Oscar Brodney

Oscar Brodney (February 18, 1907 – February 12, 2008) was an American lawyer-turned-screenwriter. He is best known for his long association with Universal Studios, where his credits included ''Harvey'', ''The Glenn Miller Story'' (1954), several ''Francis'' movies and the '' Tammy'' series.

Biography

He was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of an immigrant fisherman. One of seven children, a younger brother was the painter Edward Brodney and his older brother Max a doctor.

Brodney attended both Boston University and Harvard College. He earned a law degree from the latter and became a lawyer. He began writing night club and vaudeville routines as a hobby and became a radio writer.

Early film career

Brodney was working as a "radio idea man" in 1941. He and writing partner Jack Rubin had submitted a number of stories to Hollywood studios and only got polite rejections. They pitched a vehicle for Charles Boyer called ''Appointment for Love'' to Universal producer Bruce Manning, who bought the story.

He and Rubin became writers on ''Baby Face Morgan'' (1942) for the Producers Releasing Corporation, Brodney's first credit. He was then assigned to the musical ''When Johnny Comes Marching Home'' (1942) at Universal. Universal is where Brodney would work for most of his career.

''When Johnny Comes Marching Home'' starred Allan Jones who was in Brodney's next films, ''Moonlight in Havana'' (1942) and '' You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith'' (1943) (he only provided the story of the latter). He did '' Always a Bridesmaid'' (1943) with the Andrews Sisters, an original of his; ''Rhythm of the Islands'' (1943) with Jane Frazee; and ''On Stage Everybody''(1945).

In 1945 he was reportedly working on a biopic of dance teacher Arthur Murray and ''Love Takes a Holiday'' for Joan Davis but neither were made.

Brodney went over to RKO for ''What a Blonde'' (1945). Back at Universal he wrote ''She Wrote the Book'' (1946); ''Mexican Hayride'' (1948) with Abbott and Costello; ''For the Love of Mary'' (1948) with Deanna Durbin; and ''Are You with It?'' (1948) with Donald O'Connor.

He sold a story to Linda Darnell called ''Flamenco'' and ''Three Cornered Honeymoon'' for Jack Oakie but these were not made.

RKO used him again for ''If You Knew Susie (film), If You Knew Susie'' (1948) the last movie of Eddie Cantor. At Universal he worked on ''Yes Sir, That's My Baby (film), Yes Sir, That's My Baby'' (1949) with O'Connor; ''Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff'' (1949), doing some uncredited work; ''The Gal Who Took the West'' (1949), based on a story he devised with William Bowers; ''Arctic Manhunt'' (1949); and ''Frenchie (film), Frenchie'' (1950) with Joel McCrea and Shelley Winters, based on his story.

Brodney was one of several writers on the hugely popular ''Harvey (1950 film), Harvey'' (1950). He also wrote ''South Sea Sinner'' (1950) with Winters; ''Curtain Call at Cactus Creek'' (1950) with O'Connor; ''Comanche Territory (1950 film), Comanche Territory'' (1950) with Maureen O'Hara; and ''Little Egypt (film), Little Egypt'' (1951) with Rhonda Fleming.

Universal put him on a ''Francis'' sequel, ''Francis Goes to the Races'' (1951) with O'Connor. He wrote''Katie Did It'' (1951) with Ann Blyth; ''Double Crossbones'' (1951) a pirate comedy with O'Connor; ''Back at the Front'' (1952) with Tom Ewell; and ''Francis Goes to West Point'' (1952) with O'Connor.

A proposed musical starring O'Connor, ''Son of Robin Hood'', was not made.

Historical films

Brodney began working on more historical material with ''Scarlet Angel'' (1952) with Yvonne De Carlo and Rock Hudson. He was nominated for an Academy Awards, Oscar for ''The Glenn Miller Story'' screenplay which he wrote with Valentine Davies in 1954. That year he signed a two-year contract with the studio, where he had been based since 1942, except for two years during the war.

He wrote ''Walking My Baby Back Home (film), Walking My Baby Back Home'' (1953) and ''Francis Covers the Big Town'' (1953) with O'Connor, then returned to history with ''Sign of the Pagan'' (1954) with Jeff Chandler; ''The Black Shield of Falworth'' (1954) with Tony Curtis; ''The Spoilers (1955 film), The Spoilers'' (1955) with Chandler; ''Lady Godiva of Coventry'' (1955) with O'Hara; ''The Purple Mask'' (1955) with Curtis; and ''Captain Lightfoot'' (1955) with Hudson.

He wrote a film ''No, No Nora'' which appears to have not been made.

In March 1956 Brodney left Universal. He went to work at RKO on ''The Great Maestro'' a biopic of Ben Bernie that was never made.

Brodney began working in TV on shows such as ''Lux Video Theatre'', ''Casey Jones (TV series), Casey Jones'', ''General Electric Theater'', ''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'' and ''Studio 57''. He continued doing features like ''A Day of Fury'' (1956) and ''Star in the Dust'' (1956), and had a huge hit with ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957) at Universal for producer Ross Hunter.

Producer

In the late 1950s he began to produce movies, his first one being ''When Hell Broke Loose'' at Paramount in 1958, where he was co-producer. The movie starred Charles Bronson.

He went to England where he produced and co wrote ''Bobbikins'' (1959), a vehicle for Max Bygraves at 20th Century Fox. Brodney continued to write for TV on such shows as ''Death Valley Days'', ''The Alaskans'', and ''Danger Man''.

Back in Hollywood he produced a vehicle for Pat Boone, ''All Hands on Deck (1961 film), All Hands on Deck'' (1961), and one for Frankie Vaughan, ''The Right Approach'' (1961), both made at Fox.

