Michael Wilson (July 1, 1914 – April 9, 1978) was an American screenwriter.

Life and career

Early life

Wilson was born and raised

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in McAlester, Oklahoma. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1936 and did post-graduate fellowship work between 1937 and 1939. He taught English and began his writing career with short stories for magazines. Then, starting in 1941, he wrote or co-wrote 22 screenplays.

Early Screenplays

Wilson was credited on '' The Men in Her Life '' (1941) with Loretta Young. He did some

William Boyd William, Willie, Will or Bill Boyd may refer to: Academics * William Alexander Jenyns Boyd (1842–1928), Australian journalist and schoolmaster * William Boyd (educator) (1874–1962), Scottish educator * William Boyd (pathologist) (1885–1979), ...

westerns, '' Border Patrol'' (1943), '' Colt Comrades'' (1943), ''

Bar 20 ''Bar 20'' is a 1943 American Western film directed by Lesley Selander and written by Morton Grant, Michael Wilson and Norman Houston. The film stars William Boyd, Andy Clyde, George Reeves, Dustine Farnum, Victor Jory, Douglas Fowley, Betty ...

'' (1943), and '' Forty Thieves'' (1944). Wilson's career in Hollywood was interrupted by service with the

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during

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 ...

Return from World War Two

In 1945 he became a contract writer with Liberty Films, working (uncredited) on such pictures as '' It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946). He was a co-winner of the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' A Place in the Sun'' (1951), and won an

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

and another Oscar nomination for his script for '' 5 Fingers'' (1953).

Blacklisting

Wilson was named an unfriendly witness by the

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, create ...

and blacklisted for being a communist. After he was blacklisted, he left for France and worked on scripts for the European film industry. While blacklisted, Wilson wrote the script for '' Salt of the Earth'' (1954), a fictionalized account of a real strike by zinc miners in

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. The movie was directed by Herbert Biberman and produced by

Paul Jarrico Paul Jarrico (January 12, 1915 – October 28, 1997) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses during the era of McCarthyism. Biography Early years Paul Jarrico was born in Los An ...

both of whom had also been blacklisted. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States

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and selected for preservation in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

. He wrote or collaborated on scripts for Hollywood films without credit or under a

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for much less than his usual fee before being blacklisted, including '' Carnival Story'' (1954) (for

King Brothers Productions King Brothers Productions was an American film production company, active from 1941 to the late 1960s. It was founded by the Kozinsky brothers, Frank (April 1, 1913 – February 12, 1989), Maurice (Maury; September 13, 1914 – September 2, 1977 ...

who often used blacklisted writers); '' They Were So Young'' (1954); ''

The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell ''The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell'' is a 1955 American CinemaScope war film directed by Otto Preminger, and starring Gary Cooper and co-starring Charles Bickford, Ralph Bellamy, Rod Steiger, and Elizabeth Montgomery in her film debut. The film ...

'' (1955), for Otto Preminger; '' Friendly Persuasion'' (1956), for

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), '' The Best Years o ...

; '' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957), for

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th centur ...

and David Lean; '' The Two-Headed Spy'' (1958); '' Tempest'' (1958) and ''

5 Branded Women ''Five Branded Women'' is a 1960 Italian-American film directed by Martin Ritt (his only war film) and produced by Dino De Laurentiis. It features an international cast including Silvana Mangano, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeanne Moreau and Vera Miles. T ...

'' (1960) for Dino De Laurentiis; and ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

'' (1962) for Spiegel and Lean again. His screenplay for ''Friendly Persuasion'' was nominated for an Academy Award, but was disqualified because his name did not appear in the credits. Director

wanted his brother, Robert Wyler, and Jessamyn West credited for rewriting the script, but Wilson disputed this. Wyler then was able under the rules of the blacklist to have one of the few films in history credited to no writer at all. Wilson and Carl Foreman worked separately on ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'', but as both were blacklisted, the official credit went to Pierre Boulle, upon whose novel the movie was based, even though Boulle did not even speak English. Wilson remained in France with his family for nine years, before returning to live in Ojai, California in the United States in 1964.

Return to Hollywood

Wilson continued to write screenplays, including for '' The Sandpiper'' (1965), ''

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'' (1968), and ''

Che! ''Che!'' is a 1969 American biographical film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Omar Sharif as Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It follows Guevara from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in Bolivia in 1967, a ...

'' (1969). His screenplay for ''Planet of the Apes'' was based on a novel by Pierre Boulle; only Boulle received screen credit. Michael Wilson was awarded Writers Guild of America's Laurel Award in 1975 and was

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication Posthumous publication refers to material that is published after the author's death. This can be because the auth ...

awarded his second Academy Award in 1984 for ''The Bridge on the River Kwai''. In 1995, Wilson was credited by the academy's board of directors with an Academy Award nomination as a co-writer of ''Lawrence of Arabia'' and credited as the winner of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best British Dramatic Screenplay. Wilson also completed an unproduced screenplay on December 16, 1976, ''The Raid On Harper's Ferry'', which was an adaptation of Truman J. Nelson's book ''The Old Man: John Brown at Harper's Ferry'' (1973). He also apparently wrote unproduced scripts for a movie about the

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titled ''The Wobblies'' and a movie about the infiltration of the Black Liberation Movement titled ''Quiet Darkness''.

Personal life

Michael Wilson married Zelma Gussin in 1941; the couple had two daughters."Here and There," ''Berkeley Daily Gazette'' (June 23, 1941): 3, social page mentions the couple's recent wedding. Zelma's sister, Sylvia, was married to another blacklisted screenwriter,

. Michael Wilson died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1978 in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Filmography

*''

The Men in Her Life ''The Men in Her Life'' is a 1941 period drama film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Loretta Young, Conrad Veidt and Dean Jagger. It is an adaptation of the 1932 novel ''Ballerina'' by the British writer Eleanor Smith. It was nominated f ...

'' (1941) *'' Border Patrol'' (1943) *'' Colt Comrades'' (1943) *''

'' (1943) *'' Forty Thieves'' (1944) *'' It's a Wonderful Life'' (1946) (uncredited) *'' A Place in the Sun'' (1951) *'' 5 Fingers'' (1952) *'' Salt of the Earth'' (1954) *'' Carnival Story'' (1954) (uncredited) *'' They Were So Young'' (1954) (uncredited) *''

'' (1955) (uncredited) *'' Friendly Persuasion'' (1956) (originally uncredited) *'' The Bridge on the River Kwai'' (1957) (originally uncredited) *'' The Two-Headed Spy'' (1958) (originally as James O'Donnell) *'' La Tempesta'' (1958) (uncredited) *''

'' (1960) (originally uncredited) *''

'' (1962) (originally uncredited) *'' The Sandpiper'' (1965) *''

'' (1968) *''

'' (1969)

References

Bibliography

*Merck, Mandy (2007)
''Hollywood’s American Tragedies: Dreiser, Eisenstein, Sternberg, Stevens.''
Oxford: Berg Publishers. .

External links

*
Finding Aid for the Michael Wilson Papers, 1942-1977The Online Archive of California"'Under the table': Michael Wilson and the Screenplay for The Bridge on the River Kwai: for audiences, a screen masterpiece. For its blacklisted screenwriter, a saga of futility and bitterness, in epic proportions."
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Michael 1914 births 1978 deaths People from McAlester, Oklahoma American male screenwriters United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Hollywood blacklist Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Edgar Award winners UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni United States Marines Screenwriters from Oklahoma 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters