SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 - BLACKLISTED WRITERS 4 Films 8:00 p.m. (ET)/5:00 p.m. (PT) EXODUS (1960) Based on the best-selling novel by Leon Uris, Exodus (1960) focuses on the birth of Israel after World War II. It follows Ari Ben Canaan, an Israeli resistance leader as he tries to help a group of 600 Jewish immigrants escape British-blocked Cypress for Palestine. Otto Preminger, director of Exodus, was certainly no stranger to controversy and almost from the beginning his screen adaptation of the Leon Uris novel had its detractors. The first flare-up occurred when he decided to discard Uris's screenplay because Preminger claimed the author couldn't write dialogue. His remark ignited a feud between him and Uris for years. He then approached Albert Maltz, another blacklisted writer, to pen the screenplay but Maltz delivered a version that was 400 pages long. (The average screenplay runs 150 to 160 pages). Preminger then turned to another blacklisted writer, Dalton Trumbo, who was hired to write the screenplay for Exodus under his own name. About the same time, Kirk Douglas helped hire Trumbo to write Spartacus (1960). The reappearance of TrumboÕs name in 1960 helped break the power of the blacklist. Trumbo, one of the famed ŌHollywood Ten,Õ was blacklisted for refusing to answer questions of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1947. After serving a year sentence for contempt in 1950, Trumbo moved to Mexico and continued writing under pseudonyms. He received an Academy Award for his script for The Brave One (1956) under the name Robert Rich. Paul Newman described his experience filming Exodus as "chilly." Newman and director Otto Preminger had very different styles of work. Newman enjoyed discussing character motivations with his director, but Preminger only wanted actors to do what they were told. The two men got off to a rough start when Newman arrived with several pages of notes for the director. Preminger thought they were interesting, but replied, "If you were directing the picture, you would use them. As I am directing the picture, I shanÕt use them." The director's non-compromising nature was probably well suited to this particular production. There were arguments against the film by governing heads of Israel where it was shot on location, as well as leaders of terrorist groups, so Preminger had to face external pressure as well as criticism from within the production. In his autobiography, Preminger said, "I think that my picture...is much closer to the truth, and to the historic facts, than is the book. It also avoids propaganda. It's an American picture, after all, that tries to tell the story, giving both sides a chance to plead their case." When Exodus was first released, a funny story circulated concerning comedian Mort Sahl. Supposedly, he stood up in the middle of a premiere screening of the film with Preminger present and shouted, 'Otto, let my people go' in reference to the interminable length of the film. Most critics, but not audiences, tended to agree with Sahl. Exodus received an Academy Award for best music score. And Sal Mineo received a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. Director/Producer: Otto Preminger Screenplay: Dalton Trumbo, Leon Uris (novel) Cinematography: Sam Leavitt Music: Ernest Gold Art Direction: Richard Day, William Hutchinson (associate) Principal Cast: Paul Newman (Ari Ben Canaan), Eva Marie Saint (Kitty Fremont), Ralph Richardson (General Sutherland), Peter Lawford (Major Caldwell), Lee J. Cobb (Barak Ben Canaan), Sal Mineo (Dov Landau), John Derek (Taha), Hugh Griffith (Mandria) C-208m. Letterboxed. By Deborah Looney 11:30 p.m. (ET)/8:30 p.m. (PT) LIFE WITH FATHER (1947) About three years before the blacklist effectively ended the Hollywood career of screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart, he was suggested by the widow of his friend Clarence Day Jr. as the ideal scenarist for the film version of Life With Father. DayÕs memoir of the same title, affectionately recalling his family life in 1880s New York with an autocratic father and a sweetly wily mother, had already been adapted for a smash stage comedy that held the record as longest-running Broadway play with more than 3,200 performances. In his 1975 autobiography, By a Stroke of Luck!, Stewart wrote that he "leapt happily at the chance" to rework the material for the screen. "Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse had written such a successful play that there wasnÕt much need Š or indeed much allowance Š for any screen writing." After a "couple of understanding consultations with Mrs. Day," he finished the job within a few weeks. For Life With Father, Warner Bros. had paid the highest price to date for the screen rights to a play ($500,000 plus half of all profits to the authors and their investors). To protect the integrity of the material, playwrights Lindsay and Crouse and DayÕs widow were brought to Hollywood to serve as technical advisers. They had veto rights over every aspect of the filmÕs