Herbert J. Biberman(1900-1971)
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Herbert J. Biberman, the progressive producer, director and
screenwriter now best known as one of the Hollywood Ten who were
blacklisted by the American Film Industry for refusing to testify
before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was born on
March 4, 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated at the University
of Pennsylvania and Yale, Biberman entered his family's textile
business after a journey to Europe. In 1928, Biberman joined the
left-wing Theater Guild as an assistant stage manager, beginning his
professional career in the arts. He married actress Gale Sondergaard in 1930.
Biberman became a director with the Theater Guild, and entered the
movie industry as a dialog director on Colmbia Pictures' Eight Bells (1935) in
1935. He made his first picture that year, directing One-Way Ticket (1935) for B.P.
Schulberg Productions and Columbia. Ironically, it would be producer
B.P. Schulberg's son Budd Schulberg, an ex-communist, who would be one of his chief
accusers in the Hollywood show trials of the late 1940s.
Biberman was arraigned before HUAC in 1947, where he was one of 19
unfriendly witnesses who refused to answer the Committee's inquiry into
their political affiliations. The 19 eventually became the Hollywood
Ten, as others of the 19 dropped away, including such luminaries as
Bertolt Brecht, who left the U.S. for East Germany. Under the advice of
lawyers with Communist Party affiliations, the Ten decided to adopt a
common front and defy the committee by refusing to or deny the
allegations that they were communists. In 1950, Biberman was fined and
sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of Congress. Biberman's
wife, the Oscar-winner Gale Sondergaard, was similarly accused and
refused to testify. She also was blacklisted.
In 1954, Biberman directed the independently produced, left-wing motion
picture Salt of the Earth (1954), a fictionalized account of a miners; strike in Grant
County, New Mexico. Working with other blacklisted movie professionals,
including screenwriters Michael Wilson (who wrote the picture) and Paul Jarrico
(who produced it), the film starred such progressive actors as Will Geer.
It was made against tremendous odds, including opposition from
Hollywood and the government. A chronicle of the terrible working
conditions faced by miners in New Mexico, the film had the official
backing of the local miner's union and employed real workers and their
families. However, other unions, involved in a Cold War fight in the
1950s against communist-dominated domestic unions and Communist
Party-affiliated union organizers (a fight that began in Hollywood
immediately after World War II, when returning veterans fought back
against trade guilds that had become infiltrated by organized crime
during their war service), refused to show the film because Biberman
was still blacklisted. It was screened only once, in New York, before
being blackballed from exhibition in the U.S. for 11 years.
Biberman released the film in Europe where it won awards in France and
Czechoslovakia. In 1965, the film was finally released in the U.S.
market. "Salt of the Earth" has been deemed "culturally significant" by
the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in
the National Film Registry.
Biberman and Sondergaard had two children. They remained married until
his death from bone cancer on June 30, 1971. Blacklisted for a
quarter-of-a-century, Sondergaard finally found work in Hollywood after
her husband's death.
screenwriter now best known as one of the Hollywood Ten who were
blacklisted by the American Film Industry for refusing to testify
before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was born on
March 4, 1900 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Educated at the University
of Pennsylvania and Yale, Biberman entered his family's textile
business after a journey to Europe. In 1928, Biberman joined the
left-wing Theater Guild as an assistant stage manager, beginning his
professional career in the arts. He married actress Gale Sondergaard in 1930.
Biberman became a director with the Theater Guild, and entered the
movie industry as a dialog director on Colmbia Pictures' Eight Bells (1935) in
1935. He made his first picture that year, directing One-Way Ticket (1935) for B.P.
Schulberg Productions and Columbia. Ironically, it would be producer
B.P. Schulberg's son Budd Schulberg, an ex-communist, who would be one of his chief
accusers in the Hollywood show trials of the late 1940s.
Biberman was arraigned before HUAC in 1947, where he was one of 19
unfriendly witnesses who refused to answer the Committee's inquiry into
their political affiliations. The 19 eventually became the Hollywood
Ten, as others of the 19 dropped away, including such luminaries as
Bertolt Brecht, who left the U.S. for East Germany. Under the advice of
lawyers with Communist Party affiliations, the Ten decided to adopt a
common front and defy the committee by refusing to or deny the
allegations that they were communists. In 1950, Biberman was fined and
sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of Congress. Biberman's
wife, the Oscar-winner Gale Sondergaard, was similarly accused and
refused to testify. She also was blacklisted.
In 1954, Biberman directed the independently produced, left-wing motion
picture Salt of the Earth (1954), a fictionalized account of a miners; strike in Grant
County, New Mexico. Working with other blacklisted movie professionals,
including screenwriters Michael Wilson (who wrote the picture) and Paul Jarrico
(who produced it), the film starred such progressive actors as Will Geer.
It was made against tremendous odds, including opposition from
Hollywood and the government. A chronicle of the terrible working
conditions faced by miners in New Mexico, the film had the official
backing of the local miner's union and employed real workers and their
families. However, other unions, involved in a Cold War fight in the
1950s against communist-dominated domestic unions and Communist
Party-affiliated union organizers (a fight that began in Hollywood
immediately after World War II, when returning veterans fought back
against trade guilds that had become infiltrated by organized crime
during their war service), refused to show the film because Biberman
was still blacklisted. It was screened only once, in New York, before
being blackballed from exhibition in the U.S. for 11 years.
Biberman released the film in Europe where it won awards in France and
Czechoslovakia. In 1965, the film was finally released in the U.S.
market. "Salt of the Earth" has been deemed "culturally significant" by
the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in
the National Film Registry.
Biberman and Sondergaard had two children. They remained married until
his death from bone cancer on June 30, 1971. Blacklisted for a
quarter-of-a-century, Sondergaard finally found work in Hollywood after
her husband's death.