Ben Maddow

Writing

Ben Maddow

Born — Died

1909-08-07 — 1992-10-09

Place of birth

Passaic, New Jersey, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

34 titles

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 co-founded the short-lived left-wing newsreel The World Today. Under the pseudonym of David Wolff, Maddow co-wrote the screenplay to the Paul Strand–Leo Hurwitz documentary landmark, Native Land (1942). He earned his first feature screenplay credit with Framed (1947). Other screenplays include Clarence Brown's Intruder in the Dust (1949, an a…

Known for

The Asphalt Jungle poster
7.5

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

The Asphalt Jungle

1950

The Unforgiven poster
6.2

The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their beloved adopted daughter was stolen from the Kiowa tribe.

The Unforgiven

1960

The Way West poster
6.1

In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

The Way West

1967

Johnny Guitar poster
7.4

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Johnny Guitar

1954

Murder by Contract poster
6.8

Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer. His next target, a woman, is the most difficult.

Murder by Contract

1958

The Secret of Santa Vittoria poster
6.9

During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1970

Film credits

Behind the camera

The Asphalt Jungle poster
7.5

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

The Asphalt Jungle

1950

The Unforgiven poster
6.2

The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their beloved adopted daughter was stolen from the Kiowa tribe.

The Unforgiven

1960

The Way West poster
6.1

In the mid-19th century, Senator William J. Tadlock leads a group of settlers overland in a quest to start a new settlement in the Western US. Tadlock is a highly principled and demanding taskmaster who is as hard on himself as he is on those who have joined his wagon train. He clashes with one of the new settlers, Lije Evans, who doesn't quite appreciate Tadlock's ways. Along the way, the families must face death and heartbreak and a sampling of frontier justice when one of them accidentally kills a young Indian boy.

The Way West

1967

Johnny Guitar poster
7.4

On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the region, including Dancin' Kid and his gang. Another patron of Vienna's establishment is Johnny Guitar, a former gunslinger and her lover. When a heist is pulled in town that results in a man's death, Emma Small, Vienna's rival, rallies the townsfolk to take revenge on Vienna's saloon – even without proof of her wrongdoing.

Johnny Guitar

1954

Murder by Contract poster
6.8

Claude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer. His next target, a woman, is the most difficult.

Murder by Contract

1958

The Secret of Santa Vittoria poster
6.9

During World War II, Italian villagers hide their wine from the German army.

The Secret of Santa Vittoria

1970

No Down Payment poster
6.3

The marital difficulties of four couples living in a southern California housing development become intertwined. Among the unhappy couples are ne'er-do-well Jerry Flagg and his long-suffering wife Isabelle, flirtatious Leola Boone and her sadistic husband Troy, hard-working Herman Kreitzer and his understanding wife Betty, and newlyweds Jean and David Martin.

No Down Payment

1957

Intruder in the Dust poster
7.3

Rural Mississippi in the 1940s: Lucas Beauchamp, a local black man with a reputation of not kowtowing to whites, is found standing over the body of a dead white man, holding a pistol that has recently been fired. Quickly arrested for murder and jailed, Beauchamp insists he's innocent and asks the town's most prominent lawyer, Gavin Stevens, to defend him, but Stevens refuses. When a local boy whom Beauchamp has helped in the past and who believes him to be innocent hears talk of a mob taking Beauchamp out of jail and lynching him, he pleads with Stevens to defend Beauchamp at trial and prove his innocence.

Intruder in the Dust

1949

The Man from Colorado poster
6.9

Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.

The Man from Colorado

1948

The Chairman poster
5.5

An American scientist is sent to Red China to steal the formula for a newly developed agricultural enzyme. What he is not told by his bosses is that a micro-sized bomb has been planted in his brain so that should the mission ever look likely to fail, he can be eliminated at the push of a button!

