Albert Maltz
Albert Maltz was a prominent American writer and screenwriter born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in philosophy from Columbia College and later studied at the Yale School of Drama, where his engagement with Marxist literature shaped his political views. Maltz joined the Communist Party in 1935 and became known for his proletariat play "The Black Pit" and his collection of short stories, "The Way Things Are." His screenwriting career flourished in Hollywood, where he worked on iconic films like "Casablanca" and received an Academy Award for the documentary "Moscow Strikes Back."
However, Maltz's career faced significant challenges after he was called before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, becoming one of the "Hollywood Ten" for his refusal to disclose his political affiliations. Following a prison sentence, he was blacklisted but continued to write under pseudonyms. His reputation was posthumously acknowledged when the Writers' Guild of America awarded him credit for his earlier blacklisted works in 1997. Maltz's stories often explored themes of individual dignity against societal injustices, reflecting his commitment to both artistic integrity and political ideals, which remained with him until his death in 1985.
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Albert Maltz
- Born: October 28, 1908
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
- Died: August 26, 1985
- Place of death: Los Angeles, California
Biography
Albert Maltz was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908 to working-class parents, going on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa with a major in philosophy from Columbia College in 1930, followed by two years of study at the Yale School of Drama. In college, Maltz began to read Marxist classics, which reflected and shaped his political beliefs against capitalism, racism, and gender discrimination. Eventually viewing socialism and communism as liberating forces, Maltz joined the Communist Party in 1935, the same year he wrote the proletariat play The Black Pit. He began to sell short stories to various magazines, eventually collecting them in the book The Way Things Are (1938).
With his wife of three years, Margaret Larkin, Maltz moved to Los Angeles in 1940 to work as a screenwriter, working on Casablanca (1942) and numerous propaganda films, such as the documentary Moscow Strikes Back (1942), for which he won an Academy Award. Following his wartime screenwriting success, Maltz wrote several acclaimed films, including the Academy Award-winning The Naked City (1946).
Maltz’s screenwriting career suffered a tremendous blow when he was called before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, where he became one of the “Hollywood Ten” by refusing to answer questions about his political beliefs and dealings with the Communist Party, claiming protection under the First Amendment. After serving a one-year prison sentence, Maltz was blacklisted from screenwriting but continued to write short stories and screenplays anonymously or under a pen name, even having another writer, Michael Blankfort, win the Writers’ Guild of America Award for Best Written American Drama for Broken Arrow in 1951, though Maltz himself had actually written it. In 1997 Maltz was posthumously given writing credit for his blacklisted works and his award by the Writers’ Guild of America.
When the Hollywood ban against Maltz was lifted in 1970, his writing returned to prominence, particularly with the publication of Afternoon in the Jungle (1971), a book of short stories featuring new stories and ones that had previous appeared in various magazines. Maltz’s fiction, in this collection and in his five novels, often reflects an individual’s struggle against the machinations of an unjust society. Whether the stories involve exploited coal miners, such as “Man on the Road” (1935), a man desperately searching for work in the Depression, as in “The Happiest Man” (1938), or a concentration camp breakout, “The Prisoner’s Dog” (1968), Maltz constantly affirmed the dignity of the individual against economic, physical, gender, or racial exploitation.
Rarely subsuming artistic and intellectual integrity for political purposes further distinguishes Maltz’s fiction and life. His best fiction subtly develops his political themes, avoiding mere caricature. Maltz died in 1985, having seen his reputation rescued by the changing political climate and his artistic integrity. Although he was not blind to the brutality and totalitarianism of the Soviet Union, he died believing in the egalitarian ideals of the Marxist tracts he first read as a student.