production, and no word of the playÕs text could be cut or changed without their approval. Stewart had diplomatically avoided reworking the dialogue but, whenever possible, moved the action from the stage confines of the DaysÕ dining and parlor room to other parts of the family house, its garden and the street. To the approval of the trio of overseers, he dramatized scenes that were only referred to in the play, setting them in a church, a restaurant and a department store. Life With Father proved a success on the screen, gathering four Oscar nominations and placing well on VarietyÕs list of all-time high-grossing films. Playing Clarence Day Sr. provided Oscar-nominated William Powell with the high point of his career, and Irene Dunne charmed audiences as his wife, Vinnie. The film also offered a plum supporting part to budding beauty Elizabeth Taylor, then 15. Stewart (1894-1980) was a man of many talents Š screenwriter, playwright, novelist, actor. Playwright Philip Barry, a chum and admirer of the suave Stewart, wrote the role of socialite Nick Potter in Holiday with his friend in mind, and Stewart played the part on Broadway. StewartÕs credits as a film writer include The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Marie Antoinette (1938), Love Affair (1939) and the movie version of BarryÕs The Philadelphia Story (1940), for which Stewart won an Academy Award. During HitlerÕs rise to power, Stewart had become involved in the political activities of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League Š an organization accused of being a cover-up for a Communist cell during the McCarthy era. Offered a chance to "clear himself" by giving names to the House Un-American Activities Committee, Stewart refused and was blacklisted. He left Hollywood for good in 1951 and finished out his career in England. Director: Michael Curtiz Producer: Robert Buckner Screenplay: Donald Ogden Stewart, from the memoir by Clarence Day Jr. and the play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse Art Direction: Robert M. Haas Cinematography: J. Peverell Marley, William V. Skall Editing: George Amy Costume Design: Milo Anderson Original Music: Max Steiner Principal Cast: William Powell (Clarence Day), Irene Dunne (Vinnie Day), Elizabeth Taylor (Mary Skinner), Edmund Gwenn (Rev. Dr. Lloyd), Zasu Pitts (Cousin Cora), Jimmy Lydon (Clarence Day Jr.), Emma Dunn (Margaret) C-118m. By Roger Fristoe 1:30 a.m. (ET)/10:30 p.m. (PT) SALT OF THE EARTH (1954) Salt of the Earth (1954) provides one of the best examples of blacklisted filmmaking in the 1950Õs. Few films were so affected, from every possible direction, by the House Un-American Activities CommitteeÕs proceedings. It started at the top, with director Herbert J. Biberman who was a member of the infamous Hollywood Ten and had served 6 months in jail for being an uncooperative witness. Blacklisted in Hollywood, Biberman joined forces with producer Paul Jarrico, another film industry expatriate, to create a production company where those on the blacklist could have a chance to work. Co-writer Michael Wilson was among the artists who signed on. Wilson, whose previous credits had included A Place in the Sun (1951), was like many other blacklisted writers who found that they could continue writing, but were not given screen credit for their work. In fact, WilsonÕs writing credits for Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) (not to mention a Best Writing Oscar for the second film) were awarded posthumously as late as 1995. With the country in the midst of a red scare, the subject of Salt of the Earth didnÕt help matters any. Based on an actual New Mexico mineworkersÕ strike, the docudrama depicts measures taken by a Hispanic union to improve conditions for its workers. Many of the actors were non-professionals who were real life participants in the strike. Two exceptions included Will Greer, who would go on to play Grandpa on the TV series "The Waltons" (Greer himself was blacklisted at the time Salt of the Earth was made) and, Mexican actress Rosaura Revueltas, who was mysteriously deported during the making of the film on a minor passport violation. (The movie had to be completed with a double.) Co-produced with the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, who had been ejected from the CIO for alleged communist leanings, Salt of the Earth would be the only film made by Biberman and JarricoÕs company. The opposition was too great. Residents of the New Mexico towns while the movie was filmed made life miserable for them, with vigilantes starting fights and merchants who wouldnÕt do business with them. State police finally had to be called in to allow the filming to be completed. Even then RKO chief Howard Hughes jumped on the bandwagon against the movie, with a plan to stop its processing and distribution. After eight labs refused to process the film, Biberman finally had to submit the reels under the title "Vaya Con Dios" to even get a print made. From todayÕs perspective, Salt of the Earth no longer seems to deserve