He returned to Universal as a writer for ''Tammy Tell Me True'' (1961) and ''Tammy and the Doctor'' (1963). He also wrote ''The Brass Bottle (1964 film), The Brass Bottle'' (1964), ''I'd Rather Be Rich'' (1964) with Sandra Dee; and ''The Sword of Ali Baba'' (1965). A profile on ''I'd Rather Be Rich'' called Brodney "comparatively unsung" in Hollywood.

He wrote a film ''It Comes Up Love'' that was meant to be filmed in Britain in 1967 but appears to have never been made.

Later career

Brodney's final credits include episodes of the TV series ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' and the British film ''1000 Convicts and a Woman'' (1971) aka ''Fun and Games''.

In 1971, he was working on a biopic of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. That year, he signed a two-picture deal with Robert Stone to write scripts, including one called ''Intrigue''. Neither of these appear to have been made.

His final credit was ''Ghost Fever'' (1987).

In 1975 Brodney lived in the Smoke Tree neighborhood of Palm Springs, California#Neighborhoods, Palm Springs, California. Brodney died in 2008, six days before his 101st birthday. Some members of Brodney's family learned of his death through Amy S. Bruckman's "Nextbison" WordPress webpage, referencing information from Wikipedia.

Death

Brodney died on February 12, 2008 in Los Angeles U.S. at the age of 100, just six days shy of his 101st birthday.

Filmography

* ''Baby Face Morgan'' (1942) (story)
* ''When Johnny Comes Marching Home'' (1942)
* ''Moonlight in Havana'' (1942)
* '' You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith'' (1943) (story)
* '' Always a Bridesmaid'' (1943) (story)
* ''Rhythm of the Islands'' (1943)
* ''On Stage Everybody'' (1945)
* ''What a Blonde'' (1945) (story)
* ''She Wrote the Book'' (1946)
* ''Mexican Hayride'' (1948) (screenplay)
* ''For the Love of Mary'' (1948)
* ''Are You with It?'' (1948)
* ''If You Knew Susie (film), If You Knew Susie'' (1948)
* ''Yes Sir, That's My Baby (film), Yes Sir That's My Baby'' (1949)
* ''Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff'' (1949) uncredited
* ''The Gal Who Took the West'' (1949) (story and screenplay)
* ''Arctic Manhunt'' (1949) (screenplay)
* ''Frenchie (film), Frenchie'' (1950) (story and screenplay)
* ''Harvey (1950 film), Harvey'' (1950) (screenplay)
* ''South Sea Sinner'' (1950)
* ''Curtain Call at Cactus Creek'' (1950)
* ''Comanche Territory (1950 film), Comanche Territory'' (1950) (screenplay)
* ''Little Egypt (film), Little Egypt'' (1951) (screenplay) (story)
* ''Francis Goes to the Races'' (1951) (screenplay)
* ''Katie Did It'' (1951) (additional dialogue)
* ''Double Crossbones'' (1951) (also story)
* ''Back at the Front'' (1952)
* ''Francis Goes to West Point'' (1952)
* ''Scarlet Angel'' (1952)
* ''The Glenn Miller Story'' (1953)
* ''Walking My Baby Back Home (film), Walking My Baby Back Home'' (1953)
* ''Francis Covers the Big Town'' (1953)
* ''Sign of the Pagan'' (1954) (story)
* ''The Black Shield of Falworth'' (1954)
* ''The Spoilers (1955 film), The Spoilers'' (1955)
* ''Medal of Honor'' (1955) – documentary
* ''Lady Godiva of Coventry'' (1955) (also story)
* ''The Purple Mask'' (1955)
* ''Captain Lightfoot'' (1955)
* ''Lux Video Theatre'' (1955) – episode "Thunder on the Hill"
* ''A Day of Fury'' (1956) (screenplay)
* ''Star in the Dust'' (1956) (screenplay)
* ''Casey Jones (TV series), Casey Jones'' (1957) – episode "Night Run"
* ''Studio 57'' (1957) – episode "Mr November"
* ''Studio 57'' (1957) – episode "Strange Quarry"
* ''Studio 57'' (1957) – episode "with a Past"
* ''Tammy and the Bachelor'' (1957)
* ''General Electric Theater'' (1957) – episode "The Big Shooter"
* ''General Electric Theater'' (1957) – episode "The Town with a Past"
* ''Schlitz Playhouse of Stars'' (1957) – episode "Carriage from Britain"
* ''Lux Video Theatre'' (1957) – episode "The Undesirable"
* ''When Hell Broke Loose'' (1958) (screenplay)
* ''Bobbikins'' (1959) (producer)
* ''The Alaskans'' (2960) – episode "Spring Fever"
* ''Death Valley Days'' (1960) – episode "Eagle in the Rocks"
* ''Danger Man'' (1960) (TV series) – episode "An Affair of the State"
* ''All Hands on Deck (1961 film), All Hands on Deck'' (1961) (producer)
* ''The Right Approach'' (1961) (producer)
* ''Tammy Tell Me True'' (1961)
* ''Tammy and the Doctor'' (1963)
* ''The Brass Bottle (1964 film), The Brass Bottle'' (1964)
* ''I'd Rather Be Rich'' (1964)
* ''The Sword of Ali Baba'' (1965)
* ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' (1969–70) – 4 episodes
* ''1000 Convicts and a Woman'' (1971)
* ''Ghost Fever'' (1987)

References

External links

*

Oscar Brodney
at British Film Institute, BFI

Oscar Brodney
at TCMDB

Proof of Brodney's death from the Social Security Death Index

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodney, Oscar
1907 births
2008 deaths
20th-century American lawyers
American male screenwriters
Lawyers from Boston
American centenarians
Men centenarians
Writers from Boston
Writers from Palm Springs, California
Screenwriters from Massachusetts
Boston University School of Law alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters