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Morrie Ryskind

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Morrie Ryskind
Bottom, left to right: George S. Kaufman, Morrie Ryskind, (top) Ira Gershwin, George Gershwin
Bottom, left to right:George S. Kaufman,Morrie Ryskind, (top)Ira Gershwin,George Gershwin
BornMorris Ryskind
(1895-10-20)October 20, 1895
Brooklyn,New York, U.S.
DiedAugust 24, 1985(1985-08-24)(aged 89)
Washington, D.C.,U.S.
OccupationDramatist, screenwriter, lyricist, newspaper columnist
EducationColumbia University
Years active1929-1972
SpouseMary House (1929–1985)
Children2[1]

Morris"Morrie"Ryskind(October 20, 1895 – August 24, 1985) was an American dramatist, lyricist and writer of theatrical productions and movies who became aconservativepolitical activistlater in life.

Life and career[edit]

Ryskind was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants Ida (Edelson) and Abraham Ryskind.[2]He attended Columbia University but was suspended shortly before he was due to graduate after he called university presidentNicholas Murray Butler"Czar Nicholas" in the pages of the humor magazineJesterin 1917. Ryskind was criticizing Butler for refusing to allowIlya Tolstoyspeak on campus.[3]

From 1927 to 1945, Ryskind was author of numerous scripts and musical lyrics for Broadway productions and Hollywood films, and he later directed several productions. He collaborated withGeorge S. Kaufmanon several Broadway hits. In 1933, he earned thePulitzer Prizefor drama for the Broadway productionOf Thee I Sing,a musical written in collaboration with composerGeorge Gershwin.[4]

Ryskind wrote or cowrote severalMarx Brotherstheatrical and screenplays, including the book for the Broadway musicalAnimal Crackers(1929) (with Kaufman), and he wrote the screenplays for the film versions ofThe Cocoanuts(1929) andAnimal Crackers(1930).

Later he cowrote, again with Kaufman, the screenplay forA Night at the Opera(1935), which helped revive interest in the Marx Brothers and was selected by theAmerican Film Instituteas amongthe top 100 comedy films.In working on that script, Ryskind was heavily involved in the "cleanup process," watching the brothers repeatedly perform sections of the play before live audiences to determine which lines worked and which did not. In an interview with Richard J. Anobile inThe Marx Brothers Scrapbook,Groucho Marx said that he was so appalled by an early draft of the script, which was reportedly written byBert KalmarandHarry Ruby,that he screamed "Why fuck around with second-rate talent, get Kaufman and Ryskind [to write the screenplay]!"[5]

Ryskind also rewrote the stage version ofRoom Service(1938), reworking the plot to make the film suitable for the Marx Brothers.[6]

During that period, Ryskind was twice nominated for anAcademy Awardfor his part in writing the filmsMy Man Godfrey(starringCarole Lombard,1936) andStage Door(starringKatharine Hepburn,1937). Later, he wrote the screenplay for the successfulPenny Serenade,wrote the stage musicalLouisiana Purchase(which soon became a film starringBob Hope) and supervised the production ofThe Lady Comes Across.[7]

Political activism[edit]

For many years, Ryskind had been a member of theSocialist Party of America,and during the 1930s he participated in party-sponsored activities, even performing sketches at antiwar events, but he split with the party'sOld Guard factionled byLouis Waldman.His politics soon moved to the political right. In 1940, Ryskind abandoned theDemocratic Party,and he opposed PresidentFranklin Delano Roosevelt's pursuit of a third term, writing the campaign song for that year'sRepublican Partypresidential nomineeWendell Willkie.[8]He maintained some ties to the Socialist Party throughout the 1940s and served as a vice chairman of theKeep America Out of War Congress.

