Editing James Clavell (section)

===Early prose and screenplay work===
In 1960, the Writers Guild went on strike, meaning Clavell was unable to work. He decided to write a novel, ''[[King Rat (Clavell novel)|King Rat]]'', based on his time at Changi. It took him three months and several more months after that to rework it. The book was published in 1962 and sold well. It was turned into [[King Rat (film)|a film in 1965]].<ref name="james"/>

In August 1960 Clavell announced he would set up his own production company, Cee Productions, to make three films: ''Unwanted'' from a novel by James Lindsay, ''Kingdom of the Mad'' and ''Earthquake''.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cee goes indie|magazine=Variety|date=31 August 1960|url=https://archive.org/details/variety219-1960-08/page/n273/mode/1up?|page=18}}</ref> None were made. The following year Clavell announced Cee Productions would make the films ''King Rat'', ''White Alice'' and ''No Hands on the Clock''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Irwin Allen Signs Multiple Film Deal|date=June 28, 1961|work=Los Angeles Times|page=C11}}</ref>

In 1962, Clavell signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, ''Circle of Greed'' and ''[[The Sweet and the Bitter (1967 film)|The Sweet and the Bitter]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=FILMLAND EVENTS: Curtis' 'Playboy' Goes to Columbia|work=Los Angeles Times|date=Jan 11, 1962|page=B9}}</ref> Only the second was made and it was not released until 1967.

Clavell wrote scripts for the war films ''[[The Great Escape (film)|The Great Escape]]'' (1963) and ''[[633 Squadron]]'' (1964).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/award/search.ashx|title=Writers Guild Foundation Library Database|publisher=Writers Guild Foundation|access-date=9 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909233535/http://librarycatalog.wgfoundation.org/award/search.ashx|archive-date=9 September 2015}}</ref>

He wrote a short story, "[[The Children's Story]]" (1963) and the script for ''[[The Satan Bug]]'' (1965), directed by John Sturges who had made ''The Great Escape''. He also wrote ''Richard Sahib'' for Sturges which was never made.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiler |first=A.H. |author-link=A. H. Weiler |date=May 3, 1964 |title=BY WAY OF REPORT: John Sturges' 'Sahib' – Together Again |work=New York Times |page=X9}}</ref>

Clavell wanted to write a second novel because "that separates the men from the boys".<ref>{{cite news|title=AUTHOR JAMES CLAVELL: A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME|last=Rosenfield|first=Paul|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=19 April 1981|page=L5}}</ref> The money from ''King Rat'' enabled him to spend two years researching and then writing what became ''[[Tai-Pan (novel)|Tai-Pan]]'' (1966). It was a huge best-seller, and Clavell sold the film rights for a sizeable amount (although the film would not be made until 1986).<ref>{{cite news |last=Weiler |first=A.H. |author-link=A. H. Weiler |date=3 July 1966 |title='Tai-Pan' Means Big Novel, Big Money, Big Movie: More on Movies |work=The New York Times |page=45}}</ref>