Arthur Hornblow Jr.

Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Hornblow and Myrna Loy
soon after their marriage in 1936
Born(1893-03-15)March 15, 1893
New York City, US
DiedJuly 17, 1976(1976-07-17) (aged 83)
New York City, US
OccupationFilm producer
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1924; div. 1936)​
​
​
(m. 1936; div. 1942)​
​
​
(m. 1945)​

Arthur Hornblow Jr. (March 15, 1893 – July 17, 1976) was an American film producer. Four of his movies received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture.

Biography

Hornblow was the son of Arthur Hornblow Sr. (1865–1942), a writer who edited Theatre Magazine in New York City.

Hornblow graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School, New York City, in 1911, before studying at Dartmouth College and New York Law School,[1] and was a member of the fraternity Theta Delta Chi. He served in counter-intelligence during World War I,[1] and then tried his hand at playwriting. He was then hired as a production supervisor by Sam Goldwyn at Paramount in 1927.[1]

Initially, he specialized in the popular screwball comedies, eventually giving Billy Wilder his first directing job, and producing several films starring Bob Hope.[1] These included The Cat and the Canary (1939), The Ghost Breakers (1940) and Nothing But the Truth (1941).[2] In 1942 he moved to MGM where he produced Gaslight and several film noir. In the 1950s, as an independent producer rather than a studio employee, he worked on the musical Oklahoma and the courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution, directed by his former Paramount colleague, Wilder.

He gave aspiring actress Marie Windsor her first screen test, and Constance Ockelman her new name, Veronica Lake.

Four of his movies received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture.

His producer screen credit is distinctive because it is a reproduction of his signature with an underline, not the (usually printed) font used for the rest of the credits.

Oscar nominations

As a producer he was nominated for an Academy Award 'Best Picture' Oscar four times, but failed to win.

Legacy

He allowed a version of his last name be used by C. S. Forester (who, together with Niven Busch, was a scriptwriter for one of the films he directed[3]) for the fictional sea captain Horatio Hornblower.[4][5]

Selected filmography

Hornblow and Paulette Goddard on the set of The Cat and the Canary (1939)

Books

  • A History of the Theatre in America From its Beginnings to the Present Time Vol. 1 (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1919), ISBN 9781628452334
  • A History of the Theatre in America From its Beginnings to the Present Time Vol. 2 (J.B. Lippincott Company, 1919), ISBN 9781628452594

With Leonora Hornblow:

The Hornblows, Frith, and Random House collaborated to produce numerous sequels, Birds Do the Strangest Things (1965), and so on.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Arthur Hornblow Jr". IMDB. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e Hal Erickson (2016). "Arthur Hornblow Jr". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  3. ^ Sanford Sternlicht (1 November 1999). C. S. Forester and the Hornblower Saga: Revised Edition. Syracuse University Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-0-8156-0621-5.
  4. ^ Nicholas Meyer (20 August 2009). The View from the Bridge: Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-101-13347-7.
  5. ^ Stefan Rabitsch (6 December 2018). Star Trek and the British Age of Sail: The Maritime Influence Throughout the Series and Films. McFarland. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4766-3419-7.