Carl Foreman,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic film, epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the The Bridge over the River Kwai, 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of ...

'' and ''

High Noon ''High Noon'' is a 1952 American Western film produced by Stanley Kramer from a screenplay by Carl Foreman, directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gary Cooper. The plot, which occurs in real time, centers on a town marshal whose sense of ...

'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

in the 1950s because of their suspected communist sympathy or membership in 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. ...

. He once said his most common theme was "the struggle of the individual against a society that for one reason or another is hostile." He elaborated that "the stories that work best for me involve a loner, out of step or in direct conflict with a group of people."

Biography

Born in Chicago, Illinois, to a working-class

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""The ...

ish family, he was the son of Fanny (née Rozin) and Isidore Foreman. He studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 1934, at age 19, he quit college to go to Hollywood. "I was mostly on the bum and saw the underside of Hollywood", he later said. He soon returned to Chicago and attended the John J. Marshall School of Law, working at a grocery store to earn money. Foreman dropped out of law school and worked as a newspaper reporter, fiction writer (selling stories to '' Esquire''), press agent, play director and carnival barker. "I was one of the few college trained barkers in the business", he said. Foreman returned to Hollywood in 1938. He worked as a story analyst for several studios and as a film laboratory technician, while continuing to write. He was a member of the

from 1938 to 1942. "The idea was just in the air", he later said.

Monogram Pictures

Foreman won a scholarship for a screenwriting course, where his teacher was

Dore Schary Isadore "Dore" Schary (August 31, 1905 – July 7, 1980) was an American playwright, director, and producer for the stage and a prolific screenwriter and producer of motion pictures. He directed just one feature film, '' Act One'', the film bio ...

. He later gave credit to

Michael Blankfort Michael Seymour Blankfort (December 10, 1907 – July 13, 1982) was an American screenwriter, writer of books and playwright. He served as a front for the blacklisted Albert Maltz on the Academy Award-nominated screenplay of '' Broken Arrow (1 ...

for mentoring him. Foreman's first screen credit was for producer

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. Ear ...

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios in ...

, ''

Bowery Blitzkrieg ''Bowery Blitzkrieg'' is a 1941 film and the sixth installment of the East Side Kids series. The film "introduced" Huntz Hall in his first of the East Side Kids film series. It was released in the United Kingdom under the title ''Stand and Deliv ...

'' (1941), starring the East Side Kids. Foreman provided the original story (for $25) and wrote a script (for $200) for the next East Side Kids film, ''

Spooks Run Wild ''Spooks Run Wild'' is a 1941 American horror comedy film and the seventh film in the East Side Kids series. It stars Bela Lugosi with Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan and Huntz Hall. It is directed by Phil Rosen, in his first and only outing in the serie ...

'' (1941), with

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in '' ...

. Also at Monogram he provided the story for and wrote the script of ''

Rhythm Parade ''Rhythm Parade'' is a 1942 American musical comedy film starring Gale Storm and Margaret Dumont.

World War II

Foreman's career was interrupted by service in the United States armed forces during World War II. He served with the U.S Army Signal Corps, where he was assigned to a unit that made orientation and training films. It was run by director

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

. During his time in the service, he helped write the script for '' Know Your Enemy – Japan'' (1945). He provided the original story for a John Wayne Western, ''

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...

'' (1945). Foreman says "I began to learn the craft in a serious way", in this time.

Stanley Kramer

On his return to Hollywood, Foreman became associated with producer Stanley Kramer and George Glass. Kramer produced Foreman's next credited screenplay, ''

So This Is New York ''So This Is New York'' is a 1948 satirical movie comedy starring acerbic radio and television comedian Henry Morgan and directed by Richard Fleischer. The cynically sophisticated screenplay was written by Carl Foreman and Herbert Baker from ...

'' (1948), starring comedian Henry Morgan, for The Enterprise Studios; it was directed by

Richard Fleischer Richard O. Fleischer (; December 8, 1916 – March 25, 2006) was an American film director whose career spanned more than four decades, beginning at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood and lasting through the American New Wave. Though ...

. It was a mild success. Foreman wrote ''

The Clay Pigeon ''The Clay Pigeon'' is a 1949 American film noir directed by Richard Fleischer and written by Carl Foreman, based on a true story. The drama features Bill Williams and Barbara Hale, a real-life husband and wife. Plot Jim Fletcher (Williams), a ...

