Jules Dassin
Jules Dassin | |
---|---|
Born | Julius Dassin December 18, 1911 Middletown, Connecticut, U.S. |
Died | March 31, 2008 Athens, Greece | (aged 96)
Resting place | First Cemetery of Athens |
Occupations |
|
Spouses | |
Children | 3, including Joe Dassin |
Julius "Jules" Dassin (/ˈdæsɪn, dæˈsɪn/ DASS-in, dass-IN; December 18, 1911 – March 31, 2008) was an American film and theatre director, producer, writer and actor. A subject of the Hollywood blacklist, he subsequently moved to France, and later Greece, where he continued his career. He was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Screen Directors' Guild.[1][2]
Dassin received a Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film Du rififi chez les hommes. He was later nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen for his film Never on Sunday, and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for his Broadway production of Illya Darling.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Julius Dassin was born in Middletown, Connecticut, on December 18, 1911, to Bertha (née Vogel) and Samuel Dassin, a barber.[3][4] His parents were both Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine).[5][4] Julius had seven siblings, including four brothers, Louis C., Benjamin, Irving and Edward; and three sisters.[4]
In 1915, when Julius was three years old, the Dassin family moved to Harlem, New York.[4] He attended public grammar school where he received his first acting role in a school play.[4] Julius was given a small part but when came time to speak his only line, he fainted due to stage fright.[4] He also learned to play the piano at a young age.[6] During his youth he attended Camp Kinderland, a left-wing Yiddish youth camp.
Julius attended Morris High School in the Bronx.[4][7] He started acting professionally in 1926, at the age of fourteen, with the Yiddish Art Theatre in New York City.[8] On October 13, 1929, newspaper columnist Mark Hellinger printed a story given to him by Dassin in the New York Daily News; nearly twenty years later, the two would work together in Hollywood.[9]
On July 11, 1933, Julius' older brother Louis was arrested in Meriden, Connecticut when he confessed to the theft of $12,000 from the Puritan Bank and Trust Company, where he worked as a teller and treasurer.[10] On September 10, 1933, when he was 21 years old, Julius married Beatrice Launer, a concert violinist and a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music.[11][4][12]
Beginning in 1934, Julius spent three years studying dramatic technique in Europe.[4] He spent time in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, England, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, Switzerland and Greece, working odd jobs to sustain himself.[4][13]
New York theatre and radio career
[edit]After returning from Europe in 1936, Dassin joined the Children's Theatre, a division of the Federal Theatre Project during the Great Depression.[14][4] It was during this time that he joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The troupe put on children's plays at the Adelphi Theatre in New York City. During this time, he played the role of Zar in The Emperor's New Clothes in September 1936,[14] and the role of Oakleaf in Revolt of the Beavers, which ran from May 20, 1937, to June 19, 1937.[15][16] The later play was criticized as strongly communist.[15][17]
He later joined up with the Artef Players, a Yiddish Proletarian Theater company in 1937, serving as an actor, set designer, set builder, stage director and even ticket salesman.[18][4] Beginning on October 5, 1937, he appeared in Moyshe Kulbak's play The Outlaw, which had been adapted by Chaver Paver at The Artef Theatre[4][19][20] He also appeared in Artef Players' Recruits and 200,000.[4] On November 5, 1938, Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their first child, son Joseph. In October 1939, he acted in Chaver Paver's Clinton Street, which was staged at the Mercury Theatre, after Orson Welles' troupe had left for Hollywood and the Radio-Keith-Orpheum circuit.[21] Since the pay was poor with Artef Players, Dassin formed a theatre troupe to tour the Borscht Circuit in the Catskills as summer stock.[22][4]
Dassin acted in a movie scripted and directed by Jack Skurnick, which was shown to a small group at a space that Skurnick rented in New York but was never exhibited beyond that.[23]
He then wrote sketches for radio, at times directing his own radio plays, and became a stage director and producer.[24][25][26][22] In April 1939, Dassin adapted Nicolai Gogol's story The Overcoat for the CBS variety program The Kate Smith Hour, which starred Burgess Meredith and was broadcast live on April 20, 1939.[27][28] In early 1940, Dassin staged and directed the play Medicine Show for producer Martin Gabel, starring Isabel Bonner, Philip Bourneuf and Norman Lloyd.[29][30] Although it was well received by critics,[31][32][33][34] Medicine Show only ran for 35 performances at the New Yorker Theatre, from April 12, 1940, to May 11, 1940.[29]
Working in Hollywood
[edit]RKO Radio Pictures (1940)
[edit]In June 1940, Dassin was signed to a term contract with Hollywood film studio RKO Radio Pictures as a director.[24][25] He was immediately assigned as an assistant director to learn the motion picture business, working under Garson Kanin on They Knew What They Wanted (1940)[35][36] and Alfred Hitchcock on Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), both starring Carole Lombard and both under the supervision of producer Harry E. Edington.[8][37][18][4] During the filming of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their second child, daughter Richelle.[38][39] By January 1941, after six months without a proper directorial job, Dassin was released from his RKO Radio Pictures contract.[40][41]
Dassin returned to radio work in Hollywood, presenting his previously adapted Gogol story The Overcoat for a repeat performance on The Kate Smith Hour, this time starring Henry Hull, which was broadcast live on January 3, 1941.[42][43][44] He was also one of the several actors who formed the Actors' Laboratory Theatre.[45]
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and loan-out to Eagle-Lion Films (1941–1946)
[edit]Wanting to prove that he could direct motion pictures, Dassin approached Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the spring of 1941 offering his services for free.[26] He told the studio that he would direct any film for free; the studio instead offered to pay him to direct a short film.[26] Dassin made his directorial debut with a short film of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart.[46][47] Filmed in June 1941 and released on October 25, 1941,[46] the success of the picture led to his hasty promotion as a feature film director and the signing of an exclusive five-year contract in early November 1941.[48][36][49][50] Dassin was promoted from the short story department to the feature film department by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the same time as Fred Zinnemann and Fred Wilcox.[51][52]
His feature film debut at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the low-budget spy thriller Nazi Agent (originally announced under the titles Salute to Courage, House of Spies and Out of the Past), under the supervision of producer Irving Asher and starring Conrad Veidt, in the dual roles of twin brothers, and Ann Ayars.[51][53][54] Released in early 1942, the film received immediate critical acclaim and was a box office success, with Dassin being compared to Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.[18][55][56][54][57]