The Chairman

1969

The Mephisto Waltz poster
6.0

A frustrated pianist himself, music journalist Myles Clarkson is thrilled to interview virtuoso Duncan Ely. Duncan, however, is terminally ill and not much interested in Myles until noticing that Myles' hands are ideally suited for piano. Suddenly, he can't get enough of his new friend, and Myles' wife, Paula, becomes suspicious of Duncan's intentions. Her suspicions grow when Duncan dies and Myles mysteriously becomes a virtuoso overnight.

The Mephisto Waltz

1971

Framed poster
6.5

Truck driver Mike Lambert is a down-and-out mining engineer searching for a job. When his rig breaks down in a small town, he happens upon a venomous seductress. When her boyfriend robs a bank, they intend to frame Lambert.

Framed

1947

Men in War poster
6.6

In Korea, on 6 September 1950, Lieutenant Benson's platoon finds itself isolated in enemy-held territory after a retreat. Soon they are joined by Sergeant Montana, whose overriding concern is caring for his catatonic colonel. Benson and Montana can't stand each other, but together they must get the survivors to Hill 465, where they hope the division is waiting. It's a long, harrowing march, fraught with all the dangers the elusive enemy can summon.

Men in War

1957

Shadow in the Sky poster
7.0

Burt, a WW2 veteran suffering from battle fatigue, is deathly afraid of rain and confined to an asylum, but showing improvement. He wants to live with his sister's family, but they have young children.

Shadow in the Sky

1952

The Savage Eye poster
5.7

Resentful after an ugly divorce from her unfaithful husband, Judith McGuire moves to Los Angeles. Adrift and detached, she spends her days and nights wandering through her new city, cynically remarking on the hypocrisy, vanity and brutality of the modern world and humanity's alienation from themselves and each other.

The Savage Eye

1960

The Savage Eye poster
5.7

Resentful after an ugly divorce from her unfaithful husband, Judith McGuire moves to Los Angeles. Adrift and detached, she spends her days and nights wandering through her new city, cynically remarking on the hypocrisy, vanity and brutality of the modern world and humanity's alienation from themselves and each other.

The Savage Eye

1960

The Savage Eye poster
5.7

Resentful after an ugly divorce from her unfaithful husband, Judith McGuire moves to Los Angeles. Adrift and detached, she spends her days and nights wandering through her new city, cynically remarking on the hypocrisy, vanity and brutality of the modern world and humanity's alienation from themselves and each other.

The Savage Eye

1960

People of the Cumberland poster
6.3

The film takes place in rural Tennessee, where communities have experienced economic and environmental devastation created by the coal mining industry. The introduction of the Highlander Folk School in 1931 by educator Myles Horton and the movement to bring labor union representation to the region are shown as means of empowering the population. Efforts are made to stop the union activities with the murder of a local organizer, but eventually the union movement is able to take root with the local workforce.

People of the Cumberland

1937

Two Loves poster
5.4

American-born Anna Vorontosov teaches school in a remote, primitive section of northern New Zealand. Her experimental teaching methods have won her the love and affection of her pupils and their parents and the admiration of the unhappily married school inspector, Abercrombie. Her personal life, however, is less secure; frightened of love and sexually inhibited, she has always been aloof with men. Eager to break down this barrier is Englishman Paul Lathrope, a somewhat irrational and immature fellow teacher who aspires to be a singer. Though Anna is attracted to him, she refuses to submit to his advances.

Two Loves

1961

The Balcony poster
5.2

The Madam of a brothel satisfies the erotic fantasies of her customers, while a revolution is sweeping the nation.

The Balcony

1963

The Balcony poster
5.2

The Madam of a brothel satisfies the erotic fantasies of her customers, while a revolution is sweeping the nation.

The Balcony

1963

Man on a String poster
7.0

A government agent, out to destroy a crime ring, finds himself in the middle of a mob war.