'' (1949), which Fleischer directed at

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

. Kramer and Foreman's next film, the boxing tale ''

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...

'' (1949), was a big success, making a star of actor

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

. Foreman received an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nomination for his script. ''Champion'' had been directed by Mark Robson, and he, Kramer and Foreman reunited on '' Home of the Brave'' (1949), an adaptation of

Arthur Laurents Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S. Army during World War II ...

's play. It was another critical and commercial success. Kramer and Foreman's third film together was '' The Men'' (1950), which introduced Marlon Brando to cinema audiences; he played a paraplegic soldier. The film, directed by Fred Zinnemann, was critically acclaimed although not a popular success. Also acclaimed was their fourth film, ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'' (1950), an adaptation of the French classic play, starring José Ferrer, who won a Best Actor Oscar. It was adapted from Brian Hooker's English translation of

Edmond Rostand Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (, , ; 1 April 1868 – 2 December 1918) was a French poet and dramatist. He is associated with neo-romanticism and is known best for his 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. Rostand's romantic plays contrasted with t ...

's play ''

''. Without Kramer, Foreman worked on '' Young Man with a Horn'' (1950), with Douglas.

''High Noon'' and blacklisting

Foreman and Kramer's next collaboration was the Western ''

''. During production of the film, Foreman was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), as Congress was investigating communist activities in the United States. He testified that he had been a member of the American Communist Party more than ten years earlier while still a young man, but he had become disillusioned with the Party and quit. As a result of his refusal to give the names of fellow Party members, Foreman was classified as an "uncooperative witness" and blacklisted by all of the Hollywood studio bosses. Some critics have suggested ''

'' is an allegory for

McCarthyism McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term orig ...

. The

Western film The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referr ...

is considered an American classic and was No. 27 on

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

(AFI)'s "100 Years, 100 Movies", and has been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. ''

'', the film that was Foreman's greatest screenwriting accomplishment, made no mention of him as associate producer but did credit him for the screenplay. He was nominated for an Academy Award for this screenplay by fellow members of 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 ...

. Because of the blacklist, this was the last film Foreman was allowed to work on by a Hollywood studio for the next six years. In October 1951 Foreman sold his interest in the Stanley Kramer Corporation for a reported $250,000. He formed a new company, Carl Foreman Productions, whose stockholders originally included actor

Gary Cooper Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, a ...

. Foreman signed a three-picture deal with

Robert L. Lippert Robert Lenard Lippert (March 31, 1909 – November 16, 1976) was an American film producer and cinema chain owner. He was president and chief operating officer of Lippert Theatres, Affiliated Theatres and Transcontinental Theatres, all based in ...

to write, produce and direct the films. Lippert said he "had no doubt of Foreman's Americanism." Yet, his films were never made because of political pressure, which also resulted in Gary Cooper and other investors withdrawing their support. Denied a passport because of the blacklist, Foreman successfully sued the State Department to regain it. In 1952 he emigrated to Britain. Foreman later said that if the blacklist "hadn't happened I was moving towards becoming a director. That was where the action was."

Britain

A number of blacklisted American writers were working in Britain at the time, such as

Ring Lardner Jr. Ringgold Wilmer Lardner Jr. (August 19, 1915 – October 31, 2000) was an American screenwriter. A member of the "Hollywood Ten", he was blacklisted by the Hollywood film studios during the late 1940s and 1950s after his appearance as an ...

As "Derek Frye", he and fellow blacklistee Harold Buchman wrote the thriller ''

The Sleeping Tiger ''The Sleeping Tiger'' is a 1954 British film noir directed by Joseph Losey and starring Alexis Smith, Dirk Bogarde and Alexander Knox. It was Losey's first British feature, which he directed under the pseudonym of Victor Hanbury due to being bl ...

'' (1954) which was directed by

Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American theatre and film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood b ...

