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Walter Bernstein (August 20, 1919 – January 23, 2021) was an American screenwriter and film producer who was
blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
by the Hollywood movie studios in the 1950s because of his views on communism. Some of his notable works included ''
The Front ''The Front'' is a 1976 drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communism or of b ...
'' (1976), '' Yanks'' (1979), and ''
Little Miss Marker ''Little Miss Marker'' (also known as ''The Girl in Pawn'') is an American Pre-Code 1934 comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Hall. It was written by William R. Lipman, Sam Hellman, and Gladys Lehman after a 1932 short story of the same nam ...
'' (1980). He was a recipient of Writers Guild of America Awards including the Ian McLellan Hunter award and the Evelyn F. Burkey award.


Early life

Bernstein was born on August 20, 1919, in Brooklyn, New York, to Eastern European immigrants Hannah (née Bistrong) and Louis Bernstein, a teacher. He studied at the Erasmus High School in Flatbush, Brooklyn. After graduating from high school, he went on to study a six-month immersive language course at
University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 re ...
, where he lived with a French family who were acquaintances of his father. It was here that he was exposed first to communist ideas. He returned to the United States and attended Dartmouth College, where he gained his first writing job, as a film reviewer for the campus newspaper, and where he joined the
Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YC ...
. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1940.Bernstein, Walter (1945). ''Keep Your Head Down'', Viking Press. Book jacket text In February 1941, Bernstein was drafted into the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...
. Eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant, he spent most of World War II as a correspondent on the staff of the Army newspaper '' Yank'', filing dispatches from Iran, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, Sicily, and Yugoslavia. He wrote of his experiences in
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 J ...
in an article titled "War and Palestine". Bernstein wrote a number of articles and stories based on his experiences in the Army, some of which originally appeared in '' The New Yorker''. These were collected in ''Keep Your Head Down'', his first book, published in 1945.


Career

Bernstein first came to
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...
in 1947, under a ten-week contract with writer-producer-director Robert Rossen at
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mult ...
, working uncredited for ''All the King's Men''. After that he worked for producer Harold Hecht, which resulted in his first screen credit, shared with
Ben Maddow Ben Maddow (born David Wolff, August 7, 1909 in Passaic, New Jersey – October 9, 1992 in Los Angeles, California) was an American screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 1970s. Educated at Columbia University, Maddow began ...
, for their adaptation of the
Gerald Butler His Honour Gerald Norman Butler, QC (15 September 1930 – 28 February 2010) was an English judge, who was the senior judge at Southwark Crown Court. He was born in Hackney, London. Family Butler was the son of Joshua Butler and Esther, ...
novel for the film ''
Kiss the Blood Off My Hands ''Kiss the Blood Off My Hands'' is a 1948 American noir- thriller film directed by Norman Foster. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Gerald Butler, it stars Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster and Robert Newton. The film faced minor ...
'' (1948) for
Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a t ...
. He subsequently returned to New York, where he continued writing for ''The New Yorker'' and other magazines, and eventually found work as a scriptwriter in the early days of live television.


Blacklist

In 1950, because of his numerous left-wing political affiliations and related activities, his name appeared in the publication ''
Red Channels ''Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television'' was an anti-Communist document published in the United States at the start of the 1950s. Issued by the right-wing journal ''Counterattack'' on June 22, 1950, the pamphle ...
'', resulting in his
blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...
by Hollywood studios as a part of the McCarthy era actions against individuals with communist affiliations. Throughout the 1950s, however, he managed to continue writing for television, both under pseudonyms and through the use of "fronts" (non-blacklisted individuals who would permit their names to appear on his work). In this manner, he contributed to television programs of the era, including ''
Danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Is ...
'', the
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 ...
docudrama series '' You Are There'', and the mystery series ''
Colonel March of Scotland Yard Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
''. (It has been incorrectly stated in some sources that Bernstein's blacklisting resulted from "unfriendly" testimony given to HUAC in 1951, but, in fact, he was not subpoenaed by the committee until the late 1950s, and never actually testified.)


