The Credits
Dartmouth keeps sending them to the movies. The list of alumni and alumnae who seek in celluloid fame and fortune-or just expression stretches from the earliest days of motion pictures to the present, with many, many notable names along the way. If they all got together, pooled their talents, and made a movie, the credits would roll on for hours.
Ney's The Lady and the Tramp and Fantasia, among others. He wrote Lost Boundaries and Dormitory Seven for Louis de Rochemont and The StrattonStory, High Iron, and Sellout for M.G.M. His work as a dialogue polisher and studio censor ("sitting on Esther Williams sets to see how low we could put the necklines") went uncredited. Palmer is now executive producer of Parthenon Pictures, which he founded in 1954, and makes business-sponsored documentaries. Along the way, he's invented Super-
Produced by . . .
Given the number of alumni who have followed careers as producers, any Dartmouth movie might be a case of too many chefs, or, more likely, an embarrassment of riches.
Orton Hicks '21 left Eastman Kodak in 1927 to found Films, Inc., now the largest distributor of 16mm films to non-theatrical outlets, such as schools and businesses. Hicks then founded Seven Seas Film Corporation, now called Movies En Route, to provide 35mm movies to the transportation industry. From 1945 to 1958 he directed the world-wide distribution of 16mm films for M.G.M. Following that successful career, Hicks became Dartmouth's first vice president of alumni affairs and development, a position from which he "retired" in 1966.
"Cap" Palmer '23 began his Hollywood career in the forties, writing the treatments for Dis 8mm projector systems to make filming accessible to everybody.
Walt Disney Studios also boasted the talents of John C. Rose '28 (now retired), who started his rise to producer as story editor and research director on Pinocchio, Dumbo, Song ofthe South (written by Maury Rapf '35), and Fantasia (musical direction by Ed Plumb '29). During World War II Rose originated the G.I. movies 16- mm distribution system and produced many army "morale" pictures, including the "Why We Fight" films with Frank Capra. In 1962 he wrote and produced The Incredible Mr.Limpet, starring Don Knotts, featuring a cameo appearance by Gilbert C. Swanson '28, and relying on the technical advice of Robin Hartmann '40. Rose named his film company sentimentally: Nugget Productions, Inc.
As a film producer with M.G.M.,Armand Deutsch '35 brought to the screen many films, including Ambush, Bowery to Bellevue, and The Magnificent Yankee.
Hayes Goetz '37 became a special assistant to producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. '15 following World War II. As a producer at M.G.M., Goetz brought to the screen such films as Calling Bulldog Drummond, The Hour of 13, and Apache Trail.
Never identified with any one studio or position, Jerry Schnitzer '40 has served as writer, director, and producer for feature films, television programs (remember "Lassie"?) and commercials. His film credits include The Naked Sea,The Morgue Is Always Open, and Milo. Along with racking up numerous Clios and a grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Schnitzer also teaches cinema courses at many West Coast universities.
Better known as the producer of "Ben Casey" and "Kojak," Matthew Rapf '42 has produced five feature films as well, including Gallant Bess and Sellout, both of which he also cowrote. Rapf s latest projects include the Gangster Chronicle series, which he helped write, and the award-winning television movie, The Marcus-NelsonMurders. He also produced such notable television programs as The Loretta Young Show, Slattery's People, and The YoungLawyers.
Leonard Ackerman '46 left his entertainment law practice to produce his first motion picture, Al Capone, with Rod Steiger. It was Allied Artist's most successful film ever. Ackerman, a founding member of the Producer's Guild, also produced Every Little Crook andNanny and Ellery Queen.
As vice president in charge of world wide production for M.G.M. from 1970-1973, Herbert Solow '51 guided the successful movies Shaft, DarkShadows, Get Carter, and Ryan'sDaughter to the screen. Before that Solow had worked as an independent writer, producer, and director, developing such television shows as Mission Impossible and Star Trek. Solow, who began in Hollywood as a $29-a-week messenger and secretary, is now a principal of Sherwood Productions. His recent feature film projects are Brimstone and Treacle, SavingGrace, and Hellzarockin.