, also blacklisted in the US. Foreman would use the names of friends Herbert Baker, John Weaver, and Alan Grogan on his scripts as a personal signature. In November 1953 the State Department ordered Foreman to surrender his passport to the U.S. Consul in London, and in September 1954 the Department ruled that Foreman was not entitled to his passport. In 1954 Foreman worked as an assistant for British director

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956) After working on '' Born for Trouble'' (1955), he wrote a draft of the screenplay for ''

'' (1957) for

Sam Spiegel Samuel P. Spiegel (November 11, 1901December 31, 1985) was an American independent film producer born in the Galician area of Austria-Hungary. Financially responsible for some of the most critically acclaimed motion pictures of the 20th centur ...

and

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics '' The Bridge on the River ...

. Foreman later fell out with Lean, but was the one who recommended his replacement, fellow blacklisted writer Michael Wilson. The two did not receive a credit on the film. The resulting

for adapted screenplay went to French author

Pierre Boulle Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French novelist best known for two works, '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (1952) and ''Planet of the Apes'' (1963), that were both made into award-winning films. ...

, who had written the source novel but who had no involvement in the script (and could not speak English). The two scriptwriters did not receive credit for their work on this film until 1984, after their deaths, when the two writers' names were added to the award. But by 1958 Foreman was publicly claiming credit for the screenplay. Foreman also worked on ''

A Hatful of Rain ''A Hatful of Rain'' is a 1957 American drama film about a young married man with a secret morphine addiction, based on a 1955 Broadway play of the same name. In August 1956, Foreman gained approval to go to the United States and testify in

executive session An executive session is a term for any block within an otherwise open meeting (often of a board of directors or other deliberative assembly) in which minutes are taken separately or not at all, outsiders are not present, and the contents of the dis ...

before the House Un-American Activities Committee, but he refused to become an informant. He invoked the Fifth Amendment to refuse to answer some questions.

Writer-Producer

''Bridge on the River Kwai'' had been a massive commercial and critical success, and Foreman's contribution was recognized. He set up his own production company, Highroad. In March 1957 he signed a deal with Columbia Pictures, which had released ''Kwai'', to make four films over three years. In 1957 Foreman announced he would make ''Insurrection'', about the 1916

Easter Rebellion The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

in Ireland, with director

John Guillermin John Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015) was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His more well-known films include ''I Was Monty ...

. It would have been adapted from a novel by American writer

Herman Wouk Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author best known for historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951) for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His other major works include ''The Winds of War'' and ...

. But the film was not made. Foreman wrote and helped produce '' The Key'' (1958), a war film directed by

Carol Reed Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and ''Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the A ...

. Highroad next made the comedy ''

The Mouse that Roared ''The Mouse That Roared'' is a 1955 satirical novel by Irish-American writer Leonard Wibberley, which launched a series of satirical books about an imaginary country in Europe called the Duchy of Grand Fenwick. Wibberley used the premise to m ...

'' (1959), starring Peter Sellers, which was a big hit. ''Mouse'' was meant to be part of a four-picture slate from Foreman worth $11 million; the others were ''

The League of Gentlemen ''The League of Gentlemen'' is a surreal British comedy horror sitcom that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The programme is set in Royston Vasey, a fictional town in northern England, originally based on Alston, Cumbria, and follows the live ...

'' (1960), '' The Guns of Navarone'' (1961), and ''Holiday''. Foreman wrote and produced ''The Guns of Navarone'' (1961), based on a best-selling novel by Alistair McLean. (While fictional, it was inspired by the Allied Dodecanese Campaign against Italian-held islands in the Aegean Sea.) He fired director Alexander Mackendrick shortly before production started, and replaced him with J. Lee Thompson. The resulting movie was a massive hit. He was intending to follow it with ''The Holiday'', with

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

, Earl Holliman and

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary '' Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is ofte ...

, but the film was never produced. The success of ''Navarone'' enabled Foreman to direct as well as to write and produce his next film, '' The Victors'' (1963) for Columbia. A war story, this film was a box office disappointment. He signed a contract with MGM to adapt ''

The Forty Days of Musa Dagh ''The Forty Days of Musa Dagh'' (german: Die vierzig Tage des Musa Dagh) is a 1933 novel by Austrian-Bohemian writer Franz Werfel based on events that took place in 1915, during the second year of World War I and at the beginning of the Armenia ...

