François Boyer, a renowned French screenwriter, was born in 1920 and passed away on May 24, 2003. His remarkable journey in the film industry began with his debut attempt at screenwriting, which ultimately led to the creation of the iconic film Forbidden Games in 1952. Initially, Boyer's work failed to garner interest from French studios, prompting him to transform the screenplay into a novel, titled The Secret Game, which was published in 1947.
Despite the novel's lack of commercial success in France, it surprisingly became a massive hit in America, catapulting Boyer's work to international attention. Renowned director René Clément, along with writers Jean Aurenche and Pierre Bost, collaborated to adapt the novel into a screenplay. Although Boyer received story credit for the film, the extent to which his original screenplay was incorporated remains unclear.
Forbidden Games went on to achieve immense international success, earning an Honorary Oscar for the best foreign language film of its year. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, Boyer remained a prolific screenwriter, but his subsequent work failed to match the impact of his debut success. One notable exception was his 1962 film La Guerre des Boutons, which was later remade by producer David Puttnam in 1994 as The War of the Buttons.