Dassin followed with the romantic comedy The Affairs of Martha (originally announced under the title Once Upon a Thursday),[58][59] starring Marsha Hunt and Richard Carlson, and under the supervision of producer Irving Starr. The film was made in early 1942 on a limited budget.[60][61] When released in mid-1942, the film was a moderate success and again Dassin was highlighted in the reviews.[61][62][63]
In mid-February 1942, it was reported that Dassin would direct a film titled Men at Sea from a Marine Corps story by Alma Rivkin (possibly a typo for Allen Rivkin) starring Philip Dorn.[64] The film was presumably abandoned. In April 1942, it was reported that Dassin would be one of eight directors, along with Fred Zinenmann, Fred Wilcox, Charles Lederer, Edward Cahn, Joseph M. Newman and David Miller, to film a sequence for a planned patriotic anthology film at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer titled Now We Are 21.[65] The film was to be produced by B. F. Zeidman and scripted by Peter Ruric from a story by Jerry Schwartz.[66] Actors such as Gene Kelly, Ray McDonald, Virginia O'Brien, James Warren, Tatricia Dane, Johnny Davis and Barry Wilson were to appear in the film, but it was never made.[65]
Joan Crawford, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's biggest stars at the time, watched a private screening of Nazi Agent, after which she rushed to Louis B. Mayer's office insisting that Dassin direct her upcoming World War II drama vehicle, Reunion in France (originally announced simply as Reunion).[67] The picture was being produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and was to co-star Philip Dorn and John Wayne.[68] Crawford also requested that Ann Ayars, who co-starred in Nazi Agent, be given the second female lead in her film.[69] Dassin was notified of this new assignment on May 19, 1942, and the press reported that he had been promoted to become an "A movie" director.[67][69][70][71] On the first day of shooting, Dassin yelled "cut" while Crawford was performing, which deeply upset the actress and led her to rush into Mayer's office.[47] Dassin was called into Mayer's office and told that his career as a film director was over.[47] To his surprise, Crawford invited the young director to have dinner at her house later that night and the two became dear friends; the next day, Dassin resumed his directorial duty on the film.[47] The film opened to theatres in December 1942 but received mixed opinions from critics who found its pace too slow.[72][73][74][75][76]
After completing Reunion in France, it was reported that Dassin received a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to act in a stage production of William Shakespeare's Richard III on Broadway.[77] The play was to be directed by and starring John Carradine, though it is unknown if this production came through.[77] Dassin was also employed by Frank Tuttle as one of the lecturers for Hollywood School for Writers' new film directing class, along with Fred Zinnemann, Irving Pichel and László Benedek.[78]
In mid-November 1942, he was assigned to direct another romantic comedy, Young Ideas (originally announced as Faculty Row), under the supervision of producer Robert Sisk.[79][80] The film was shot from mid-December 1942 to early 1943 and starred Susan Peters, Herbert Marshall and Mary Astor.[80] The film was released in the summer of 1943 and received favorable reviews as a light comedy.[81] In March 1943, Dassin joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[1][82]
In September 1943, after several months without a project, Dassin took over the directorial duties on a comedy film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Canterville Ghost.[83] Original director Norman Z. McLeod had departed after five weeks of shooting, following a clash with producer Arthur Field and the cast, which included Charles Laughton, Robert Young and Margaret O'Brien.[83][84] The film finished shooting in December 1943 and was released in the summer of 1944.[85] Between the filming of scenes, Laughton often asked Dassin to play Russian classical songs on the piano, of which both were fond.[6] The Canterville Ghost was very well received by critics and won a Retro Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 2020.[86][87][88][89]
In January 1944, producer Edwin H. Knopf selected Dassin to direct the suspense drama Secrets in the Dark (originally announced as Strangers in the Dark and The Outward Room).[90] The motion picture was based on Millen Brand's novel The Outward Room and from the existing play version The World We Make, which had been adapted by Sidney Kingsley.[90][91] The plot was that of a middle-class girl who escapes from an insane asylum and develops a love affair with a blue collar steel worker, and in turn overcomes her phobias.[90][92][93] The property was developed as a starring vehicle for Susan Peters, newly promoted Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starlet.[90][94][95] Gene Kelly was first cast as the male lead in January 1944,[96][97] though he was replaced by Robert Young in February 1944.[98][96] Other cast members included Fortunio Bononova, Katharine Balfour, Felix Bressart, Alexander Granach, Peggy Maley, Marta Linden, Morris Ankrum, Sharon McManus and Betty Lawler.[99][100][93]
Secrets in the Dark was to start shooting on February 20, 1944, with cinematographer Robert Planck, but was pushed back to early March 1944 due to production delays.[101][102][103] On April 1, 1944, Peters was admitted into Santa Monica Hospital for abdominal pain and underwent major surgery.[104] Her recovery took several months, postponing the films' production indefinitely.[104][105] Reports varied as to how much footage was shot; some reported as little as ten-day of filming, while others stated that the film was nearly completed.[106][105][107] By the time that Peters had recovered in the summer of 1944, Dassin was on a voluntary leave from the studio, so Peters was instead assigned to Keep Your Powder Dry (originally announced as Women in Uniform) for director Edward Buzzell.[108][109] When Dassin finally returned to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in mid-1945, Peters had undergone another series of surgeries (due to an accidental shotgun discharge on January 1, 1945), which put her in a wheelchair.[110] Peter's character in Secrets in the Dark was to be rewritten as a paraplegic, but the film was instead permanently shelved.[110]
When Secrets in the Dark was first postponed in early April 1944, Dassin started acting in night plays at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre as part of the War Charities benefits.[111] The first play in which he acted was Night Lodging, followed by The Lower Depths.[112][113] In May 1944, Dassin teamed up with Arthur Lubin to set up the Soldier Shows Stock Company, a project to put on plays featuring wounded war veterans at Torney General Hospital in Palm Springs, California.[114][115]
In June 1944, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer announced that Dassin had been assigned to direct the company's 20th Anniversary film, Some of the Best.[116] The five-reel picture was to include excerpts from prior Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films, spanning 1924–1943, along with wrap-around pieces starring Lewis Stone.[116] Dassin, however, became weary of his directorial duties at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and asked Louis B. Mayer to be released from his exclusive contract.[47] Mayer sternly refused, even after Dassin offered to sign a promissory document that he would never work for a rival Hollywood studio.[47] In a later interview conducted in December 1946, Dassin revealed that he was ashamed of some of the directorial duties he was forced to accept while at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[117] Dassin had hoped to return to work on the New York stage but instead took a thirteen-month voluntary hiatus from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, filling his time by reading books on the beach and working on local plays.[47] On July 30, 1944, Dassin's wife Beatrice gave birth to their third child, daughter Julie.[118]
