Benn Wolfe Levy (7 March 1900 – 7 December 1973) was a Labour Party

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

(1945–1950), and a successful playwright. He was educated at

Repton School Repton School is a 13–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school in the English Public school (United Kingdom), public school tradition, in Repton, Derbyshire, ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

and served in uniform in both World Wars.

Playwright and parliamentarian

Before entering politics, Levy was a successful playwright and screenwriter. He was the dialogue writer for ''

Blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

'' (1929); directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, it was the first British sound film. Later, he wrote the adapted screenplay for

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fran ...

's macabre horror film '' The Old Dark House'' (1932) in collaboration with

R. C. Sherriff Robert Cedric Sherriff, FSA, FRSL (6 June 1896 – 13 November 1975) was an English writer best known for his play '' Journey's End'', which was based on his experiences as an army officer in the First World War. He wrote several plays, many nov ...

, based on the novel ''Benighted'' (1927) by

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

. Levy directed one film, ''

Lord Camber's Ladies ''Lord Camber's Ladies'' (1932) is a British drama film directed by Benn W. Levy, produced by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Gerald du Maurier, Gertrude Lawrence, Benita Hume, and Nigel Bruce. Plot An aristocrat marries a singer, but then tries ...

'' (1932), which was the only film produced by Hitchcock which he did not himself direct. Levy was first elected at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgaria ...

, for the

Eton and Slough Eton and Slough was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system. History The House of Commons (Redi ...

constituency, and stood down at the 1950 general election. Politically, Levy was on the left of the Labour Party and later became an active member of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...

. As a sympathiser with the

Zionist movement Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

, he also opposed Foreign Secretary

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...

over Bevin's policies towards

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. 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 Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and ...

, the anti-pornography campaigner. He was married for more than 40 years to the American-born screen and stage actress

Constance Cummings Constance Cummings CBE (May 15, 1910 – November 23, 2005) was an American-British actress with a career spanning over 50 years. Early life Cummings was born in Seattle, Washington, the only daughter and younger child of Kate Logan (née Cu ...

; the couple had one daughter and one son. Levy's papers are held at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

library.

Credits

Plays

Plays written by Levy: *''This Woman Business'' (1925) *''Mud and Treacle'' (1928) *''A Man with Red Hair'' (1928) *''Mrs Moonlight'' (1928) *''Art and Mrs Bottle'' (1929) *''Topaz'' (1930) *''Ever Green'' (1930) *''Springtime for Henry'' (1931) *''

Hollywood Holiday ''Hollywood Holiday'' is a comedy play by the British writers John Van Druten and Benn Levy. It is a satire on Hollywood scriptwriting, and sees a female playwright's script turned into half a dozen unrecognisable screenplays. It ran at the Ne ...

'' with

John van Druten John William Van Druten (1 June 190119 December 1957) was an English playwright and theatre director. He began his career in London, and later moved to America, becoming a U.S. citizen. He was known for his plays of witty and urbane observation ...

(1931) *''The Devil Passes'' (1932) *''Young Madame Conti'' with

Hubert Griffiths Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

(1936) *''Madame Bovary'' (1937) *''If I Were You'' (1938) *''The Jealous God'' (1939) *''Clutterbuck'' (1946) * ''

Return to Tyassi ''Return to Tyassi'' is a 1950 play by the British writer Benn Levy. The plot concerns a woman with a shady past who attempts to redeem herself. Levy directed the play, which featured his wife Constance Cummings in the lead role. It premiered at ...

'' (1950) *''Rape of the Belt'' (1957)

Selected filmography

Director * ''

'' (1932) produced by

Screenwriter * ''

The Hate Ship ''The Hate Ship'' is a 1929 British mystery film directed by Norman Walker and starring Jameson Thomas, Jean Colin and Jack Raine. It was made at Elstree Studios by British International Pictures.Wood p.67 Cast * Jameson Thomas as Vernon Wolfe ...

'' (1929) * '' The Informer'' (1929) * ''

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...

'' (1931), directed by

* ''

Devil and the Deep ''Devil and the Deep'' is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by Marion Gering, based on Maurice Larrouy's novel (''Sirenes et Tritons''), and starring Tallulah Bankhead, Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and Cary Grant. It follows a naval ...

'' (1932) * '' The Old Dark House'' (1932), directed by James Whale * '' Topaze'' (1933) directed by

Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast (6 May 1897 – 17 March 1968) was an Argentinean born, French screenwriter and director. Life d'Abbadie d'Arrast was born in Argentina in 1893 to a family of French aristocratic origins. He moved to the United States i ...

* ''

Unfinished Symphony An unfinished symphony is a fragment of a symphony, by a particular composer, that musicians and academics consider incomplete or unfinished for various reasons. The archetypal unfinished symphony is Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (sometimes c ...

'' (1934) directed by

Anthony Asquith Anthony William Landon Asquith (; 9 November 1902 – 20 February 1968) was an English film director. He collaborated successfully with playwright Terence Rattigan on ''The Winslow Boy'' (1948) and '' The Browning Version'' (1951), among oth ...

* '' The Dictator'' (1935) directed by

Victor Saville Victor Saville (25 September 1895 – 8 May 1979) was an English film director, producer, and screenwriter. He directed 39 films between 1927 and 1954. He also produced 36 films between 1923 and 1962. Biography Saville produced his first f ...

References

External links

*
''Mrs. Moonlight''
on

Lux Radio Theater ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

: 26 June 1939
''Mrs. Moonlight''
on Theater of Romance: 30 August 1943 *
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Benn Wolfe Levy, MP MBE (1900–1973)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Benn Government and politics of Slough Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Slough 1900 births 1973 deaths UK MPs 1945–1950 Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Navy personnel of World War II People educated at Repton School Alumni of University College, Oxford British dramatists and playwrights Jewish British politicians