His father produced LostBoundaries, written by Cap Palmer '23. Louis de Rochemont III himself, class of '52, produced many theatrical and documentary films, including the groundbreaking CineramaHoliday and Embezzled Heaven.
David Picker '53 is a thirdgeneration motion picture executive whose credits read like the What's What of American movies. At United Artists he produced Tom. Jones, the James Bond films, the Woody Allen films, the Beatles' films, Midnight Cowboy, and Last Tango inParis among others. He left United as president and chief executive officer. Between 1976 and 1977 he brought Saturday Night Live and Grease to Paramount, while he himself produced Lenny, Smile, Juggernaut, The Jerk, and, most recently, Dead Men Don't WearFluid (previewed at the Hopkins Center last May to raise money for the Arthur Mayer Visiting Lecture fund). Picker is now producing The Man withTwo Brains, starring Carl Reiner and Steve Martin.
Michael Phillips '65 has produced some of the major critical and box-office successes in movie history. The Sting (coproduced with former wife Julia), Taxi Driver, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind have together generated over $300 million worth of film rentals and received 22 Academy Award mominations. Phillips entered the film industry after receiving his law degree from New York University and working two years as a Wail Street financial analyst. He recently produced the film version of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row.
Christopher Chesser '70 recently resigned from his post as vice president in charge of production for Filmways Pictures to produce his own films. He has been involved in the production of many, including 10,The Great Santini, Prince of theCity, Absence of Malice, and Summer Lovers "this last being a deal I made very quickly with remembrance of many cold, lonely nights at the Nugget Theater."
Chesser's classmate John Lugar '70, ophthalmologist-turned-producer (Looker, Congo) is also enjoying a steady rise to the top.
William Aydelott '72, the first student at Dartmouth to be graduated with a special major in film theory and production, has for the past eight years been president of his own production company in Boston, Film Associates. He was coproducer and principal photographer for John Sayles' Return ofthe Secaucus Seven, which not only featured "a heavily Dartmouth crew," but also spent over 25 weeks on Variety's "Top 50 Grossing Films" list. Aydelott continues to develop, direct, and produce commercials, documentaries, and feature films.
Janet Checkanow Nelson 70S is currently putting together her own company, Ceres Productions, through which she will produce the feature film After Eli. Nelson has worked as unit production manager and first assistant director on such projects as Nunzio. The House of God, Eischeid, and The Gardener's Son.
Directed by...
The direction of any Hollywood-Dartmouth feature would boast some of Hollywood's best, a small but rarefied group. Joseph Losey '29 (featured elsewhere in this issue), set an early standard for highquality, thought-provoking motion pictures. Losey worked variously as a freelance journalist, book reviewer, theatrical director, stage manager, actor, and radio and documentary producer, writer, and editor before directing such American films as The Lawless and TheProwler. He has since directed over two dozen foreign films, including the award-winning films The Damned, The Servant,Accident, The Go-Between, TheAssassination of Trotsky, A Doll'sHouse, The Romantic Englishwoman, and Mr. Klein. Losey received an honorary degree from Dartmouth in 1973. His current film is ha Truite.
Skip to the class of 1954, and James Goldstone. In 1974 the Hopkins Center did a "middlespective" of Goldstone's works. Well over 100 episodes of television programs and specials including the pilot for Star Trek -and a half-dozen feature films preceded the Hopkins Center presentation. Since then, Goldstone has won an Emmy for the television special Kent State, and he continues to add to his film credits, which include Red Sky at Morning, TheGang That Couldn't Shoot Straight,Rollercoaster, and When TimeRan Out. Goldstone is also a governor of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Another '54, Bob Rafelson, is known for his highly-charged films about society's drifters and outcasts. Director Rafelson's most celebrated film is Five Easy Pieces. He also directed and produced Head, King ofMarvin Gardens, Stay Hungry, and The Postman Always RingsTwice, which he co-wrote as well. Rafelson's production company brought Easy Rider and The Last Picture Show to the screen.