In November 1944, actor Ralph Bellamy approached Dassin to direct The Democrats, a play he was producing on Broadway.[119][120] The Democrats was written by Melvin Levy and was so co-star Frances Dee.[121][122] Although the production received good publicity throughout the month of November 1944, it would appear that it never came to fruition, perhaps because Dassin was unable to receive a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[122][119]
In December 1944, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer assigned Dassin to direct the crime-mystery film Dangerous Partners (originally announced as Paper Chase) for producer Arthur Field.[123] Dassin took over the directorial duties from Fred Zinnemann (who was then suspended from Metro-Goldywn-Mayer for refusing to finish the picture), and had anticipated casting Susan Peters in the lead.[123] But when Peters suffered a gun shot wound accident on January 1, 1945, Dassin pulled out of the project.[123] Director Edward Cahn was ultimately hired for the job and recast the female lead role with Signe Hasso, successfully completing the picture.[123]
Returning to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in May 1945, after thirteen months away from cameras, Dassin was assigned to direct the romantic comedy film A Letter for Evie for producer William H. Wright.[124][125] The picture began shooting in early June 1945 and included Marsha Hunt, Hume Cronyn, John Carroll, Norman Lloyd and Pamela Britton.[124][126][127] A Letter for Evie briefly changed title to All the Things You Are in late 1945, but its original title was restored in time for release in November 1945.[128][129]
It was announced that once Dassin completed the shooting of A Letter for Evie, he would fly to Europe to direct a series of plays sponsored by the Actors' Laboratory Theatre.[130][131] The plays were to star soldiers as part of war-time moral-building entertainment.[132][133] Again, he was denied a leave of absence from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and in early August 1945 was assigned to direct the romantic comedy thriller (with strong film noir tones), Two Smart People (originally announced as Time for Two) for producer Ralph Wheelwright.[134][135] The picture began filming in September 1945 and starred Lucille Ball, John Hodiak and Lloyd Nolan, and was released in late 1946.[136][137] Following Two Smart People, Dassin would spend more than a year without successfully shooting another film.
In March 1946, Dassin and Joseph Losey co-directed Viola Brothers Shore's stage play Birthday for the Actors' Laboratory Theatre.[138] The production, which unfolds a narrative of a girl's 18th birthday, was staged at the Phoenix Theater starring actress Karen Morley.[139] The cast also included Howard Duff, Jocelyn Brando and Don Hanmer.[139] In August 1946, it was reported that Dassin had been signed to direct the film noir Repeat Performance for Eagle-Lion Films, through a loan-out arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[140] The picture was to be made under the supervision of writer-producer Marion Parsonnet and set to star Franchot Tone, Sylvia Sidney, Constance Dowling and Tom Conway.[141] Unfortunately, disagreements about the budget and script caused the whole production to fall apart and the entire cast and crew resigned.[141] The picture was eventually made with a completely new team a year later.[141] Dassin was finally released from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer once his exclusive five-year contract expired in November 1946.[142][143][144]
Mark Hellinger Productions and Universal-International Pictures (1946–1948)
[edit]As soon as the news hit that Dassin was free from contractual obligations with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, writer-turned-producer Mark Hellinger scooped up the director, signing him to a non-exclusive three-picture freelance contract with his film production company, Mark Hellinger Productions.[145][143][146] The contract gave Dassin the freedom to choose his own three projects to direct at Mark Hellinger Productions, without an expiry date.[147][13] The producer had an existing financing and distribution deal with Universal-International Pictures, where Dassin was set to direct one of Hollywood's biggest new stars, Burt Lancaster, in a violent prison film noir, Brute Force.[148][142]
With new freedom, and support from executive producer Hellinger and associate producer Jules Buck, Dassin announced that he would shoot the picture using realism and a documentary-style.[117] He also employed a total of thirteen actors with whom he had worked at the Actors' Laboratory Theatre, including Hume Cronyn, Howard Duff, Roman Bohnen, Whit Bissell, Art Smith, Jeff Corey, Sam Levene, Charles McGraw, Will Lee, Ray Teal, Crane Whitley, Kenneth Patterson and James O'Rear.[117][149] The cast also included noted Hollywood actors Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines and Anita Colby.[117] Brute Force was shot from March to April 1947 on the Universal-International Pictures lot, with reshoots taking place in early May 1947 to appease objections from the Motion Picture Association of America, shortly before a preview audience.[150][151][152] The film, which featured a score composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, was released to theatres in July 1947 through Universal-International Pictures; that same month, Cosmopolitan magazine awarded Dassin with the Movie Citations of the Month Award for Best Director.[153] Less than a year after its release, Dassin revealed that he did not like the film.[154]
In early May 1947, Dassin was announced as the director of Hellinger's next production, The Naked City (originally announced as Homicide)[155][156] Dassin planned to push the realism and documentary-style filming technique of the police story flic further by shooting it entirely on location in New York City.[157][158] The production received full cooperation from New York City's Homicide Squad during its two and a half months of location shooting, from June to August 1947.[159][160][161] 107 different locations were shot in New York City, and to distract the crowd and keep them looking natural, Dassin hired a juggler to draw their attention away from the cameras.[13][162]
Dassin, Hellinger and associate producer Buck worked with several of the same cast and crew members from Brute Force on The Naked City, including actors Howard Duff, Ralph Brooks and Chuck Hamilton, assistant director Fred Frank, cinematographer William H. Daniels, art director John F. DeCuir, set decorator Russell A. Gausman and composer Miklós Rózsa. The film also starred Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor and Dorothy Hart.[163][164] After overseeing the editing of the film in Hollywood during September and October 1947, Dassin flew back to New York City in early November 1947 to work on the pre-production of the stage play Strange Bedfellows.[165][166] Unbeknownst to Dassin, Hellinger and Buck wound up re-cutting the film in his absence; the director only finding out at the film's premiere on March 3, 1948, when he saw a highly edited version of his film projected on the screen.[47] Furthermore, Hellinger died suddenly on December 21, 1947, months before the film was premiered and released to theatres by Universal-International Pictures.
