Clifford Odets

Writing

Clifford Odets

Born — Died

1906-07-18 — 1963-08-18

Place of birth

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

16 titles

Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, director, screenwriter, and actor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Clifford Odets, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Sweet Smell of Success poster
7.6

New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.

Sweet Smell of Success

1957

Wild in the Country poster
6.3

A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.

Wild in the Country

1961

Humoresque poster
7.0

A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.

Humoresque

1947

National Theatre Live: Golden Boy poster
NR

1930s New York, at the height of the Depression. Joe Bonaparte is a gifted young violinist with extraordinary talent and a future in music, until a chance at fame and fortune lures him into the brutal world of professional boxing. Pressured by a ruthless manager, tempted by a forbidden love, and bound by the expectations of his Italian-American family, Joe is a young man torn between the seductive promise of the American Dream and the quiet honor of a decent life. He must confront what he’s willing to sacrifice, who he’s willing to become, and how to find his place in a world that demands he choose a side. Sam Yates directs Josh O'Connor in this searing revival of Clifford Odets' knockout American classic. Brought to life with a live string quartet, this propulsive drama explores ambition, identity, and the high price of success. A live stage production filmed at the Almeida Theatre, in London, UK.

National Theatre Live: Golden Boy

2026

Deadline at Dawn poster
6.2

A young Navy sailor has one night to find out why a woman was killed and he ended up with a bag of money after a drinking blackout.

Deadline at Dawn

1946

The General Died at Dawn poster
6.5

China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.

The General Died at Dawn

1936

Film credits

Behind the camera

Sweet Smell of Success poster
7.6

New York City newspaper writer J.J. Hunsecker holds considerable sway over public opinion with his Broadway column, but one thing that he can't control is his younger sister, Susan, who is in a relationship with aspiring jazz guitarist Steve Dallas. Hunsecker strongly disapproves of the romance and recruits publicist Sidney Falco to find a way to split the couple, no matter how ruthless the method.

Sweet Smell of Success

1957

Wild in the Country poster
6.3

A troubled young man discovers that he has a knack for writing when a counselor encourages him to pursue a literary career.

Wild in the Country

1961

Humoresque poster
7.0

A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neurotic socialite.

Humoresque

1947

National Theatre Live: Golden Boy poster
NR

1930s New York, at the height of the Depression. Joe Bonaparte is a gifted young violinist with extraordinary talent and a future in music, until a chance at fame and fortune lures him into the brutal world of professional boxing. Pressured by a ruthless manager, tempted by a forbidden love, and bound by the expectations of his Italian-American family, Joe is a young man torn between the seductive promise of the American Dream and the quiet honor of a decent life. He must confront what he’s willing to sacrifice, who he’s willing to become, and how to find his place in a world that demands he choose a side. Sam Yates directs Josh O'Connor in this searing revival of Clifford Odets' knockout American classic. Brought to life with a live string quartet, this propulsive drama explores ambition, identity, and the high price of success. A live stage production filmed at the Almeida Theatre, in London, UK.

National Theatre Live: Golden Boy

2026

Deadline at Dawn poster
6.2

A young Navy sailor has one night to find out why a woman was killed and he ended up with a bag of money after a drinking blackout.

Deadline at Dawn

1946

The General Died at Dawn poster
6.5

China, 1930s, during the ravaging civil war. General Pen entrusts O'Hara, an intrepid American adventurer, with the mission of providing a large sum of money to Mr. Wu with the task of buying weapons in Shanghai to help end General Yang's tyranny that keeps an entire province under his ruthless iron boot.

The General Died at Dawn

1936

None But the Lonely Heart poster
6.3

When an itinerant reluctantly returns home to help his sickly mother run her shop, they're both tempted to turn to crime to help make ends meet.

None But the Lonely Heart

1944

None But the Lonely Heart poster
6.3

When an itinerant reluctantly returns home to help his sickly mother run her shop, they're both tempted to turn to crime to help make ends meet.

None But the Lonely Heart

1944

The Story on Page One poster
5.1

An adulterous couple is accused of murder after the woman's husband is shot and killed during a scuffle. A high-profile court case tells the story.

The Story on Page One

1959

The Story on Page One poster
5.1

An adulterous couple is accused of murder after the woman's husband is shot and killed during a scuffle. A high-profile court case tells the story.

The Story on Page One

1959

The Country Girl poster
7.0

Director Bernie Dodd hires alcoholic has-been actor Frank Elgin and strikes up a stormy relationship with the actor's wife Georgia.

The Country Girl

1982

Rocket to the Moon poster
10.0

In 1938 New York City, a dentist finds his business and marriage failing as he embarks on a love affair with a young dental assistant.

Rocket to the Moon

1986

Awake and Sing! poster
10.0

The Bergers, a blue-collar Jewish family living in an overstuffed tenement and undone by the Depression, struggle through hard times and dream of a better future in this 1972 production of Clifford Odets' pungent play. Personalities and politics clash as Odets' mélange of characters try to survive on pennies a day. Walter Matthau plays cynical World War I amputee Moe Axelrod, and Leo Fuchs portrays the family's iron-willed leftist grandfather.

Awake and Sing!

1972

Paradise Lost poster
9.0

Playwright Clifford Odets' portrait of the Great Depression unfolds in the modest two-family home of Leo and Clara Gordon as misfortune strikes them and the people running with them. Opened on Broadway in 1935, it became one of the Group Theatre's most controversial plays and Odets' favorite.

Paradise Lost

1971