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Description
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.
Background
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.
Extent
8 linear ft. of papers
Restrictions
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.
Availability
Available by appointment only.