Alan Herman (January 26, 1916 – June 29, 1995), known professionally as Ted Allan, was a Canadian screenwriter, author, and poet, several of whose books were made into motion pictures. In 1975, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) and won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film for the film Lies My Father Told Me. Ted Allan was born in Montreal as Alan Herman. In 1934 he met and became friends with Norman Bethune. In February 1937 Allan joined Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades to fight against fascism in Spanish Civil War. At the direction of the Brigade, Ted worked as a reporter — he broadcast to America from Madrid — and worked again with Bethune. In 1939 he published his first novel, This Time a Better Earth, drawing on his experiences in the War. In 1952, Allan and Sydney Gordon published Bethune's biography, The Scalpel, The Sword. Allan battled for nearly 40 years to make a movie about the Canadian surgeon who became a larger-than-life hero of the Chinese revolution. The film, Bethune: The Making of a Hero, for which Allan wrote the screenplay, was the first official Chinese co-production, shooting in China, Montreal and Spain was released in 1990. It starred Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren. Allan co-wrote the script for John Cassavetes's celebrated movie Love Streams (released in 1984), which won the Golden Bear Award at Berlin International Film Festival. The film was based on one of Allan's plays, I've Seen You Cut Lemons, which was directed by Sean Connery at the Fortune Theatre in London in 1969. Allan won the Stephen Leacock Award in 1985 for his novel Love Is a Long Shot. He died of respiratory failure on June 29, 1995 at the age of 79. He is the subject of the 2002 National Film Board documentary Ted Allan: Minstrel Boy of the Twentieth Century. Source: Article "Ted Allan" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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Biography from TMDB.
- January 26, 1916
- June 29, 1995 (aged 79)
- Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Writer, also actor
- 4 on MovieCove · 12 credits in all
What are Ted Allan's films like?
Across their 5 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 2
Grounded 4 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 1
Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 2 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 4 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet2
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Ted Allan's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 2 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Ted Allan's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
12 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Love Streams(1984)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all films
Falling in Love Again(1980)
Midcredits score: 11th percentile of all films
It Rained All Night the Day I Left (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Lies My Father Told Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1975)
Seven Times a Day (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)
Half Hour Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
The Webster Boy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1962)
Lies My Father Told Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1960)
1001 Arabian Nights (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1959)
Armchair Theatre (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1956)
The Great Rupert(1950)
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 12 titles from 1950 to 1993.
How do Ted Allan's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 53rd percentile, the median of all 4; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 51st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th1
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
2 of their 4 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the dialogue 50/100 and the plot and story 41/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Ted Allan work with?
People who share at least 2 of Ted Allan's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Eddy Donno shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Eddy DonnoShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Eddy Donno
- Gena RowlandsShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Gena Rowlands
- John CassavetesShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with John Cassavetes
- Seymour CasselShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Seymour Cassel
Producers
- Menahem GolanShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Menahem Golan
- Yoram GlobusShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Yoram Globus
Mixed roles
- Bo HarwoodShared titles: I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes - the Man and His Work (1984), Love Streams (1984)See all 2 shared titles with Bo Harwood