Frederic Raphael

A prolific, British-educated writer, American-born Frederic Raphael had published seven novels, beginning with "Obligato" (1956), before making his first significant contribution to 1960s English cinema with the overlooked comedy, "Nothing But the Best" (1964), a biting look at a social climbing playboy (Alan Bates) who commits murder to get ahead in the world. He subsequently wrote original screenplays for John Schlesinger's character study …