Ben Barzman
Nascimento : 1910-10-12, Toronto, Canada
Morte : 1989-12-15
História
Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and best known for his screenplays for the films Back to Bataan (1945), El Cid (1961), and The Blue Max (1966).
He was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Jewish family. He was the screenwriter or co-writer of more than 20 films, from You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943) to The Head of Normande St. Onge (1975).
Like many of his colleagues in the movie business, Barzman was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee.
His wife, Norma Barzman, was a Communist Party USA member from 1943 to 1949. In 2014, she told the Los Angeles Times, "one should be proud to have been a member of the American Communist Party during those years. Hitler was invading the Soviet Union, so there was no reason to be anti-Russian, they were our allies."
The couple moved to England so Barzman could work on the film Give Us This Day (aka, Christ in Concrete, 1949). Following his return to the United States after directing Give Us This Day, Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten, testified about the Barzmans to HUAC in 1951. "To get out of prison he named us and a lot of other people," said Norma Barzman in 2014. In the 1950s, the family moved to Paris, where friends included Pablo Picasso, Yves Montand, and Simone Signoret, and later southern France. Barzman did not receive credit for some films because of the Hollywood Blacklist.
His U.S. citizenship was revoked from 1954 to 1963. His wife Norma had her passport revoked from 1951 for seven years. The family remained abroad in London, Paris and Mougins until 1976, during which time he wrote his novels and screenplays for French and Italian films.
Barzman died in Santa Monica, California, United States.
Surviving him was his wife, Norma Barzman, and seven children (including director Paolo Barzman, screenwriter Aaron Barzman, visual artist Luli Barzman, and French university professor John Barzman) and five grandchildren.
Source: Article "Ben Barzman" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Writer
Normande St-Onge works as a clerk in a pharmacy and takes dance classes with the dream of being a cabaret dancer. Her mother, Berthe, has been confined to a mental institution by Normande's uncle, the wealthy lawyer Jean-Paul. But Normande, who does not believe her mother is insane, kidnaps her from the institution and brings her home. Also living with them is Normande's sister Pierette, who has asthma and a drug addiction, Normande's boyfriend Bouliane, who is unemployed and in no hurry to find a job, and a strange young magician named Carol she took in after he was kicked out of his home. All of these people depend on Normande in various ways and exploit her; Normande, desperate to be loved, is driven mad by the demands of her parasite family. When she receives an eviction notice stating that the building will be demolished and rebuilt into a restaurant, it all becomes too much for Normande and her mind retreats into fantasy to protect her from the harsh realities.
Writer
Screenplay
Sadiel, rebel leader in a North African state, takes refuge in Switzerland in the aftermath of a coup. Aware of the threat posed by Sadiel, the ruthless Colonel Kassar contacts the French security services to help in capturing the political activist. A police informer, Darien, is forced to lure Sadiel to Paris, allegedly to make a television coverage about the Third World. Arriving in Paris, Sadiel is captured and delivered to his opponents. Disgusted by the way he has been manipulated, Darien tries to turn back the clock, unknowing who’s dealing with.
Writer
Conheça o caso Lambrakis, onde a morte de um político foi encoberta vergonhosamente por políticos e policiais, na Grécia dos anos 60. Vencedor dos Oscar de Melhor Filme Estrangeiro e Edição, foi o primeiro filme a ser indicado também na categoria Melhor Filme. (e 14 - Estimado 14 Anos)
Screenplay
A resistência norueguesa tenta sabotar os esforços alemães para produzir um componente da bomba atômica durante a segunda guerra mundial.
Durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, a Noruega foi ocupada pela Alemanha. Nos claros e profundos fiordes tentavam produzir água "pesada", um componente vital na fabricação de uma bomba atômica. Uma arma que ganharia a guerra pela Alemanha. O Movimento de Resistência Norueguês descobre isso e os aliados são alertados. Mas terão tempo e oportunidade para impedir que o precioso ingrediente seja produzido e usado?
Screenplay
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
Screenplay
No auge da expansão geográfica do império romano, o general Lívio (Stephen Boyd) comanda a nova política do imperador Marco Aurélio (Alec Guinness), que quer a pacificação de fronteiras e a adoção para os povos conquistados uma certa autonomia. Mas Marco Aurélio acaba envenenado por Commodus (Christopher Plummer), filho ilegítimo que assume o trono e mergulha Roma no caos político e administrativo, o que dá origem à queda do Império Romano.
Screenplay
A man has an affair with his condemned brother's girlfriend while plotting his escape in Tangier.
Screenplay
Filme épico sobre o lendário herói espanhol Rodrigo Diaz, "El Cid" para os seus seguidores, que, sem comprometer o seu rigoroso sentido de honra, consegue tomar a iniciativa e expulsar os mouros da Espanha cristã.
