Ben Maddow

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Benjamin D Maddow August 7 1909 in Passaic New Jersey October 9 1992 in Los Angeles California was a prolific screenwriter and documentarian from the 1930s through the 1970s Educated at Columbia University Maddow began his career working within the American documentary movement in the 1930s In 1936 he cofounded the shortlived leftwing newsreel The World Today Under the pseudonym of David Wolff Maddow cowrote the screenplay to the Paul StrandLeo Hurwitz documentary landmark Native Land 1942 He earned his first feature screenplay credit with Framed 1947 Other screenplays include Clarence Browns Intruder in the Dust 1949 an adaptation of the William Faulkner novel John Hustons The Asphalt Jungle 1950 for which he received an Academy Award nomination Johnny Guitar 1954 credited to Philip Yordan Gods Little Acre 1958 an adaptation of the Erskine Caldwell novel officially credited to Philip Yordan as a HUACera front for Maddow and again with Huston an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Screenplay and The Unforgiven 1960 As a documentarian he directed and wrote such films as Storm of Strangers The Stairs and The Savage Eye 1959 which won the BAFTA Flaherty Documentary Award Maddow made his solo feature directorial debut with the striking offbeat feature An Affair of the Skin 1963 a wellacted story of several loves and friendships gone sour and marked by the rich characterisations which had distinguished his best screenplays In 1961 Maddow and Huston cowrote the episode The Professor of the 1961 television series The Asphalt Jungle In 1968 he wrote a screenplay based on Edmund Naughtons novel McCabe while a film adaptation of the novel was ultimately produced as McCabe Mrs Miller 1971 Maddow wasnt credited on the film His final screenplay was for the horror melodrama The Mephisto Waltz 1970