Bernard Gordon
Encyclopedia
Bernard Gordon was an American writer
and producer. For much of his 27-year career, he toiled in obscurity, prevented from taking screen credit by the Hollywood Blacklist
. Among his best-known works are screenplays for Flesh and Fury, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
and 55 Days at Peking
.
to Kitty and William Gordon, Jewish immigrants from Russia
. His father managed a hardware store and Gordon grew up in New York City
, where he attended the City College.
, Gordon helped found the Screen Readers Guild. He married fellow activist Jean Lewin in 1946, one of the organizers of the Hollywood Canteen during the war.
His first produced screenplay was Flesh and Fury, a gritty boxing picture starring an up-and-coming actor named Tony Curtis
. A western with Rock Hudson
(The Lawless Breed) followed, but Gordon was subpoenaed to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee
(HUAC) investigating Communist
influence in Hollywood. Although subpoenaed, Gordon was never called to testify, and thus remained in a legal limbo. His producer, William Alland
, had named Gordon in his own testimony to HUAC. A former left-wing sympathizer himself, Alland regularly informed the government about the political leanings of writers with whom he dealt at Universal Pictures
.
' low-budget maven Sam Katzman
. Gordon adapted a play written by two friends, which became the film The Law vs. Billy the Kid
. Schneer employed Gordon many times during the 1950s, memorably as screenwriter of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
, a low-budget alien-invasion film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen
. Gordon worked under the pen name Raymond T. Marcus, a friend who was not in the film business. These low-paying assignments were generally B-level potboilers. Notably, one of the Schneer films was the only feature film to co-star Ronald Reagan
and his wife Nancy Davis
, Hellcats of the Navy
. Reagan's political views were, of course, diametrically opposed to the then still-blacklisted Gordon. The writer took ironic satisfaction in having written an introduction for the esteemed Admiral Chester Nimitz
.
, Gordon found regular work as a writer and producer in Madrid for the Samuel Bronston company. At first, however, he was still denied screen credit, with Yordan frequently listing himself as sole author of films like Circus World, Battle of the Bulge, Custer of the West
and Day of the Triffids
. Gordon did receive on-screen credit for 55 Days at Peking, and the first screen adaptation of The Thin Red Line
. As a producer, he made a number of westerns in Spain and the well-received sci-fi thriller Horror Express
, co-starring Peter Cushing
and Christopher Lee
. Another film he wrote, Cry of Battle
, was playing at the theater in which Lee Harvey Oswald
was arrested by Dallas police on 22 November 1963.
's novel, "Surfacing"
, for producer Beryl Fox. Director Claude Jutra made it into a film in 1981. Gordon's blacklist-era work remained relatively anonymous until journalist Ted Newsom
happened upon the man behind front Raymond T. Marcus. When the Writers Guild of America
took up the task of correcting pseudonymous screenwriters from the 1950s and 1960s, Gordon received more after-the-fact credits than any other blacklisted writer. Gordon subsequently wrote two autobiographical books detailing the 20-year surveillance of him by the FBI, and often spoke publicly about his experiences. He helped lead the fight against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan
, who cooperated with HUAC during the blacklist era.
Gordon died on May 11, 2007 in Hollywood, California
.
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and producer. For much of his 27-year career, he toiled in obscurity, prevented from taking screen credit by the Hollywood Blacklist
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
. Among his best-known works are screenplays for Flesh and Fury, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an American black and white science fiction film, directed by Fred F. Sears and released by Columbia Pictures. The film is also known as Invasion of the Flying Saucers. It was ostensibly suggested by the non-fiction work Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Donald...
and 55 Days at Peking
55 Days at Peking
55 Days at Peking is a 1963 historical epic film starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, and David Niven, made by Samuel Bronston Productions, and released by Allied Artists. The movie was produced by Samuel Bronston and directed by Nicholas Ray, Andrew Marton , and Guy Green...
.
Early life
Gordon was born in New Britain, ConnecticutNew Britain, Connecticut
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles southwest of Hartford. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 71,254....
to Kitty and William Gordon, Jewish immigrants from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. His father managed a hardware store and Gordon grew up in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he attended the City College.
Professional work
Beginning as a writer for print, Gordon moved to California and got a production job as a script reader, providing written "coverage" of screenplays submitted to studios. A political activist and, briefly in the 1940s, a member of the Communist PartyCommunist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
, Gordon helped found the Screen Readers Guild. He married fellow activist Jean Lewin in 1946, one of the organizers of the Hollywood Canteen during the war.
His first produced screenplay was Flesh and Fury, a gritty boxing picture starring an up-and-coming actor named Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
. A western with Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
(The Lawless Breed) followed, but Gordon was subpoenaed to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee
House Un-American Activities Committee
The House Committee on Un-American Activities or House Un-American Activities Committee was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. In 1969, the House changed the committee's name to "House Committee on Internal Security"...
(HUAC) investigating Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
influence in Hollywood. Although subpoenaed, Gordon was never called to testify, and thus remained in a legal limbo. His producer, William Alland
William Alland
William Alland was an American actor, producer, writer and director of science fiction and western films. He is perhaps best known for his role as reporter Jerry Thompson, who investigates the life of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane in Orson Welle's Citizen Kane...
, had named Gordon in his own testimony to HUAC. A former left-wing sympathizer himself, Alland regularly informed the government about the political leanings of writers with whom he dealt at Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...
