Sidney Bartlett (July 10, 1900 – May 29, 1978, born Sacha Baraniev) was a Ukrainian-American author and screenwriter and producer of Hollywood films.

Early life

Sy Bartlett was born Sacha Baraniev on July 10, 1900, in the Black Sea seaport of

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). His parents immigrated to the United States in 1904, settling in Chicago. Bartlett attended Northwestern University and was trained at the

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

. He worked as a newspaper reporter before moving to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. His first credited work was for

RKO Studios RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith ...

in 1933 and he wrote 28 screenplays from 1933 to 1969. In the 1950s, he became interested in producing films, and with film star

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

founded Melville Productions in 1956. Bartlett enjoyed being a Hollywood socialite in the 1930s and was well known for the Sunday barbecues he frequently hosted. He was sometimes connected by tabloids to scandals on occasion, and married three times, each time to Hollywood actresses –

Alice White Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...

, Ellen Drew, and Patricia Owens. Of Jewish descent, Bartlett was strongly anti-

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, once striking an employee of the German consulate in the face during an argument in a nightclub.Maxwell Street ''Survival in a Bazaar, Publisher Doubleday & Co. Inc., Garden City, New York, 1977 see page 239''

Military service

Bartlett joined the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and was assigned to the Army Pictorial Service. However, he was not interested in making training films and used connections to meet Beirne Lay, Jr., who was on the staff of Army Air Forces Brig. Gen.

Ira Eaker General officer, General (Honorary) Ira Clarence Eaker (April 13, 1896 – August 6, 1987) was a general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Eaker, as second-in-command of the prospective Eighth Air Force, was sent to En ...

. Lay had a background in both journalism and Hollywood and arranged for Bartlett to meet Maj. Gen. Carl Spaatz, and Bartlett became Spaatz's aide-de-camp. With the establishment of the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces S ...

in England, Bartlett was transferred there and joined the staff of the Eighth's Bomber Command as an intelligence assistant. There he came into daily contact with the inner workings of Air Force commanders in England, including Brig. Gen. Frank A. Armstrong, and was a close observer of the development of the Eighth into a powerful combat force. In November 1944,

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Bartlett became the wing

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...

for the

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

315th Bomb Wing under Armstrong and served with it in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

.Hollywood Man First U.S. Flyer to Bomb Berlin: Maj. Sy Bartlett, Former Film Writer, Drops 4000-Pound 'Cookie' on Target in Nazi Capital
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' via

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. Published March 29, 1943. Retrieved June 20, 2022. Bartlett also served as a bombardier flying in the first bombing mission over

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in March 1943.

Return to Hollywood and writing

Following World War II, Bartlett returned to Hollywood and joined

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

as a writer. In 1946, he began a collaboration with Beirne Lay which resulted in the 1948 publication of the novel '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship Imprint (trade name), imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper (publisher), James Harper and his brother John, the compan ...

), and in December 1949, the release of the film based on the same story (work on production began a year before publication). Bartlett died in Hollywood on May 29, 1978, aged 77, from cancer.

Filmography (screenwriter)

* '' Che!'' (1969) – also producer * '' In Enemy Country'' (1968) * '' A Gathering of Eagles'' (1963)-- also producer * '' Cape Fear'' (1962)--also producer * '' The Outsider'' (1961) – also producer * '' Beloved Infidel'' (1959) * '' Pork Chop Hill'' (1959)-- only producer * ''

The Big Country ''The Big Country'' is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, and starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Charles Bickford. The supporting cast features Burl Ives and Chuck Connors. F ...

'' (1958) * '' Suspicion'' (TV series; episode: "Doomsday") (1957) * '' The Last Command'' (1955) * '' That Lady'' (1955)-- also producer * '' The Red Beret'' (1953) * '' Twelve O'Clock High'' (1949) * '' Down to the Sea in Ships'' (1949) * '' 13 Rue Madeleine'' (1947) * '' The Princess and the Pirate'' (1944) * '' Two Yanks in Trinidad'' (1942) * '' Bullet Scars'' (1942) * ''

Road to Zanzibar ''Road to Zanzibar'' is a 1941 American musical comedy film directed by Victor Schertzinger and starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, and marked the second of seven pictures in the popular "'' Road to ...''" series made by the trio. ...

'' (1941) * '' Sandy Gets Her Man'' (1940) * '' The Amazing Mr. Williams'' (1939) * '' Cocoanut Grove'' (1938) * '' Sergeant Murphy'' (1938) * ''

Danger Patrol ''Danger Patrol'' is a 1937 American drama film directed by Lew Landers from a screenplay by Sy Bartlett based on a story by Helen Vreeland and Hilda Vincent. Produced and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, it was released on December 3, 1937, ...

'' (1937) * '' The Man Who Cried Wolf'' (1937) * '' Under Your Spell'' (1936) * '' Boulder Dam'' (1936) * '' The Murder of Dr. Harrigan'' (1936) * '' Going Highbrow'' (1935) * '' Kansas City Princess'' (1934) * '' The Big Brain'' (1933)

Notes

References

*Duffin, Alan T., and Matheis, Paul. ''The 12 O'Clock High Logbook'' (2005),

External links

*
Portrait of screenwriter Sy Bartlett, Los Angeles, California, circa 1939.

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Sy 1900 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American screenwriters Film producers from Illinois American male novelists American male screenwriters American people of Ukrainian descent American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Deaths from cancer in California Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Jewish American military personnel Medill School of Journalism alumni Writers from Chicago Writers from Greater Los Angeles United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army personnel of World War II