Albert Maltz

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Albert Maltz

Albert Maltz (born October 28, 1908 in New York City , † April 26, 1985 in Los Angeles ) was an American writer and screenwriter . He was politically active on the left and had been a member of the Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) since 1935 . During the McCarthy-era communist persecution , he was one of the Hollywood Ten and went to jail for his convictions.

biography

Born in Brooklyn , New York, the son of a building contractor of Jewish origin who immigrated from Eastern Europe attended Columbia University , which he graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa membership in 1930 , followed by a two-year graduate study with George Pierce Baker at the Yale School of Drama . A first Broadway play , a collaborative effort, was created while he was still a student. In the early 1930s he wrote as a playwright for the progressive Theater Union, which performed his anti-war play Peace on Earth in 1934 . Black Pit was created for the Group Theater in 1935 , which played in the coalfield of western Virginia. In 1932 he wrote his first screenplay for Hollywood, based on the play Merry-Go-Round from the same year. Maltz became a member of the Communist Party in 1935 . In 1937 he married Margaret Lankin, whom he had met at the Theater Union . From 1937 to 1941 Maltz taught at the New York University School of Adult Education in his subject, the writing of plays.

For the short story The Happiest Man on Earth published in Harper's Magazine , he received the O. Henry Prize in 1938 . In 1942 he worked on the film Casablanca . His first novel, The Underground Stream, was a schematic representation of the class struggle in Detroit. His best novel, The Cross and the Arrow, was published in 1944 . In 1946 Maltz won an Academy Award for his screenplay for the documentary The House That I Live In, and in the same year his work for the classic war film Pride of the Marines was nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Adapted Screenplay . In this highlight the sudden crash followed: Like nine other unfriendly , not willing to cooperate witnesses Maltz invoked in the hearing of the Committee on Un-American Activities October 28, 1947 the First Amendment and refused any statement. The Hollywood Ten were sentenced to fines and imprisonment and, like many communist and left wing scriptwriters, directors, actors, and film technicians, were blacklisted by film studios in this McCarthy era . In Hollywood they could only work under a pseudonym. After serving his sentence (June 1950 to April 1951), Maltz went into exile with his family in Mexico, where he lived as a freelance writer until 1962. The marriage ended in divorce in 1963. In 1964 he married Rosemary Wylde, who died in 1968. In the following year he got his third marriage with Esther Engelberg. He had two children, Peter and Katherine, from his first marriage. In 1997, the Writers Guild of America decided to restore the authors who were denied by the blacklist to their rights and recognition. Maltz died on August 26, 1985 in Los Angeles after a repeated stroke.

Selected Works

Novels

  • The Underground Stream . Boston 1940. In German as:
The Underground Stream: A Historical Novel From A Moment In The American Winter . Dietz, Berlin-East 1949.
  • The Cross and the Arrow . Boston 1944. In German as:
The cross and the arrow . Dietz, Berlin-East 1949.
  • The Journey of Simon McKeever . Boston 1949. In German as:
The Journey of Simon McKeever . Dietz, East Berlin 1950
  • A Long Day in a Short Life . New York 1956. In German as:
A long day in a short life. Dietz, Berlin-Ost 1957. Reflects on his prison experience.
  • A Tale of One January. (1966). Not published in the US, only in England.

stories

  • Man on a Road. In: New Masses (1935)
  • Seasons of Celebration (novella)
  • The Happiest Man on Earth. In: Harper's Magazine. 1st Prize Best Short Story, O. Henry Memorial Award.
  • The Way Things Are , anthology (1938).
  • Afternoon in the jungle. (1971)

Essays

  • What Shall We Ask of Writers? In: New Masses (1946). Clear criticism of the cultural policy of the CP with extremely unpleasant internal consequences for Maltz.
  • The Citizen Writer ( fellow writer. Contributions to the defense of the true American culture ). Anthology (1950).

Plays

  • 1932: Merry-Go-Round. 1932 in the USA as Afraid to Talk, filmed in the GDR in 1955 as hotel boy Ed Martin .
  • 1934: Peace on Earth. With George Sklar, Director: Robert B. Sinclair, Production: The Theater Union. 44th Street Theater, Broadway, 18 performances, March 31-April 17, 1934.
  • 1935: Black Pit
  • 1935: Soldier Hicks

Filmography

script

literature

  • Jon C. Hopwood: Albert Maltz biography . In IMDB online here. [2]

Web links

Commons : Albert Maltz  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jon C. Hopwood: Albert Maltz biography . Short online biography on IMDB.com in [1]. Accessed May 10, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Maltz, Albert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH April 26, 1985
Place of death Los Angeles , California , USA