 For the next few years , Kneale concentrated mostly on film screenplays , adapting plays and novels for the cinema . Described by The Independent as " one of the few writers not to fall out with John Osborne , " Kneale adapted Osborne 's plays Look Back in Anger and The Entertainer in 1958 and 1960 respectively , both for director Tony Richardson . Kneale knew Richardson through having previously adapted a Chekhov short story for the BBC , which Richardson had directed . Kneale was nominated for the British Film Award ( later known as a BAFTA ) for Best Screenplay for both films . Film producer Harry Saltzman , who had produced the two Osborne adaptations , approached Kneale about scripting a project he was working on to adapt Ian Fleming 's James Bond novels for the cinema ; Kneale was not a fan of Fleming 's work and turned the offer down . Further adaptations Kneale did work on were H.M.S. Defiant ( 1962 , from the novel Mutiny by Frank Tilsley ) and First Men in the Moon ( 1964 , from the novel by H. G. Wells ) . 
