Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks

262 Pages·2011·1.458 MB·English

by  Douglass K. Daniel

tough as nails
wisconsin film studies
Patrick McGilligan
Series Editor
n a i l s
h a s
g
u
o
t
The Life and Films
of
Richard Brooks
douglass k. daniel
the university of wisconsin press
The University of Wisconsin Press
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Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059
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Copyright © 2011
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Allrightsreserved.Nopartof thispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystem,
or transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without written permission
of the University of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical
articles and reviews.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Daniel, Douglass K.
Tough as nails: the life and films of Richard Brooks / Douglass K. Daniel.
p. cm.—(Wisconsin film studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-299-25124-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-299-25123-9 (e-book)
1. Brooks, Richard, 1912–1992.
2. Motion picture producers and directors—United States—Biography.
I. Title. II. Series: Wisconsin film studies.
PN1998.3.B7597D36 2011
791.4302’33092—dc22
[B]
2010038902
For my brother
phillip

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1 Hollywood by Way of Philadelphia 6
2 Writing Movies at Home and at War 21
3 Swell Guys, Brutes, and the Blacklist 36
4 In the Director’s Chair at MGM 58
Crisis / The Light Touch / Deadline—U.S.A. /
Battle Circus / Take the High Ground! /
Flame and the Flesh / The Last Time I Saw Paris
5 Writing and Rocking around the Clock 82
Blackboard Jungle / The Last Hunt /
The Catered Affair
6 Taking Literature from Page to Screen 113
Something of Value / The Brothers Karamazov /
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
7 Independence and That Old-Time Religion 132
Elmer Gantry
8 Two Hits and One Major Miss 146
Sweet Bird of Youth / Lord Jim / The Professionals
9 A Journey into Capote Country 170
In Cold Blood
10 On Marriage, Larceny, and America’s Beauty 184
The Happy Ending / $ / Bite the Bullet
vii
viii contents
11 New Directions and Two Wrong Turns 201
Looking for Mr. Goodbar / Wrong Is Right /
Fever Pitch
Conclusion 216
Filmography 223
Notes on Sources 225
Bibliography 237
Index 241
acknowledgments
Exploring the life and films of Richard Brooks led me to call on many people for
help along the way. My conclusions are mine alone, however, as are any errors.
I am in debt to film studies researcher and writer Don Solosan. His expertise
in film in general and screenwriting in particular were invaluable in gathering
and making sense of material from the archives of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences and the University of Southern California.
RichardBrooksandtheexecutorof hisestate,E.PaulBrodsky,sawtoitthat
hispapersfoundahomeatthemotionpictureacademy’sMargaretHerrickLi-
brary.Iamgratefulfortheirforesightinpreservinganimportantpartof filmhis-
toryandforBrodsky’sassistanceasIlearnedmoreabouthisfriendandmentor.
Jean Simmons was most generous with her memories of her former hus-
band, the director of two of her many films. Their daughter Tracy also shared
her thoughts about her father at work and at home. I thank them and all the
people who took time to help me understand the life of Richard Brooks as well
as his career: William Atherton, Robert Blake, Arthur Brauss, Patrick Cassidy,
Robert Culp, Ted Eccles, Eddie Fowlie, Denise Fraker, William A. Fraker, Anne
Francis, Joel Freeman, Marie Gomez, Conrad W. Hall, Norman T. Hatch, Earle
Herdan, Catherine Hicks, Shirley Jones, Jo Jordan, Murray Jordan, Millard
Kaufman, Shirley Knight, Norman Lloyd, Sid Margasak, Paul Mazursky,
Walter Mirisch, David Morrell, Patti Page, Sidney Poitier, Robert E. Relyea, John
Saxon, Richard Schickel, Jeff Silverman, Jerry Tokofsky, Lawrence Turman,
Scott Wilson, and Katina Zinner.
Several writers made available their interviews with Brooks, which helped
me to place his voice throughout this book. For that I thank Steve Bailey, Aljean
Harmetz, Eric Lax and the late A. M. Sperber, Patrick McGilligan, and Jeff
Silverman. I am grateful to David Rensin for providing a portion of the un-
published memoir he cowrote with the late Freddie Fields, and to Kate Buford
for her interview with the late Tom Shaw.
The staff of the Margaret Herrick Library, particularly Barbara Hall and
Faye Thompson, made my visits there rewarding in every way. I am also grateful
for the research assistance provided by the Cinematic Arts Library, University of
Southern California, with thanks to Ned Comstock; the DeGolyer Library, South-
ern Methodist University, with thanks to Cynthia Franco; the Federal Bureau of
Investigation; the Lilly Library, Indiana University; the National Personnel
Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration; the New York
ix