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Michael Blankfort papers
434
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Abstract: The collection includes scripts for produced and unproduced films, television scripts, playscripts, novel and story manuscripts,
and pamphlets. There is considerable material related to the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and Blankfort's
testimony before the group.
Collector:
Blankfort, Michael
Dates: 1934-1982
Dates: 1945-1969
Collection number: 434
Collection Size:
8 linear ft. of papers
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Available by appointment only.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all
necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing
materials obtained from the library.
Michael Blankfort papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Peter and Ellie Clothier, 1999
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Michael Blankfort papers span the years 1934-1982 (bulk 1945-1969) and encompass 8 linear feet. The papers are divided
into the following series: production files for produced and unproduced films, television files, stage files, subject files,
and writings.
The production files include scripts for Albert Maltz’s Oscar-nominated screenplay for BROKEN ARROW (1950). A single script
exists for THE CAINE MUTINY (1954); the film was nominated for seven Academy Awards. Script material for THE JUGGLER (1953)
is also found here. The unproduced production files contain the treatment for the project DAY OF REJOICING, co-written by
Blankfort and screenwriter Sheridan Gibney. The files for THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY contain several iterations of
the screenplay and commentary on the history of the project.
The television files include script material for the first made-for-television film, SEE HOW THEY RUN (1964), as well as the
original story upon which it was based. Of note in the stage files is the Depression-era playscript “Stevedore,” by Paul Peters
and George Sklar, a work of agitprop theater exploring racial prejudice.
Subject files include documents pertaining to Blankfort’s involvement with, and testimony before, the House Committee on Un-American
Activities (HUAC). The communism files include correspondence with the committee. The HUAC files include cancelled checks
originally written by him to Maltz, as well as Blankfort’s anti-communist treatise titled “Reasons Why.” Government-issued
pamphlets contain transcripts of testimony given by numerous film professionals at committee hearings. Passport files contain
correspondence related to his efforts to refute allegations of belonging to the Communist Party and obtain a passport to direct
THE JUGGLER (1953) in Israel.
The writings files contain manuscripts for the published biography “Big Yankee: The Life of Carlson of the Raiders.” Also
included are manuscripts for two unpublished novels, “A Cry from a Red Field” and “Exit from a Glass Maze.”
Michael Seymour Blankfort was born in 1907 in New York. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1929 and
his M.A. from Princeton University in 1931. He taught psychology at Bowdoin College and Princeton in 1929. From 1931 to 1932,
he was a psychologist at New Jersey State Prison. He wrote, produced, and directed Broadway plays from 1933 to 1936, and lectured
in drama at New York University from 1936 to 1937. He began writing novels and screenplays in 1937. During the McCarthy era,
he fronted for blacklisted screenwriter Albert Maltz on the script for BROKEN ARROW (1950), and in 1951 and 1952, he testified
as a friendly witness before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). In the fall of 1956, he signed a long-term
contract with Columbia Pictures. His last feature credit was THE PLAINSMAN (1966). He was on the Academy Board of Governors
from 1969 to 1971.
1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Television files; 3. Stage files; 4. Subject
files; 5. Writings
Blankfort, Michael
Screenwriters