He became a friend to writersMax Eastman,[9]Ayn Rand,[10]John Dos Passos,[11]Suzanne La Follette[12]andRaymond Moley.[13]Later, he would become a friend toWilliam F. Buckley, Jr.and future presidentRonald Reagan.[14]In 1947, he appeared before theHouse Committee on Un-American Activitiesas a "friendly witness." Ryskind never sold another script after that appearance, and he believed that his appearance before HUAC was responsible, although there is no direct evidence of an organized campaign against the "friendly witnesses."[15]

In the 1950s, Ryskind contributed articles toThe Freeman,[16]In 1954, he was also a board member of theAmerican Jewish League Against Communism.[17]

He lent money to Buckley to help startTheNational Review,[18]which began publication in 1955, another journal to which he was an early contributor. Ryskind briefly joined theJohn Birch Societybut soon disassociated himself from the group after it began to claim that Roosevelt,Harry TrumanandDwight Eisenhowerwere part of theSovietconspiracy.[19]He was also a vocal sympathizer with the anti-ZionistAmerican Council for Judaism.

In 1960, Ryskind started to write a feature column in theLos Angeles Timesthat promoted conservative ideas for the next 11 years. His sonAllan H. Ryskindwas the longtime editor of the conservative weeklyHuman Events.[20]

The elder Ryskind's autobiographyI Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas: The Morrie Ryskind Storydetails his adventures from Broadway to Hollywood as well as his conversion to conservative politics.

Stage productions[edit]

Filmography[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

  • George S. Kaufmanet al.,Kaufman & Co.: Broadway Comedies,Laurence Maslon,ed. (New York:The Library of America,2004ISBN1-931082-67-7;includesAnimal CrackersandOf Thee I Sing)
  • Animal Crackers(1928, withGeorge S. Kaufman,New York:Samuel French's Musical Library,1984ISBN978-0573681370)
  • Of Thee I Sing(1931, with George S. Kaufman andIra Gershwin,New York: Knopf. 1932;Samuel French's Musical Library,1963ISBN978-0573680373)
  • Let 'Em Eat Cake(1933, with George S. Kaufman and Ira Gershwin, New York: Knopf. 1933)
  • I Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas: the Morrie Ryskind Story(with John H. M. Roberts, Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1994ISBN1-56384-000-6)
  • Nicholas Miraculous: The Amazing Career of the Redoubtable Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler,Michael Rosenthal (Columbia University Press, 2006ISBN978-0-231-17421-3)

References[edit]

  1. ^Schmalz, Jeffrey (25 August 1985)."Morrie Ryskind Dies at 89; Wrote Plays and Screen Comedies".The New York Times.
  2. ^"I Shot an Elephant in My Pajamas: The Morrie Ryskind Story by Morrie Ryskind, John H Roberts - Alibris for Libraries} (hereafter," Ryskind,Pajamas")".
  3. ^Rosenthal, Michael,Nicholas Miraculous: The Amazing Career of the Redoubtable Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler,2006, Columbia University Press, pp.238-239.
  4. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,p.88, 99.
  5. ^Marx, Groucho; Anobile, Richard J. (1973).The Marx Bros. scrapbook – Groucho Marx, Richard J. Anobile – Google Boeken.Darien House.ISBN9780517515464.Retrieved2013-12-25.
  6. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.101-117.
  7. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.119-141.
  8. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.169-171.
  9. ^Diggins, John,Up From Communism,Harper & Row, 1975, pp. 201-233; Ryskind,Pajamas,p.184; and, O'Neill, William L.,The Last Romantic: a Life of Max Eastman,1991, Transaction
  10. ^Burns, Jennifer,Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right,2009, Oxford Univ. Press, p.131.
  11. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,p.179, 184.
  12. ^Chamberlain, John,A Life with the Printed Word,Regnery, 1982, p.138.
  13. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,p.189.
  14. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,p.178, pp.206-208.
  15. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.165-166.
  16. ^Chamberlain, John,A Life With the Printed Word,p.138.
  17. ^ Piper, Michael Collins (2006).The Judas Goats: The Enemy Within.American Free Press.ISBN9780981808628.Retrieved21 March2020.
  18. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.183-184.
  19. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.198-199.
  20. ^Ryskind,Pajamas,pp.186-187.

External links[edit]

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