Arnaud d'Usseau (April 18, 1916 – January 29, 1990) was a playwright and
B-movie screenwriter who is perhaps best remembered today for his collaboration with
Dorothy Parker on the play ''
The Ladies of the Corridor''.
Career
D'Usseau was born in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
and was the son of
Leon d'Usseau, also a screenwriter and director of some repute during the
silent era. His mother,
Ottola “Tola” Smith D’Usseau, was a character actress. He first came to notice as the co-writer (with
James Gow) of ''
Tomorrow, the World!'', a 1943 drama about a German boy adopted by an American couple who then have to struggle with his
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
upbringing. In 1945, another controversial play by D'Usseau and Gow followed, ''
Deep Are the Roots'', about a black army officer who falls in love with a former Senator's daughter. It ran for 477 performances over 14 months, directed by
Elia Kazan
Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...
and starring
Barbara Bel Geddes and
Gordon Heath. In 2012 the play was produced at the
Metropolitan Playhouse.
In late 1950, his name appeared on the
Hollywood blacklist as a Communist sympathizer. He was forced to appear before Senator
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...
's
anti-communist Tydings Committee in 1953, but declined to answer any questions, declaring that he would be glad to discuss
Communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
with the Senator in a forum where the cards were not stacked against him. Afterwards, he moved to Europe and continued to write screenplays under various pseudonyms. Upon returning to the United States, he taught screenwriting at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
and the
School of Visual Arts.
He died in 1990 at his home in New York, following surgery for
stomach cancer.
[Obituary by C. Gerald Fraser, ''New York Times'', February 1, 1990.]
Selected filmography
* ''
One Crowded Night'' (1940) dir.
Irving Reis:
Billie Seward,
Gale Storm
* ''
Lady Scarface'' (1941) dir. Frank Woodruff:
Dennis O'Keefe, Frances Neal
* ''
Repent at Leisure'' (1941) dir. Frank Woodruff:
Kent Taylor,
Wendy Barrie
* ''
The Man Who Wouldn't Die'' (1942) dir. Herbert Leeds:
Lloyd Nolan,
Marjorie Weaver
* ''
Who Is Hope Schuyler?'' (1942) dir. Thomas Loring: Joseph Allen, Jr.,
Mary Howard
* ''
Just Off Broadway'' (1942) dir. Herbert Leeds:
Lloyd Nolan,
Marjorie Weaver
* ''
Horror Express'' (1972) dir. Eugenio Martin:
Peter Cushing,
Christopher Lee,
Telly Savalas
* ''
Psychomania'' (1973) dir.
Don Sharp:
Nicky Henson,
George Sanders,
Beryl Reid
References
Sources
Film Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Usseau, Arnaud d'
American male screenwriters
Writers from Los Angeles
1916 births
1990 deaths
American people of French descent
New York University faculty
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American male dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American male writers
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Screenwriters from California
20th-century American screenwriters