---
name: "Angus MacPhail"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/angus-macphail"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "8 April 1903"
died: "22 April 1962"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T01:28:28.941167+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Angus MacPhail

Writer. Born 8 April 1903 in London, England. Died 22 April 1962.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 8 April 1903, London, England
- **Died:** 22 April 1962
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_MacPhail, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4764177, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0534191/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/88880

## Biography

Angus MacPhail (8 April 1903 – 22 April 1962) was a British screenwriter. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he studied English and edited Granta. He entered the film industry in 1926, initially writing subtitles for silent films, and later worked as scenario editor at Gaumont-British Studios and Ealing Studios under Michael Balcon.

MacPhail wrote or contributed to numerous British films of the 1930s and 1940s, including *Went the Day Well?* (1942), *Dead of Night* (1945), *It Always Rains on Sunday* (1947) and *Whisky Galore!* (1949). He collaborated frequently with Alfred Hitchcock, providing the adaptation for *Spellbound* (1945) and working on *The Wrong Man* (1956) and other projects. He is credited with coining the term "MacGuffin".

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, screenonline.org.uk.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Spellbound* (1945), Fi1m 66, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/spellbound.md)

## Complete filmography (67)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Whisky Galore* (2016), Original Film Writer
- *The Wrong Man* (1956), Screenplay
- *The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel* (1955), series, Screenplay
- *Whisky Galore!* (1949), Screenplay
- *Train of Events* (1949), Screenplay
- *It Always Rains on Sunday* (1947), Writer
- *Frieda* (1947), Screenplay
- *The Loves of Joanna Godden* (1947), Adaptation
- *The Captive Heart* (1946), Screenplay
- *Spellbound* (1945), Screenplay — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/spellbound.md)
- *Dead of Night* (1945), Screenplay, Original Story
- *Fiddlers Three* (1944), Screenplay
- *Champagne Charlie* (1944), Screenplay
- *The Halfway House* (1944), Screenplay
- *Bon Voyage* (1944), Screenplay
- *Aventure Malgache* (1944), Writer
- *My Learned Friend* (1943), Screenplay
- *Went the Day Well?* (1942), Screenplay, Story
- *The Goose Steps Out* (1942), Screenplay
- *The Foreman Went to France* (1942), Screenplay
- *The Next of Kin* (1942), Writer
- *The Black Sheep of Whitehall* (1942), Original Story, Screenplay
- *The Big Blockade* (1942), Screenplay
- *Go to Blazes* (1942), Writer
- *The Ghost of St. Michael's* (1941), Writer
- *Sailors Three* (1940), Screenplay
- *Saloon Bar* (1940), Writer
- *Busman's Honeymoon* (1940), Screenplay
- *Let George Do It!* (1940), Screenplay
- *Return to Yesterday* (1940), Writer
- *The Four Just Men* (1939), Writer
- *Trouble Brewing* (1939), Screenplay
- *A Yank at Oxford* (1938), Writer
- *The Good Companions* (1933), Writer
- *Marry Me* (1932), Writer
- *Love on Wheels* (1932), Screenplay
- *The Faithful Heart* (1932), Scenario Writer
- *White Face* (1932), Writer
- *The Frightened Lady* (1932), Writer
- *Lord Babs* (1932), Writer
- *Who Killed Doc Robin?* (1931), Story
- *Sunshine Susie* (1931), Screenplay
- *Michael and Mary* (1931), Writer
- *The Calendar* (1931), Writer
- *Hindle Wakes* (1931), Scenario Writer
- *The Ghost Train* (1931), Writer
- *My Old China* (1931), Script
- *The Man They Couldn't Arrest* (1931), Writer
- *A Night in Montmartre* (1931), Writer
- *The Ringer* (1931), Writer
- *The Sport of Kings* (1931), Writer
- *Bull Rushes* (1931), Screenplay
- *Hot Heir* (1931), Story
- *Aroma of the South Seas* (1931), Writer
- *Ashes* (1930), Writer
- *A Warm Corner* (1930), Scenario Writer, Writer
- *Symphony in Two Flats* (1930), Writer
- *The Second Kiss* (1930), Dialogue
- *The Crooked Billet* (1930), Screenplay
- *Their Son* (1929), Story
- *The Wrecker* (1929), Screenplay
- *The City of Play* (1929), Writer
- *The Return of the Rat* (1929), Screenplay
- *A South Sea Bubble* (1928), Scenario Writer
- *Balaclava* (1928), Scenario Writer
- *A Light Woman* (1928), Writer
- *One of the Best* (1927), Scenario Writer

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/angus-macphail