He Was Somebody. He was a CONTENDAH.
August 6, 2009 3:46 PM   Subscribe

An uncredited contributor to A Star is Born; a writer for Little Orphan Annie; the writer of Nuremberg and a writer of December 7th – both productions of the Office of Strategic Services documentary unit led by John Ford; author of a 1940s hit, What Makes Sammy Run? – the story of Sammy Glick (Shmelka Glickstein)'s rise from newspaper office boy to studio production chief – oddly enough also made into a musical. And, of course, the man who put the words "I coulda been a contender" into Marlon Brando's lips. Screenwriter Budd Schulberg dies today, five years short of a century.
posted by WCityMike (13 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- loup



 
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A one-way ticket to Palookaville.
posted by rokusan at 4:00 PM on August 6, 2009


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To me he'll always be the guy who wrote 1957's A Face in the Crowd - an amazingly prescient take on celebrity's influence on politics (particularly notable for its scathing look at the new medium of television). It's a very cool film in general, and probably Andy Griffith's best role. If you haven't seen it, it's a perfect example of the sharp social critique, heavy-handedness and brilliance that made Schulberg a major influence.
posted by mediareport at 5:17 PM on August 6, 2009 [3 favorites]


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And if Schulberg and Hughes weren't enough, author of the surprisingly insightful and useful screenwriting book "Save the Cat" Blake Snyder died as well, at 51.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 5:27 PM on August 6, 2009


He coulda been somebody. And he was. Indeed, he was.

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posted by jonp72 at 5:33 PM on August 6, 2009


There's a really good interview with Schulberg here, in which he discusses his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, his drinking binge with F. Scott Fitzgerald, meeting Leni Reifenstahl while he was "in charge of film evidence for the Nuremberg trials," his sports writing and a great story about his third wife screaming at Muhammad Ali that he was a "goddamn lying nigger" (at Ali's request!) in a hotel lobby.
posted by mediareport at 5:33 PM on August 6, 2009


"A Face in the Crowd" is an amazing film. Schulberg also wrote the novel that was turned into the movie "The Harder They Fall," which was Humphrey Bogart's last picture and was terrifically underrated. He was also an uncredited writer on "Nothing Sacred," a terrific Carole Lombard movie. Schulberg wrote or co-wrote some the most immortal screenplays in Hollywood history.
posted by blucevalo at 6:57 PM on August 6, 2009


Budd Schulberg - he lived through almost every kind of entertainment business reversal, didn't he? Involvement, rejection, involvement, rejection. Several of which changes he initiated.

The second page of the NYTimes obit has the meat of his life. He wrote "A face in the crowd," which if y'all have never seen it, you owe it to yourself to see. It's totally entertaining as well as a depiction of a huge clusterfuck, applicable to current times of talk radio (Limbaugh etc.) A purported humble man of the people gains a huge amount of power using that persona of simplicity, and rides it to the top of political power. It's all about advertising. I assume the writers behind "Mad men" know this movie very well.

"A face in the crowd," which I saw as a very young kid on tv, gave me the idea that those who harangued on the airways might have no actual authority at all. And - even more subversive to my world view - Sheriff Andy might be just an actor.
posted by goofyfoot at 7:27 PM on August 6, 2009


If you've only seen Andy Griffith in his TV roles, prepare to be mightily surprised.
posted by blucevalo at 7:31 PM on August 6, 2009 [1 favorite]


A Face In The Crowd is one of my favorite movies. It's a crying shame that it isn't more commonly referenced.

I read What Makes Sammy Run as a kid--maybe thirteen or fourteen? after reading about it in some other book, then seeking it out in the library. I cannot for the life of me imagine what I was reading at that age that mentioned WMSR, but my parents never censored my reading so it could have been anything.
posted by padraigin at 7:41 PM on August 6, 2009


. What a life.
posted by orthogonality at 7:54 PM on August 6, 2009


And we were lucky enough to have On The Waterfront as the movie for this week's Screen On the Green in Washington, DC just this past Monday.

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Thanks for everything, Budd.
posted by Shotgun Shakespeare at 8:56 PM on August 6, 2009


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posted by brujita at 9:04 PM on August 6, 2009


I was lucky enough to get to see him speak at a WGA event recently. He still sat down and wrote every single day of his life. An inspiration and a great writer -- he will be missed.
posted by OolooKitty at 10:28 AM on August 7, 2009


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