Bernard Gordon (October 29, 1918 – May 11, 2007) was an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

and producer. For much of his 27-year career he was prevented from taking screen credit by the

Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...

. Among his best-known works are screenplays for ''

Flesh and Fury ''Flesh and Fury'' is a 1952 American film noir drama sport film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Tony Curtis, Jan Sterling and Mona Freeman.Earth vs. the Flying Saucers'' (1956), and '' 55 Days at Peking'' (1963).

Biography

Early life

Gordon was born in New Britain, Connecticut to Kitty and William Gordon,

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish immigrants from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. His father managed a hardware store and Gordon grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where he attended the City College.

Professional work

Beginning as a writer for print, Gordon moved to California and got a production job as a script reader, providing written "coverage" of screenplays submitted to studios. A political activist and, briefly in the 1940s, a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

, Gordon helped found the Screen Readers Guild. He married fellow activist Jean Lewin in 1946, one of the organizers of the

Hollywood Canteen The Hollywood Canteen operated at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in the Los Angeles, California, neighborhood of Hollywood between October 3, 1942, and November 22, 1945 (Thanksgiving Day), as a club offering food, dancing and entertainment for serv ...

during the war. His first produced screenplay was ''

Flesh and Fury ''Flesh and Fury'' is a 1952 American film noir drama sport film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Tony Curtis, Jan Sterling and Mona Freeman.Tony Curtis Tony Curtis (born Bernard Schwartz; June 3, 1925September 29, 2010) was an American actor whose career spanned six decades, achieving the height of his popularity in the 1950s (Kansas Raiders, 1950) and early 1960s. He acted in more than 100 f ...

. A western with

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...

(''

The Lawless Breed ''The Lawless Breed'' is a 1953 American Technicolor Western biographical film produced and distributed by Universal-International, directed by Raoul Walsh, and starring Rock Hudson and Julie Adams. The film is a romanticized story based on the ...

'') followed, but Gordon was subpoenaed to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigating '' Communist'' influence in Hollywood. Although subpoenaed, Gordon was never called to testify, and thus remained in a legal limbo. His producer,

William Alland William Alland (March 4, 1916 – November 11, 1997) was an American actor, film producer and writer, mainly of Western and science-fiction/monster films, including '' This Island Earth'', '' It Came From Outer Space'', '' Tarantula!'', ''The ...

, had named Gordon in his own testimony to HUAC. A former left-wing sympathizer himself, Alland regularly informed the government about the political leanings of writers with whom he dealt at

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Pseudonymous work

In 1954, Gordon received an under-the-table assignment from producer Charles Schneer, who worked with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' low-budget maven

Sam Katzman Sam Katzman (July 7, 1901 – August 4, 1973) was an American film producer and director. Katzman produced low-budget genre films, including serials, which had disproportionately high returns for the studios and his financial backers. E ...

. Gordon adapted a play written by two friends, which became the film ''

The Law vs. Billy the Kid ''The Law vs. Billy the Kid'' is a 1954 American western film directed by William Castle and starring Scott Brady, Betta St. John and Paul Cavanagh. It was produced by Sam Katzman for distribution by Columbia Pictures. Plot Cheated out of a h ...

''. Schneer employed Gordon many times during the 1950s, memorably as screenwriter of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, a low-budget alien-invasion film with special effects by

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mi ...

. Gordon worked under the pen name Raymond T. Marcus, a friend who was not in the film business. These low-paying assignments were generally B-level potboilers. Notably, one of the Schneer films was the only feature film to co-star Ronald Reagan and his wife

Nancy Davis Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress and First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989. She was the second wife of president Ronald Reagan. Reagan was born in New ...

, ''

Hellcats of the Navy ''Hellcats of the Navy'' is a 1957 American black-and-white World War II submarine film drama from Columbia Pictures, produced by Charles H. Schneer and directed by Nathan Juran. The film stars Ronald Reagan and his wife, billed under her scre ...

''. Reagan's political views were diametrically opposed to the then-blacklisted Gordon, though after Reagan was elected president he denied blacklisting had occurred despite evidence proving this inaccuracy. Gordon took ironic satisfaction in having written an introduction for the esteemed Admiral

Chester Nimitz Chester William Nimitz (; February 24, 1885 – February 20, 1966) was a fleet admiral in the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, and Commander in C ...

and having Reagan give voice to his words on film that was broadcast on television during his two terms as president. Another film for which Gordon wrote pseudonymously due to the Black List was ''

Zombies of Mora Tau ''Zombies of Mora Tau'' (also known as ''The Dead That Walk'') is a 1957 black-and-white zombie horror film directed by Edward L. Cahn and starring Gregg Palmer, Allison Hayes and Autumn Russel. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, it was produced by ...

