Rian James

Rian James (né Julian Herbert Rothschild; 3 October 1899 – 26 April 1953) was an American screenwriter and author. He wrote for 39 films between 1932 and 1947.

Career highlights

A "Jack of all trades", James was a columnist covering arts and entertainment for the Brooklyn Eagle from about 1928 to 1935. He later was a foreign correspondent, parachute jumper, stunt man, airmail pilot, Air Force lieutenant, vaudeville actor, and finally, writer, director and producer.

Selected works

• Dining in New York (2nd ed.), John Day Company (1931); OCLC 4422342
• Love is a Racket, Alfred H. King (1931); OCLC 2813381
• 42nd Street (screenplay); OCLC 25378334
• Helldorado

Selected filmography

As story writer

• Love Is a Racket (1932)
• Parachute Jumper (1933)
• Down Argentine Way (1940)
• Eve Knew Her Apples (1945)
• Dead Ringer (1964), from the story, La Otra

As screenwriter

• 42nd Street (1933)
• Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933)
• Lawyer Man (1933)
• Gift of Gab (1934)
• The Witness Chair (1936)
• Walking on Air (1936)
• Internes Can't Take Money (1937)
• The Housekeeper's Daughter (1939)
• The Gorilla (1939)
• Parachute Nurse (1942)
• Not a Ladies Man (1942)
• Whispering City (1947)
• La Forteresse (1947)

As adaptation writer

• The White Parade (1934)
• The Dragon Murder Case (1934)

Family history

Several biographical sources state that James was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. But he was actually born in Manhattan, New York, October 3, 1899, to Alexander Walter Rothschild and Sophie Nusbaum. James died at age 53, from Leukemia, in Newport Beach, California. He was survived by wife Anne James (née Marina Alexeieff Zeitlin, known as Anne Andre; born 1919), an English actress, and children, Rian Jeffrey James and Victoria James. James' mother was a sister-in-law of songwriter Albert Von Tilzer.

Prior marriages

• Dorothy Pauline Barmon (1902–1976), married March 31, 1921
• Goldie Jane H. Taub (born 1904), married April 28, 1924, Manhattan, New York
• Diane Corday, married May 5, 1930, divorced April 18, 1936