Man on a String

1972

The Steps of Age poster
5.6

Describes the challenges of aging as seen through the eyes of a woman, Mrs. Potter, whose husband becomes listless and unhappy following his forced retirement at age 65. She worries about him and knows that his lack of engagement is not emotionally healthy. When he dies after a few years of retirement, she gives up her home and goes to live with her daughter's family, which also presents challenges. The woman reflects on how to manage these life changes, and how to continue to live a rewarding, engaged life. She seeks a job but is turned away, apparently because the dress shop that is hiring prefers someone younger. She has some disagreements with her daughter about child-rearing. Ultimately, she and her daughter both conclude that they must show more respect and appreciation for one another.

The Steps of Age

1950

The Steps of Age poster
5.6

Describes the challenges of aging as seen through the eyes of a woman, Mrs. Potter, whose husband becomes listless and unhappy following his forced retirement at age 65. She worries about him and knows that his lack of engagement is not emotionally healthy. When he dies after a few years of retirement, she gives up her home and goes to live with her daughter's family, which also presents challenges. The woman reflects on how to manage these life changes, and how to continue to live a rewarding, engaged life. She seeks a job but is turned away, apparently because the dress shop that is hiring prefers someone younger. She has some disagreements with her daughter about child-rearing. Ultimately, she and her daughter both conclude that they must show more respect and appreciation for one another.

The Steps of Age

1950

Native Land poster
6.3

By the start of World War II, Paul Robeson had given up his lucrative mainstream work to participate in more socially progressive film and stage productions. Robeson committed his support to Paul Strand and Leo Hurwitz’s political semidocumentary Native Land. With Robeson’s narration and songs, this beautifully shot and edited film exposes violations of Americans’ civil liberties and is a call to action for exploited workers around the country. Scarcely shown since its debut, Native Land represents Robeson’s shift from narrative cinema to the leftist documentaries that would define the final chapter of his controversial film career.

Native Land

1942

Valley Town: A Study of Machines and Men poster
7.5

A documentary examining the effects of industrial automation on a small American town.

Valley Town: A Study of Machines and Men

1940

An Affair of the Skin poster
10.0

A neurotic woman, her unhappy husband and three other New Yorkers share a complicated relationship.

An Affair of the Skin

1963

An Affair of the Skin poster
10.0

A neurotic woman, her unhappy husband and three other New Yorkers share a complicated relationship.

An Affair of the Skin

1963

An Affair of the Skin poster
10.0

A neurotic woman, her unhappy husband and three other New Yorkers share a complicated relationship.

An Affair of the Skin

1963

The World Today: The Black Legion - Shadow of Fascism Over America poster
6.0

“Unhappy with the limited structure of league newsreels, Nykino, a splinter filmmaking collective, produced a MARCH OF TIME-type series under the banner THE WORLD TODAY. Only two episodes were released, the first premiering with Strand’s THE WAVE (1936). This one, like NATIVE LAND, addresses fascism in America.” - Bruce Posner” (via Light Cone). Not to be confused with the similarly titled Black Legion from 1937, directed by Archie Mayo.

The World Today: The Black Legion - Shadow of Fascism Over America

1937

Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record poster
9.0

A documentary describing the devastating deterioration of intellectual documents such as pamphlets, photographs, films, drawings, and maps. Assesses the situation, demonstrates preservation and restoration techniques, and suggests ways to prevent deterioration in the future. Features remarks by several experts, writers, and historians, such as James Michener, Barbara Tuchman, Daniel Boorstin, and Vartan Gregorian.

Slow Fires: On the Preservation of the Human Record

1987

United Action Means Victory poster
NR

Documentary detailing the 1939 strike by the Tool and Die Makers union against General Motors.

United Action Means Victory

1939

No artwork available
NR

Internationalist film exploring the economic and political importance of Latin America to the United States. A document of the “Good Neighbor Policy” era, The Bridge shows the endemic poverty and recent industrialization of Latin America and looks to such postwar advances as air travel, the “bridge” that will eventually link the United States with its neighbors to the south. The New York Times quoted Willard Van Dyke as saying, “We cannot expect to do much trade with South America in the long run if we do not help our Southern neighbors develop a buying power.”

The Bridge

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