'' (1957).

Success in exile

Through his friendship with writer/entrepreneur

Philip Yordan Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCar ...

, Gordon found regular work as a writer and producer in Madrid for the

Samuel Bronston Productions Samuel Bronston Productions was an independent American film production company, founded by Samuel Bronston in 1943. The company produced several epic films, the most notable of which are, ''John Paul Jones'' (1959), ''King of Kings'' (1961), '' ...

. At first, however, he was still denied screen credit, with Yordan frequently listing himself as sole author of films like '' Circus World'', ''

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

'', '' Custer of the West'' and ''

The Day of the Triffids ''The Day of the Triffids'' is a 1951 post-apocalyptic novel by the English science fiction author John Wyndham. After most people in the world are blinded by an apparent meteor shower, an aggressive species of plant starts killing people. A ...

''. Gordon did receive on-screen credit for '' 55 Days at Peking'', and the first screen adaptation of '' The Thin Red Line''. As a producer, he made a number of westerns in Spain and the well-received sci-fi thriller ''

Horror Express ''Horror Express'' ( Spanish: ''Pánico en el Transiberiano'', lit. "Panic on the Trans-Siberian") is a 1972 science fiction horror film directed by Eugenio Martín. It stars Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, with Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Tor ...

'', co-starring

Peter Cushing Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. His acting career spanned over six decades and included appearances in more than 100 films, as well as many television, stage, and radio roles. He achieved recognition ...

and Christopher Lee. Another film he wrote, '' Cry of Battle'', was playing at the theater in which

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

was arrested by

Dallas police The Dallas Police Department, established in 1881, is the principal law enforcement agency serving the city of Dallas, Texas. Organization The department is headed by a chief of police who is appointed by the city manager who, in turn, is hir ...

on 22 November 1963. ''55 Days at Peking'' contains the first known occurrence of the phrase “Let China sleep. For when she wakes, the world will tremble”, which are often mistakenly attributed to

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

. There, the actress Elizabeth Sellars asks David Niven (who plays the British ambassador in China during the Boxer Rebellion (1900)) if he remembers what Napoleon said about China. Niven then quotes the now-famous phrase that when China rouses from its slumber, all hell will break loose. The quotation is specific to the screenplay by principal scriptwriter, Bernard Gordon, since the remark and attribution do not appear in either the English or French versions of the 1963 book by Noel Gerson (written under the pseudonym Samuel Edwards). It is likely that Bernard Gordon invented the phrase “Let China sleep. For when she wakes, the world will tremble”.

Resurfacing and Retroactive Credits

Returning to the US, Gordon had trouble finding work until his former production secretary in Madrid, Lisa Doty, found him a job in Canada adapting Margaret Atwood's novel '' Surfacing'' for producer Beryl Fox. Director

Claude Jutra Claude Jutra (; March 11, 1930 – November 5, 1986) was a Canadian actor, film director, and screenwriter.

made it into a film in 1981. Gordon's blacklist-era work remained relatively anonymous until journalist Ted Newsom happened upon the man behind the assumed name ''Raymond T. Marcus'' (a name under which Gordon wrote or co-wrote). When the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Gu ...

took up the task of correctly crediting pseudonymous screenwriters from the 1950s and 1960s, awarding retroactive screen credits to them, Gordon received more after-the-fact credits than any other blacklisted writer. His first film to receive posthumous credit was ''

''. Gordon subsequently wrote two autobiographical books detailing the 20-year surveillance of him by the FBI, and often spoke publicly about his experiences. He helped lead the unsuccessful fight against the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan, who cooperated with HUAC during the blacklist era. Gordon died on May 11, 2007 in Hollywood,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Books

*''Hollywood Exile, or How I Learned to Love the Blacklist'' (University of Texas Press, 1999) *The Gordon File: A Screenwriter Recalls Twenty Years of FBI Surveillance (University of Texas Press, 2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Bernard 1918 births 2007 deaths Hollywood blacklist Jewish American writers Writers from New Britain, Connecticut American male screenwriters Screenwriters from Connecticut 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century pseudonymous writers 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews