Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and known best for his screenplays for the movies Back to Bataan (1945), El Cid (1961), and The Blue Max (1966).
Career He was born in Toronto, Ontario to a Jewish family. He was the screenwriter or co-writer of more than 20 movies, from You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith (1943) to The Head of Normande St. Onge (1975).
Blacklisting
Like many of his colleagues in the movie business, Barzman was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
His wife, Norma Barzman, was a Communist Party USA member from 1943 to 1949. In 2014, she told the Los Angeles Times, "one should be proud to have been a member of the American Communist Party during those years. Hitler was invading the Soviet Union, so there was no reason to be anti-Russian, they were our allies."
The couple relocated to England so Barzman could work on the movies Give Us This Day (aka, Christ In Concrete, 1949).Hamilton, Denise (October 3, 2000). Keeper of the Flame: A Blacklist Survivor. Los Angeles Times. After his return to the United States after directing Give Us This Day, Edward Dmytryk, one of the Hollywood Ten, testified about the Barzmans to HUAC in 1951. "To get out of prison he named us and a lot of other people," said Norma Barzman in 2014. During the 1950s, the family relocated to Paris, where friends included Pablo Picasso, Yves Montand, and Simone Signoret, and later southern France. Barzman did not receive credit for some movies because of the Hollywood Blacklist.
His U.S. citizenship was revoked from 1954 to 1963. His wife Norma had her passport revoked in 1951 for seven years. The family remained abroad in London, Paris, and Mougins (France) until 1976, during which time he wrote his novels and screenplays for French and Italian movies.Folkart, Burt A. (December 10, 1989). Ben Barzman; Screenwriter Blacklisted in McCarthy Era. Los Angeles Times.
Death Barzman died on December 15, 1989, in Santa Monica, California.
Work
Filmography 1943: You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith 1945: Back to Bataan 1946: Never Say Goodbye 1948: The Boy with Green Hair 1949: Give Us This Day 1952: Stranger on the Prowl (it: Imbarco a mezzanotte) 1952: The Faithful City 1952: Young Man with Ideas 1955: Oasis 1957: Time Without Pity 1957: He Who Must Die (fr: Celui qui doit mourir) 1959: Blind Date (US: Chance Meeting) 1961: El Cid 1963: 55 Days at Peking 1963: The Ceremony 1964: The Fall of the Roman Empire 1964: The Visit 1965: The Heroes of Telemark 1966: The Blue Max 1969: Z—uncredited 1972: The Assassination 1974: (ger: Sie sind frei, Doktor Korczak) 1975: Normande
Bibliography In 1960, Barzman became a science fiction author, with his novel Out Of This World. It dealt with the idea of a twin planet of Earth in the same orbit as Earth, hidden from our view by the sun. The two planets had developed almost identically from creation—but World War II never happened on the twin Earth.
Out of This World (London: Collins, 1960) - published in the U.S.A. as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (G.P. Putnam's Sons) and subsequently in various paperback editions as Echo X; also published in Sweden as Från en annan värld. Rich Dreams (Warner Books, 1982) - novel, written with Norma Barzman; published as a paperback original.
Awards 1985: Order of Arts and Letters
Legacy He received a retrospective showing of his movies at the Cinematheque in 1982.
References
External sources Norma Barzman, The Red and the Blacklist (2003)
Tender Comrades: Interviews with Blacklisted Hollywood Reds