Helen Logan

Helen Logan
Helen Logan, from the 1927 UCLA yearbook
BornDecember 13, 1906
Los Angeles, California, US
DiedJanuary 15, 1989 (age 82)
Los Angeles, California, US
Other namesHelen Logan Reel
EducationUniversity of California at Los Angeles
OccupationScreenwriter
Years active1935–1950 (film)
SpouseRobert Ellis

Helen Logan Reel (December 13, 1906 – January 15, 1989) was an American screenwriter active in Hollywood from 1935 to 1950.[1] She wrote screenplays with her partner (later husband) Robert Ellis.

Early life and education

Helen Logan was born in Los Angeles, California, to William Edson Logan and Ida Jane Busick Logan.[2] She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1927,[3] and she was a charter member of the university's chapter of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority in 1925.[4]

Career

Logan began working at Fox as a script reader[3] before moving up the ranks to be a script clerk.[5][6] Eventually she wrote her own screenplays for Fox, working on two popular franchises, Charlie Chan[7] and the Jones Family. She also co-wrote the screenplay for a Shirley Temple movie, Susannah of the Mounties (1939).[8] Later she worked on wartime musical films, including Hello, Frisco, Hello (1943) with Alice Faye.[9][10][11]

Logan wrote many of her scripts in collaboration with writer-director-actor Robert Ellis. They began working with around 1934 and married at some point after 1940.[6] Ellis and Logan had separate contracts but made the same salary.[6]

Personal life

Logan married her longtime colleague Robert Ellis Reel in 1962, after decades together. In 1938, Ellis was sued by actress Vera Reynolds for $150,000; Reynolds alleged that Ellis had promised to marry her but instead took a trip to Mexico with Logan.[12][13] Ellis died in 1974,[14] and she died in 1989, in Los Angeles, at the age of 82.[15] Writing Chan, a video documentary about the Logan/Ellis writing team was produced in 2008, and included as extra content on a DVD box set of the Charlie Chan films.[16]

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey. The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland, 2011; p. 359.
  2. ^ "Logan (death notice)". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. January 22, 1946. p. 9. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Personals Concerning Los Angeles Alumni". The California Monthly: 496. April 1928.
  4. ^ University of California, Los Angeles, Southern Campus (1927 yearbook): 376. via Internet Archive
  5. ^ "Charlie Chan Gives Star Fat Income". The Tampa Tribune. February 2, 1936. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Another Team Succeeds". The Arizona Republic. June 8, 1941. Archived from the original on April 15, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Film Year Book. J.W. Alicoate. 1938. pp. 172, 173, 177, 211, 225.
  8. ^ "Victoria: Story of Mounties". Shamokin News-Dispatch. June 23, 1939. p. 8. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Douglas, John (May 9, 1999). "'Frisco', with Alice Faye, is Silver Screen Classic with charm". The Grand Rapids Press. p. 20. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b "Broadway Hit Now on Screen". Whittier Star Review. December 7, 1944. p. 2 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. ^ a b "Top Song Hits in New Color Musical Film". Whittier Star Review. November 12, 1950. p. 15 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  12. ^ "Sued by Blonde, He Admits Tour With Redhead". The New York Daily News. March 24, 1938. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  13. ^ "Film Pair's Private Life Bared at Trial". Imperial Valley Press. March 24, 1938. p. 8 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. ^ "Obituary for Robert Ellis REEL". The Los Angeles Times. December 31, 1974. p. 35. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Helen Logan Reel (death notice)". The Los Angeles Times. January 18, 1989. p. 70. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Charlie Chan Collection vol 4". DVDBeaver. Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
  17. ^ "Amusements: At the Lyric". The News-Herald. May 11, 1937. p. 11. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Hollywood Goes Latin: Spanish-Language Cinema in Los Angeles (Double Feature)". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. May 1, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2025.
  19. ^ a b Verswijver, Leo (2003-03-13). "Movies Were Always Magical": Interviews with 19 Actors, Directors, and Producers from the Hollywood of the 1930s through the 1950s. McFarland. pp. 117, 214. ISBN 978-0-7864-1129-0.
  20. ^ "Too Busy to Work". The Lincoln Star. November 12, 1939. p. 35. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Get Screenplay". Evening Vanguard. May 12, 1941. p. 3. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ a b Billips, Connie; Pierce, Arthur (2025). Lux Presents Hollywood: A Show-by-Show History of the Lux Radio Theatre and the Lux Video Theatre, 1934-1957. McFarland. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-7864-8771-4.
  23. ^ "Four Film Glamor Girls Among Smoking Guns". The Tidings. May 12, 1944. p. 7. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "Betty Grable to Star in Island Film at 20th". Evening Vanguard. August 7, 1941. p. 5. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Symphony Versus Cacophony Forms Theme of James Movie". The Tidings. May 17, 1946. p. 13. Retrieved June 23, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
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