.
Pseudonymous work
In 1954, Gordon received an under-the-table assignment from producer Charles Schneer, who worked with Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
' low-budget maven Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman
Sam Katzman was an American film producer and director. Born into a poor Jewish family, Katzman went to work as a stage laborer at the age of 13 in the fledgling East Coast film industry...
. Gordon adapted a play written by two friends, which became the film The Law vs. Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid
William H. Bonney William H. Bonney William H. Bonney (born William Henry McCarty, Jr. est. November 23, 1859 – c. July 14, 1881, better known as Billy the Kid but also known as Henry Antrim, was a 19th-century American gunman who participated in the Lincoln County War and became a frontier...
. Schneer employed Gordon many times during the 1950s, memorably as screenwriter of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is an American black and white science fiction film, directed by Fred F. Sears and released by Columbia Pictures. The film is also known as Invasion of the Flying Saucers. It was ostensibly suggested by the non-fiction work Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Donald...
, a low-budget alien-invasion film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen
Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...
. Gordon worked under the pen name Raymond T. Marcus, a friend who was not in the film business. These low-paying assignments were generally B-level potboilers. Notably, one of the Schneer films was the only feature film to co-star Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and his wife Nancy Davis
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
, Hellcats of the Navy
Hellcats of the Navy
Hellcats of the Navy is a World War II submarine movie starring Ronald Reagan and his wife, billed as Nancy Davis, her then professional name...
. Reagan's political views were, of course, diametrically opposed to the then still-blacklisted Gordon. The writer took ironic satisfaction in having written an introduction for the esteemed Admiral Chester Nimitz
Chester Nimitz
Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz, GCB, USN was a five-star admiral in the United States Navy. He held the dual command of Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet , for U.S. naval forces and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas , for U.S...
.
Success in exile
Through his friendship with writer/entrepreneur Philip YordanPhilip Yordan
Philip Yordan was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who also produced several films.He was also known as a highly regarded script doctor...
, Gordon found regular work as a writer and producer in Madrid for the Samuel Bronston company. At first, however, he was still denied screen credit, with Yordan frequently listing himself as sole author of films like Circus World, Battle of the Bulge, Custer of the West
Custer of the West
Custer of the West is a 1967 American Western film directed by Robert Siodmak. It tells a highly fictionalised version of the life and death of George Armstrong Custer. It was directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Robert Shaw as Custer, Robert Ryan and Mary Ure...
and Day of the Triffids
The Day of the Triffids (1962 film)
The Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British film adaptation of the science fiction novel of the same name by John Wyndham. It was directed by Steve Sekely, and Howard Keel played the central character, Bill Masen. The movie was filmed in colour with monaural sound and ran for 93...
. Gordon did receive on-screen credit for 55 Days at Peking, and the first screen adaptation of The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1964 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1964 Cinemascope film based on James Jones's novel of the same name. The film follows the life of a number of American soldiers during the battle of Guadalcanal.The black-and-white film was filmed in Spain...
. As a producer, he made a number of westerns in Spain and the well-received sci-fi thriller Horror Express
Horror Express
Horror Express, also known as Pánico en el Transiberiano/Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express, is a 1972 Spanish horror film directed by Eugenio Martin, produced by Bernard Gordon written by Arnaud d'Usseau and Julian Zimet , and starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas.The film is...
, co-starring Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
and Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
. Another film he wrote, Cry of Battle
Cry of Battle
Cry of Battle is a 1963 coming of age story and war film based on the 1951 novel Fortress in the Rice by Benjamin Appel who was a journalist and special assistant to the U.S. Commissioner for the Philippines from 1945-46. The film stars Van Heflin, James MacArthur, Rita Moreno, Leopoldo Salcedo...
, was playing at the theater in which Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
was arrested by Dallas police on 22 November 1963.
Resurfacing
Returning to the US, Gordon had trouble finding work until his former production secretary in Madrid, Lisa Doty, found him a job in Canada adapting Margaret AtwoodMargaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
's novel, "Surfacing"
Surfacing (novel)
Surfacing is the second published novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1972. It has been called a companion novel to Atwood's collection of poems, Power Politics, which was written the previous year and deals with complementary issues.The...
, for producer Beryl Fox. Director Claude Jutra made it into a film in 1981. Gordon's blacklist-era work remained relatively anonymous until journalist Ted Newsom
Ted Newsom
Ted Newsom is an American writer, director, producer and actor.- Early life and education :Son of Vernon and Patricia Newsom; grew up in Portland, OR, Spokane, WA and the San Fernando Valley; served in the US Army 1972-75 as a surgical assistant in Heidelberg, Germany...
happened upon the man behind front Raymond T. Marcus. 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....
took up the task of correcting pseudonymous screenwriters from the 1950s and 1960s, Gordon received more after-the-fact credits than any other blacklisted writer. Gordon subsequently wrote two autobiographical books detailing the 20-year surveillance of him by the FBI, and often spoke publicly about his experiences. He helped lead the fight against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
, who cooperated with HUAC during the blacklist era.
Gordon died on May 11, 2007 in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Books
- Hollywood Exile, or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist (University of Texas Press, 1999) ISBN 978-0-292-72833-2
- The Gordon File: A Screenwriter Recalls Twenty Years of FBI Surveillance (University of Texas Press, 2004) ISBN 978-0-292-71955-2