Budd Schulberg

"It is always a problem to declare "the best" of something. Mostly if it's a book: you should judge not only the book itself, but also the moment you read it, how it knocked on your personal door and how your life was before and after it. Very difficult. I by the way didn't find this year particularly brilliant, so at a certain point I reached for a lot of masterpieces I haven't read for a long time, and I once again and more than ever felt completely in love with them: War and Peace, Hamlet, The Beautiful and the Damned ... Maybe these ... Read Full Story

Novelist Budd Schulberg (“What Makes Sammy Run?” and “On the Waterfront”) died recently. There’s a good video obit on the New York Times site, featuring an interview with Schulberg just a couple of years ago when he was already in his 90’s. It includes the story of how he and F Scott Fitzgerald worked together—or, more accurately, how they got fired together.  You’ll find that video here ( www.nytimes.com/pages/arts/index.html )   --you’ll have to scroll down to the videos and find it, it doesn’t have its own url).  There’s a more comprehensive video bio on YouTube, in three parts. It covers how he was ... Read Full Story

ON THE WATERFRONT (released in 1954…the year of this tired blogger’s birth) was truly one of the greatest films of all times. Superbly directed by Elia Kazan , vividly photographed by cinematographer Boris Kaufman, scathingly written by Budd Schulberg and hauntingly scored by Leonard Bernstein , it received eight Oscars. The film established the great Marlon Brando ’s legendary status for all time and, for her outstanding performance, made a star of Eva Marie Saint. However, Karl Malden ’s relatively overlooked role as Father Barry deserved more attention…his portrayal was that of an actual priest and ON THE WATERFRONT was, for the most part, ... Read Full Story

Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who wrote the screenplay for On the Waterfront, died Aug. 5 at age 95. Fresh Air remembers him with an interview he gave in 1990 — plus excerpts of chats with Elia Kazan and Eva Marie Saint. More: continued here Read Full Story

Schulberg (AP) Budd Schulberg, author and screenwriter of "On the Waterfront," died in New York yesterday afternoon. Schulberg, who struggled with a speech impediment as a child, won an Academy Award for "On the Waterfront."  The NY Daily News reported: While at Dartmouth, Schulberg collaborated with F. Scott Fitzgerald on a script based on the school's annual winter carnival. In 1941, Schulberg's first novel, "What Makes Sammy Run?" was published. The book, about a newspaper copy boy who becomes a top screenwriter by backstabbing others, was the National Critics' Choice for Best First Novel of the Year. Schulberg was in the Navy in World War ... Read Full Story