{{Short description|American dramatist (1889–1954)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox writer | name = John L. Balderston |image = John L. Balderston.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1889|10|22}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1954|3|8|1889|10|22}} | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | occupation = Playwright, screenwriter, journalist | alma_mater = [[Columbia University]] | genre = Horror, fantasy, drama | notable_works = | awards = | years_active = 1912–1954 }} '''John L. Balderston''' (October 22, 1889 – March 8, 1954) was an American [[playwright]] and [[screenwriter]] best remembered for his horror and fantasy scripts. He wrote the 1926 play ''[[Berkeley Square (play)|Berkeley Square]]'' and the 1927 American adaptation of the 1924 play ''[[Dracula (1924 play)|Dracula]]''.
==Biography== John L. Balsterston was born in [[Philadelphia]] on October 22, 1889.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciwdL9jp0OoC&pg=PA62 |title=The Great American Playwrights on the Screen: A Critical Guide to Film, Video, and DVD |first=Jerry |last=Roberts |publisher=[[Applause Theatre & Cinema Books]] |isbn=9781557835123 |page=62 |date=2003 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
===Journalist=== Balderston began his career as a journalist in 1912 while still a student at [[Columbia University]]; he worked as the New York correspondent for ''[[The Philadelphia Record]]''. He worked as European [[war correspondent]] during World War I for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate, then was director of information in England and Ireland for the US Committee on Public Information. In 1916, he wrote ''The Brooke Kerith'', about the life of Jesus, with George More. In 1919, he wrote the play ''The Genius of the Marne''. Balderston co-authored "Cross-Styx, A Morality Playlet for the Leisure Class," a part of the Dutch Treat Club's 1920 annual dinner extravaganza written by him, Fred Dayton, Rae Irvin, Berton Braley, James Montgomery Flagg with music by Arthur Samuels. Deems Taylor and Arthur Samuels were at the Steinways. From 1920 to 1923, he was the editor of ''[[The Outlook (British magazine)|The Outlook]]'' magazine in London and then head of the London bureau for the ''[[New York World]]'' from 1923 to 1931.<ref name="papers">[http://web.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/thebalderst.pdf "Inventory of the John L. Balderston Papers, 1915-1950", *T-Mss-1954-002 Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] accessed December 11, 2012</ref><ref name=VarietyObit>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/stream/variety193-1954-03#page/n142/mode/1up |title=Obituaries |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |page=71 |date=March 10, 1954 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Balderston left journalism in 1931 when the ''New York World'' ceased publication.
===Playwright=== Balderson wrote a play about Bacon and Shakespeare, ''Clown of Stratford'' in the mid-1920s. He achieved success as a playwright in 1926 with the London production of his play ''[[Berkeley Square (play)|Berkeley Square]]'' which he had written with [[J. C. Squire|Jack Squire]], the editor of the ''[[London Mercury]]''. It was adapted from [[Henry James]]' posthumously published 1917 novel ''[[The Sense of the Past]]''.
In 1927, he was retained by [[Horace Liveright]] to revise [[Hamilton Deane]]'s 1924 [[Dracula (1924 play)|stage adaptation of ''Dracula'']] for its American production. Balderston did some significant work on the adaptation, which was a success when it debuted in October, running for 261 performances and making a star of [[Bela Lugosi]]. Deane then hired Balderston to adapt [[Peggy Webling]]'s 1927 play version of ''[[Frankenstein]]'' for American audiences. However, this did not make it to Broadway.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21696007 |title=The World of Pictures. |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |issue=22,947 |date=August 15, 1931 |access-date=October 4, 2017 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}} </ref>
''Berkley Square'' was produced on Broadway from 1929 to 1930, starring [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]]. It ran for 229 performances.
