Samuel Bronston
Samuel Bronston was a Bessarabian-born American film producer and media executive. His films have earned a total of seven Academy Award nominations.
Born in Bessarabia, Russian Empire, Bronston immigrated into the United States in 1937. A year later, he met James Roosevelt, the son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and moved to Los Angeles. Together, they formed a brief but fruitless partnership. Roosevelt left Hollywood to return to active military service. Bronston then joined Columbia Pictures, and worked as an associate producer on The Adventures of Martin Eden. A year later, in 1943, Bronston founded his namesake studio Samuel Bronston Productions, and produced Jack London for United Artists. He next collaborated with Lewis Milestone on the war film A Walk in the Sun and René Clair on the mystery film And Then There Were None ; however, Bronston went uncredited as he struggled to raise financing.
Bronston left Hollywood, and worked as a photographer with the Vatican. There, he produced a total of 26 documentary films, exploring the Vatican archives. In 1955, he returned to Hollywood as an independent producer. He relocated Bronston Productions in Madrid, Spain, and raised financial capital by pre-selling his film projects to private investors, including financier Pierre S. du Pont III. In Madrid, Bronston spearheaded several productions of historical epics, including King of Kings, El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, and The Fall of the Roman Empire.
By June 1964, Bronston declared bankruptcy due to the box office failures of The Fall of the Roman Empire and Circus World, in which he owed over US$5.6 million to du Pont III. He subsequently produced Savage Pampas and Dr. Coppelius, albeit uncredited. During his bankruptcy proceedings with his creditors' attorneys, while under oath, Bronston was found to have committed perjury. He was convicted on one count of perjury, but was later acquitted in a prominent case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which set a major precedent for perjury prosecutions. In 1994, Bronston died in Sacramento, at the age of 85.
Early life
Bronston was born on 7 August 1908, in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russian Empire to a Jewish family. His father, Abraham Bronstein, worked as a baker and dessert maker. He was the third born of nine siblings, which included five brothers and four sisters. Through his father's lineage, Bronston was the patrilineal nephew to Leon Trotsky, whose real name was Lev Davidovich Bronstein. Abraham was not enamored with the then-ongoing Russian Revolution of 1917–1923, and formulated an exodus to Paris, where his family was staying. Abraham's sons were emigrated first, and then his daughters. In Paris, Bronston studied to become a surgeon but fainted at his first autopsy. He instead turned to playing the flute and became an amateur photographer. He was educated at the Sorbonne, where he studied history and the visual arts. His early photography career led to an interest in the film industry, where he worked as a film publicity agent for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Europe.In 1932, Bronston was accused of writing bad checks, and he fled to the Netherlands to avoid a jail sentence. He was apprehended by French authorities, and released from police custody. He migrated with his family to England in the following year. There, he met Charmian London, the second wife of author Jack London. While in England, Bronston's family had aspirations to relocate to the United States.
Career
1937–1945: Early Hollywood years
In 1937, Bronston arrived in the United States on boat, at the age of 29. He anglicized his surname due to anti-Semitism. For about a month, he resided in an apartment complex in the Bronx with his cousin, Leon Patlach. He then moved to Washington, D.C. where he met James Roosevelt, the son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. By 1938, Bronston and James Roosevelt moved to Los Angeles; in December, Roosevelt was hired as a vice president for Samuel Goldwyn Productions, a position he held for six months. In 1939, Roosevelt formed his production company, Globe Productions, to produce penny arcades. In April 1940, the Los Angeles Times reported both Roosevelt and Bronston partnered to produce three prospective film projects: The Bat with Alfred Hitchcock attached as director; Pot o' Gold, adapted from the syndicated radio series; and an untitled third film that was to be produced and directed by John Stahl. The deal was later extended to five films, which included The Adventures of Martin Eden, a film adaptation of the novel Martin Eden by Jack London. All these films were to be released by United Artists. However, by late October 1940, the partnership had dissolved due to Roosevelt's active involvement with the United States Marine Corps Reserve, which left The Adventures of Martin Eden without a distributor.In late April 1941, Bronston signed with Columbia Pictures to work as an associate producer on The Adventures of Martin Eden. A month later, Sidney Salkow was hired to direct, while Glenn Ford and Claire Trevor were enlisted to portray the lead roles. Filming began on October 15, 1941. In 1943, Bronston formed his namesake production company, Samuel Bronston Productions. As his inaugural project, he produced the 1943 film Jack London for United Artists. The film was an adaptation of the biographical book authored by London's widow Charmian. The film starred Michael O'Shea as Jack London, while Susan Hayward was cast as Charmian. Before the film's release, Bronston signed an optioning deal with Charmian for the screen rights to her husband's other novels. In 1944, he announced plans to adapt London's novels, including The Valley of the Moon, The Star Rover, and The Little Lady of the Big House.