Although Dassin was unhappy about the final cut of The Naked City, the film was a huge success (one of the top movies of 1948),[167] and it was nominated for and won several accolades, including Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story; a British Academy of Film and Television Arts nomination for Best Film from any Source; and Writers Guild of America Award nominations for Best Written American Drama and The Robert Meltzer Award. In 2007, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States National Film Preservation Board and was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry.[168]
Dassin's third and final film under his Mark Hellinger Productions contract was up in limbo following Hellinger's death. The film production unit had undergone considerable changes in the months prior to Hellinger's passing, including the addition of Humphrey Bogart as vice-president, and the signing of a six-picture financing and distribution deal with David O. Selznick's Selznick Releasing Organization.[169][170] Mark Hellinger Productions owned the filming rights to several Ernest Hemingway stories, Forest Rosaire's novel East of Midnight, Arthur Cohn's screenplay Disbarred, Gordon Macker's screenplay Race Track, Philip G. Epstein's screenplay Mistakes Will Happen, and Jerry D. Lewis' screenplay Twinkle, Twinkle; in addition to three films in development: Knock on Any Door, Criss Cross and Act of Violence.[171][172][173] Any of these properties may have been picked for Dassin to direct in 1948. The company also held contracts with actors Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Don Taylor and Howard Duff, and with cinematographer William Daniels.[171][172][173]
Bogart, Selznick and secretary-treasurer A. Morgan Marie announced their plan to continue Mark Hellinger Productions in January 1948, by co-heading the company and honoring the late producers' namesake with the previously planned films in development.[171][174] However, difficulty lay in finding a new executive producer to head the production; Jerry Wald was first approached but was unable to free himself from his Warner Bros. contract.[169] Robert Lord was then offered the post and freed himself from his Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract to accept the new position.[175] Unfortunately, Hellinger's widow, former actress Gladys Glad Hellinger, decided to liquidate the company and all of its assets in early February 1948.[172][173] The story properties and actor, director and cinematographer contracts were sold to other studios via the William Morris Agency.[173][176] This lead Bogart, Lord and Marie to form their own film production company, Santana Productions, and secure a financing and distribution deal with Columbia Pictures with some of the properties they managed to purchase.[173][175] It is unknown which, or if a studio bought out Dassin's remaining one-picture deal, though news reports hinted towards Universal-International Pictures or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[173][176]
In late December 1947, before Bogart, Selznick and Marie had decided upon continuing the Mark Hellinger Productions firm, Dassin took the opportunity of his non-exclusive contract to partner with stage actor and producer Luther Adler in an independent film venture.[177] Adler had recently purchased Jack Iams' novel Prophet by Experience in September 1947 and hired Ben Hecht to adapt it and write the screenplay.[178] The story dealt with a hermit who is taken out of seclusion by a magazine writer, and who has a unique set of experiences in the outside world.[179] Adler, who was solely to act as producer in his new film production company, approached Dassin to direct the picture and negotiations were underway for a financing and distribution deal with Columbia Pictures.[180][181] For reasons unknown, the film was never made.
While still in New York City, Dassin was hired by producers John Houseman and William R. Katzell to direct Allan Scott's play Joy to the World; a comedy about a ruthless Hollywood producer.[182][166] The play began rehearsals on January 26, 1948, and opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on March 18, 1948.[183][184] It would run for 124 performances, until July 3, 1948.[185][186] The cast included Alfred Drake, Marsha Hunt, Morris Carnovsky, Mary Welch, Lois Hall, Peggy Maley, Myron McCormick, Clay Clement, Bert Freed, Kurt Kasznar and Theodore Newton.[184][187]
20th Century-Fox Film and the blacklist years (1948–1953)
[edit]In February 1948, Dassin was approached by theatre producer Mike Todd who was preparing to venture into the film producing business.[188] Todd planned to make a series of low-budget, $500,000 pictures and had secured a financing and distribution deal with 20th Century-Fox Film.[188][189] The first picture in Todd's new deal was Busman's Holiday, an original story based on newspaper accounts of a Bronx bus driver who took off for Florida with his family using his company's bus.[188] Todd cast Joan Blondell as one of the leads and planned to shoot the entire picture using real locations, from New York City to Florida.[188][190] Impressed by the success and filming style of The Naked City, Todd approached Dassin to direct Busman's Holiday.[191] Although the picture was ultimately never made, Dassin had become an increasingly sought-after director.[192]
On April 3, 1948, he returned to Hollywood to meet with executives from three different studios: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 20th Century-Fox Film and Columbia Pictures, each of which had offered him a contract.[167] Dassin connected best with Darryl F. Zanuck and opted to sign with 20th Century-Fox Film.[193][47][194] In addition to Busman's Holiday, he was tied to two other film projects in the spring of 1948, both involving actress Paulette Goddard at 20th Century-Fox.[195][196] The first was to be a film adaptation of Jean-Paul Sartre's latest novel and recently opened Broadway hit The Respectful Prostitute, for which Goddard and actor Burgess Meredith had negotiated the screen rights, hoping to play the leads.[195] Dassin, who had promised to direct, was the only director Goddard wanted.[195]
By June 1948, Dassin was set to direct Anna Lucasta at Columbia Pictures, a play written by Philip Yordan about a young prostitute whose family tries to use her to steal money from a potential husband.[196] Goddard was scheduled to play the lead in the film and reportedly insisted that Dassin be hired to direct.[196] During negotiations with 20th Century-Fox, Zanuck considered loaning Linda Darnell to Columbia Pictures as part of a package deal, but things fell through.[197] Irving Rapper ultimately directed the film at Columbia Pictures.
