Hy Kraft
Encyclopedia
Hyman Solomon Kraft aka Hy Kraft or H.S. Kraft, was an American screenwriter
, playwright
, and theatrical producer
.
Among the notable comedy plays that he wrote were Ten Per Cent (1932), Poppa (1929), Cafe Crown (1942), and Top Banana
(1952). In 1964 Cafe Crown was revised as a Broadway musical produced by Philip Rose and Swanlee with music by Albert Hague
and lyrics by Marty Brill. The musical plot is set in the early 1930s in and around the Cafe Crown at the corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street in New York City
. It had one Broadway
revival in 1989.
Hy Kraft's 1954 musical play Top Banana
was filmed for the screen and released as a movie in 1954, starring Phil Silvers
as a television comic trying to regain his ratings on TV. Feeling the show was a personal swipe at him, Milton Berle
wrote of it, "The only public attack I got any pleasure from was the one dreamed up by Hy Kraft and Johnny Mercer
, and starring Phil Silvers. It was a big Broadway musical called Top Banana, in which Phil played an egomaniac named Jerry Biffle who had a top-rated television show and who directed his rehearsals with a whistle. It was a vicious and funny swipe at me, and I loved it so much, I offered to sue Hy Kraft for the publicity value. Anything to help. After all, I had put some money into the show."
In 1950 Hy Kraft was made part ot the Hollywood blacklist
by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Kraft's screenwriting credits include Stormy Weather
(1943) with Lena Horne
and short story credit for Smartest Girl In Town (1936) and Champaign Waltz (1937), in the latter case collaborating with Billy Wilder
. He also contributed writing (uncredited) to Mark of the Vampire
(1935) with Lionel Barrymore
and Bela Lugosi
.
Kraft also wrote an autobiography, On My Way to the Theater, Macmillan, 1971. The jacket reads, "A lifetime's stroll from New York's Lower East Side to Broadway, with side trips to Hollywood, London, and Washington, D.C., and singular associations with Victor Herbert
, Theodore Dreiser
, Sinclair Lewis
, and the House Un-American Activities Committee
." Kraft was born and died in New York City. He was married to Reata Kraft, who was the costume designer on Three Husbands (1951).
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
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:...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, and theatrical producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
.
Among the notable comedy plays that he wrote were Ten Per Cent (1932), Poppa (1929), Cafe Crown (1942), and Top Banana
Top Banana (musical)
Top Banana is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft which premiered on Broadway in 1951. Comedian Phil Silvers starred, and won the Tony Award in 1952.-Production:...
(1952). In 1964 Cafe Crown was revised as a Broadway musical produced by Philip Rose and Swanlee with music by Albert Hague
Albert Hague
Albert Hague was a German-born songwriter, composer, and actor.-Early life:Hague was born as Albert Marcuse to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. His father, Harry Marcuse, was a psychiatrist and a musical prodigy, and his mother, Mimi , a chess champion...
and lyrics by Marty Brill. The musical plot is set in the early 1930s in and around the Cafe Crown at the corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street 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...
. It had one Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revival in 1989.
Hy Kraft's 1954 musical play Top Banana
Top Banana (musical)
Top Banana is a musical with music and lyrics by Johnny Mercer and book by Hy Kraft which premiered on Broadway in 1951. Comedian Phil Silvers starred, and won the Tony Award in 1952.-Production:...
was filmed for the screen and released as a movie in 1954, starring Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers
Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
as a television comic trying to regain his ratings on TV. Feeling the show was a personal swipe at him, Milton Berle
Milton Berle
Milton Berlinger , better known as Milton Berle, was an American comedian and actor. As the manic host of NBC's Texaco Star Theater , in 1948 he was the first major star of U.S. television and as such became known as Uncle Miltie and Mr...
wrote of it, "The only public attack I got any pleasure from was the one dreamed up by Hy Kraft and Johnny Mercer
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon "Johnny" Mercer was an American lyricist, songwriter and singer. He is best known as a lyricist, but he also composed music. He was also a popular singer who recorded his own songs as well as those written by others...
, and starring Phil Silvers. It was a big Broadway musical called Top Banana, in which Phil played an egomaniac named Jerry Biffle who had a top-rated television show and who directed his rehearsals with a whistle. It was a vicious and funny swipe at me, and I loved it so much, I offered to sue Hy Kraft for the publicity value. Anything to help. After all, I had put some money into the show."
In 1950 Hy Kraft was made part ot 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...
by the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
Kraft's screenwriting credits include Stormy Weather
Stormy Weather (1943 film)
Stormy Weather is a 1943 American musical film produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film is one of two major Hollywood musicals produced in 1943 with primarily African-American casts, the other being MGM's Cabin in the Sky, and is considered a time capsule showcasing some of the top...
(1943) with Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
and short story credit for Smartest Girl In Town (1936) and Champaign Waltz (1937), in the latter case collaborating with Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
. He also contributed writing (uncredited) to Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
(1935) with Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in A Free Soul...
and Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
.
Kraft also wrote an autobiography, On My Way to the Theater, Macmillan, 1971. The jacket reads, "A lifetime's stroll from New York's Lower East Side to Broadway, with side trips to Hollywood, London, and Washington, D.C., and singular associations with Victor Herbert
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert was an Irish-born, German-raised American composer, cellist and conductor. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I...
, Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Dreiser
Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of...
, Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis
Harry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
, and 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"...
." Kraft was born and died in New York City. He was married to Reata Kraft, who was the costume designer on Three Husbands (1951).
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
External links
- H. S. Kraft's papers are housed at the Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
- H.S. Kraft at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....
- Archive: New York Times Review of Cafe Crown
- Champagne Waltz