Bernard Smith (producer)

Bernard Smith (born September 20, 1907 , † September 21, 1999 in Beverly Hills ) was an American editor , literary critic and film producer who was nominated twice for the Oscar for best picture.

Life

After attending school, Smith graduated from the City University of New York (CUNY) and began working for the Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. publishing house in 1928 , where he was promoted to managing editor and published well-known authors such as B Traven , Raymond Chandler , Dashiell Hammett, and Langston Hughes . In addition to his publishing activities, he also worked as a literary critic and published, among other things, In 1939 Forces in American Criticism , a historical and critical study of American literature and literary criticism from a Marxist point of view.

In 1947, after leaving the Knopf publishing house, Smith began his work in the Hollywood film industry , where he initially revised scripts and film templates for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . He later produced only five films between 1960 and 1969. DC for his first production, after the eponymous novel by Sinclair Lewis resulting Literaturverfilmung Elmer Gantry (1960) by Richard Brooks with Burt Lancaster in the title role and Jean Simmons and Dean Jagger in other roles, he was at the Oscars in 1961 for the first time for the Oscar nominated for best film .

His second nomination for the Oscar for best film received Smith in 1964 for by Henry Hathaway , John Ford and George Marshall staged Western How the West Was Won (How the West Was Won, 1962) Carroll Baker , Lee J. Cobb and Henry Fonda and numerous other star casts.

In 1965, Smith won, along with director John Ford and screenwriter James R. Webb, the Bronze Wrangler of the Western Heritage Awards for Best Picture, namely for the Western Cheyenne (Cheyenne Autumn, 1964) with Richard Widmark , Carroll Baker and Karl Malden .

Awards

• 1965: Bronze Wrangler of the Western Heritage Awards for best picture

Publications

• Forces in American Criticism , 1939
• The Democratic Spirit: A Collection of American Writings From the Earliest Times to the Present Day , 1941
• A World Remembered: 1925-1950 , autobiography, 1994

Filmography

• 1960: Elmer Gantry
• 1962: How the West Was Won ( How the West Was Won )
• 1964: Cheyenne ( Cheyenne Autumn )
• 1966: Seven Women ( 7 Women )
• 1969: Alfred the Great - Vanquisher of the Vikings ( Alfred the Great )

Web links

• Bernard Smith in theInternet Movie Database(English)
• Bernard Smith, 92, Who Edited Literary Giants . In: The New York Times, December 31, 1999