Stephen Morehouse Avery
Writer · Died February 10, 1948, aged 54 · Webster Groves, Missouri, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stephen Morehouse Avery (December 20, 1893 – February 10, 1948) was an American author of Hollywood screenplays. His daughter is the actress Phyllis Avery. Avery was born to Charles M. and Jesse Avery in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. The senior Avery was a cashier at an insurance company. Stephen Avery attended the University of Missouri at Columbia and was employed in Detroit, Michigan, before he began professional writing. Avery wrote for national publications until 1933, when he began to specialize in screenplays. His work included Wharf Angel (1934), Our Little Girl (1935), One Rainy Afternoon (1936) with Ida Lupino and Francis Lederer, The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) with Joan Crawford, I'll Take Romance (1937), Four Mothers (1941), The Male Animal (1942), starring Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland and based on a James Thurber play and Deep Valley (1947), with Ida Lupino and Dane Clark, the story of a lonely woman living on a farm who is smitten by an escaped convict. Shortly before his death of a heart attack at his Los Angeles, California, apartment at the age of fifty-four, Avery penned the scripts for The Woman in White (1948) and Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), a romantic comedy starring Cary Grant and Betsy Drake. In 1935, he was nominated with Don Hartman for an Academy Award for Best Story for The Gay Deception, a film unrelated to homosexuality and not to be confused with two other comedy films with similar titles, The Gay Deceiver (1926) and The Gay Deceivers (1969). In the story, Mirabel, portrayed by Frances Dee, wins a $5,000 lottery, a near fortune in 1935, and moves to New York City, where she meets Sandro, played by Francis Lederer, a bellboy who is really a prince. The film was directed by William Wyler. Avery was survived by his wife, the former Marian Baldwin, and his only child, Phyllis Avery (born 1924), who launched her acting career in 1951. Among other stars, Phyllis Avery was cast opposite Charlton Heston, George Gobel, Richard Egan, Chuck Connors, Lew Ayres, and Ray Milland.
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Biography from TMDB.
- December 20, 1893
- February 10, 1948 (aged 54)
- Webster Groves, Missouri, USA
- Writer
- 6 on MovieCove · 16 credits in all
What are Stephen Morehouse Avery's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Bonds.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits 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 0 · Earnest 5
Light 3 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 4 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 3 · Charged 2 · Intense 1
Steady 4 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 2 · Some laughs 2 · Funny 2
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 3 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 3 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet3
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 Stephen Morehouse Avery's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 1 of their 6 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Stephen Morehouse Avery'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
16 credits, 6 with a MovieCove page.
Midcredits score: 55th percentile of all films
The Woman in White (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1948)
Deep Valley (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1947)
The Male Animal (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1942)
Four Mothers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1941)
Rio (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1939)
Hard to Get (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1938)
I'll Take Romance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1937)
The Gorgeous Hussy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1936)
One Rainy Afternoon(1936)
Midcredits score: 36th percentile of all films
Song and Dance Man(1936)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
The Road to Glory(1936)
Midcredits score: 75th percentile of all films
The Gay Deception(1935)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Our Little Girl(1935)
Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films
The Pursuit of Happiness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Wharf Angel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1934)
Career shape
A full career of 14 titles from 1934 to 1948.
How do Stephen Morehouse Avery's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 57th percentile, the median of all 6; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 62nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th1
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
None of their 6 titles divides audiences: 4 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Broadly Agreed2
Reviewers score the dialogue 63/100 and the plot and story 42/100 in their films, across 5 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 Stephen Morehouse Avery work with?
People who share at least 2 of Stephen Morehouse Avery's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; R.H. Bassett shares the most, 3.
Writers
- Don HartmanShared titles: Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), The Gay Deception (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Don Hartman
Actors
- Alan MowbrayShared titles: Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), The Gay Deception (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Alan Mowbray
- Francis LedererShared titles: One Rainy Afternoon (1936), The Gay Deception (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Francis Lederer
Composers
- R.H. BassettShared titles: Song and Dance Man (1936), The Road to Glory (1936), Our Little Girl (1935)See all 3 shared titles with R.H. Bassett
Producers
- Jesse L. LaskyShared titles: One Rainy Afternoon (1936), The Gay Deception (1935)See all 2 shared titles with Jesse L. Lasky
Mixed roles
- Dore ScharyShared titles: Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), Song and Dance Man (1936)See all 2 shared titles with Dore Schary