Peter Werner '6B is currently directing Prisoners for Twentieth Century Fox. He began his film career after teaching at Windham College and starting the Woolman Hill Free School in Deerfield, Mass., and received an Academy Award for In the Region of Ice, which he also wrote. He then directed, for television, Battered, Aunt Mary, and Barnburning, from the story by Faulkner. His latest film, and first feature film, is Don'tCry, It's Only Thunder, starring Susan St. James.
L. Andrew Stone '69 has been rising through the directorial ranks while working as assistant and first assistant director on Silver Streak, 5.O.B., and Sting II. Along with occasional acting and screenwriting, Stone is working to open up Hollywood's Director's Guild to "hopeful newcomers" what he and most of the Dartmouth alumni in film were once upon a time.
Starring...
The female lead in an all-Dartmouth film would have to go to Meryl Streep '70—'71 S, whose transfer term at Dartmouth and honorary degree in 1981 make her the College's most featured actress to date. The male leads are more difficult to pick. Ted Baehr '28, working under the stage name Bob Allen, has acted in over 30 films and in countless television, radio, and stage productions. (He was Mr. Babcock, the banker, in Broadway's Auntie Mame.) Baehr played opposite Peter Lorre in Crime andPunishment and with Gary Grant and Irene Dunne in TheAwful Truth. Certainly, you saw him with Anne Sheridan in Winter Carnival.
Professor, That Touch of Mink, Days ofWine and Roses, Sweet Charity, and The Barefoot Executive, as well as many television and radio programs. Though "no actor announces his retirement," Hewitt's last feature film was made ten years ago. He has been active doing voice-overs for commercials, recording Talking Books for the blind, and serving as chair of the executive committee of the Actors' Fund board of trustees. Alan Hewitt '34 began his career as a stage actor just after graduation, working on and off Broadway for 25 years before appearing in his first feature fiim, Career, in 1959. Since then, he has appeared in 18 films, eight of which were made by Disney. His credits include The Absent-Minded
Cliff Ebrahim '59 left Dartmouth with acting and oratory honors, earned an M.B.A. from the University of California, and is now completing a doctorate there in theater history. He has guest-starred in over 70 television series and movies and appeared in over a dozen feature films, including Fortune Cookie,Front Page (1977), Irma LaDouce, and The Greatest StoryEver Told. Since 1973, he has written many screenplays, including "Serpico," "Streets of San Francisco," and Power Play, the best screenplay of the 1978 Canadian Film Festival. He has been associate producer of three films and written a novel. Ebrahim, whose stage name is Cliff Osmond, is currently developing projects for Metromedia Television, writing features for Taft Pictures, and running acting workshops in Dallas and Salt Lake City.
David Birney '61 has appeared in four feature films, including Oh God, Book II (in which his movie daughter sports a Dartmouth jersey). Birney's stage and screen acting career began with the Dartmouth Players. He won success and notoriety as Bernie in television's "Bridget Loves Bernie" and went on to star as John Quincy Adams in P.B.S.'s
The Adams Chronicles, as Frank Serpico in the television series Serpico, and as Henry Hawksworth in The Five of Me. Birney directed the Los Angeles premiere of David Mamet's ALife in the Theatre and-as visiting professor of drama in 1980-Peter Parnell's The Sorrow of Stephen for the Dartmouth Players. Currently he is appearing in N.B.C.'s "St. Elsewhere" and as Richard in cable television's Richard II.
Birney credits roommate Michael Moriarty '63 with sparking his interest in professional acting he played Laertes to Moriarty's Hamlet at college. Moriarty has since brought spark and fire to stage and screen, receiving a Tony in 1973 for his portrayal of Julian Weston in Find Your WayHome. That same year, he won an Emmy for playing opposite Katharine Hepburn in A GlassMenagerie, and he won popular acclaim as Henry Wiggen in the feature film Bang the DrumSlowly. His other film credits include Report to the Commissioner, Who'll Stop the Rain, and TooFar to Go. He also received an Emmy for his portrayal of S.S. officer Eric Dorf in Holocaust. Along with writing and acting in his own plays (such as TheBallad of Dexter Creed), Moriarty has organized the Potter's Field players school and repertory company to train young actors. In 1981, he starred in three films: Reborn, Serpent, and The Link.
