Milton Sperling (July 6, 1912 – August 26, 1988) was an American

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

and Warner Bros., where he had his own independent production unit, United States Pictures.

Biography

After leaving the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

, Sperling entered the film industry by working at

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

's Astoria Studios as a shipping clerk. He later became a personal secretary for Darryl F. Zanuck and

Hal Wallis Harold Brent Wallis (born Aaron Blum Wolowicz; October 19, 1898 – October 5, 1986) was an American film producer. He is best known for producing ''Casablanca'' (1942), '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938), and '' True Grit'' (1969), along w ...

at Warner Bros. in 1931. After Zanuck resigned his position as Head of Production of Warner Bros. studios in 1933 and was offered a position with

Twentieth Century Pictures Twentieth Century Pictures, Inc. was an independent Hollywood motion picture production company created in 1933 by Joseph Schenck (the former president of United Artists) and Darryl F. Zanuck from Warner Bros. Financial backing came from Sche ...

(later merged with Fox Pictures), Sperling became an assistant to Edward Small, an independent film producer who released his Reliance Pictures and Edward Small Productions through

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

. Sperling learned as much about an independent low-budget film production unit as he had about high-budget

major studio Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, t ...

films from Zanuck and Wallis at Warner Bros. Zanuck hired Sperling for his combined

, where Sperling's first

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, ...

''Sing, Baby Sing'' was released in 1936. Sperling later did more screenwriting, credited and uncredited, for

, becoming a

in 1941, with his first productions being '' Sun Valley Serenade'' then '' I Wake Up Screaming'', both in 1941. Though now working for Fox, in 1936, Sperling was introduced to

Harry Warner Harry Morris Warner (born Hirsz Mojżesz Wonsal; December 12, 1881 – July 25, 1958) was an American studio executive, one of the founders of Warner Bros., and a major contributor to the development of the film industry. Along with his three yo ...

's (of the Warner brothers) 16-year-old daughter Betty Warner. This match was arranged by Betty Warner's older sister, Doris. After an on-and-off relationship of three years, Betty and Sperling married on July 13, 1939. In 1941, Sperling was an associate producer on the

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films running through a special ...

romantic military film comedy '' To the Shores of Tripoli'' and quickly filmed a new ending, showing John Payne hearing the news about the attack and reenlisting in the Marines. Sperling also enlisted in the Marines with orders to attend

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from ...

school but still had several films to complete before leaving the studio. The

used Sperling's film expertise by assigning him to the

Photographic Unit, where he produced the documentaries ''The Battle for The Marianas'' (1944) and the

To the Shores of Iwo Jima ''To the Shores of Iwo Jima'' is a 1945 Kodachrome color short war film produced by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. It documents the Battle of Iwo Jima, and was the first time that American audiences saw in color the foota ...

'' (1945), filmed up front with the Marines in their

Pacific Island Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one ...

campaigns, where several combat cameramen lost their lives shooting the footage. Returning from the war, Zanuck offered Sperling his old job back but father-in-law

told Sperling that a member of the family should not work for a rival studio. offering him an independent production unit where he could make the films he wanted. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

major studios Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command a significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the ...

were looking at studios that only financed and released films such as

and

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

and decided that hiring stars, directors, and film crews on a picture-by-picture basis would be more economical, especially with the problems with the

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

the

were having. Sperling named his company " United States Pictures" with his first of 14 films released under the label being '' Cloak and Dagger''. Sperling contributed to the screenplays on several of these films, including '' The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell'' (1955) that was nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for Best Original Writing, Story and Screenplay. Sperling also produced other films not under the United States Pictures label such as ''

Top Secret Affair ''Top Secret Affair'' is a 1957 American romantic comedy film made by Carrollton Inc. and distributed by Warner Bros. that stars Susan Hayward and Kirk Douglas. It was directed by H. C. Potter and produced by Martin Rackin and Milton Sperling fr ...

'' (1957), filmed in England, and '' Marjorie Morningstar'' (1958). The final United States Pictures film was ''

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

'', filmed in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in 1965. Sperling later produced a Spanish made "

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most ...

" with

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

in the role of ''

Captain Apache ''Captain Apache'' is a 1971 Spanish-British acid Western film directed by Alexander Singer and starring Lee Van Cleef, Carroll Baker, and Stuart Whitman. It was written and produced by Milton Sperling and Philip Yordan. The film was based on th ...

'' (1971), then several television movies until his death from cancer in 1988. He was buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, in Los Angeles.

References

*Sperling, Cass Warner, Millner, Cork, and Warner Jr, Jack ''Hollywood Be Thy Name'' Prima Publishing (1994)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sperling, Milton American film producers American male screenwriters 1912 births 1988 deaths United States Marines 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers Warner family 20th-century American screenwriters United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Deaths from cancer in the United States