Ben Barzman (October 12, 1910 – December 15, 1989) was a Canadian journalist, screenwriter, and novelist, blacklisted during the McCarthy Era and known best for his screenplays for the movies '' Back to Bataan'' (1945), ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve i ...

'' (1961), and ''

The Blue Max ''The Blue Max'' is a 1966 war film , WW I film directed by John Guillermin and starring George Peppard, James Mason, Ursula Andress, Karl Michael Vogler, and Jeremy Kemp. The film was made in DeLuxe Color and was one of the last movies filme ...

'' (1966).

Career

He was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. He was the screenwriter or co-writer of more than 20 movies, from '' You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith'' (1943) to '' The Head of Normande St. Onge'' (1975).

Blacklisting

Like many of his colleagues in the movie business, Barzman was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (

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

). His wife, Norma Barzman, was a

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

member from 1943 to 1949. In 2014, she told the ''

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 ...

'', "one should be proud to have been a member of the American Communist Party during those years. Hitler was invading the Soviet Union, so there was no reason to be anti-Russian, they were our allies." The couple relocated to England so Barzman could work on the movies '' Give Us This Day'' (aka, ''Christ In Concrete'', 1949). After his return to the United States after directing ''Give Us This Day'',

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ...

, one of the

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

, testified about the Barzmans to HUAC in 1951. "To get out of prison he named us and a lot of other people," said Norma Barzman in 2014. During the 1950s, the family relocated to Paris, where friends included

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Yves Montand Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a ...

, and Simone Signoret, and later southern France. Barzman did not receive credit for some movies because of the

Hollywood Blacklist The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

. His U.S. citizenship was revoked from 1954 to 1963. His wife Norma had her passport revoked from 1951 for seven years. The family remained abroad in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Mougins Mougins (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southeastern France. It is located on the heights of Cannes, in the arrondissement of Grasse. Mougins is a 15-minute drive from Ca ...

(France) until 1976, during which time he wrote his novels and screenplays for French and Italian movies.Folkart, Burt A. (December 10, 1989)
Ben Barzman; Screenwriter Blacklisted in McCarthy Era.
Los Angeles Times.

Death

Barzman died in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, U.S.

Work

Filmography

* 1943: '' You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith'' * 1945: ''Back to Bataan'' * 1946: '' Never Say Goodbye'' * 1948: '' The Boy with Green Hair'' * 1949: '' Give Us This Day'' * 1952: '' Stranger on the Prowl'' (it: ''Imbarco a mezzanotte'') * 1952: '' The Faithful City'' * 1952: '' Young Man with Ideas'' * 1955: ''

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Time Without Pity ''Time Without Pity'' is a 1957 British film noir thriller film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern, Paul Daneman, Peter Cushing, Alec McCowen and Renee Houston. It is about a father trying to save his s ...

'' * 1957: '' He Who Must Die'' (fr: ''Celui qui doit mourir'') * 1959: '' Blind Date'' (US: ''Chance Meeting'') * 1961: ''

'' * 1963: '' 55 Days at Peking'' * 1963: '' The Ceremony'' * 1964: '' The Fall of the Roman Empire'' * 1964: '' The Visit'' * 1965: '' The Heroes of Telemark'' * 1966: ''

'' * 1969: '' Z''—uncredited * 1972: '' The Assassination'' * 1974: ' (ger: ''Sie sind frei, Doktor Korczak'') * 1975: '' Normande''

Bibliography

In 1960, Barzman became a

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author, with his novel ''Out Of This World''. It dealt with the idea of a twin planet of Earth in the same orbit as Earth, hidden from our view by the sun. The two planets had developed almost identically from creation—but

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 ...

never happened on the twin Earth. * ''Out of This World'' (London: Collins, 1960) - published in the U.S.A. as ''Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'' (G.P. Putnam's Sons) and subsequently in various paperback editions as ''Echo X''; also published in Sweden as ''Från en annan värld''. * ''Rich Dreams'' (Warner Books, 1982) - novel, written with Norma Barzman; published as a paperback original.

Awards

* 1985: Order of Arts and Letters.

Legacy

He received a retrospective showing of his movies at the

Cinematheque A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

in 1982.

References

External sources

* Norma Barzman, ''The Red and the Blacklist'' (2003) *
''Tender Comrades: Interviews with Blacklisted Hollywood Reds''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barzman, Ben Canadian science fiction writers Canadian male journalists Canadian male novelists 1910 births 1989 deaths Canadian communists 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian screenwriters Journalists from Toronto Canadian male screenwriters Screenwriters from Toronto Jewish Canadian journalists Hollywood blacklist Novelists from Toronto