Bronston's second project was City Without Men. In 1944, Bronston enticed director Lewis Milestone away from the studio system and signed him to a multi-picture contract to direct independent film projects, which were distributed by United Artists. Bronston had also lured exiled French directors René Clair and Julien Duvivier to work for him. During the summer of 1944, he acquired the screen rights to Agatha Christie's 1943 play And Then There Were None, with Clair hired to direct the film adaptation.
Meanwhile, Bronston decided to produce a film adaptation of the 1944 book A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown, after the Zeppo Marx Agency had sent him a copy. Bronston subsequently purchased the screen rights to Brown's novel for $15,000. Milestone also agreed to direct a film adaptation of Borrowed Night adapted from the Oscar Ray novel. In November 1944, United Artists cancelled two of Bronston's projects in development, which included a film adaptation of Edward Chodorov's 1944 play Decision and Final Hour, an original film about munitions manufacturers. The former project was dropped due to opposition from the United States Office of War Information as the story concerned a returning U.S. war veteran who discovers fascism rampant at home. That same month, Duvivier sued Bronston for $395,000, alleging a breach of contract on his two-picture deal. Duvivier had been set to direct Decision, in which Bronston agreed to modify the adaptation treatment to secure approval from the OWI.
Bronston then proceeded with A Walk in the Sun with Milestone as co-producer and director. Robert Rossen was hired to write the screenplay, and principal photography began in November 1944 at the Agoura Ranch within the San Fernando Valley. Financing of the film was initially handled by the bank creditor Walter E. Heller & Co., which loaned $850,000, while Ideal Factoring Co. loaned $300,000. Back in New York, Bronston was alarmed when Heller & Co. withdrew its financial backing. By this point, the project was $45,000 in debt, to which Milestone deferred $30,000 of his own salary to secure the deficit. Bronston then tried to re-negotiate with Heller & Co, but they later withdrew their offer. Bankrupt, Bronston withdrew from his producing duties on A Walk in the Sun. Milestone flew to Chicago and successfully negotiated a deal for $750,000. Filming proceeded, and wrapped on January 5, 1945.
However, United Artists decided not to distribute the film as they had agreed to release The Story of G.I. Joe, another war film with similar subject material. Milestone then presented the film to Twentieth Century Fox, whom agreed to distribute the film. In August 1946, Variety anticipated while A Walk in the Sun had earned $1.6 million in distributor box office rentals, it would leave no immediate net profit to reimburse Bronston, Milestone, and the creditors' financial investments. Before the film's release, Bronston filed suit against the bank creditors and five other individuals connected with the film for $3.36 million for the film rights, along with $1 million in punitive damages. He had alleged the defendants committed "oppression and fraud" in which Bronston's interest in the film rights that was submitted as collateral were sold without his knowledge.
By January 1945, Bronston had withdrew from producing And Then There Were None. A new production company Popular Pictures, Inc., which was headed by Harry Popkin and Edward J. Peskay, was formed to finish the project. Popkin and Peskay acquired the script, which had been written by Dudley Nichols. The principal cast, which had been hired, remained with the project. It was later distributed by Twentieth Century Fox.
1945–1954: Intermediate years
Bronston left Hollywood but nevertheless wanted to produce more films. During the late 1940s, he became the official photographer of the Vatican. There, he heard the Knights of Columbus were planning an ambitious project to photograph the Vatican into a thirty-part film series. He took up the offer, and was given unprecedented access into the Vatican archives. He produced a total of 26 documentaries, on behalf of the Chancellery of the Vatican. Bob Considine served as the narrator for these documentaries. However, the intense heat generated from the high-key lighting caused a minor fire in the chapel, and relations between Bronston and the Vatican soured not long after.By March 1950, after fifteen months of filming, Variety reported Bronston had returned to the United States, intending to sell his documentaries for theatrical distribution. He also had pictures of the Vatican published in Life magazine.