Stephen Macht '63 is presently appearing regularly as Joe Cooper on television's Knot'sLanding. After Dartmouth, Macht studied theatre and acted in London and the United States, earning a doctorate in dramatic theory and literature. He taught at Smith and Queens colleges, receiving tenure at the latter just as he decided to pursue an acting career. He has appeared in such acclaimed television movies as Raid on Entebbe (as Yonni Netanyanu), The Immigrants (as Don Lavetta), TheAmerican Dream (as Danny Novak), and Ring of Passion (as Max Schmelling). Macht has acted in four feature films, including The Choirboys and TheMountain Men.
Tommy Tim Taylor '65, whose stage name is Josh Taylor, plays Chris Kostichek on the television soap opera Days ofOur Lives. He played the title role in the detective series Riker.
Actor-director Jerry Zaks '67, who spent the summer directing Dartmouth summer repertory at the Hopkins Center, has appeared in the television movies The Wall, Tuscaloosa's Calling Me, and Attica. He recently directed the acclaimed Broadway production of SisterMary Ignatius Explains It All ForYou.
David-James Carroll '72 has acted in two films, Hero at Large and Promise of Love, and also performed in many stage productions.
Screenplay by...
From light comedy {AnimalHouse) to dark (The Graduate), from fantasy (Cinderella) to tragedy (On the Waterfront), hundreds of Hollywood screenplays have been penned by Dartmouth graduates. Louis Pelletier '28 was one of many alumni to leave his mark at Disney Studios. After 20 years in stage, radio, and television, Pelletier worked closely with Walt Disney, writing six feature films, including Big Red,Those Calloways, Horse in theGrey Flannel Suit, and Run Cougar Run. Pelletier has also adapted two stage plays for the screen and written two novels, both optioned for television movies. "I may even get back to the screen one day," he wrote, "although I don't know if I could write a 'film' after writing 'movies' all those years."
Writer Sheldon Stark '30 went from comic strips to radio shows to television in the thirties and forties. In 1945 he wrote the first commercial television show, "The Queen Was in the Kitchen." One of the founders of the Writer's Guild, Stark has written five screenplays, including The Second Season, Venganza, and Revival, along with more than a thousand radio scripts and half that many television programs; "I do believe I hold the record for longevity among freelance writers."
Fred Rinaldo '34 began his career as a junior writer at M.G.M. in 1934. He wrote full length features with Robert Lees, including Crazy House,No Time For Love, A Night inHavana, The Black Cat, a string of Abbott and Costello movies (Hold That Ghost, Buck PrivatesReturn, Hit The Ice). Blacklisted in 1951 by the Motion Pictures Producer's Association as a result of the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities hearings, he subsequently made four feature films and did a great deal of work for television anonymously. (Rinaldo and others sued the studios for conspiring against writers and their potential producers, and the studios settled out-ofcourt.)
Maury Rapf '35 grew up in Hollywood where his father, Harry Rapf, was an M.G.M. executive. After Dartmouth, he returned to Los Angeles to write We Went to College, Divorcein the Family, They Gave Him AGun (starring Spencer Tracy and Franchot Tone), Jennie,Cinderella, Song of the South, and the local cult film, Winter Carnival (co-written with Budd Schulberg '36, Lester Cole, and an uncredited F. Scott Fitzgerald). Rapf left Hollywood during the McCarthy era to write, produce, and direct business-sponsored films and documentaries in New York. He was also a movie critic for Life and Family Circle magazines before coming to Dartmouth to be professor of film studies.
If Stark holds the longevity record, Allan Rader '36, who signs himself "president and comedy relief" on Techmar Corporation letterhead, holds the record for versatility. He says he is a "feature film, television, ad, book, magazine, newspaper, and song writer/ director/producer/performer/ etceterer." Rader wrote Voice ofthe Whistler for Columbia and worked as a comedy writer for the likes of Fanny Brice, Chico Marx, and Harry Ackerman '35. His electronics company, Techmar, has furnished special effects systems for Star Wars and Star Trek. Rader's latest film production effort, "Giving Up," written and directed by Xenia Balazs, won the grand prize at the Pasadena Film Festival.
