Albert Maltz
Encyclopedia
Albert Maltz was an American author and screenwriter
. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were later blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio
bosses.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Maltz was educated at Columbia University
and the Yale School of Drama
. Maltz worked as a playwright for the Theatre Union during the early 1930s and wrote his first of eighteen screenplays for Hollywood in 1932. At the Theater Union he met Margaret Larkin
, whom he married in 1937. He won the 1938 O. Henry Award for "The Happiest Man on Earth", a short story
published in Harper's Magazine
. In 1944 he published the novel The Cross and the Arrow. In 1970 he published a collection of his short stories 'Afternoon in the Jungle' .
For his script for the 1945 film Pride of the Marines
, Maltz was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
. He won the 1951 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama
for his screenplay for Broken Arrow
. However, due to his blacklisting at the time, fellow MPAA screenwriter Michael Blankfort
put his own name on the script as the only way to get it accepted by any of the Hollywood movie studio
s. As such, Blankfort was named the winner until things were made right for Maltz, albeit posthumously, in 1997 when the Writers Guild of America
unanimously voted to restore screen credit to those who had been blacklisted.
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were later blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
bosses.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Maltz was educated at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and the Yale School of Drama
Yale School of Drama
The Yale School of Drama is a graduate professional school of Yale University providing training in every discipline of the theatre: acting, design , directing, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism, playwriting, stage management, sound design, technical design and production, and theater...
. Maltz worked as a playwright for the Theatre Union during the early 1930s and wrote his first of eighteen screenplays for Hollywood in 1932. At the Theater Union he met Margaret Larkin
Margaret Larkin
Margaret Larkin was an American writer, poet, singer-songwriter, researcher, journalist and union activist.She wrote The Hand of Mordechai on a kibbutz in Israel, Seven Shares in a Gold Mine about a murder conspiracy in Mexico, and the Singing Cowboy, a collection of Western folk songs...
, whom he married in 1937. He won the 1938 O. Henry Award for "The Happiest Man on Earth", a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
published in Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine
Harper's Magazine is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts, with a generally left-wing perspective. It is the second-oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. . The current editor is Ellen Rosenbush, who replaced Roger Hodge in January 2010...
. In 1944 he published the novel The Cross and the Arrow. In 1970 he published a collection of his short stories 'Afternoon in the Jungle' .
For his script for the 1945 film Pride of the Marines
Pride of the Marines
Pride of the Marines is a 1945 biographical war film starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker. It tells the story of U.S. Marine Al Schmid in World War II, his heroic stand against a Japanese attack during the Battle of Guadalcanal, in which he was blinded by a grenade, and his subsequent...
, Maltz was nominated for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
. He won the 1951 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
for his screenplay for Broken Arrow
Broken Arrow (1950 film)
Broken Arrow is a western Technicolor film released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first...
. However, due to his blacklisting at the time, fellow MPAA screenwriter Michael Blankfort
Michael Blankfort
Michael Blankfort was a Jewish-American screenwriter, author and playwright. He served as a front for the blacklisted Albert Maltz on the Academy Award-nominated screenplay of Broken Arrow . Among his own screenplays were The Juggler and The Caine Mutiny...
put his own name on the script as the only way to get it accepted by any of the Hollywood movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
s. As such, Blankfort was named the winner until things were made right for Maltz, albeit posthumously, in 1997 when the Writers Guild of America
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi....
unanimously voted to restore screen credit to those who had been blacklisted.
Filmography
- Two Mules for Sister SaraTwo Mules for Sister SaraTwo Mules for Sister Sara is an American-Mexican western film starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine set during the French intervention in Mexico. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel. It was to have been the first in a five-year exclusive association between Universal...
(1970) - The RobeThe Robe (film)The Robe is a 1953 American Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that crucifies Jesus. The film was made by 20th Century Fox and is notable for being the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope.It was directed by Henry Koster...
(1953) (originally uncredited) - Broken ArrowBroken Arrow (1950 film)Broken Arrow is a western Technicolor film released in 1950. It was directed by Delmer Daves and starred James Stewart and Jeff Chandler. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, and won a Golden Globe award for Best Film Promoting International Understanding. It made history as the first...
(1950) (originally uncredited) - The Naked CityThe Naked CityThe Naked City is a 1948 black-and-white film noir directed by Jules Dassin. The movie, shot partially in documentary style, was filmed on location on the streets of New York City, featuring landmarks such as the Williamsburg Bridge the Whitehall Building and an apartment building on West 83rd...
(1948) - The Red HouseThe Red House (1947 film)The Red House is a 1947 psychological thriller starring Edward G. Robinson. It is adapted from the novel The Red House by George Agnew Chamberlain, published in 1943 by Popular Library...
(1947) - Cloak and Dagger (1946)
- Pride of the MarinesPride of the MarinesPride of the Marines is a 1945 biographical war film starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker. It tells the story of U.S. Marine Al Schmid in World War II, his heroic stand against a Japanese attack during the Battle of Guadalcanal, in which he was blinded by a grenade, and his subsequent...
(1945) - The House I Live InThe House I Live InThe House I Live In is a ten-minute short film written by Albert Maltz, produced by Frank Ross and Mervyn LeRoy, and starring Frank Sinatra...
(1945) - This Gun for HireThis Gun for HireThis Gun for Hire is a 1942 film noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene. The film stars Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd.-Plot:...
(1942)