Fred F. Finklehoffe

Fred F. Finklehoffe (born February 16, 1910 in Springfield , Massachusetts , † October 5, 1977 in Springtown , Pennsylvania ) was an American writer, screenwriter and theater producer who wrote the screenplay for several important film musicals of the 1940s (with) .

Live and act

Finklehoffe was placed in a military academy at a young age and received appropriate training at the Augusta Military Academy and the Virginia Military Institute from the late 1920s to the early 1930s . In 1932 he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts , followed by further legal training at Yale Law School , which Finklehoffe finished with a Bachelor of Laws .

Immediately afterwards, Finklehoffe turned to writing and wrote the play Brother Advice . This comedy was premiered on Broadway on December 16, 1936 and ran very successfully into May 1938. Hollywood then became aware of the young writer and bought the filming rights from Finklehoffe. At the end of October 1938 the film version of Brother Rat was shown . a. at his old alma mater in Virginia, in American theaters. Finklehoffe then moved to Los Angeles and worked mainly as a screenwriter for MGM through the 1940s . During the years of World War II , Finklehoffe was at times the in-house author of Judy Garland's musical novels. For the last of these works, Homesickness for St. Louis , he and his co-writer Irving Brecher received an Oscar nomination in the “ Best Adapted Screenplay ” category .

Between 1947 and 1957 Finklehoffe commuted back and forth between Hollywood and New York; during these years he produced a number of stage plays on Broadway. After his last play Hide and Seek was a huge failure and only ran for four days (seven performances) on the Theater Mile, Finklehoffe finally turned his back on the stage and found only a little occupation as the author of individual episodes of television series. In the year of his death, after about two and a half decades of abstinence from the cinema, he was able to write a film script again.

Filmography

as a screenwriter unless otherwise stated

• 1938: The Mad Miss Manton
• 1940: Brother Rat and a Baby
• 1940: Hot Rhythms in Chicago (Strike Up the Band)
• 1941: Babes on Broadway
• 1942: For Me and My Gal
• 1943: Best Foot Forward
• 1943: Girl Crazy
• 1944: Meet Me in St. Louis
• 1946: Mr. Ace
• 1947: The Egg and I (The Egg and I) (including production)
• 1948: Words and Music
• 1950: At War With the Army (also production)
• 1952: The Whipping Boy (The Stooge)
• 1957: Alcoa Theater: Episode: Lollipop Louie (also production) (TV)
• 1959: Meet Me in St. Louis (TV version)
• 1962: McHale's Navy (TV series, episode)
• 1963: The Richard Boone Show (TV series, episode)
• 1967: The Danny Thomas Hour (TV series, episode)
• 1977: My Boys are Good Boys

Theater activity (complete)

• 1936–38: Brother Rat (Author)
• 1942–43: Showtime (author and production)
• 1943: Laugh Time (production)
• 1947–48: The Heiress (production)
• 1948–49: Red Gloves (production assistant to Jed Harris)
• 1950–52: Affairs of State (Production)
• 1955: Ankles Aweigh (production)
• 1957: Hide and Seek (Production)

literature

• International Motion Picture Almanac 1965, Quigley Publishing Company, New York 1964, pp. 88 f.

Web links

• Fred F. Finklehoffe in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Fred F. Finklehoffe in the Internet Broadway Database (English)