Benn W. Levy

Nascimento : 1900-03-07,

Morte : 1973-12-07

História

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Benn Wolfe Levy (7 March 1900 – 7 December 1973) was a Labour Party Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and a successful playwright. He was educated at Repton School and University College, Oxford and served in uniform in both World Wars. Before entering politics, Levy was a successful playwright who also wrote screenplays. The best known of his screenplays was written in collaboration with R. C. Sherriff for James Whale's macabre horror film The Old Dark House (1932) based on the novel Benighted (1927) by J. B. Priestley. Earlier he had been the dialogue writer for Blackmail (1929); directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was the first British sound film. Levy directed one film, Lord Camber's Ladies (1932), which was the only film produced by Hitchcock which he did not himself direct. Levy was first elected at the 1945 general election, for the Eton and Slough constituency, and stood down at the 1950 general election. Politically, Levy was on the left of the Labour Party and became an active member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament). As a sympathiser with the Zionist movement, he also opposed Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin over Bevin's policies towards Palestine and Israel. As an MP, Levy made an unsuccessful effort to abolish theatrical censorship in Britain, and towards the end of his life, he was the principal author of a report opposing the arguments for censorship made by Lord Longford, the anti-pornography campaigner. He was married for more than 40 years to the American-born screen and stage actress Constance Cummings; they had one daughter and one son.

Filmes

Kaleidoscope
Screenplay
An unmade movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Young bodybuilder, a serial killer, lures women to their deaths near water. The New York police uses an undercover policewoman to try and trap him.
The Dictator
Writer
The film depicts a dramatic episode in Danish history: the tumultous relationship between King Christian VII of Denmark and his English consort Caroline Matilda in Eighteenth century Copenhagen and the Queen's tragic affair with the royal physician and liberal reformer Johann Friedrich Struensee.
Unfinished Symphony
Writer
Composer Franz Schubert--broke, struggling and unhappy--gets a break when a wealthy friend wangles him an invitation to a command performance in front of a princess of the royal family. Schubert performs a version of his new work, "Symphony in B Minor", for the princess, but a misunderstanding results in Schubert storming out of the concert in a rage. Complications ensue.
Melody in Spring
Screenplay
It's love at first sight for singer John Craddock and Jane Blodgett who meet while John is seeking a radio job with the "Blodgett Dog Biscuit Hour," and John learns that the sponsor is Jane's father, Warren Blodgett, an avid souvenir and antiques collector. John gets himself in bad with Blodgett when he accidentally ruins a deal in which Blodgett was attempting to acquire a bedpost for his collection. To break up the romance, Blodgett and his wife take Jane to Switzerland, where Blodgett has his heart set on obtaining a jealously-guarded cowbell.
Evergreen
Theatre Play
Harriet Green, a beloved and radiant music hall star of the Edwardian era mysteriously disappears on the eve of her wedding. Years later she reappears on the stage as young looking and beautiful as ever.
Topázio
Adaptation
An honest and naive schoolteacher gets a lesson in how the world works outside the classroom, when a rich Baron and his mistress use the teacher's name and outstanding reputation in a crooked business scheme.
Lord Camber's Ladies
Writer
In this drama the owner of a flower shop falls in love with one of her patrons. Unfortunately, he is married to a shrewish actress and cannot get out of the marriage. The distraught woman then leaves her shop to become a nurse. Trouble ensues when the actress suddenly appears, accuses the nurse of fooling around with her husband and dies leaving the nurse and the husband to be charged with murder. Fortunately, they are found innocent and they are free to fall in love at last.
Lord Camber's Ladies
Director
In this drama the owner of a flower shop falls in love with one of her patrons. Unfortunately, he is married to a shrewish actress and cannot get out of the marriage. The distraught woman then leaves her shop to become a nurse. Trouble ensues when the actress suddenly appears, accuses the nurse of fooling around with her husband and dies leaving the nurse and the husband to be charged with murder. Fortunately, they are found innocent and they are free to fall in love at last.
A Casa Sinistra
Screenplay
Seeking shelter from a relentless rainstorm and landslides in a remote region of Wales, five travelers are admitted to a large foreboding old house that belongs to the extremely strange Femm family. Sepulchral Horace Femm and his obsessive, inhospitable sister Rebecca are the group's peculiar hosts. The house also holds surprises - and a brutish mute manservant named Morgan.
Entre Duas Águas
Screenplay
Naval commander Charles Storm has made life miserable for his wife Diana due to his insane jealousy over every man she speaks to. His obsessive behavior soon drives her to the arms of a handsome lieutenant. When Charles learns of their affair, he plots revenge.
A Ponte de Waterloo
Adaptation
Myra, uma "dançarina" de revista, passa por dificuldades e acaba se prostituindo, durante a primeira guerra mundial. Durante um ataque aéreo, ela conhece Roy, um jovem que se alistou no exército canadense e os dois logo se apaixonam, mas ela oculta dele o seu passado.
The Gay Diplomat
Story
Captain Orloff is sent to Bucharest to capture a Mata Hari type of spy, but many different women fit the bill and are attractive enough to make one question one's allegiance.
Transgression
Additional Dialogue
When British mining engineer Robert Maury is sent to India on an extended business trip, his wife Elsie finds romance with a Spanish playboy.
The Temporary Widow
Writer
Kitty Kellermann is put on trial for murdering her husband, a failed painter. When her counsel resigns from his mandate, the mysterious Peter Bille steps in, though it becomes apparent that he actually is not an advocate but Kitty's lover and moreover confesses the murder. The widow has to admit that the pictures by her deceased spouse sell much better, only for him to suddenly appear alive.
The Hate Ship
Writer
A police captain poses as the valet of a friend who has been invited on a yacht cruise by a notorious schemer, whom the friend is afraid wants to murder him.
The Informer
Dialogue
A man betrays his best friend, a member of a terrorist organisation, to the authorities and is then pursued by the other members of the organisation.
Chantagem e Confissão
Dialogue
Por volta de 1920, em Londres, a filha de um lojista namora um detetive da Scotland Yard, que mostra estar mais interessado no seu trabalho do que em estar com ela. Assim, ela decide secretamente se encontrar com outro homem, mas quando este tenta estuprá-la ela o mata com uma faca. Quando o corpo é descoberto quem assume o caso é exatamente o namorado da jovem envolvida, que rapidamente deduz que ela é a assassina em virtude de uma luva deixada no local do crime. Ele no entanto encobre o caso, mas um outro homem pretende chantageá-la e para isto ele tem a outra luva, que pode ligá-la ao crime.