Rebound

Bernstein's screenwriting career began to rebound from the blacklist when director Sidney Lumet hired him to write the screenplay for the
Sophia Loren Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood cin ...
movie ''
That Kind of Woman ''That Kind of Woman'' is a 1959 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, who was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 9th Berlin International Film Festival. It stars Sophia Loren and Tab Hunter. The screenplay by Walter Bernstein, based on ...
'' (1959). From then on Bernstein was able to work openly on films such as ''
Paris Blues ''Paris Blues'' is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz saxophonist Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen. The two men romance two vacationing America ...
'' (1961) and '' Fail-Safe'' (1964). He worked uncredited on the screenplays of '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960) and '' The Train'' (1964), and was one of several writers who worked on the script for the ill-fated ''
Something's Got to Give ''Something's Got to Give'' is an unfinished American feature film shot in 1962, directed by George Cukor for 20th Century Fox and starring Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Cyd Charisse. A remake of ''My Favorite Wife'' (1940), a screwball comedy ...
'', which was left uncompleted at the time of the death of its star, Marilyn Monroe, in 1962. ''Paris Blues'' was his first feature film collaboration with director
Martin Ritt Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater, noted for his socially conscious films. Some of the films he directed include ''The Long, Hot Summer'' (1958), '' The Black ...
, a friend since the 1940s (and himself a victim of the Hollywood blacklist); they subsequently worked together on '' The Molly Maguires'' (1970), which Bernstein also co-produced with Ritt, and ''
The Front ''The Front'' is a 1976 drama film set against the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s, when artists, writers, directors, and others were rendered unemployable, having been accused of subversive political activities in support of Communism or of b ...
'' (1976). The latter film is a drama about a restaurant cashier (played by Woody Allen) with no real talent or political convictions who is hired to act as a "front" for blacklisted television writers during the 1950s. It earned Bernstein 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 ind ...
nomination for Best Original Screenplay and the WGA Award for Best Drama Written Directly for the Screen. Bernstein made a cameo appearance in Allen's film ''
Annie Hall ''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by him and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer, ...
'' (1977). Bernstein was nominated for the WGA for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium for '' Semi-Tough'' (1977) and for a
BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay The BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay is a British Academy Film Award for the best script. It was awarded from 1968 to 1982. In 1983 it was split into BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay and BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. 1960s * 19 ...
for '' Yanks'' (1979). He stepped behind the camera as director of his only feature film, ''
Little Miss Marker ''Little Miss Marker'' (also known as ''The Girl in Pawn'') is an American Pre-Code 1934 comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Hall. It was written by William R. Lipman, Sam Hellman, and Gladys Lehman after a 1932 short story of the same nam ...
'' (1980), a remake of the 1934 film based on the Damon Runyon story of the same name. He also wrote and directed one segment of the made-for-TV movie '' Women & Men 2: In Love There Are No Rules'' (1991).


Teaching

Bernstein served until his death in 2021 as an adjunct visiting instructor and screenwriting thesis adviser at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in the Department of Dramatic Writing. Bernstein also served as a visiting screenwriting instructor at Columbia University School of the Arts in the 1990s.


Publication

Bernstein's book, ''Inside Out: A Memoir of the Blacklist'', was published in 1996. In his memoirs, he recounts joining the Young Communist League at Dartmouth College in 1937, and the Communist Party itself the year after he left the U.S. Army.


Personal life

Bernstein was married four times, with the first three marriages to Marva Spelman, Barbara Lane, and Judith Braun, ending up in divorces. He married literary agent Gloria Loomis in 1988. He had two children with his first wife Marva Spelman, Joan Bernstein and Peter Spelman; three children with his third wife Judith Braun, Nicholas Bernstein, Andrew Bernstein, and
Jake Bernstein Jake Bernstein is President of Network Press, Inc. in Santa Cruz, California. Bernstein claims expertise in seasonal trading and has developed methods of trading in futures markets, and has been a featured speaker at many investment conferences a ...
. He died of pneumonia on January 23, 2021, at the age of 101.


Other awards

* In 1994, he received the Ian McLellan Hunter Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing, from the
Writers Guild of America East The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media. The Writers Guild of America, East is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America West. Together the ...
. * In 2008, the WGAE presented Bernstein with their Evelyn F. Burkey Award, given "in recognition of contributions that have brought honor and dignity to writers everywhere."


References


General references

*


Inline citations


External links

* * * Ávila, Molly Rose; Zucker, Gregory (July 11, 2011)
"In Conversation: Red Memories"
'' The Brooklyn Rail''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Walter 1919 births 2021 deaths American film producers American male screenwriters Dartmouth College alumni Members of the Communist Party USA Hollywood blacklist Jewish American screenwriters Writers from Brooklyn United States Army personnel of World War II American centenarians Screenwriters from New York (state) United States Army non-commissioned officers Military personnel from New York City Deaths from pneumonia in New York City 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American memoirists Men centenarians