George Forrest (author) George Forrest (author) George Forrest (born George Forrest Chichester Jr., July 31, 1915 – October 10, 1999) was a writer of music and lyrics for musical theatre best known for the show "Kismet", adapted from the works of Alexander Borodin. He was also known professionally at times as Chet Forrest. Throughout his career Forrest worked exclusively with the composer-lyricist Robert Wright. The pair had an affinity for adapting classical music themes and adding lyrics to these themes for Hollywood and the Broadway musical stage. Wright said that the music was usually a 50-50 "collaboration" between Wright & Forrest and the
Kismet (1944 film) Kismet (1944 film) Kismet is a 1944 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film in Technicolor starring Ronald Colman, Marlene Dietrich, Joy Page, and Florence Bates. James Craig played the young Caliph of Baghdad, and Edward Arnold was the treacherous Grand Vizier. It was directed by William Dieterle, but was not a success at the box office. Dieterle had directed Marlene two decades prior in the German silent film "Man by the Wayside", which was both the first role in which Dietrich was cast competitively and Dieterle's directorial debut. The film is based on the play of the same name by Edward Knoblock, which was