'', at a fee of $275,000, but this film was never made. In 1962 he said "the bulk of Hollywood movies are old fashioned and creaky. There is nothing here to compare with the ferment of Great Britain, Italy, France or even Poland." Foreman's next big success was the film '' Born Free'' (1966), which Foreman produced. In 1968 Foreman announced he would produce a musical, ''The House of Madame Tellier'', based on a story by

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

, with music by

Dimitri Tiomkin Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (, ; May 10, 1894 – November 11, 1979) was a Russian-born American film composer and conductor. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution, he moved to Berlin and then New York Ci ...

, and book and lyrics by

Freddy Douglas Freddy or Freddie may refer to: Entertainment *Freddy (comic strip), a newspaper comic strip which ran from 1955 to 1980 *Freddie (Cromartie), a character from the Japanese manga series''Cromartie High School'' *Freddie (dance), a short-lived 1960 ...

. But it was not produced. He wrote and produced '' Mackenna's Gold'' (1969) for Columbia. It had the same director, J. Lee Thompson, and 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 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

, as ''Navarone''. ''Gold'' was his first film shot in the US since ''High Noon''. "I tried very hard to break the blacklist but I never succeeded", he said. The film was a flop. ''

The Virgin Soldiers ''The Virgin Soldiers'' is a 1966 comic novel by Leslie Thomas, inspired by his own experiences of National Service in the British Army. It was Thomas' debut novel; he had previously published an autobiography. ''The Virgin Soldiers'' sold mil ...

'' (1969), which his company made for Columbia, was a hit in Great Britain. His company also worked on ''

Monsieur Lecoq Monsieur Lecoq is the creation of Émile Gaboriau, a 19th-century French writer and journalist. Monsieur Lecoq is a fictional detective employed by the French Sûreté. The character is one of the pioneers of the genre and a major influence on ...

'' (never completed) and ''

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 20 ...

'' (1969). It developed a project called ''Fifteen Flags,'' about the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, but this was never completed as a film. Foreman's next big production was '' Young Winston'' (1972), about wartime prime minister Winston Churchill, which he wrote and produced, with

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

directing. It was not particularly successful; neither was '' Living Free'' (1972), a sequel to ''Born Free''. He tried to get financing for a film about a rafting trip across the Indian Ocean, ''Finding Ernie'', which he would direct, but it was not made.

Return to US

In 1975 Foreman returned to the US, and signed a three-picture contract with Universal. Foreman co-wrote and helped produce a sequel to ''Navarone'', '' Force 10 from Navarone'' (1978). It did not match the success of its predecessor. He executive produced '' The Golden Gate Murders'' (1979). Foreman's last credit was as writer of disaster movie, ''

When Time Ran Out ''When Time Ran Out...'' is a 1980 American disaster film directed by James Goldstone and starring Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset and William Holden. The supporting cast features James Franciscus, Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Burgess Meredith, ...

'' (1980). This was a notable flop. His final project was writing the screenplay for ''The Yellow Jersey'', a proposed film about the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

bicycle race. It was to star

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

Awards

Foreman was elected to the executive council of the British Film Production Association, was made a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and was appointed a governor of the British Film Institute (1965–71), the British National Film School and the Cinematographic Film Council. He was president for seven years of the Writers Guild of Great Britain. In 1970, Foreman was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

. Such is his influence on the British film industry, that from 1998 to 2009 there was a British Academy Film Award named in his honor; the Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer. When he returned to the US, he served on the advisory board of the American Film Institute, on the public-media panel of the National Endowment for the Arts, and on the executive board of the Writers Guild of America. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Center Theater Group in Los Angeles.

Personal life

Carl Foreman was back home in the United States when he died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seco ...

in 1984 in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. The day before he died he was told he would receive the long overdue Oscar credit for writing ''Bridge on the River Kwai''. He married Estelle, and they had a daughter Katie. They divorced. He married again, to Evelyn. Their two children, Amanda and Jonathan, were born in London. He was also survived by his mother, Fanny, and sister Sherry Sobel (mother of Ted Sobel, Los Angeles based sportscaster-reporter-author of memoir ''Touching Greatness''.) Foreman's daughter, Amanda Foreman, graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where she received a PhD in history. She won the Whitbread Prize for her 1998 best-selling biography ''Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire''. She later wrote the history, ''A World on Fire: Britain's Crucial Role in the American Civil War'' (2011). Foreman's son, Jonathan Foreman, graduated in modern history from

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and earned a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. He worked as an editorial writer and senior film critic for the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

''. In 2004 he relocated to London to work for the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

''. In 2008, he became a co-founder of the monthly British magazine '' Standpoint'', which explores current affairs from a centre-right position.