Budd Schulberg '36 came to Dartmouth at the urging of two well-known Dartmouth men in Hollywood, Gene Markey 'lB and Walter Wanger 'l5. His writing career has given us such movie classics as On the Waterfront and A Face in the Crowd, as well as the novels What MakesSammy Run, The Dispossessed, and Everything That Moves. His recent autobiography, MovingPictures: Memoirs of a HollywoodPrince describes growing up along with Hollywood and with buddy Maury Rapf '35.Schulberg's latest project is the screenplay for the remake of AFace in the Crowd, for which he will also be executive producer.
As "the infantryman's Boswell," Walter Bernstein '40 reported World War II from the front lines for Yank magazine. As a successful television writer, he scripted Philco Playhouse,Studio One, and Danger. Blacklisted for eight years during the McCarthy era, Bernstein's many screenwriting credits include The Front, starring Woody Allen, an account of Hollywood blacklisting. Bernstein also wrote Yanks, Semi-Tough, An Almost Perfect Affair,Heller in Pink Tights, ParisBlues, Fail Safe, The MoneyTrap, The Molly Maguires, TheElectric Horseman, and LittleMiss Marker (the remake, which he also directed).
The career of Frank Gilroy '50, novelist, screen, and television writer, has given American theatre and film such classics as The Subject Was Roses and The Only Game in Town. His other screen credits include TheFastest Gun Alive, DesperateCharacters, The Gallant Hours, starring James Cagney, and From Noon Til Three (adapted from one of his novels). Gilroy, who with Maury Rapf '35 was one of the few undergraduates to win the Eleanor Frost Play Competition twice, also directs movies.
Another versatile and familiar person in Hollywood is Buck Henry '52. His cameo appearance in The Graduate for which he also wrote the screenplay draws regular cheers from Dartmouth audiences. They can see him as well in TheOwl and the Pussycat, The Day ofthe Dolphin, Catch-22, and What's Up, Doc?. He wrote the screenplays for these movies as well, and co-directed HeavenCan Wait. All told, over a dozen films and as many television programs (including Get Smart, which he created and wrote) have borne the Henry wit.
Stephen Geller '62 used to direct his own undergraduate plays with professors Alexander Lairig and Warner Bentley sitting at either side, commenting constantly. He went on to Yale Drama School, then began concentrating on novels and screenplays. His first novel, SheLet Him Continue, was made into the movie Pretty Poison. His screenplay for Slaughterhouse Five won a special jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. His other screenplays include Valachi Papers, Ashanti,Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and See No Evil for Jane Fonda. Geller, who lives in Rome, has published three novels, and spent the past summer teaching a course on dramatic writing at the College.
Chris Miller '63 has achieved a level of fame bordering on the cultish. Miller was one of the three writers of National Lampoon's highly successful AnimalHouse, a film he says is "very much based" on his fraternity experiences at Dartmouth. Miller has performed his stories and spoken about Animal House at over 150 schools in the past ten years. His latest screenplays are Club Sandwich and Just LikeA Woman ("about a male chauvinist who meets God, who turns out to be a woman").
Roger Simon '64 has also earned ample screenplay and novel credits: He wrote The BigFix, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Bustin' Loose, starring Richard Pryor, The Penelope Papers, and an as-yetuntitled mystery for Lily Tomlin. Simon, who has published five novels, is also author of the Moses Wine mystery series, published in 11 languages.
W. D. Richter '6B is a pro- lific screenwriter. After spend- ing two years at the University of Southern California Film School, Richter wrote Slither,Peeper, Nickelodeon (with Peter Bogdonovich), Invasion of theBody Snatchers, Dracula, Bru-baker, and All Night Long.Brubaker received an Academy Award nomination.
William Nutt '31 can make the finishing touches on the script for the all-Dartmouth film. Nutt started with RKO-Radio in 1934 as a story analyst, became story editor in 1942, then assistant to the vice president in charge of production. Subsequently, Nutt went on to M.G.M. and Seven Arts Productions, then to Rastar Productions as a script consultant before retiring.