its reputation as an extreme leftist propaganda film. Instead, it provides a surprisingly realistic look at the inequalities mining workers faced, not to mention a behind-the-scenes history lesson on the politics of the time. Director: Herbert J. Biberman Producer: Adolfo Barela, Sonja Dahl Biberman, Paul Jarrico Screenplay: Michael Biberman, Michael Wilson Cinematography: Stanley Mededith, Leonard Stark Music: Sol Kaplan Principal Cast: Will Geer (Sheriff), David Wolfe (Barton), David Sarvis (Alexander), Mervin Williams (Hartwell), Rosaura Revueltas (Esperanza Quintero), E.A. Rockwell (Vance), Juan Chacon (Ramon Quintero) BW-93m. By Stephanie Thames 3:30 a.m. (ET)/12:30 a.m. (PT) ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC (1943) Action in the North Atlantic (1943) was conceived as a short film tribute to the Merchant Marines, but it was soon expanded into a full-length feature. Because of the immediacy of the heavy losses incurred by the merchant marine ships in the early days of AmericaÕs involvement in World War II, producer Jerry Wald had Action in the North Atlantic in production just five weeks after being given the assignment. Remarkably, two ships were built on Warner stages before screenwriter John Howard Lawson even completed the script for the film, which bore the working title "Torpedoed." Warner Bros. veteran Lloyd Bacon was assigned as director and the whole film was shot on a Warner sound stage. The film required a great deal of elaborate special effects that needed to be housed in a controlled environment that only a sound stage could provide. The old freighter that is destroyed in the film burned brightly for several days before sinking, all in a tank on the studioÕs "Stage Nine." The effect of the burning ships was achieved by dozens of gas jets controlled at a set of valves that looked like an organ console. This was operated by a "smoke bum" who played the valves with such precision that the actors appeared to be walking through flames. But others on the set got closer to the flames than comfort and safety would allow. Director Lloyd Bacon and his assistant often had to don masks because of the intense heat and smoke emanating from the arc lights and special effects fires and on one occasion Bacon almost choked to death from smoke inhalation. It's no wonder the special effects frightened many in the cast and crew and forced them to stay on their toes. The production eventually went 45 days over schedule. Jerry Wald, completing his last movie before going into the service, produced a few ulcers as well. Some speculated whether it was the fear of military service that gave him ulcers, or the protracted production of Action in the North Atlantic. At the New York premiere, more than a dozen merchant mariners and several hundred U.S. sailors presented Jack Warner with the Merchant Marine Victory Flag. Henry J. Kaiser, the ship-building magnate, thought the film was such a morale booster that he wanted it shown to all his war builders. Despite the undeniable patriotic fervor on display in Action in the North Atlantic, there was a politically combustible side to John Howard LawsonÕs screen story. Appearing in 1943 when America and Russia were still friendly allies, the film occasionally focused on our ties with the Soviet Union. But in the postwar era of chilly American-Russian relations, parts of the film would prove to be an embarrassment to Warner Brothers, namely the climactic "tovarich" (comrade) scene, in which the heroic Bogart and his men are greeted by Russians cheering wildly. Bogart does not return in kind, prompting a crewman to ask why he remains silent. Bogart says, "IÕm just thinking about the trip back." That line served a dual purpose. Indeed, the trip back home would be rough going, but it also implied that the comrade stuff is acceptable up to a certain point. The Cold War validated the lineÕs prescience. In fact, the line was often omitted from Action in the North Atlantic when it used to play on broadcast television. But the Cold WarÕs worst effect was not on a single line of dialogue in a wartime picture. It was its impact on the lives of filmmakers like John Howard Lawson whose career came to abrupt end in 1948 when, as one of the Hollywood Ten, he was sentenced to a yearÕs imprisonment for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Blacklisted by the film industry, Lawson continued to work while in self-exile in Mexico and authored several books on drama and cinema including Film: The Creative Process (1964). Director: Lloyd Bacon, Byron Haskin (uncredited), Raoul Walsh (uncredited) Producer: Jerry Wald, Jack L. Warner Screenplay: A.I. Bezzerides, W.R. Burnett, Guy Gilpatric (story), John Howard Lawson Cinematography: Ted McCord Music: Adolph Deutsch, William Lava (uncredited) Art Direction: Ted Smith Principal Cast: Humphrey Bogart (Lieutenant Joe Rossi), Raymond Massey (Captain Steve Jarvis), Alan Hale (Boot OÕHara), Julie Bishop (Pearl), Ruth Gordon (Mrs. Jarvis), Sam Levene (Chips Abrams) BW-128m. Closed captioning. By Scott McGee