Norman Panama (Director)

Reviews of movies from director Norman Panama

Looking for reviews of films directed by Norman Panama? Cinafilm has a total of 455 reviews across 7 movies directed by Norman Panama.

Movies from this director have generally received mixed reviews and hold an average rating of 59%.

The Court Jester is Norman Panama's highest rated movie, with a score of 81% based on 421 reviews.

The lowest rated film from Norman Panama is The Maltese Bippy, with a score of 49% based on 4 reviews.

Director Biography

Norman Panama (April 21, 1914 – January 13, 2003) was an American screenwriter and film director born in Chicago, Illinois. He collaborated with a former school friend, Melvin Frank, to form a writing partnership which endured for three decades. He also wrote gags for comedians such as Bob Hope's radio program and for Groucho Marx.

The most famous films Panama directed were Li'l Abner (1959), the Danny Kaye film The Court Jester (1956), and Bob Hope's How to Commit Marriage (1969). He wrote Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), Road to Utopia (1946), and The Court Jester, among other movies.

He won an Edgar Award for A Talent for Murder (1981), a play he co-wrote with Jerome Chodorov.

Panama continued to write and direct through the 1980s. He died in 2003 in Los Angeles, California from complications due to Parkinson's disease.

Norman Panama has directed films starring Bob Hope, Mildred Natwick, Leslie Nielsen and Angela Lansbury.