The young-and-upcoming category is full of Dartmouth screenwriters. Steve Greenberg '70, along with working as a distributor for Hester Street, has written freelance for many television programs, including the That's Hollywood series, which highlighted old movies. Roy Carlson '70 has written and produced many corporate image films and is now writing screenplays. One was recently optioned' by Boston Broadcasters. Christopher Conkling '71 wrote Lord of the Rings for Ralph Bakshi and has also written many religious and documentary films. Bill Phillips '71 won the New England Screen-writing Contest with his screenplay Summer Solstice, which was made into a television movie starring Henry Fonda and Myrna Loy. Subsequently, he wrote Last TrainHome, starring Ed Asner, and the C.B.S. movie Rising Son. He is now working on a screenplay for director John Carpenter. Even younger aspiring screenwriters include Tim Craig '79 and Chip Blakemore 'Bl, now plying their craft in Los Angeles.
Cinematography by...
An all-Dartmouth movie would have to feature outdoor action, if only to make use of its cinematographers, who have traveled from pole to pole, shooting everything from great whites to great love stories. Stan Waterman '46 has been called "the dean and pioneer of underwater cinematographers." For a quarter of a century, he has produced and photographed some three dozen films about the sea, primarily documentary and commercial. He was associate producer of BlueWater, White Death, a feature film about great white sharks, for which he also shared underwater camera credit. He was codirector of underwater photography for The Deep, starring Jaqueline Bisset. Recently, Waterman won an Emmy for his cinematography for A.B.C., which has included documentaries on killer whales, manta rays, and hammerhead sharks. "The only other person in his league," wrote the Philadelphia Enquirer, "is Jacques Cousteau."
adventure and sports photography. He has produced, photographed, and directed hundreds of award-winning films all over the world, including The Edge, a 90-minute feature film of thrill-seeking sports, and Big Wednesday, a surfing film. Last year, he received an Emmy for his work on the American sportsman series. Brown's latest adventures have taken him kayaking in the Yukon and on the Zambezi River in Africa: "They make Raidersof the Lost Ark look like a Sunday picnic." Roger Brown '57 has likewise built a reputation out of
Somewhat closer to home is Austin de Besche '68. Since working as a cameraman for the Air Force, the Boston-based de Besche has free-lanced, shooting commercials, educational projects, and dramatic and industrial films from Hawaii to Saudi Arabia. His three feature film credits are a documentary, I'm aStranger Here Myself, and two John Sayles movies, Return ofthe Secaucus Seven and Lianna.
Jon Fauer '72 says his talents as a cinematographer are the product of the early days of Dartmouth Film Studies "superb instruction and prehistoric facilities." Fauer missed his commencement ceremony to film the world kayak championships in Italy and continued to shoot "kayaking, kayaking, and more kayaking" for sports-adventure programs. He now shoots documentaries, commercials, and feature films on any subject. His credits include,I Thejury, FDR, National Geographic specials on New Zealand and the North Pole, and, as a more local effort, OnGolden Pond.
Sound and music by...
For the musical score of the all-Dartmouth film, Werner Janssen '21 and Paul Weston '33. Janssen recently completed the score for a Hollywood feature documentary on Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio. That brings the total of Janssenscored films to over three dozen, a dozen of which have been nominated for Academy Awards, including Uncle Vanya,Robin Hood, Ruthless, and TheGeneral died at Dawn, for which Janssen won the Oscar. Janssen has conducted orchestras from Vienna to St. Louis to Sao Paolo, scored seven Broadway musicals and many television programs and received the Prix de Rome, Knighthood from Finland, and a doctor of music degree from Dartmouth. "Am presently on a new film and writing a musical plus conducting in Europe to keep out of mischief," he writes.
Among his many achievements in the music recording, performing, and writing business, Paul Weston was the musical director for HolidayInn, starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. He has since scored numerous television programs and films, along with composing such popular hits as "Shrimp Boats" and "You Belong to Me" for singer and wife-Jo Stafford.