===Screenwriter=== Balderston's play of ''Dracula'' formed the basis of the [[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|1931 film version]] starring Lugosi, made by [[Universal Pictures]]. Universal then bought his American adaptation of [[Peggy Webling]]'s 1927 play ''Frankenstein'', and used it as the basis for the film ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (also 1931). Universal hired him to adapt a story on [[Cagliostro]] in ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932). He wrote a version of ''[[The Invisible Man]]'' for [[James Whale]] which was not used for Whale's film version.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82879132 |title=The Invisible Man |newspaper=[[Daily News (Perth, Western Australia)|The Daily News]] |volume=LI |issue=18,023 |location=Western Australia |date=December 16, 1932 |access-date=October 4, 2017 |page=10|edition=Home |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
Balderston returned to Broadway in 1932, working with J.E. Hore on ''Red Planet''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1932-12-19_82_27358/page/19/mode/1up |title=Mars as the Source of a New Civilization in a Drama Entitled 'Red Planet' |first=Brooks |last=Atkinson |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 19, 1932 |page=19 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> It only ran seven performances. For MGM, he did an unused treatment of ''[[She: A History of Adventure]]'' in 1932 and did some uncredited work on ''[[Smilin' Through (1932 film)|Smilin' Through]]'' (1932). He is credited as screenwriter on the adaptation of ''[[Berkeley Square (1933 film)|Berkeley Square]]'' (1933).
Balderston was one of several writers on ''[[The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer]]'' (1935), which earned him an Oscar nomination. He worked on ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935 film)|The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]'' (1935) and ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) and was the last writer on ''[[Mad Love (1935 film)|Mad Love]]'' (1935). He was an uncredited contributor to the script of ''[[Mark of the Vampire]]'' (1935) and wrote a version of ''[[Dracula's Daughter]]'' (1936) for [[David O. Selznick]] which was sold to Universal.
Balderston worked on ''[[Peter Ibbetson (film)|Peter Ibbetson]]'' (1935) for [[Henry Hathaway]]. He was one of several writers on ''[[The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss]]'' (1936) and did ''[[The Last of the Mohicans (1936 film)|The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1936) with [[Philip Dunne (writer)|Philip Dunne]].
Balderston wrote radio play titled ''The Other Place'' for the radio program ''[[The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour]]'' hosted by [[Rudy Vallee]]''.'' It was aired on November 14, 1935, starring [[Colin Clive]] and [[Leo G. Carroll]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jp|date=2012-04-09|title=The Twilight Zone Vortex: "A Nice Place to Visit"|url=http://twilightzonevortex.blogspot.com/2012/04/nice-place-to-visit.html|access-date=2021-05-03|website=The Twilight Zone Vortex}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Boris Karloff|url=https://oldhollywoodincolor.com/tag/boris-karloff/|access-date=2021-05-03|website=Old Hollywood in Color|language=en}}</ref>
He adapted a Hungarian play into ''Farewell Performance'' for the English stage in 1936.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1936-09-11_85_28720/page/28/mode/1up |title=Mary Ellis Receives Plaudits in London: She is Praised for Varied Role in ''Farewell Performance'' |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |place=London |date=1936-09-10 |publication-date=September 11, 1936 |page=28 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
In Hollywood, Balderston specialised in British themed subjects: ''[[The Man Who Changed His Mind]]'' (1936); ''[[Beloved Enemy]]'' (1936) for [[Sam Goldwyn]]; ''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' (1937) for [[David O. Selznick]]. He wrote an unused script, ''Murder in Church'' in 1938 and was one of the team of writers who collaborated on the film adaptation of ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939) for Selznick. He wrote a musical for Fox, ''[[Little Old New York (1940 film)|Little Old New York]]'' (1940) then adapted ''[[Victory (1940 film)|Victory]]'' (1940) for Paramount.
