From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Henry Wilson "Heck" Allen (September 12, 1912 – October 26, 1991) was an American author and screenwriter. He used several different pseudonyms for his works. His 50+ novels of the American West were published under the pen names Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen's screenplays and scripts for animated shorts were credited to Heck Allen and Henry Allen. In 1937 Allen began working as a contract screenwriter for MGM animation division. While his early work was for Harman and Ising's Barney Bear series, his longest collaboration was with director Tex Avery. Allen was credited as story artist on many classic Avery shorts, included Swing Shift Cinderella, King-Size Canary, and The First Bad Man, among many others. Allen downplayed his contributions to the shorts, claiming that Avery merely used him as a sounding board for his own ideas. Allen's career as a novelist began in 1952, with the publication of his first Western No Survivors. Allen, afraid that the studio would disapprove of his moonlighting, used a pen name to avoid trouble. He would go on to publish over 50 novels, eight of which were adapted for the screen. Most of these were published under one or the other of the pseudonyms Will Henry and Clay Fisher. Allen was a five-time winner of the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America and a recipient of the Levi Strauss Award for lifetime achievement.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 12, 1912
- October 26, 1991 (aged 79)
- Kansas City, Missouri, USA
- Writer, also actor
- 8 on Motif · 60 credits in all
What are Heck Allen's films like?
Across their 8 Motif titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Genres
Their Motif films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Motif score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 1 · Earnest 7
Light 1 · Serious 6 · Dark 1
Grounded 3 · Stylized 5 · Heightened 0
Gentle 1 · Charged 5 · Intense 2
A split, not a type: Steady 5 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 4 · Heavy 0
Resolved 7 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet4
- Tragic1
- 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 Heck Allen's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 8 Motif titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Heck Allen's titles on Motif; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Motif 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
60 credits, 8 with a Motif page.
North Star(1996)
Motif score: 13th percentile of all films
Into the Badlands (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1991)
Motif score: 92nd percentile of all films
Young Billy Young(1969)
Motif score: 32nd percentile of all films
Mackenna's Gold(1969)
Motif score: 66th percentile of all films
Journey to Shiloh(1968)
Motif score: 33rd percentile of all films
Yellowstone Kelly(1959)
Motif score: 66th percentile of all films
Pillars of the Sky(1956)
Motif score: 49th percentile of all films
The River Changes (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1956)
Cellbound (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1955)
Deputy Droopy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1955)
The First Bad Man (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1955)
The Tall Men(1955)
Motif score: 70th percentile of all films
Santa Fe Passage (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1955)
Field and Scream (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1955)
Dixieland Droopy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
The Flea Circus (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
The Farm of Tomorrow (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
Sleepy-Time Squirrel (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
Billy Boy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
Drag-A-Long Droopy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1954)
The Three Little Pups (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Half-Pint Palomino (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Wee-Willie Wildcat (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
T.V. of Tomorrow (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Heir Bear (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Little Johnny Jet (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Cobs and Robbers (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Barney's Hungry Cousin (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1953)
Busybody Bear (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1952)
Caballero Droopy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1952)
Rock-a-Bye Bear (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1952)
The House of Tomorrow (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1949)
Scrappy Birthday (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1949)
Wild and Woody! (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1948)
The Cat That Hated People (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1948)
Wet Blanket Policy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1948)
Half-Pint Pygmy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1948)
King-Size Canary (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1947)
Slap Happy Lion (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1947)
Uncle Tom's Cabaña (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1947)
Red Hot Rangers (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1947)
Hound Hunters (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1947)
Henpecked Hoboes (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1946)
Northwest Hounded Police (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1946)
The Hick Chick (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1946)
Lonesome Lenny (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1946)
Wild and Woolfy (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1945)
Swing Shift Cinderella (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1945)
The Shooting of Dan McGoo (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1945)
Jerky Turkey (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1945)
The Screwy Truant (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1945)
Big Heel-Watha (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1944)
Screwball Squirrel (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1944)
The Uninvited Pest (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1943)
Who Killed Who? (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1943)
Wild Honey, or, How to Get Along Without a Ration Book (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1942)
The Bear and the Beavers (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1942)
The Bear That Couldn't Sleep (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1939)
Cleaning House (not in the Motif catalog yet)(1938)
Career shape
A full career of 58 titles from 1938 to 1991.
Biggest box office
Journey to Shiloh (1968)
Highest rated
The Tall Men (1955)
Most popular right now
Mackenna's Gold (1969)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Motif score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on Motif, shown from 5 scored.
How do Heck Allen's films land?
Their typical Motif film has a Motif score in the 58th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 8 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 56th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 8 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser3
- Broadly Agreed2
- Mixed2
Reviewers score the dialogue 45/100 and the plot and story 46/100 in their films, across 8 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on Motif; 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 Motif score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their Motif 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 Heck Allen work with?
People who share at least 2 of Heck Allen's Motif titles, grouped by what they did on them; Burt Kennedy shares the most, 2.
Writers
- Burt KennedyShared titles: Young Billy Young (1969), Yellowstone Kelly (1959)See all 2 shared titles with Burt Kennedy
Actors
- James CaanShared titles: North Star (1996), Journey to Shiloh (1968)See all 2 shared titles with James Caan
- Willis BoucheyShared titles: Young Billy Young (1969), Pillars of the Sky (1956)See all 2 shared titles with Willis Bouchey
