Herbert Biberman

Herbert Biberman
Born	Herbert Joseph Biberman (1900-03-04)March 4, 1900 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,U.S.
Died	June 30, 1971(1971-06-30)(aged 71) New York City,New York,U.S.
Other names	Herbert J. Biberman
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter and film director
Spouse	Gale Sondergaard ​ (m.1930)​
Children	2
Relatives	Edward Biberman(brother)

Herbert J. Biberman(March 4, 1900– June 30, 1971) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was one of theHollywood Tenand directedSalt of the Earth(1954), a film barely released in the United States, about a zinc miners' strike inGrant County, New Mexico.His membership in theDirectors Guild of Americawas posthumously restored in 1997; he had been expelled in 1950.

Biberman was born inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,to Joseph and Eva Biberman and was the brother of American artist,Edward Biberman.Biberman's pre-blacklist career included writing such films asKing of Chinatown(1939),When Tomorrow Comes(1939),Action in Arabia(1944),The Master Race(1944), which he also directed, andNew Orleans(1947), as well as directing such films asOne Way Ticket(1935) andMeet Nero Wolfe(1936). He married actressGale Sondergaardin 1930; the marriage lasted for the rest of Biberman's life. Biberman died frombone cancerin 1971 inNew York City.

HUAC

Though he would become firmly pro-war afterGermanyinvaded theSoviet Union,during theMolotov–Ribbentrop pact,his outspoken opposition to U.S.Lend-Leaseto theUnited Kingdomwas so intense, the FBI suspected Biberman (who was actually Jewish) of being aNazi.In 1947, the CongressionalHouse Committee on Un-American Activitiesbegan its investigation into the film industry, and Biberman became one of ten Hollywood writers and directors cited forcontempt of Congresswhen they refused to answer questions about theirAmerican Communist Partyaffiliation. Evidence presented in the hearing showed that Biberman had been a member of the communist party since at least 1944.Biberman and the others were imprisoned for their contempt convictions, Biberman for six months. Edward Dmytryk ultimately cooperated with the House committee, but Biberman and the others wereblacklistedby theHollywood studios.

Biberman worked independently after his release from jail. The result wasSalt of the Earth(1954), a fictionalized account of the Grant County miners' strike. The screenplay was byMichael Wilsonand it was produced byPaul Jarrico,neither members of the Ten but they were both also blacklisted.Salt of the Earthhas been deemed "culturally significant" by the United StatesLibrary of Congressand selected for preservation in theNational Film Registry.

Legacy

One of the Hollywood Ten,a 2000 film chronicling his blacklisting and the making ofSalt of the Earthfrom Biberman's point of view, starredJeff Goldblumas Biberman andGreta Scacchias his wife, the actressGale Sondergaard.The film'sclosing creditsnoted Biberman had never been removed from the old blacklist formally, and that Sondergaard had not found work in Hollywood until shortly before her husband's death. Biberman's membership in the Directors Guild of America, which was stripped in 1950, was restored in 1997.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1935	Eight Bells	dialogue director
	One-Way Ticket	Director	(as Herbert Biberman)
1936	Meet Nero Wolfe	Director
1939	King of Chinatown	Writer(story)
	When Tomorrow Comes	Writer	(uncredited)
1944	Action in Arabia	Writer(original screenplay)	(as Herbert Biberman)
	The Master Race	Writer(screenplay) (story),Director
	Together Again	Writer(story)	(as Herbert Biberman)
1946	Abilene Town	associate producer
1947	New Orleans	Writer(story), associate producer
1950	The Hollywood Ten	Himself	(uncredited)
1954	Salt of the Earth	Director
1969	Slaves	Writer,Director

Further reading

• Caballero, Raymond.McCarthyism vs. Clinton Jencks.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.

External links

• Herbert BibermanatIMDb
• Herbert Bibermanat theInternet Broadway Database
• Herbert Bibermanat theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Review in TV Guide of biopic,"One of the Hollywood Ten."