Tom Nelson '67 and Wayne Wadhams '68 can manage the soundtrack. As a partner in the Boston-based Film Associates, Inc., Wadhams has, in collaboration with Austin de Besche '68 and William Gitt '53, produced television, promotional, and commercial films. He was chiefly responsible for the sound on Return of the SecaucusSeven and Lianna. Wadhams is also a record producer, and Film Associates acts as a literary agent for screenwriters such as Roy Carlson '70. Nelson, an award-winning soundman based in New York City, has worked on television's Life OnThe Mississippi and The Rookie ofthe Year. He also did the sound for the feature films Distance and Below the Belt.
Researched, critiqued, maintained, projected, catalogued, and etcetera'd by...
There aire alumni involved in Hollywood who never get close to a camera. Ed Victor '61 and David Stewart Hull '6O are literary agents representing authors to the film industry. Victor, considered one of London's best agents, counts Irving Wallace among his clients. Hull, who himself wrote Film In TheThird Reich, recently sold TheEvil That Men Do for production to Charles Bronson.
Museum. In 1970 and 1971 he organized FILMEX, one of the largest and most important of international film festivals. Chamberlain is now director of In 1968 Philip Chamberlain 'SO left his post as professor of film aesthetics at the University of California to create the motion picture department of the Los Angeles County the Hollywood Group, whose principal project is a 200,000-square-foot museum, due to open in mid-1983. It will house film artifacts and Hollywoodiana.
Richard Sassenberg '48 made his mark on the industry by inventing Piclear, a process to enhance the projected image of film. Sassenburg received a technical achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1978. As a West Coast sales manager of Eastman Kodak's motion picture films, Walter Farley '31 supplied Hollywood's cameras with everything from black and white to Technicolor. Manfrid Lundgren '29, as the former head film buyer for National Theatres Corporation, brought the fruits of Dartmouth alumni's labors into some of the country's finest theatres, including Grauman's Chinese (now owned by Mann Theatres), pictured on the cover. And Eddy Lider '43, as chair of Fall Rivers Theatre Corporation, has screened some of the films at one company-owned theater in Hanover, called the Nugget.
Peter Klinge '59, professor of communications at Ithaca College in New York, is the author of Introduction to FilmStructure, a comprehensive textbook of film-making.
To review an all-Dartmouth movie, who better than Vincent Canby '45? Canby has been the chief film critic at the New York Times since 1969. Last year he reviewed 160 films and viewed an additional 60, just to keep in shape. After careers in journalism and public relations, Canby worked for Variety before going to the Times. He has also written two novels, Unnatural Scenery and Living Quarters.
Ken Wlaschin '56, featured elsewhere in this issue, is programme director of the London Film Festival and the National Film Theatre of London. He's the author of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's GreatMovie Stars and Their Films and The Bluffer's Guide to the Cinema. Two of his novels, To Kill thePope and The Italian Job, were bought for films; the latter was made by Paramount.
Robert Gitt '63 coordinated film programming at Dartmouth before serving as technical officer at the American Film Institute archives. He is presently film archives preservation officer at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is responsible for the restoration of such classics as Orson Welles' Macbeth, Max Ophul's Caught, and Frank Capra's LostHorizons.
Televised by...
If only to prevent this distinguished list from stretching to infinity, we've focused on those alumni involved in the feature film industry. But Hollywood is television too, and the relation of the wide screen to the small one is at once technical, creative, and social. Prime examples of Dartmouth alumni contribution to television
entertainment come immediately to mind. Sylvester "Pat" Weaver '30 recently received the lifetime achievement award from TV Guide, an honor shared only with Edward R. Murrow. Weaver's achievements in broadcasting began with his production of radio's "Fred Allen Show" and the "Command Performance" series. He pioneered in the development of quality commercial television, creating or producing or doing both for Your Showof Shows, Today, Victory at Sea, and Commentary with Chet Huntley. By bringing PetrifiedForest, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin, to the small screen, he set standards for television as a valuable cultural medium. He commissioned Menotti's opera Amahland the Night Visitors for television. Weaver joined NBC in 1949 and rose to become its chair in 1954. Since 1963 he has pioneered in the development of subscription and cable television.
Harry Ackerman '35 has supervised, produced, and helped to create over 20 television series, an all-time record: TheJack Benny Show, Gunsmoke, ILove Lucy, Hazel, Dennis theMenace, The Flying Nun, Bewitched, and many more. He was executive producer of five special productions including Blithe Spirits with Lauren Bacall and Noel Coward, and Twentieth Century with Orson Welles and Betty Grable. Ackerman recently resigned as vice president for television at Capitol Pictures and is still active as president of Harry Ackerman Productions.
