Sidney Buchman
Sidney Buchman was an accomplished American screenwriter and playwright, known for his significant contributions to Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. After studying at prestigious universities, including the University of Minnesota and Oxford, he initially pursued a career in theater, with limited success on Broadway. He transitioned to screenwriting in Hollywood, where he became a prominent figure at Columbia Pictures, producing over a dozen scripts between 1935 and 1942. Among his most notable works are "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "Here Comes Mr. Jordan," both of which reflect themes of innocence and morality confronting corruption. The former was nominated for an Oscar and remains a classic, while the latter won an Oscar for Best Screenplay. Buchman's career faced challenges during the Red Scare when he was blacklisted after admitting to past Communist Party membership. He relocated to France, where he continued to work in film until his death in 1975. His legacy includes accolades such as the Laurel Award from the Writers' Guild, celebrating his enduring impact on screenwriting.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Sidney Buchman
Writer
- Born: March 27, 1902
- Birthplace: Duluth, Minnesota
- Died: August 23, 1975
- Place of death: Cannes, France
Biography
After studying at the University of Minnesota and Columbia and Oxford Universities, Sidney Buchman devoted his early career to the stage. He worked for a time with the Old Vic Theatre in London and returned to the United States to see two of his plays produced. The first of these, This One Man, appeared on Broadway in 1930. He followed that with Storm Song, performed in Philadelphia. Neither was particularly successful, and he set his sights on working in the screen medium. He moved to Hollywood, where he got a job on the writing staff of Paramount Pictures. By 1934 Buchman was working for Columbia Pictures, where he became a major screenwriter and eventually also vice president and production supervisor.
During this period, between 1935 and 1942, Buchman created more than a dozen produced scripts. Probably his best-known screenplays are Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. The first of these, directed by Frank Capra, deals with the confrontation between corruption in the Senate and down-home honesty. Mr. Smith (played by Jimmy Stewart) takes over the last two months of a deceased senator’s term and turns that short tenure into a triumphant campaign for justice. Buchman’s screenplay, based on Lewis Foster’s short story “The Gentleman from Montana,” was nominated for an Oscar and the movie itself has gone on to be a classic of the 1930’s.
Here Comes Mr. Jordan takes as its premise a celestial error: Joe Pendleton was supposed to have survived a plane crash, but a bureaucratic mistake has him dying and needing a new body. He takes that of a cheating, malicious millionaire and proceeds to put his house in sound moral order. That movie won an Oscar for best screenplay as well as being nominated for best picture, best director, and best cinematography. It also appeared as a remake in 1978 under the title Heaven Can Wait. Both Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Here Comes Mr. Jordan project the idea of down-home innocence and honesty triumphing over self-serving corruption. Buchman is also known for Holiday (with Donald Ogden Stewart) and The Talk of the Town (with Irwin Shaw), romantic comedies starring Cary Grant.
Buchman was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1951, where he confessed to having been a member of the Communist Party but refused to name names. As a result, he was cited for contempt of Congress and blacklisted in Hollywood. He moved to France and it was not until the early 1960’s that he was able to return to screenwriting, then only by working with the European branch of Twentieth Century Fox. Probably his best-known work in that later period includes Cleopatra (with Joseph L. Mankiewicz and Ranald MacDougall) and The Group.
Before his death in 1975 in Cannes, France, Buchman received the Laurel Award from the Writers’ Guild for his outstanding career.