Screenplay
Em Londres da década de 1950, o pintor holandês Jan-Van Rooyer tem um caso com uma francesa rica que é assassinada, fazendo com que Van Rooyer se torne o principal suspeito do Scotland Yard.
Adaptation
Bob Stanley was an American secret agent during World War II in France. After the war Stanley returns to France as a consul. In reality, he works for the FBI, to roll up the organization that manufactures fake U.S. dollars. A violent confrontation is insurmountable.
Writer
Greece, in the 1920s, is occupied by the Turks. The country is in turmoil with entire villages uprooted. The site of the movie is a Greek village that conducts a passion play each year. The leading citizens of the town, under the auspices of the Patriarch, choose those that will play the parts in the Passion. A stuttering shepherd is chosen to play Jesus. The town butcher (who wanted to be Jesus) is chosen as Judas. The town prostitute is chosen as Mary Magdalene. The rest of the disciples are also chosen. As the movie unfolds, the Passion Play becomes a reality. A group of villagers, uprooted by the war and impoverished, arrive at the village led by their priest. The wealthier citizens of the town want nothing with these people and manipulate a massacre. In the context of the 1920s, each of the characters plays out their biblical role in actuality.
Screenplay
Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Writer
Two female agents from a rival gang are sent to disrupt the operations of a gold-smuggler's caravan in Africa.
Writer
Wealthy American Patricia comes to spend some time at her uncle's place in Paris. While out on her own for the evening she meets pseudo-Russian prince Vladimir in a bistro.
Screenplay
A Montana lawyer gets distracted after moving to California with his wife and children.
Screenplay
A down-and-out crook on the lam befriends a young street urchin, in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, he tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for him (who is wanted for murder), the police pursue the two lost souls.
Screenplay
The Israeli-made Faithful City stars Jamie Smith as an American in Tel Aviv just after World War II. Smith makes the acquaintance of a group of orphans, Jewish refugees of the concentration camps. It takes some doing, but Smith wins the love and trust of these displaced youngsters. Like most government-funded Israeli productions of the early 1950s, Faithful City is designed more to instruct and inform than entertain. That it happens to be entertaining in the bargain is all the more reason to seek out this extremely rare film.
Screenplay
Exiled from Hollywood due to the blacklist, director Edward Dmytryk briefly operated in England in the late 1940s. Though filmed in its entirety in London, Dmytryk's Give Us This Day is set in New York during the depression. Fellow blacklistee Sam Wanamaker is starred as the head of an Italian immigrant family struggling to survive the economic crisis.
Adaptation
Exiled from Hollywood due to the blacklist, director Edward Dmytryk briefly operated in England in the late 1940s. Though filmed in its entirety in London, Dmytryk's Give Us This Day is set in New York during the depression. Fellow blacklistee Sam Wanamaker is starred as the head of an Italian immigrant family struggling to survive the economic crisis.
Writer
Peter Frye, um típico garoto norte-americano, perde os pais quando eles são pegos por uma blitz, em Londres. Ninguém diz a ele que seus pais morreram e que agora ele é um órfão. E assim, sem ele próprio saber o porquê, vai sendo despachado da casa de um parente para o outro, todos igualmente egoístas e nenhum interessado em ajudá-lo. Peter acaba indo parar na casa de Gramp, o mais gentil dos seus anfitriões. Peter e Gramp parecem se dar bem, mas na manhã seguinte em que é avisado que seus pais morreram, o cabelo de Peter, subitamente, adquire a cor verde. As reações absurdas das pessoas que o cercam fazem com que O Menino dos Cabelos Verdes se torne uma parábola. Alguns críticos consideram esse trabalho como sendo diferente de tudo feito no cinema americano, até então.
Story
Phil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is very unhappy that her parents are not together. Flip starts a correspondence with a Marine, sending a picture of her beautiful mother as the author of Flip's flirtatious letters. When the Marine shows up to meet his pen pal, Ellen takes the opportunity to make her ex-husband jealous.
Screenplay
O coronel do Exército norte-americano Joseph Madden é alocado nas Filipinas, onde seu grupo é obrigado a sair pelas tropas japonesas. Apesar da situação, Madden lidera uma guerrilha que inclui o neto de um herói de guerra contra os inimigos.
Story
A writer for a radio program needs some fresh ideas to juice up his show. For inspiration, he rents a room with a typical American family and begins to secretly write about their true life antics. The show becomes a big hit, but he begins to feel guilty about his charade when he falls in love with the family's pretty older daughter.
Screenplay
A young woman marries a soldier to fulfill the conditions of a will. However, when she gets ready to divorce him, she realizes that she actually loves him, and determines to find a way to keep him.
