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Samuel Hoffenstein

Samuel Hoffenstein

Writing

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Samuel "Sam" Hoffenstein (October 8, 1890 - October 6, 1947) was a screenwriter and a musical composer. Born in Russia, he emigrated to the United States and began a career in New York City as a newspaper writer and in the entertainment business. In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived for the rest of his life and where he wrote the scripts for over thirty movies. These movies included Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931), The Miracle Man (1932), Phantom of the Opera (1943), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Tales of Manhattan (1942), Flesh and Fantasy (1943), Laura (1944), and Ernst Lubitsch's Cluny Brown (1946). In addition, Hoffenstein, along with Cole Porter and Kenneth Webb, helped compose the musical score for Gay Divorce (1933), the stage musical that became the film The Gay Divorcee (1934). He died in Los Angeles, California. A book of his verse, Pencil in the Air, was published three days after his death to critical acclaim. Another book of his work was published in 1928, titled Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing. The book contained some of his work that had been formerly published in the New York World, the New York Tribune, Vanity Fair, the D. A. C. News, and Snappy Stories.

Known For

Laura
7.6

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.

Laura

1944
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
7.2

Dr. Henry Jekyll believes that there are two distinct sides to men: one that is good and one that is evil. He believes that by separating the two, man can become liberated. He succeeds in his experiments with chemicals to accomplish this and transforms into Hyde to commit horrendous crimes. When he discontinues use of the drug, it is already too late.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1931
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
6.5

Dr. Jekyll believes good and evil exist in everyone and creates a potion that allows his evil side, Mr. Hyde, to come to the fore. He faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run amok.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1941
Phantom of the Opera
6.2

Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.

Phantom of the Opera

1943
Conquest
6.6

A Polish countess is dispatched by her country to become Napoleon Bonaparte's mistress at the urging of Polish leaders, who feel she might influence him to support Polish independence.

Conquest

1937
Tales of Manhattan
6.5

Ten screenwriters collaborated on this series of tales concerning the effect a tailcoat cursed by its tailor has on those who wear it. The video release features a W.C. Fields segment not included in the original theatrical release.

Tales of Manhattan

1942
Lydia
6.5

Lydia MacMillan, a wealthy woman who has never married, invites several men her own age to her home to reminisce about the times when they were young and courted her. In memory, each romance seemed splendid and destined for happiness, but in each case, Lydia realizes, the truth was less romantic, and ill-starred.

Lydia

1941
Desire
7.0

Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.

Desire

1936
Bridal Suite
5.4

A carefree playboy with an aversion to marriage falls for a lass he meets in the French Alps.

Bridal Suite

1939
Paris in Spring
7.0

Afraid of marriage, Simone (Mary Ellis) breaks off her long term engagement with her fiancé Paul de Lille (Tullio Carminati). Paul heads to the top of The Eiffel Tower with thoughts of suicide. In another part of Paris and also afraid of marriage, Mignon (Ida Lupino) breaks it off from her young lover (James Blakely). Despairing, Mignon also climbs to the top of the The Eiffel Tower intending to leap to her death. There she meets Paul and the two compare stories. After discussion, Paul dissuades her from leaping and the two conspire to make their respective partners jealous by pretending to have an affair with each other.

Paris in Spring

1935
Sentimental Journey
6.5

An actress becomes taken with Hitty, a young orphan prone to dreaming. Julie soon finds out that she is ill and has only a short time to live. She decides to adopt the child so that her husband Bill will not be alone when she dies. Unfortunately, Bill is not charmed by Hitty.

Sentimental Journey

1946
The Fountain
9.2

Set during the first World War in neutral, but pro-German, Holland, Lewis Allison, an interned British officer, is paroled to the castle of Baron Von Leyden and finds living there, but now married to German officer Rupert Von Narwitz, his childhood sweetheart Julie. Long discussions between Julie and Allison, centering on family conflicts that kept them apart, take place before the severely wounded Von Narwitz returns to the castle and more long discussions ensue.

The Fountain

1934
The Song of Songs
6.0

After her father dies, Lily moves to the city to live with her strict aunt. During the day Lily works in her aunt's bookstore, and at night she sneaks across the street to model for Richard, a sculptor with whom she falls in love. A patron of Richard's, Baron von Merzbach, develops an interest in Lily that may not be with the best of intentions.

The Song of Songs

1933
Love Me Tonight
6.6

A Parisian tailor goes to a château to collect a bill, only to fall for an aloof young princess living there.

Love Me Tonight

1932
White Woman
5.8

A nightclub singer marries the rich owner of a rubber plantation. When she returns with him to his estate in Malaysia, she finds out that he is cruel, vicious and insanely jealous. She and the plantation's overseer develop a mutual attraction, but are terrified at what will happen if her husband finds out.

White Woman

1933
Cluny Brown
7.2

Amateur plumber Cluny Brown gets sent off by her uncle to work as a servant at an English country estate.

Cluny Brown

1946
Flesh and Fantasy
7.1

Anthology film of three tales of the supernatural. The first story is set at the Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The second involves a psychic who predicts murder. The third is about a man who literally meets the girl of his dreams.

Flesh and Fantasy

1943
An American Tragedy
6.3

A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.

An American Tragedy

1931
The Voice of Bugle Ann
5.5

A Missouri farmer's (Lionel Barrymore) son (Eric Linden) loves the daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) of a neighbor who has killed the farmer's foxhound.

The Voice of Bugle Ann

1936
Enchanted April
5.1

Mrs. Lotty Wilkins is an unhappily wife whom's life husband and romance have departed. In order to possibly salvage some of the missing elements in her life she rents an old Italian mansion and sharing it with three women. Here the four women plan to spend the month of April away from the cares of home, husbands and the everyday monotony.

Enchanted April

1935