Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Arthur Hornblow Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, New York, United States | March 15, 1893
Died | July 17, 1976 New York City, New York, United States | (aged 83)
Occupation | Film producer |
Spouse(s) | Juliette Crosby
(m. 1924; div. 1936) |
Arthur Hornblow Jr. (March 15, 1893 – July 17, 1976) was an American film producer.
Biography[]
Hornblow was the son of Arthur Hornblow Sr. (1865–1942), a writer who edited Theatre Magazine in New York City.
Hornblow graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School, New York City, in 1911, before studying at Dartmouth College and New York Law School,[1] and was a member of the fraternity Theta Delta Chi. He served in counter-intelligence during World War I,[1] and then tried his hand at playwriting. He was then hired as a production supervisor by Sam Goldwyn at Paramount in 1927.[1]
Initially, he specialized in the popular screwball comedies, eventually giving Billy Wilder his first directing job, and producing several films starring Bob Hope.[1] These included The Cat and the Canary (1939), The Ghost Breakers (1940) and Nothing But the Truth (1941).[2] In 1942 he moved to MGM where he produced Gaslight and several film noir. In the 1950s, now an independent producer rather that a studio employee, he worked on the musical Oklahoma and the courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution, directed by his former Paramount colleague, Billy Wilder.
He gave aspiring actress Marie Windsor her first screen test, and Constance Ockelman her new name, Veronica Lake.
Oscar nominations[]
As a producer he was nominated for an Academy Award 'Best Picture' Oscar four times, but failed to win.
- Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), comedy-western with Charles Laughton.
- Hold Back the Dawn (1941), romantic-comedy with Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland.
- Gaslight (1944), thriller with Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer and Joseph Cotten.
- Witness for the Prosecution (1957), courtroom drama with Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, and Elsa Lanchester.
Remembrance[]
He allowed a version of his last name be used by C. S. Forester (who, together with Niven Busch, was a scriptwriter for one of the films he directed[3]) for the fictional sea captain Horatio Hornblower.[4][5]
Selected filmography[]
- Four Hours to Kill! (1935)
- The Princess Comes Across (1936)
- Easy Living (1937)
- High, Wide, and Handsome (1937)
- Midnight (1939)
- The Cat and the Canary (1939)
- The Ghost Breakers (1940)
- Arise, My Love (1940)
- The Major and the Minor (1942)
- Gaslight (1944)[2]
- Desire Me (1947)
- The Hucksters (1947)[2]
- Cass Timberlane (1947 film)
- The Asphalt Jungle (1950)[2]
- Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
- Oklahoma! (1955)[2]
- The War Lover (1962)
Books by Arthur and Leonora Hornblow[]
- Animals Do the Strangest Things, illus. Michael K. Frith (Random House, 1964), 62 pp., LCCN 64-19132
The Hornblows, Frith, and Random House collaborated to produce numerous sequels, Birds Do the Strangest Things (1965), and so on.
Books by Arthur Hornblow[]
- A History of the Theatre in America From its Beginnings to the Present Time Vol. 1 (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1919), ISBN 9781628452334
- A History of the Theatre in America From its Beginnings to the Present Time Vol. 2 (J.B. LIppincott Company, 1919), ISBN 9781628452594
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Arthur Hornblow Jr". IMDB. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hal Erickson (2016). "Arthur Hornblow Jr". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
- ^ Sanford Sternlicht (1 November 1999). C. S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga: Revised Edition. Syracuse University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8156-0621-5.
- ^ Nicholas Meyer (20 August 2009). The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-101-13347-7.
- ^ Stefan Rabitsch (6 December 2018). Star Trek and the British Age of Sail: The Maritime Influence Throughout the Series and Films. McFarland. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4766-3419-7.
External links[]
- Arthur Hornblow Jr. at IMDb
- Allmovie biography[permanent dead link]
- |0/Produced-By-Arthur-Hornblow-Jr-.html Arthur Hornblow Jr profile[permanent dead link] at TCMDB
- Arthur Hornblow Jr. at Library of Congress Authorities, with 13 catalog records (previous page of browse report, under 'Hornblow, Arthur, 1893–1976')
- Hornblow, Arthur, 1865–1942[permanent dead link] at LC Authorities, with 28 records; Arthur senior at WorldCat
- Leonora Hornblow[permanent dead link] at LC Authorities, with 15 records; Leonora at WorldCat
- 1893 births
- 1976 deaths
- Film producers from New York (state)
- Children's non-fiction writers
- Dartmouth College alumni
- DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
- New York Law School alumni