Red Scare

Foreman's work on ''

'' intersected with the period of the second

Red Scare A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...

after World War II and the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, some American politicians began to fear communist activities in the United States. Foreman was called before

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

while he was writing the film. By then he had not been a member of the American communist party for nearly ten years. Because he declined to 'name names', or identify other people who had been members, he was classified as an 'un-cooperative witness' by HUAC. When Stanley Kramer found out some of this, he forced Foreman to sell his part of their company, and tried to get him kicked off making this film. Fred Zinnemann,

, and Bruce Church intervened. An outstanding Bank of America loan helped Foreman remain on the picture, as Foreman hadn't yet signed certain papers. He moved to England before the film was released, as Congress had established a blacklist and movie studios did not allow persons on it to work for them. Kramer claimed he had not stood up for Foreman partly because Foreman was threatening to name Kramer as a Communist. Foreman said that Kramer was afraid of what would happen to him and his career if he did not cooperate with the committee. Kramer wanted Foreman to name names and not plead Fifth Amendment rights. Foreman was also pressured by

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, w ...

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 ...

(Kramer's new boss); actor John Wayne, who was associated with the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and said he would "never regret having helped run Foreman out of this country". He called ''High Noon'' "un-American". Influential society writer Hedda Hopper of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' also pressed Foreman to testify about names. In addition to screenwriters, directors, actors and producers affected by the confrontations with HUAC, cast and crew members were affected by the Congressional investigation and blacklist. For instance,

Howland Chamberlain Howland Chamberlin (August 2, 1911 – September 1, 1984) was an American actor. He is sometimes billed as Howard Chamberlin, sometimes replacing the word, land. Chamberlain was born in The Bronx. He moved in the 1930s from New York to Californi ...

was blacklisted, while Floyd Crosby and Lloyd Bridges were "gray listed."Byman, p. 9

Documentaries on Foreman

In 2002,

PBS television The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

made a two-hour film about Foreman's ordeal during

titled '' Darkness at High Noon: The Carl Foreman Documents''. It was written and directed by outspoken conservative

Lionel Chetwynd Lionel Chetwynd (born January 29, 1940) is a British-American screenwriter, director and producer. Life and career Lionel Chetwynd was born to a Jewish family in Hackney, London, the son of Betty (née Dion) and Peter Chetwynd. His family move ...

. Foreman was also the subject of an episode of '' Screenwriters: Words Into Image'', directed by

Terry Sanders Terry Sanders (born December 20, 1931) is an American filmmaker having produced and/or directed more than 70 dramatic features, televisions specials, documentaries and portrait films. He co-heads the American Film Foundation and has produced a ...

and

Freida Lee Mock Freida Lee Mock is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, director, screenwriter and producer. She is a co-founder of the American Film Foundation with Terry Sanders. Her documentary, '' Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision'' (1994) won an Acade ...

Filmography

Major awards

Wins

* 1953 : WGA Award for Best Written American Drama – ''

'' * 1958 : Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay –

'' (awarded posthumously) * 1973 : Writers' Guild of Great Britain for Best British Screenplay – '' Young Winston''

Nominations

* 1950 :

Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

– ''

'' * 1950 : WGA Award for Best Written American Drama ''

'' * 1951 :

– '' The Men'' * 1951 : WGA Award for Best Written American Drama – '' The Men'' * 1953 :

– ''

'' * 1953 : Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture – ''

'' * 1962 : Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay – '' The Guns of Navarone'' * 1962 : BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay – '' The Guns of Navarone'' * 1973 :

– '' Young Winston''

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foreman, Carl 1914 births 1984 deaths American communists American expatriates in England Film directors from Illinois American film producers Jewish American screenwriters Jewish American military personnel United States Army personnel of World War II American male screenwriters Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Hollywood blacklist Writers from Chicago University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Golden Globe Award-winning producers 20th-century American businesspeople Screenwriters from Illinois Robert Meltzer Award winners 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American screenwriters