Bound and gagged in Hollywood

About this book

"Edmund Hartmann arrived in Hollywood as a contract screenwriter in the early 1930s and by the next decade had become producer of his own screenplays for Universal. He oversaw feature films for such diverse talents as John Carradine, Eve Arden, Jane Russell, Basil Rathbone, Hedy Lamarr, Victor McLaglen, Bob Cummings, Don Ameche, Ann Miller, Jackie Cooper, and Joan Fontaine and handled almost all types of cinema - mysteries, social dramas, fantasies, and westerns. But it was his comedic facility for which Hartmann will be best remembered. He wrote seven comedies for Bob Hope, three for Lucille Ball, and worked with both Abbott and Costello and the vaudeville comedy team of Olson and Johnson. Ultimately, Hartmann made his greatest mark on television, where he oversaw two major hits of the 1960s - the long-running My Three Sons, with Fred MacMurray, and Family Affair, starring Brian Keith." "In Bound and Gagged in Hollywood: Edmund L. Hartmann, Screenwriter and Producer, film scholar Donald W. McCaffrey reviews the long and varied career of this talented man. Drawing on more than fifty interviews, McCaffrey creates a profile of a man whose success in film extended to television triumphs. He also examines Hartmann's tenure in the 1950s as president of the western branch of the Writers Guild, as he and his fellow screenwriters endured investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee." "In this intimate portrait, McCaffrey provides an analysis of Hartmann's work on both the large and small screens, covering a span of more than forty years. Hartman himself adds spice to the narrative with anecdotes and an insider's view of the creative process. This book is a fitting tribute to a man whose legacy lives on in both television and cinema."--Jacket.