At [[MGM]] he worked on ''[[Smilin' Through (1941 film)|Smilin' Through]]'' (1941), ''[[Stand By for Action]]'' (1942), and ''[[Tennessee Johnson]]'' (1942). He was also one of the writers on ''[[Gaslight (1944 film)|Gaslight]]'' (1944), which earned him his second [[Academy Award]] nomination. He also wrote a book ''Chicago Blueprint'', which was published in 1943.<ref>{{cite news |title=Some 'Hitlerian' Memos |last=Storck |first=John |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 26, 1943 |page=BR26}}</ref>
===Later years=== In 1948, he co-wrote a novel about [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] and [[Cleopatra]], ''A Goddess to a God''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1948-11-14_98_33167/page/n236/mode/1up |title=Cleopatra's Advice to Caesar |first=Alice S. |last=Morris |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 14, 1948 |page=BR11 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
Balderston did a treatment of ''Red Planet'' which became ''[[Red Planet Mars]]'' (1952). In 1952, he was appointed lecturer in drama at the [[University of Southern California]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-john-l-balderston/164855056/ |title=John L. Balderston Named Lecturer in Drama at SC |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=August 28, 1952 |page=4 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
In 1953, it was announced Balderston and the heirs of Peggy Webling had settled a lawsuit with Universal over ''Frankenstein''. Under their original contract, they were to be paid $20,000 plus 1% gross of any films that resulted from their work, including any sequel – and there were several Frankenstein films.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1953-05-24_102_34819/page/n114/mode/1up |title=Hollywood Report: A Wider, Higher, Stereophonic 'Melba' Emerges -- Call of the Wild -- Addenda |first=Thomas M. |last=Pryor |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=May 24, 1953 |page=X5 |access-date=2025-02-06 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
He died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills on March 8, 1954.<ref name=VarietyObit/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49621910 |title=Personal |newspaper=[[The West Australian]] |location=Perth |date=March 11, 1954 |access-date=December 11, 2012 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mr John Balderston: An Appreciation |work=The Manchester Guardian |date=March 13, 1954 |page=10}}</ref>
==Select writing credits== *''Genius of the Marne'' (1919)<ref>[https://openlibrary.org/works/OL1515896W/The_genius_of_the_Marne ''Genius of the Marne'' at openlibrary.org]</ref> *''[[Berkeley Square (play)|Berkeley Square]]'' (1927) – play *''[[Dracula (1924 play)|Dracula]]'' (1927) – play – filmed in 1931 and 1979 *''[[Dracula (1931 English-language film)|Dracula]]'' (1931) – script *''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931) – wrote early script *''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932) – script *''[[Red Planet (play)]]'' (1932) – play *''[[Berkeley Square (1933 film)|Berkeley Square]]'' (1933) – script *''[[The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer]]'' (1935) – script *''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935 film)|Mystery of Edwin Drood]]'' (1935) – script *''[[The Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) – script *''[[Mark of the Vampire]]'' (1935) – uncredited writer *''[[Mad Love (1935 film)|Mad Love]]'' (1935) – script *''[[Peter Ibbetson (film)|Peter Ibbetson]]'' (1935) – uncredited writer *''[[Dracula's Daughter]]'' (1936) – uncredited writer *''[[The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss]]'' (1936) – script *''[[The Last of the Mohicans (1936 film)|The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1936) – script *''[[The Man Who Changed His Mind]]'' (1936) – script *''[[Beloved Enemy]]'' (1936) – script *''[[The Prisoner of Zenda (1937 film)|The Prisoner of Zenda]]'' (1937) – script *''[[Gone With the Wind (film)|Gone With the Wind]]'' (1939) – uncredited writer *''[[Little Old New York (1940 film)|Little Old New York]]'' (1940) – original story *''[[Victory (1940 film)|Victory]]'' (1940) – script *''[[Scotland Yard (1941 film)|Scotland Yard]]'' (1940) – script *''[[Smilin' Through (1941 film)|Smilin' Through]]'' (1941) – script *''[[Stand by for Action]]'' (1942) – script *''[[Tennessee Johnson]]'' (1942) – script *''[[Gaslight (1944 film)|Gaslight]]'' (1944) – script
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0049721}} *{{IBDB name|6842}} *[http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:80494~T1 Allmovie bio] *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21456 John L. Balderston papers, 1915–1950], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]] * {{Librivox author|id=19037}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Balderston, John L.}} [[Category:1889 births]] [[Category:1954 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Los Angeles]] [[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]] [[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]] [[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]] [[Category:20th-century American journalists]] [[Category:American magazine editors]] [[Category:American war correspondents of World War I]] [[Category:New York World people]] [[Category:University of Southern California faculty]] [[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Pennsylvania]]