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

Early life

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

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

. 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, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

. 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, 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-Orpheu ...

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 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

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 Ellen Drew (born Esther Loretta Ray; November 23, 1914 – December 3, 2003) was an American film actress. Early life Drew, born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1914, was the daughter of an Irish-born barber. She had a younger brother, Arden. Her ...

, and

Patricia Owens Patricia Molly Owens (January 17, 1925 – August 31, 2000) was a Canadian-born American actress, working in Hollywood. She appeared in about 40 films and 10 television episodes in a career lasting from 1943 to 1968. Early work Owens moved ...

. Of Jewish descent, Bartlett was strongly anti-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

, 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 The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as a

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

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. Beirne Lay Jr., (September 1, 1909 – May 26, 1982) was an American writer, aviation writer, Hollywood screenwriter, and combat veteran of World War II with the U.S. Army Air Forces. He is best known for his collaboration with Sy Bartlett ...

, who was on the staff of

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Brig. Gen. Ira Eaker. Lay had a background in both journalism and Hollywood and arranged for Bartlett to meet Maj. Gen.

Carl Spaatz Carl Andrew Spaatz (born Spatz; June 28, 1891 – July 14, 1974), nicknamed "Tooey", was an American World War II general. As commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944, he successfully pressed for the bombing of the enemy's oil produc ...

, 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 Forc ...

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 Frank Alton Armstrong Jr. (May 24, 1902 – August 20, 1969) was a lieutenant general of the United States Air Force. As a brigadier general in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, he was the inspiration for the main character in ...

, and was a close observer of the development of the Eighth into a powerful combat force. In November 1944,

Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

Bartlett became the wing

intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a person 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 rank, used in the same way ...

for the

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined 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 its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

315th Bomb Wing under Armstrong and served with it in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

.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'' (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 ...

'' via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

. 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 and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

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. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

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 of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

), 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! ''Che!'' is a 1969 American biographical film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Omar Sharif as Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. It follows Guevara from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in Bolivia in 1967, al ...

'' (1969) – also producer * '' In Enemy Country'' (1968) * ''

A Gathering of Eagles ''A Gathering of Eagles'' is a 1963 SuperScope Eastmancolor film about the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War and the pressures of command. The plot is patterned after the World War II film ''Twelve O'Clock High'', which producer-screenwrite ...

'' (1963)-- also producer * '' Cape Fear'' (1962)--also producer * '' The Outsider'' (1961) – also producer * ''

Beloved Infidel ''Beloved Infidel'' is a 1959 DeLuxe Color biographical drama film made by 20th Century Fox in CinemaScope and based on the relationship of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham. The film was directed by Henry King and produced by Jerry Wald f ...

'' (1959) * '' Pork Chop Hill'' (1959)-- also producer * ''

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

'' (1958) * ''

Suspicion Suspicion is a feeling of mistrust. Suspicion(s), The Suspicion, or Suspicious may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Suspicion'' (1918 film), an American silent film directed by John M. Stahl * ''Suspicion'' (1941 film), an American ...

'' (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 ''13 Rue Madeleine'' is a 1947 American World War II spy film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte and Frank Latimore. Allied volunteers are trained as spies in the leadup to the invasion of Europe, ...

'' (1947) * ''

The Princess and the Pirate ''The Princess and the Pirate'' is a 1944 American comedy film directed by David Butler and starring Bob Hope and Virginia Mayo. Based on a story by Sy Bartlett, the film is about a princess who travels incognito to elope with her true love inst ...

'' (1944) * ''

Two Yanks in Trinidad ''Two Yanks in Trinidad'' is a 1942 American comedy spy film directed by Gregory Ratoff and starring Pat O'Brien, Brian Donlevy and Janet Blair. The film was in production when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, leading to America's en ...

'' (1942) * ''

Bullet Scars ''Bullet Scars'' is a 1942 American film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It was directed by D. Ross Lederman with top-billed stars Regis Toomey, Adele Longmire and Howard DaSilva. Plot Gangster Frank Dillon (Howard Da Silva) is on t ...

'' (1942) * '' Road to Zanzibar'' (1941) * ''

Sandy Gets Her Man ''Sandy Gets Her Man'' is a 1940 American comedy film directed by Otis Garrett and Paul Gerard Smith and written by Sy Bartlett and Jane Storm. The film stars Baby Sandy, Stuart Erwin, Una Merkel, Edgar Kennedy, William Frawley, Edward Brophy, ...

'' (1940) * '' The Amazing Mr. Williams'' (1939) * '' Cocoanut Grove'' (1938) * ''

Sergeant Murphy ''Sergeant Murphy'' is a 1938 American comedy film directed by B. Reeves Eason and written by Sy Bartlett and William Jacobs. The film stars Ronald Reagan, Mary Maguire, Donald Crisp, Ben Hendricks Jr. and William B. Davidson. The film was r ...

'' (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 ''Under Your Spell'' is a 1936 American romantic comedy film with music directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Frances Hyland and Saul Elkins is based on a story by Sy Bartlett and Bernice Mason. Plot New York City opera star Anthony ...

'' (1936) * ''

Boulder Dam #REDIRECT Hoover Dam Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression a ...

'' (1936) * ''

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan ''The Murder of Dr. Harrigan'' is a 1936 American mystery film directed by Frank McDonald and written by Peter Milne and Sy Bartlett. The film stars Ricardo Cortez, Kay Linaker, John Eldredge, Mary Astor, Joseph Crehan and Frank Reicher. The f ...

'' (1936) * ''

Going Highbrow ''Going Highbrow'' is a 1935 American comedy-musical film directed by Robert Florey. Guy Kibbee and ZaSu Pitts play a newly rich couple, so eager to buy their way into society they hire a waitress to pose as their daughter. Plot summary Cas ...

'' (1935) * ''

Kansas City Princess ''Kansas City Princess'' is a 1934 American comedy film starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. The film was directed by William Keighley with a script written by Sy Bartlett and Manuel Seff. Warner Bros. sought to duplicate the success of ' ...

'' (1934) * ''

The Big Brain ''The Big Brain'' is a 1933 American pre-Code drama film directed by George Archainbaud and written by Sy Bartlett and Warren Duff. The film stars George E. Stone, Phillips Holmes, Fay Wray, Minna Gombell and Lilian Bond. The film was relea ...

'' (1933)

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,

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

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