During the summer of 1948, Dassin directed Magdalena on Broadway, a play produced by Edwin Lester, which ran for 88 performances from September 20, 1948, to December 4, 1948.[198] By the time that Magdalena closed, Dassin was already back in Hollywood, having signed a contract with Zanuck at 20th Century-Fox.[47][194] Dassin's inaugural project for the studio was Thieves' Highway (originally announced as Thieves' Market and Hard Bargain), starring Richard Conte, Lee J. Cobb and Valentina Cortese.[60] In November 1949, the film won the Photoplay Award for Best Picture of the Month.[199]
Contrary to an often-cited 1958 Time magazine article, Dassin was not blacklisted because of a single denunciation from a particular witness at a congressional hearing.[200] Instead, his name had been mentioned a number of times, at various hearings of the United States House of Representatives House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), and by different witnesses, some as early as 1947. He was also linked to several Communist-front organizations.[200][201][202]
On October 22, 1947, while Dassin was still working on The Naked City, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) chief supervisor and executive producer James Kevin McGuinness testified before the HUAC.[201] He described an incident at MGM in 1941, shortly after Dassin had joined the studio, when an attempt was made to halt the production of Tennessee Johnson, a biographical picture about the life of former U.S. President Andrew Johnson.[201] McGuinness explained that after the death of the original producer of the picture, J. Walter Ruben, he took over the production as part of his executive function.[201] He was then presented with a petition, signed by Dassin, Ring Lardner Jr., Donald Ogden Stewart, Hy S. Kraft and Richard Collins, which was addressed to MGM executive vice-president Al Lichtman, demanding that the picture be aborted for political reasons.[201] All five signees were known Communists.[201][203] The news hit the media quickly.[203][204][205]
In 1948 and 1949, Dassin's name was connected with at least three Communist-front organizations.[206] First, he was an executive board member of the Actors' Laboratory Theatre. The Committee did not assert that the Actors' Lab was Communist, but rather that its board of directors was made up almost exclusively of CPUSA members or Communist sympathizers, including Dassin.[207] Second, he had been a member of the Artists' Front to Win the War—a gathering on October 16, 1942 that the HUAC cited as subversive.[206][208] Third, Dassin was a sponsor of the National Council of the Arts, Sciences and Professions' Scientific and Cultural Conference for World Peace, held from March 25–27, 1949, which the HUAC also cited as subversive.[209][210]
In the late spring of 1949, Zanuck called Dassin into his office to warn him that he was on the verge of being blacklisted, but that he still had enough time to make one more movie for 20th Century-Fox.[211][194] Zanuck gave Dassin a copy of Gerald Kersh's novel Night and the City and rushed him to England to make the film unhindered by the HUAC hearings.[194] Night and the City, later released in mid-1950, was filmed entirely on location in London between July and October 1949 and starred Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe and Mike Mazurki.[212] Dassin was already unofficially blacklisted during the production of Night and the City and was not allowed back on the studio property to edit the film nor oversee the musical scoring.[194][213]
Nevertheless, Zanuck and producer Julian Blaustein hired Dassin to direct one more 20th Century-Fox Film, Half Angel, a Technicolor comedy starring Loretta Young, and scheduled to begin shooting in mid-June 1950.[214] However, after political pressure from Hollywood and Washington, D.C., Dassin was replaced by Richard Sale.[214]
On April 25, 1951, film director Edward Dmytryk, one of the "Hollywood Ten" who had been blacklisted in 1947 for refusing to answer questions from the HUAC, had a change of heart and decided to cooperate with the Committee and "name names".[2] In his revised testimony, Dmytryk revealed that the Screen Directors' Guild included seven known Communists. It was one of the first times the HUAC heard of film directors being Communists; up till then, the Committee had concentrated on left-wing writers in the Screen Writers' Guild.[2] Dassin was named as one of the seven directors—along with Frank Tuttle, Herbert Biberman, John Berry, Bernard Vorhaus and Dmytryk himself—who had attended a Communist meeting at Berry's house for the purpose of electing themselves to the guild's board of directors.[2] Dmytryk explained that, at the time, the Communist Party wanted to get as many people as it could on the board of directors of the Screen Writers' Guild, Screen Actors' Guild, and Screen Directors' Guild in order to eventually control the policy of those guilds, particularly in relation to forging a coalition of the various unions.[2]
On May 24, 1951, Frank Tuttle also gave cooperative testimony to the HUAC.[202][215] He said that during the 1930s and 1940s, a group of seven Communists existed within the Screen Directors' Guild.[215] Dassin was again named as one of those seven Communists, along with Herbert Biberman, Edward Dmytryk, Bernard Vorhaus, John Berry, Michael Gordon and Tuttle himself.[215] Tuttle explained that the CPUSA's goal was to elect its representatives to the board of directors of the Screen Directors' Guild, but that only he, Dmytryk and Biberman had succeeded in being appointed to executive positions, with the help of votes from the seven Communists in the guild.[215]
Dassin's name was further mentioned during HUAC hearings for actor José Ferrer on May 25, 1951,[215] and film director Michael Gordon on September 17, 1951.[216] From that point on, Dassin was officially identified as a past or present CPUSA member.[217][218]
In 1952, after Dassin had been out of work for two years, actress Bette Davis hired him to direct her in the Broadway revue Two's Company.[218] The show ran for 90 performances, closing on March 8, 1953, due to Davis' poor health.[218][219] Dassin was then offered a job in France to direct a film. He accepted the offer and left the U.S. for good, never having to appear before the HUAC.[220]
Working in Europe
[edit]France
[edit]In March 1953, Dassin was hired by French producer Jacques Bar to direct the comedy-crime film The Most Wanted Man, starring Fernandel and Zsa Zsa Gabor in a spoof of American gangster films.[194] Dassin maintains that two days before the film was to begin shooting, Bar yielded to pressure from a powerful U.S. politician not to work with Dassin, receiving threats that the film, and any future Bar productions, would not be granted American distribution.[194] In an HUAC hearing on July 12, 1956, Allied Artists Pictures Corporation manager of branch operations Roy M. Brewer stated that a worrisome Gabor phoned him from France after hearing rumors that Dassin had been identified as a Communist.[221] The next day, Brewer received a telegram from American Federation of Labor's European representative Irving Brown, also questioning Dassin's political views.[221] Brewer further stated that at no point did he recommend the dismissal of Dassin as director, but that he merely reported the facts to the inquirers, which was that Dassin had been identified as a Communist.[221] The Most Wanted Man was ultimately directed by Henri Verneuil (a frequent collaborator of Fernandel), who went on to become a noted neo-noir director. Dassin later stated that he had further difficulty finding work in Europe as American film distribution companies forbade the exhibition of any film, regardless of its origin, associated with artists blacklisted in Hollywood.[194] He later admitted that he worked as an uncredited writer on a number of scripts that were sent back to Hollywood through Zanuck.[194]
Dassin did not work as a film director again until Rififi in 1955 (a French production), his most influential film and an early work in the "heist film" genre. He won the Best Director award for the film at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival. It inspired later heist films, such as Ocean's Eleven (1960).[222] Another film it inspired was Dassin's own heist film Topkapi (1964), filmed in France and Istanbul, Turkey with his future second wife, Melina Mercouri and Oscar winner Peter Ustinov.
Most of Dassin's films in the decades following the blacklist are European productions.[222] His later career in Europe and the affiliation with Greece through his second wife, combined with the Frenchified pronunciation of his surname in Europe (as "Da-SAn" instead of the common American "DASS-ine") led to a common misconception that he was a native European director.[213]
Melina Mercouri
[edit]At the Cannes Film Festival in May 1955 he met Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and wife of Panos Harokopos.[222] At about the same time, he discovered the literary works of Nikos Kazantzakis; these two elements created a bond with Greece. Dassin next made He Who Must Die (1957) based on Kazantzakis' Christ Recrucified and in which Mercouri appeared. She went on to star in his Never on Sunday (1960) for which she won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.[223] She then starred in his next three films – Phaedra (1962), Topkapi (1964) and 10:30 P.M. Summer (1966).
