Poor old screenwriters - whenever people do a book about them, the publisher feels obliged to mention their more famous collaborator in the title - it happened to Charles Brackett (Billy Wilder), Robert Riskin (Frank Capra) and now Charles Bennett.
For a long time Bennett was surprisingly un-famous among film buff circles, especially considering he had genuine fame as a playwright in his 1920s heydey (including Blackmail) and had several classics on his resume as a screenwriter for Hitchcock, Cecil B De Mille and Irwin Allen, plus a stint as director (Madness of the Heart) and writing the cult classic Night of the Demon. However he toiled in obscurity for a number of years.
In hindsight there were a few reasons: his work as a director was mostly undistinguished; many of the famous directors and producers he worked for were renowned credit hogs; his plays weren't really produced after the 30s; he made an awful lot of forgotten TV; and it seems as though he sold out his talent for the money too often.
Bennett's reputation rose in recent years, in part because he lived until he was 95 and always seemed available for interviews. One was done by Patrick McGilligan in the first Backstory book - if you've read that you'll find a lot of things in here familiar. Actually, this book was disappointingly slight on information about Bennett - surprisingly little on Hitchcock for instance - but it was published posthumously, so I forgave it.
And there was plenty of interesting stuff - Bennett's family and background, his early days as an actor, war service in the trenches (real deal stuff, which saw him shoot Germans and get awarded a medal), acting after the war, turning to writing, becoming increasingly well known. Blackmail the play and film put him on the map as well as in contact with Alfred Hitchcock; the two men got along well and collaborated several times, key films in Hitch's creative development such as The Man Who Knew Too Much and The 39 Steps.
By the late 30s Bennett was one of the most highly paid screenwriters in England, highly regarded by Michael Balcon and others, but he took a big money offer to work in the USA. Bennett earned some decent credits over there, forming a notable relationship with Cecil B de Miller. Bennett admits his strength was in construction rather than dialogue, but he never seems to have lacked for work. During the war he did some espionage for the US government via de Mille, which seems to have mostly been useless reporting of communist activity. More usefully he went to England and did propaganda work for the British government.
After the war Bennett's luck was less strong. He tried to establish himself as a director, not particularly successfully. He made a lot of TV, little of which is remembered today, though he had good experiences filming for Edward Small and did work on the TV Casino Royale. Instead of concentrating on the quality of work and collaborators, he went for the money. He made a number of films with Irwin Allen, an experience which seems to have scarred him although the resulting work is kind of fun.
Bennett claims the industry blacklisted because of his right wing anti communist views - pointing the finger at Dore Schary in particular. He also says he was the victim of ageism. However he did get some attention in his later years being frequently interviewed. There are some dull sections (the Errol Flynn anecdote seemed pointless) but others are interesting, such as Bugsy Siegel being his tenant, C Aubrey Smith in the English community, and life in London during the war..
Bennett's son John offers an epilogue which provides a fascinating counter point to the book. It talks about Bennett's desperately unhappy second marriage which dragged out for years and caused him much pain and money; he had financial troubles, and health issues despite living to a late age; he suffered a very long late career slump, which seems surprisingly for someone so talented and versatile.
The book also includes extracts from Bennett screenplays, plays, propaganda pieces and novels, such as The Secret of the Loch. Interesting and entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment