William Rose

William Rose

1914-12-12 Jefferson City, Missouri, USA 23 Credits

Biography

William Rose was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, USA, and travelled to Canada at the outbreak of World War II, while the US was still neutral, in order to join up and fight the Nazis. This took him to Britain, where he decided to stay after the war.   He spent his demobilisation money on a course in screenwriting, and then became a writer of British and American comedies such as Ladykillers, Genevieve, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, and The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, as wel...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Dhamaal

Dhamaal

2007

Original Story

6.7
Writing

Four friends meet an underworld don who, on his deathbed, clues them in on hidden treasure buried in Goa. The group race towards Goa, not knowing that...

Rat Race

Rat Race

2001

Original Story

6.3
Writing

In an ensemble film about easy money, greed, manipulation and bad driving, a Las Vegas casino tycoon entertains his wealthiest high rollers -- a group...

Made In Ealing: The Story of Ealing Studios

Made In Ealing: The Story of Ealing Studios

1986

as Interviewee

5.0
Acting

Documentary about the British film studio. First appeared on the BBC television programme Omnibus.

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks

Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks

1974

Screenplay

4.1
Writing

Mad Dr Frankenstein recruits an evil dwarf, a Neanderthal man, and others to help him put a brain in the body of a brute.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1970

Screenplay

6.9
Writing

During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

1967

Writer

7.6
Writing

A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé who is black.

The Flim-Flam Man

The Flim-Flam Man

1967

Screenplay

7.0
Writing

Mordecai Jones, a silver-tongued swindler and self-proclaimed “M.B.S., C.S., D.D.—Master of Back-Stabbing, Cork-Screwing and Double-Dealing,” has made...

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!

1966

Screenplay

6.4
Writing

When a Soviet submarine gets stuck on a sandbar off the coast of a New England island, its commander orders his second-in-command, Lieutenant Rozanov,...

Island Splendor

1966

Writer

Writing
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

1963

Screenplay, Story

7.0
Writing

A group of strangers come across a man dying after a car crash who proceeds to tell them about the $350,000 he buried in California. What follows is t...

Davy

Davy

1958

Screenplay

5.0
Writing

The Mad Morgans are a family song and dance act touring the British Music Halls. Young Davy is the star of the act but should he stay with his family ...

The Smallest Show on Earth

The Smallest Show on Earth

1957

Screenplay

6.6
Writing

Jean and Bill are a married couple trying to scrape a living. Out of the blue they receive a telegram informing them Bill's long-lost uncle has died a...

The Man in the Sky

The Man in the Sky

1957

Screenplay, Story

7.1
Writing

The efforts of test pilot John Mitchell to make a better life for his wife Mary and their two children seem doomed to failure and he blames himself. A...

The Ladykillers

The Ladykillers

1955

Screenplay, Story

7.3
Writing

Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicia...

Touch and Go

Touch and Go

1955

Screenplay

6.3
Writing

When Jim Fletcher is told by his firm that his new furniture designs are not in keeping with the firm's image he threatens to resign, and decides to u...

The 'Maggie'

The 'Maggie'

1954

Screenplay

6.2
Writing

The poor, elderly—and the wily, when it comes to parting those who can afford it from their money—Scottish skipper of a broken-down old 'puffer' boat ...

Genevieve

Genevieve

1953

Story, Screenplay

6.6
Writing

Two friends driving in the London to Brighton vintage car rally bet on which of them will be the first to arrive back home.

Gift Horse

Gift Horse

1952

Adaptation

6.6

Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The Ballantrae and her crew from the time they come together in 19...

Song of Paris

Song of Paris

1952

Story

5.5
Writing

An archetypal Englishman returns from a jaunt abroad to face a dastardly foreign count in a screwball duel for the hand of a beautiful mademoiselle.

I'll Get You for This

I'll Get You for This

1951

Screenplay

6.8
Writing

Nick, an American gambler, arrives in San Paolo and falls in love with Colleen, an American tourist, after she loses all of her money at the casino. N...

My Daughter Joy

My Daughter Joy

1950

Screenplay

Writing

A financier plots to become the richest man in the world by marrying off his daughter to the son of an Arab sheik.

Once a Jolly Swagman

Once a Jolly Swagman

1949

Screenplay

5.4
Writing

A factory worker quits his job to become a motorcycle racer.

Esther Waters

Esther Waters

1948

Screenplay

5.9
Writing

Esther goes into service in Victorian England, only to be seduced by the sweet talking groom William, who then takes off with his employer's daughter....