He divorced his first wife, Beatrice Launer, in 1962 and married Mercouri in 1966. She later starred in his Promise at Dawn (1970)—during the filming of which, Dassin broke both his legs[224]—and later A Dream of Passion (1978).
Affiliation with Greece
[edit]Dassin was considered a major Philhellene to the point of Greek officials describing him as a "first generation Greek". Along with Mercouri, he opposed the Greek military junta.
The couple had to leave Greece after the colonels' coup in 1967. In 1970 they were accused of having financed an attempt to overthrow the dictatorship, but the charges were quickly dropped.[citation needed] Dassin and Mercouri lived in New York City during the 1970s; then, when the military dictatorship in Greece fell in 1974, they returned to Greece and lived out their lives there. In 1974 he and Mercouri made The Rehearsal about the junta.
While Mercouri became involved with politics and won a parliamentary seat, Dassin stayed with movie-making in Europe. In 1982 he was a member of the jury at the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.[225]
Personal life
[edit]Marriages
[edit]Dassin married twice. Before his marriage to Melina Mercouri, he married Beatrice Launer in 1933; she was a New-York–born, [citation needed] Jewish–American [citation needed] concert violinist (aka Beatrice Launer-Dassin; 1913–1994),[226][26] a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music.[11] They divorced in 1962. Their children were Joseph Ira Dassin, better known as Joe Dassin (1938–80), a popular French singer in the 1970s; songwriter Richelle "Rickie" Dassin (born 1940); and actress–singer Julie Dassin (born 1944; also known as Julie D.).[227][deprecated source]
Death
[edit]Dassin died from complications of influenza at the age of 96; he was survived by his two daughters and his grandchildren. Upon his death, the Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis released a statement: "Greece mourns the loss of a rare human being, a significant artist and true friend. His passion, his relentless creative energy, his fighting spirit and his nobility will remain unforgettable."[222]
A major supporter of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens, for which he established the Melina Mercouri Institution in her memory after her death in 1994, he died a few months before the opening ceremony of the New Acropolis Museum.[223]
Preservation
[edit]The Academy Film Archive has preserved Jules Dassin's film Night and the City, including the British and pre-release versions.[228]
In 2000, Rialto Pictures restored and released Rififi theatrically. It was subsequently released on home video through The Criterion Collection and Arrow Films.
Filmography
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Co. March 1943 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b c d e United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities (1951). Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry: hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session. Vol. 2. Boston Public Library. Washington, D.C. : U.S. G.P.O.
- ^ "The Miami News from Miami, Florida on July 6, 1942 · 13". July 6, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1944). Who's Who at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1944). Media History Digital Library. Culver City, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- ^ David B. Green, This Day in Jewish History 1911: Blacklisted Director Who Became the Toast of Paris Is Born, Haaretz, December 18, 2015. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
- ^ a b "The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 10, 1943 · Page 34". December 10, 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Film Daily (Jul–Sep 1947). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1947 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on September 23, 1940 · 33". September 23, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on October 13, 1929 · 67". October 13, 1929. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut on July 10, 1933 · 1". July 10, 1933. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b The Juilliard School of Music, "The Baton", p. 12 Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Beatrice Launer and Jules Dassen Marriage". ancestry.ca. September 10, 1933. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
- ^ a b c Holiday 1947-10: Vol 2 Iss 10. Saturday Evening Post Society. 1947.
- ^ a b "The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio on September 6, 1936 · Page 41". September 6, 1936. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on May 21, 1937 · 14". May 21, 1937. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Revolt of the Beavers – IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". October 19, 2012. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
- ^ Prime, Rebecca (January 14, 2014). Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-7086-0.
- ^ a b c "Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on April 24, 1942 · 5". April 24, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "THE OUTLAW' GIVEN BY ARTEF PLAYERS; New Quarters of Group, Once Daly's Theatre, Inaugurated With Lyrical Drama". The New York Times. October 6, 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on September 24, 1937 · 133". September 24, 1937. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on October 14, 1939 · 22". October 14, 1939. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California on May 2, 1943 · Page 28". May 2, 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Oscar Directors: Dassin, Jules–Background, Career, Awards, Filmography". Emanuellevy.com. August 26, 2020. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
- ^ a b The Film Daily (Apr–Jun 1940). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. April 1940 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1940). Kansas City, Associated Publications. 1940 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ a b c d "Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan on November 24, 1942 · Page 10". November 24, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania on April 18, 1939 · Page 7". April 18, 1939. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Miami News from Miami, Florida on April 20, 1939 · 10". April 20, 1939. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Medicine Show – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on March 12, 1940 · Page 9". March 12, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Forum and Century 1940-06: Vol 103 Iss 6. Open Court Publishing Co. June 1940.
- ^ The Commonweal 1940-04-26: Vol 32 Iss 1. Commonweal Foundation. April 26, 1940.
- ^ "from on April 13, 1940 · Page 18". April 13, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on April 13, 1940 · 8". April 13, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey on August 8, 1942 · 8". August 8, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Miller, Stephen (April 1, 2008). "Jules Dassin, 96, Expatriate Film Director". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ "Newsday (Nassau Edition) from Hempstead, New York on September 27, 1940 · 25". September 27, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa on December 24, 1940 · Page 6". December 24, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 11, 1940 · Page 7". October 11, 1940. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boxoffice (Jan–Mar 1941). Kansas City, Associated Publications. 1941 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ "Chico Record from Chico, California on August 14, 1942 · 2". August 14, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Chattanooga Daily Times from Chattanooga, Tennessee on January 3, 1941 · 23". January 3, 1941. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harrisburg Telegraph from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on January 3, 1941 · Page 17". January 3, 1941. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on January 4, 1941 · 195". January 4, 1941. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Cominfil Motion Picture Industry COMPIC HQ 1.
- ^ a b "Harrisburg Sunday Courier from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1941 · Page 4". June 15, 1941. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j French TV Interview Jules Dassin with subtitles, May 20, 2012, retrieved November 27, 2021
- ^ Katz, Ephraim (1998). The Macmillan International Film Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan. p. 333. ISBN 0-333-74037-8. OCLC 39216574.
- ^ Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1941). New York [Motion picture daily, inc.] October 1941 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on November 6, 1941 · 22". November 6, 1941. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Co. November 1941 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ The Film Daily (Oct–Dec 1941). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. October 1941 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ Film Bulletin Company (1941). Film Bulletin (1941). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. New York, Film Bulletin Company.
