York City detective Daniel Ciello agrees to help the United States Department of Justice eliminate corruption in the police department, as long as he will not have to turn in any close friends. In doing so, Ciello uncovers a conspiracy within the force to smuggle drugs to street informants.

Prince of the City

1981

40 Carats poster
5.7

After an overnight fling with a man nearly 20 years her junior while vacationing in Greece, Ann Stanley returns to New York assuming she'll never see Peter Latham again. Until, that is, he shows up on her doorstep to take her daughter to a party. Despite her yearning for Peter and the encouragement of her friends and family, Ann initially rebuffs him when he pursues her, but slowly she yields to his charm and her own stifled emotions.

40 Carats

1973

Just Tell Me What You Want poster
4.6

A television producer woman tries to let down her overbearing boyfriend who is her boss. She wants to marry with a young writer.

Just Tell Me What You Want

1980

Just Tell Me What You Want poster
4.6

A television producer woman tries to let down her overbearing boyfriend who is her boss. She wants to marry with a young writer.

Just Tell Me What You Want

1980

Travels with My Aunt poster
6.0

At his mother's funeral, stuffy bank clerk Henry Pulling meets his Aunt Augusta, an elderly eccentric with more-than-shady dealings who pulls him along on a whirlwind adventure as she attempts to rescue an old lover.

Travels with My Aunt

1972

The Borrowers poster
6.4

An eight-year-old boy discovers a family of tiny people, only a few inches tall, living beneath the floorboards of a Victorian country home.

The Borrowers

1973