Editing James Clavell (section)

===Early work on films===
Clavell entered the film industry via distribution and worked at that in England for a number of years. He tried to get into producing but had no luck, so he started writing screenplays. In 1954 he moved to New York, then to Hollywood. While trying to break into screenwriting, he paid the bills working as a carpenter.<ref name="james"/>

In 1956, he sold a script about pilots to [[RKO Pictures|RKO]], ''Far Alert''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=19 June 1956 |title=Drama: Marine Rescue Story to Star Arness; Stage, Screen Blend Efforts |work=Los Angeles Times |page=19}}</ref> The same year [[Michael Pate]] bought a story of his, ''Forbidden Territory'', for filming.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schallert |first=Edwin |date=9 October 1956 |title=Bon Voyage' Announced as Major Buy; 'Holiday in Monaco' Wald Film |work=Los Angeles Times |page=C11}}</ref>

Neither was filmed but ''Far Alert'' kept being sold and re-sold.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Authors to 20th with RKO lapsed Far Alert|url=https://archive.org/details/variety205-1957-01/page/n403/mode/1up?|date=16 January 1957|page=11}}</ref> "In 18 months it brought in $87,000", he later said. "We kept getting paid for writing it and rewriting it as it went from one studio to another. It was wonderful."<ref name="james"/> It was later sold to [[20th Century Fox|Fox]] where it attracted the attention of [[Robert L. Lippert]], who hired Clavell to write the science-fiction horror movie ''[[The Fly (1958 film)|The Fly]]'' (1958). This became a hit and launched Clavell as a screenwriter.

He wrote ''[[Watusi (film)|Watusi]]'' (1959) for director [[Kurt Neumann (director)|Kurt Neumann]], who had also made ''The Fly''.

Clavell wrote ''[[Five Gates to Hell]]'' (1959) for Lippert, and when they could not find a suitable director, Clavell was given the job.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esCnTSqGtUYC&q=harry+spaling+writer&pg=PA320|page=320|title=Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews|first=Tom|last=Weaver|publisher=McFarland|date=19 February 2003|isbn=9780786482153}}</ref>

[[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] hired Clavell to write a film about the [[Mutiny on the Bounty|''Bounty'' mutineers]].<ref>{{cite news |date=27 October 1959 |title=SCHARY SUPPORTS WRITERS' STRIKE: Independent Film Producer Not Affected by Walkout Defends Pay in TV Sales |work=The New York Times |page=42}}</ref> It ended up not being made, nor was a proposed movie about [[Francis Gary Powers]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Vernon |first=Scott |date=28 May 1960 |title=U-2 Incident Causes Movie Repercussions |work=Los Ambrose Times |page=A7}}</ref> Clavell did write, produce, and direct a Western at Paramount, ''[[Walk Like a Dragon]]'' (1960).

In 1959, Clavell wrote "Moon Landing" and "First Woman in the Moon", two episodes of ''[[Men into Space]]'', a "day after tomorrow"-style science fiction drama, which depicted, in realistic terms, the (at the time) near future of [[space exploration]].

In 1960, Clavell wrote a Broadway show with [[John Sturges]], ''White Alice'', a thriller set in the Arctic.<ref>{{cite news |last=Zolotow |first=Sam |date=5 August 1960 |title=ELLIS LISTS STARS OF 'HAPPY ENDING': Ruth Chatterton, Pert Kelton and Conrad Nagel to Head Cast at New Hope, Pa. |work=The New York Times |page=13}}</ref> It was never produced.