- ^ a b "Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on May 20, 1942 · 5". May 20, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Capital Journal from Salem, Oregon on February 7, 1942 · Page 3". February 7, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The South Bend Tribune from South Bend, Indiana on May 3, 1942 · 27". May 3, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 11, 1942 · Page 17". June 11, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on March 12, 1942 · 10". March 12, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia on June 28, 1942 · 33". June 28, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Jules Dassin". IMDb. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 19, 1942 · 51". July 19, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21, 1942 · 17". July 21, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Evening Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on August 6, 1942 · 27". August 6, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1942). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1942 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on April 29, 1942 · 14". April 29, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1942). Variety (May 1942). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on May 20, 1942 · 20". May 20, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on June 15, 1942 · 7". June 15, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on June 23, 1942 · 22". June 23, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Salt Lake Telegram from Salt Lake City, Utah on July 4, 1942 · 12". July 4, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Photoplay Combined with Movie Mirror 1942-09: Vol 21 Iss 4. MacFadden Publishing Inc. September 1942.
- ^ "The Daily Oklahoman from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on December 20, 1942 · 60". December 20, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1942). Variety (December 1942). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ Lewis, Charles E. (October 1942). Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1942). MBRS Library of Congress. Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 9, 1943 · 8". January 9, 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 5, 1943 · 24". March 5, 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Ogden Standard-Examiner from Ogden, Utah on September 14, 1942 · 9". September 14, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on October 8, 1942 · 38". October 8, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on November 20, 1942 · 48". November 20, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on December 12, 1942 · 10". December 12, 1942. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on October 1, 1943 · 592". October 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1943). Variety (April 1943). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b Variety (1943). Variety (September 1943). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on October 19, 1943 · 210". October 19, 1943. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 20, 1944 · Page 19". July 20, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on July 23, 1944 · Page 24". July 23, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ 1945 Retro-Hugo Awards, April 7, 2020, retrieved August 10, 2023
- ^ "The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on August 24, 1944 · 12". August 24, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Council Bluffs Nonpareil from Council Bluffs, Iowa on September 17, 1944 · Page 8". September 17, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa on January 6, 1944 · 14". January 6, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Harrisburg Telegraph from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on February 18, 1944 · Page 12". February 18, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington on March 16, 1944 · 10". March 16, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Co. 1944 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey on January 28, 1944 · 15". January 28, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on January 5, 1944 · 6". January 5, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1944). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1944 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 17, 1944 · Page 22". January 17, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Deseret News from Salt Lake City, Utah on February 16, 1944 · 6". February 16, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "North Hollywood Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on January 17, 1944 · 9". January 17, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on February 8, 1944 · 11". February 8, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Film Daily (Jan–Mar 1944). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1944 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on March 3, 1944 · 7". March 3, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Motion Picture Daily (Jan–Mar 1944). New York [Motion picture daily, inc.] 1944 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b "The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California on April 6, 1944 · 12". April 6, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Piqua Daily Call from Piqua, Ohio on April 6, 1944 · Page 1". April 6, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Morning Post from Camden, New Jersey on April 29, 1944 · 15". April 29, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Press Democrat from Santa Rosa, California on May 13, 1944 · 8". May 13, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 25, 1944 · Page 22". August 25, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Courier from Waterloo, Iowa on May 22, 1944 · 7". May 22, 1944. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Courier-Journal from Louisville, Kentucky on September 7, 1947 · Page 57". September 7, 1947. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "St. Albans Daily Messenger from St. Albans, Vermont on April 4, 1944 · 6". April 4, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Evening Star-News from Culver City, California on April 5, 1944 · 2". April 5, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on April 10, 1944 · 7". April 10, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California on June 16, 1944 · 7". June 16, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Desert Sun from Palm Springs, California on June 23, 1944 · 7". June 23, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Variety (1944). Variety (June 1944). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b c d "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1947 · 25". April 9, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Evening Star-News from Culver City, California on July 31, 1944 · 3". July 31, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on November 9, 1944 · 10". November 9, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 13, 1944 · Page 22". November 13, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Lewis, Charles E. (1944). Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1944). MBRS Library of Congress. Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.
- ^ a b "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on November 27, 1944 · 11". November 27, 1944. Retrieved November 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Variety (1945). Variety (January 1945). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b "Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on May 29, 1945 · 3". May 29, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1945). Kansas City, Associated Publications. 1945 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ "The Daily Notes from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on June 7, 1945 · Page 7". June 7, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on June 8, 1945 · 5". June 8, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boxoffice (1945). Boxoffice Barometer (1945). Media History Digital Library. New York, Boxoffice.
- ^ Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Co. 1945 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "Evening Vanguard from Venice, California on June 21, 1945 · 7". June 21, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Seattle Star from Seattle, Washington on July 23, 1945 · 8". July 23, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Film Daily (Apr–Jun 1945). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1945 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ Variety (1945). Variety (June 1945). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Citizen from Brooklyn, New York on August 7, 1945 · 10". August 7, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Motion Picture Herald. Quigley Publishing Co. 1945 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ "The Evening Sun from Hanover, Pennsylvania on August 11, 1945 · 4". August 11, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on August 29, 1945 · Page 19". August 29, 1945. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 4, 1946 · 9". March 4, 1946. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 14, 1946 · 13". March 14, 1946. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Motion Picture Daily (Jul–Sep 1946). New York [Motion picture daily, inc.] 1946 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b c Film Bulletin Company (1947). Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1947). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. New York, Film Bulletin Company.
- ^ a b "The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California on December 19, 1946 · 13". December 19, 1946. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on December 23, 1946 · 14". December 23, 1946. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1946). Variety (November 1946). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ Film Bulletin (1946). Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1946). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. New York, Film Bulletin Company.
- ^ Lewis, Charles (1946). Showmen's Trade Review (Oct–Dec 1946)E. MBRS Library of Congress. Showmen's Trade Review, Inc.
- ^ "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on April 9, 1947 · 29". April 9, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from Los Angeles, California on December 19, 1946 · 31". December 19, 1946. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on April 10, 1947 · 21". April 10, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Wilkes-Barre Record from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on March 11, 1947 · Page 17". March 11, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on May 8, 1947 · 19". May 8, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on May 24, 1947 · 6". May 24, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Cosmopolitan 1947-07: Vol 123 Iss 1. Hearst Magazines, a Division of Hearst Communications. July 1947.
- ^ "Altoona Tribune from Altoona, Pennsylvania on January 27, 1948 · Page 11". January 27, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on May 2, 1947 · 5". May 2, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Boxoffice (Apr–Jun 1947). Kansas City, Associated Publications. 1947 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ "Journal Gazette from Mattoon, Illinois on September 25, 1947 · Page 10". September 25, 1947. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina on December 4, 1947 · 32". December 4, 1947. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1947). Variety (May 1947). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ Variety (1947). Variety (June 1947). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ Boxoffice (Jul–Sep 1947). Kansas City, Associated Publications. 1947 – via Media History Digital Library.