Ira Skutch Jr. '41 began his entertainment industry career as a walk-on in Alexander Cohen's Broadway production of Angel Street. He joined N.B.C. in 1942, and, while rising up in the ranks of Goodson-Todman Productions, has produced and directed such classics as Philco Playhouse, Beat the Clock, and Stop Me If You've Heard ThisOne.
Grant Tinker '47 is the current chairman of N.B.C. Tinker came to television in the early fifties, after a stint with Radio Free Europe. As president of M.T.M. Productions for 11 years, Tinker brought to the screen The Mary Tyler MooreShow, Rhoda, Lou Grant, TheWhite Shadow, and Hill StreetBlues, among other high-quality programs. He was recently elected into the hall of fame of the Boston/New England Chapter of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
The famed N.B.C. special projects unit and Project 20 programming of Donald Hyatt '50 captured every major award in the broadcasting industry. Hyatt began his career in documentary entertainment as associate producer of Victory at Sea, "the granddaddy of all TV documentaries," according to Variety. His later programs, including "The Law and the Prophets," "Meet Mr. Lincoln," "Mark Twain's America," "The Island Called Ellis," "The American Experience" bicentennial series, and "The Real West," all drew critical acclaim. Hyatt retired from N.B.C: in 1974 to enter independent production.
During his tenure at Universal, Ron Roth '57 produced the old Chrysler Theatre programs. At Metromedia Producers Corporation, he produced the highly acclaimed movie of the week, Thief. He has continued to produce successful television movies for Playboy Productions, including The Savage Niagara, Third Girl from the Left,Deliver Us from Evil, SummerWithout Boys, and The FamilyKovak.
Chances are this list can never be complete. Younger graduates continue the trek west, and every week brings news of new jobs, offers, and projects from established alumni. Others who are making their presence felt include aspiring actors Daniel Chodos '73, and Adrienne Alexander '76, film-makers Jack Weinstein '67, Wayne Scherzer '72, Robert Fieldsteel '78, Mark Hanson '78, Thomas Avery '70, Chip Blakemore, Jr. '80, and the dozen or so "young and restless" featured in "The Hollywood Dartmouth Network." Their jobs continue to fill every credit on the last reel. Tom Seidman '7l, for instance, has worked as a coordinator of extras and production assistant on Casey's Shadow, Bobby Jo and theOutlaw, and P.B.S. 's Liza's Pioneer Diary, while Carol Dudley S '68 has served as casting director for All the Marbles, television's "Breaking Away," and The Marva Collins Story, among others.
Hey, let's put on a show!
Orton Hicks '21 with Grace Kelley at M.G.M. studios in 1954
Super-Gerald Schnitzer '40
Charles "Cap" Palmer '23
John C. Rose '28
Matthew Rapf '42
John Lugar '70
Donald Hyatt '50
Herbert Solow '51
Leonard Ackerman '46
William Aydelott '72
James Goldstone '53 on the set of Kent State
Joseph Losey '29
L. Andrew Stone '69
Robert Rafelson '54
Peter Werner '68
Cliff Ebrahim '59
Alan Hewitt '34
Meryl Streep '70-'71S
David Birney '61
Moriarty as Dorf
Michael Moriarty '63
Stephen Macht '63
Jerry Zaks '67
Macht as Schmelling
David-James Carroll '12
Naury Rapf '35
Sheldon Stark '30
Walter Bernstein '40
Frank Gilroy '50
Stephen Geller '62
Budd Schulberg '36
Chris Miller '63
Roger Simon '64
Allan Rader '36
Stan Waterman '46
Jon Fauer '72 on location in the North Pole
Austin deBesche '68
Wayne Wadhams '68
Werner Jannsen '21
Paul Weston '33
Robert Gift '63
Ken Wlaschin '56
Vincent Canby '45
Walter Farley, Jr., '31
Harry Acktrman '35
Grant Tinker '47
