Michael Blankfort papers

Catalogued by Johnson, Doug; Catalogued by Smith, Leah

Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

333 S La Cienega Blvd

Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Published January 2023

Descriptive Summary

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

Access

Available by appointment only.

Publication Rights

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.

Preferred Citation

Michael Blankfort papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Acquisition Information

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.”

Biography

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.

Arrangement of the Collection

1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Television files; 3. Stage files; 4. Subject files; 5. Writings

Indexing terms

Blankfort, Michael

Screenwriters

Manuscripts

Production files/Produced

folder 1

AN ACT OF MURDER--script 1948--1948

Record ID: 71301248

folder 2

AN ACT OF MURDER--script 1948--1948

Record ID: 71476468

folder 3

BROKEN ARROW--script 1949--1949

Record ID: 71476391

folder 4

BROKEN ARROW--script 1949--1949

Record ID: 71476469

folder 5

THE CAINE MUTINY--script 1953--1953

Record ID: 71476392

folder 6

DIABOLIQUE--legal 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476852

folder 7

HALLS OF MONTEZUMA--script 1950--1950

Record ID: 71476393

folder 8

THE JUGGLER--script Circa 1949--1949

Record ID: 71476394

folder 9

THE JUGGLER--script Circa 1949--1949

Record ID: 71476474

folder 10

THE JUGGLER--script 1952--1952

Record ID: 71476475

folder 11

THE JUGGLER--script 1952--1952

Record ID: 71476479

folder 12

THE JUGGLER--note 1979--1979

Record ID: 71477049

folder 13

KAFKA--script Circa 1991--1991

Record ID: 71476395

folder 14

LYDIA BAILEY--script 1951--1951

Record ID: 71476396

folder 15

LYDIA BAILEY--script 1951--1951

Record ID: 71476493

folder 16

THE PLAINSMAN--script 1965--1965

Record ID: 71476397

folder 17

THE PLAINSMAN--script 1965--1965

Record ID: 71476505

folder 18

THE PLAINSMAN--script 1965--1965

Record ID: 71476506

Production files/Unproduced

folder 19

THE ACCIDENT--script 1957--1957

Record ID: 71303108

folder 20

THE ACCIDENT--script 1957--1957

Record ID: 71476507

folder 21

THE BALLAD AND THE SOURCE--script 1946--1946

Record ID: 71476402

folder 22

THE BALLAD AND THE SOURCE--script 1947--1947

Record ID: 71476510

folder 23

THE BALLAD AND THE SOURCE--script 1950--1950

Record ID: 71476511

folder 24

CROSSFIRE--script 1946--1946

Record ID: 71476403

folder 25

DAY OF REJOICING--script

Record ID: 71476404

folder 26

THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY--script 1958--1958

Record ID: 71476405

folder 27

THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY--script Circa 1958--1958

Record ID: 71476512

folder 28

THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY--script

Record ID: 71476513

folder 29

THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY--contract 1967--1967

Record ID: 71476406

folder 30

THE EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY STORY--notes

Record ID: 71476514

folder 31

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT--script

Record ID: 71476407

folder 32

HIGHWAY 66--script 1940--1940

Record ID: 71476408

folder 33

HIGHWAY 66--script

Record ID: 71476517

folder 34

HOME AGAIN--script Circa 1955--1955

Record ID: 71476409

folder 35

HOME AGAIN--script Circa 1955--1955

Record ID: 71476518

folder 36

I MET A MAN--script

Record ID: 71476441

folder 37

I MET A MAN--script Circa 1956--1956

Record ID: 71476535

folder 38

I MET A MAN--correspondence 1956--1956

Record ID: 71476536

folder 39

LONA HANSON--script 1948--1948

Record ID: 71476410

folder 40

LONA HANSON--script

Record ID: 71476537

folder 41

THE MORNING IS NEAR US--script 1940--1940

Record ID: 71476411

folder 42

THE NIGHT CIRCUS--script 1959--1959

Record ID: 71476412

folder 43

THE NIGHT CIRCUS--script 1959--1959

Record ID: 71476543

folder 44

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER--script

Record ID: 71476413

folder 45

THE OTHER MAN--script 1969--1969

Record ID: 71476414

folder 46

THE OTHER MAN--script 1969--1969

Record ID: 71476554

folder 47

THE OTHER MAN--script 1969--1969

Record ID: 71476558

folder 48

PLUS SMITH--script 1969--1969

Record ID: 71303110

folder 49

A TIME TO STAY - A TIME TO GO--script 1969--1969

Record ID: 71476422

folder 50

TOWER OF FIRE--script 1961--1961

Record ID: 71476424

folder 51

TOWER OF FIRE--script 1961--1961

Record ID: 71476560

folder 52

UNFINISHED JOURNEY--script

Record ID: 71476425

folder 53

THE WARHAWKS--script Circa 1967--1967

Record ID: 71476427

folder 54

THE WARHAWKS--script Circa 1967--1967

Record ID: 71476562

folder 55

THE WARHAWKS--script Circa 1967--1967

Record ID: 71476563

Television files

folder 56

THE BOLD ONES: THE NEW DOCTORS [television]--"An Absence of Loneliness" 1970--1970

Record ID: 71476398

folder 57

THE BOLD ONES: THE NEW DOCTORS [television]--"An Absence of Loneliness" 1970--1970

Record ID: 71476566

folder 58

BREAKING POINT [television]--"A Pelican in the Wilderness" 1963--1963

Record ID: 71476400

folder 59

SEE HOW THEY RUN [television]--script Circa 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476450

folder 60

SEE HOW THEY RUN [television]--script 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476401

folder 61

SEE HOW THEY RUN [television]--script 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476570

folder 62

SEE HOW THEY RUN [television]--script 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476571

folder 63

SEE HOW THEY RUN [television]--memoranda 1964--1964

Record ID: 71476572

Stage files

folder 64

FRANKIE AND JOHNNIE [stage]--script

Record ID: 71476428

folder 65

GOODBYE, I GUESS [stage]--script Circa 1968--1968

Record ID: 71476430

folder 66

OUR LIVES HAVE JUST BEGUN [stage]--script 1960--1960

Record ID: 71476432

folder 67

OUR LIVES HAVE JUST BEGUN [stage]--script 1960--1960

Record ID: 71476600

folder 68

STEVEDORE [stage]--script

Record ID: 71476434

folder 69

WHIRLPOOL [stage]--script

Record ID: 71476916

Subject files

folder 70

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 1979--1979

Record ID: 71476851

folder 71

Book 1937--1937

Record ID: 71303114

folder 72

Book 1945--1945

Record ID: 71477055

folder 73

Boston University Circa 1965--1971

Record ID: 71476451

folder 74

Brandeis Camp Institute 1953--1954

Record ID: 71476452

folder 75

California Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities--pamphlet 1949--1949

Record ID: 71477060

folder 76

Communism--clippings 1945--1957

Record ID: 71476453

folder 77

Communism--miscellaneous 1947--1956

Record ID: 71476752

folder 78

House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC)--pamphlet 1947--1947

Record ID: 71477059

folder 79