- ^ "The Birmingham News from Birmingham, Alabama on August 17, 1947 · 73". August 17, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Valley Times from North Hollywood, California on May 27, 1947 · 15". May 27, 1947. Retrieved December 4, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "California Eagle from Los Angeles, California on October 16, 1947 · 21". October 16, 1947. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Variety (1947). Variety (November 1947). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b Variety (1948). Variety (March 1948). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on April 3, 1948 · Page 14". April 3, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Naked City – IMDb, retrieved November 28, 2021
- ^ a b Variety (1948). Variety (January 1948). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ Film Bulletin Company (1948). Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. New York, Film Bulletin Company.
- ^ a b c "The Miami News from Miami, Florida on January 26, 1948 · 13". January 26, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Variety (1948). Variety (February 1948). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b c d e f Variety (1948). Variety (March 1948). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ "The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana on January 5, 1948 · Page 4". January 5, 1948. Retrieved January 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida on February 24, 1948 · 22". February 24, 1948. Retrieved January 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana on February 26, 1948 · Page 19". February 26, 1948. Retrieved January 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on January 3, 1948 · Page 12". January 3, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas on September 14, 1947 · 24". September 14, 1947. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on March 8, 1949 · 27". March 8, 1949. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Fresno Bee from Fresno, California on January 2, 1948 · 12". January 2, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on January 4, 1948 · 25". January 4, 1948. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on January 19, 1948 · 74". January 19, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Daily News from New York, New York on January 26, 1948 · 188". January 26, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b George Jean Nathan (1948). The Theatre Book Of The Year 1947 1948 A Record And An Interpretation. Universal Digital Library. Alfred A. Knopf.
- ^ "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on March 14, 1948 · Page 33". March 14, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ League, The Broadway. "Joy to the World – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 21, 1948 · Page 18". January 21, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d "Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 12, 1947 · Page 8". October 12, 1947. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Film Bulletin Company (1948). Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1948). New York The Museum of Modern Art Library. New York, Film Bulletin Company.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on December 27, 1947 · 7". Los Angeles Times. December 27, 1947. Retrieved December 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Los Angeles Evening Citizen News from Hollywood, California on February 24, 1948 · 15". February 24, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Mike Todd would later produce a very successful picture that used real locations: Around the World in 80 Days (1956).
- ^ Variety (1948). Variety (September 1948). Media History Digital Library Media History Digital Library. New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Jules Dassin on being Blacklist & Rififi, July 4, 2012, retrieved November 27, 2021
- ^ a b c "The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York on May 9, 1948 · Page 31". May 9, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "The Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania on June 5, 1948 · 14". June 5, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California on June 19, 1948 · 9". Los Angeles Times. June 19, 1948. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ League, The Broadway. "Magdalena – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ Thieves' Highway – IMDb, retrieved November 28, 2021
- ^ a b Congressional Record February 28 – May 29, 1961: Vol 107 APPENDIX. Superintendent of Government Documents. February 28, 1961.
- ^ a b c d e f United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities (1947). Hearings regarding the communist infiltration of the motion picture industry. Hearings before the Committee on Un-American Activities, House of Representatives, Eightieth Congress, first session. Public law 601 (section 121, subsection Q (2)). Boston Public Library. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
- ^ a b FBI. American Legion FBI Files.
- ^ a b "The Daily Times from New Philadelphia, Ohio on October 22, 1947 · Page 1". October 22, 1947. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Latrobe Bulletin from Latrobe, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1947 · 7". October 22, 1947. Retrieved December 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Film Daily (Oct–Dec 1947). Wid's Films and Film Folk, inc. 1947 – via MBRS Library of Congress.
- ^ a b California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (1948). Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. San Francisco Public Library. Sacramento, Calif. : The Senate.
- ^ California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (1948–1959). Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948 : Communist Front Organizations. Prelinger Library. Sacramento: The Senate.
- ^ United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities (1953). Investigation of Communist activities in the New York City area. Hearings. Boston Public Library. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
- ^ California Legislature Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities (1951). Report of the Senate Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities. San Francisco Public Library. Sacramento, Calif. : The Senate.
- ^ United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities (1951). Report on the Communist "peace" offensive; a campaign to disarm and defeat the United States. Boston Public Library. Washington.
- ^ Cineaste, Dan Georgakas, spring 2007, p.72
- ^ The film was shot in 1949, see Duncan, Paul (July 2, 2014). "Why I Love: Night and the City (1950)". Port. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ^ a b Dassin, Jules (February 1, 2005). Night and the City (post-screening interview in DVD supplements). Criterion Collection.
- ^ a b Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Club; Twentieth Century-Fox Studio Club (1941). Action (1941–1958). Media History Digital Library.
- ^ a b c d e "Communist Infiltration of Hollywood Motion-Picture Industry - Part 3". Superintendent of Government Documents. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ United States Congress House Committee on Un-American Activities (1951). Communist infiltration of Hollywood motion-picture industry : hearing before the Committee on Un-American activities, House of Representatives, Eighty-second Congress, first session. Vol. 4. Boston Public Library. Washington, D.C. : U.S. G.P.O.
- ^ Annual Report of the Committee on Un-American Activities for the Year 1952. Superintendent of Government Documents. December 28, 1952.
- ^ a b c Congressional Record May 18 – July 02, 1953: Vol 99 APPENDIX. Superintendent of Government Documents. May 18, 1953.
- ^ "Two's Company – Broadway Musical – Original | IBDB". www.ibdb.com. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ McGilligan, Patrick; Buhle, Paul (1997). "Jules Dassin". Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 216. ISBN 0-312-17046-7.
- ^ a b c Hearings July 12–13, 1956. Superintendent of Government Documents. July 12, 1956.
- ^ a b c d Luther, Claudia (April 1, 2008). "Noir master directed caper classic 'Rififi'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
- ^ a b (in Greek) Skai News Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Απεβίωσε ο Ζυλ Ντασέν (Jules Dassin died), English (machine translation) Retrieved on April 1, 2008.
- ^ "Dassin Breaks Both Legs In Freak Studio Accident". Variety. October 8, 1969. p. 2.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1984 Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
- ^ Beatrice Dassin. Genealogy Bank. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
- ^ Julie D.. Rateyourmusic.com (July 19, 1945). Retrieved July 26, 2015.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.