Adrian Scott

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Robert Adrian Scott (born February 6, 1912 in Arlington , New Jersey , † December 25, 1973 in Sherman Oaks , Los Angeles , California ) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was one of the so-called Hollywood Ten .

Life

Screenwriter and film producer

Scott, who made one of Ireland coming Catholic family of middle class came, worked as article writers for various magazines before he his work as a screenwriter in the 1940 film industry in Hollywood began. In the following years he wrote screenplays for films such as the drama Keeping Company (1940) by Sylvan S. Simon , the western The Parson of Panamint (1941) and the comedy We Go Fast (1941) by William C. McGann and the romantic comedy film Mr. Lucky (1943) from HC Potter .

1944 was created in collaboration with director Edward Dmytryk and screenwriter John Paxton of the groundbreaking film noir Murder, My Sweet , the on Raymond Chandler's novel Farewell, my favorite ( Farewell My Lovely , 1940) based and in which Dick Powell the role of Philip Marlowe played. Other films by Scott, Dmytryk and Paxton were Cornered (1945), in which Dick Powell again took part, Unforgotten Years and Im Kreuzfeuer (both 1947). Meanwhile, Scott produced 1946 from a screenplay by Clifford Odets , directed by Harold Clurman staged Mystery - Thriller Deadline at Dawn , who on a novel Cornell Woolrichs based.

Career high point and professional ban

Career highlight with Im Kreuzfeuer

Also in 1947, Adrian Scott's masterpiece was created in collaboration with director Dmytryk and screenwriter Paxton with Im Kreuzfeuer (Crossfire). The film, which was the first American film to deal with the subject of anti-Semitism , won the Prix ​​du meilleur film social (special prize for the best socially critical film) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award 1948 for the best film at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1947 (Director Edward Dmytryk, screenwriter John Paxton, writer Richard Brooks, producer Dore Schary and co-producer Adrian Scott). The film also received nominations for Best Picture , Best Director (Edward Dmytryk), Best Supporting Actor ( Robert Ryan ), Best Supporting Actress ( Gloria Grahame ), and Best Adapted Screenplay (John Paxton) at the 1948 Academy Awards .

"Hollywood Ten" and professional ban

Shortly thereafter, Scott and Dmytryk, who were at the peak of their careers, were summoned to appear before the Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1947 to testify about membership in the United States Communist Party. As part of a joint defense put in place by lawyers for the Communist Party, of which Scott had been a member since 1944, he and Dmytryk and eight other people ( Alvah Bessie , Herbert Biberman , Lester Cole , Ring Lardner Jr. , John Howard Lawson ( Chairman of the CPUSA in Hollywood), Albert Maltz , Samuel Ornitz and Dalton Trumbo ) the statements.

This group of screenwriters, actors, producers, and directors, known as the Hollywood Ten , only gave their names and addresses and also declined to be questioned by the committee about their membership in the Screen Writers Guild . The ten relied on the first amendment to the US Constitution because they saw the committee's questioning about their political attitudes as an unconstitutional invasion of their privacy.

As a result, all members of the Hollywood Ten were found guilty of disregard of the US Congress and convicted. Scott was sentenced to a year imprisonment and a fine of $ 1,000  and was blacklisted like the others , so that he could no longer work in the film industry under his name.

Dmytryk later changed his mind and agreed to work with the HUAC. On April 25, 1951, Dmytryk testified before the HUAC, stating that Scott had forced him to use communist propaganda in his films.

Scott protested against his inclusion on the Hollywood blacklist and sued RKO Pictures for unjustified termination . However, his lawsuit was rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1957 . During this time he made his living by writing screenplays for television series such as Lassie and The Adventures of Robin Hood under pseudonyms .

family

Scott was married three times, including a second marriage from February 9, 1945 to August 23, 1948 with actress Anne Shirley . In his third marriage he was married to the screenwriter Joan Scott from 1955 until his death . He died in 1973 of bronchial carcinoma .

Adrian Scott was a younger brother of screenwriter Allan Scott and the uncle of his daughter, actress Pippa Scott .

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Virginia Wright: Column (PDF file; 1.41 MB). In: The Los Angeles Daily News of March 20, 1948
  2. ↑ On This Day: “Hollywood Ten” Blacklisted by Movie Studios (November 25, 2011)
  3. ↑ Jennifer E. Langdon: Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood , para. 2.
  4. ^ Speech given by Adrian Scott on March 5, 1948 (PDF file; 3.62 MB)
  5. ↑ Jennifer E. Langdon: Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood , para. 42 f.
  6. ↑ Tom Dewe Matthews: The outlaws: As Robin Hood returns to our television screens, Tom Dewe Mathews looks back on the McCarthy-era version, which provided the perfect vehicle for Hollywood's blacklisted scriptwriters . In: The Guardian, October 7, 2006
  7. ↑ Jennifer E. Langdon: Caught in the Crossfire: Adrian Scott and the Politics of Americanism in 1940s Hollywood , para. 54.
personal data
SURNAME Scott, Adrian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scott, Robert Adrian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Arlington , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 1973
Place of death Sherman Oaks , Los Angeles , California