Ring Lardner, Jr.
Writing
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ringgold Wilmer "Ring" Lardner Jr. (August 19, 1915 – October 31, 2000) was an American journalist and screenwriter blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studios during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s. Ring Lardner Jr. moved to Hollywood where he worked as a publicist and "script doctor" before writing his own material. This included Woman of the Year, a film that won him an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay in 1942. He also worked on the scripts for the films Laura (1944), Brotherhood of Man (1946), Forever Amber (1947), and M*A*S*H (1970). The script of the latter earned him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Lardner held strong left-wing views and during the Spanish Civil War he helped raise funds for the Republican cause. He was also involved in organizing anti-fascist demonstrations. His brother, James Lardner, was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and was killed in action in Spain in 1938. Although his political involvement upset the owners of the film studios, he continued to be given work and in 1947 became one of the highest paid scriptwriters in Hollywood when he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox at $2,000 a week.
Known For
The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.
M*A*S*H
Set in 1951, a blacklisted Hollywood writer gets into a car accident, loses his memory and settles down in a small town where he is mistaken for a long-lost son.
The Majestic
One of the world's most acclaimed comedies, M*A*S*H focuses on three Korean War Army surgeons brilliantly brought to life by Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Elliott Gould. Though highly skilled and deeply dedicated, they adopt a hilarious, lunatic lifestyle as an antidote to the tragedies of their Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, and in the process infuriate Army bureaucrats. Robert Duvall, Gary Burghoff and Sally Kellerman co-star as a sanctimonious Major, an other-worldly Corporal, and a self-righteous yet lusty nurse.
M*A*S*H
A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Laura
A young Catholic priest from Boston confronts bigotry, Nazism, and his own personal conflicts as he rises to the office of cardinal.
The Cardinal
An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game.
The Cincinnati Kid
A three-way friendship between two free-spirited professional football players and the owner's daughter becomes compromised when two of them become romantically involved.
Semi-Tough
Rival reporters Sam Craig and Tess Harding fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.
Woman of the Year
An Italian woman faces challenges at JFK Airport when Customs confiscates the mortadella sausage she brought as a gift for her fiancé, leading to a humorous and frustrating ordeal.
Lady Liberty
A look at the life and career of acclaimed independent filmmaker Robert Altman...on his own words. The genius director who shook the cinema industry with countless films examines some of his most important works, along with friends and regular collaborators.
Altman on His Own Terms
Muhammad Ali's life story up to the late 1970s, which includes his Olympic boxing triumphs as Cassius Clay, his conversion to Islam, his refusal of the Army draft and the legal battle after being stripped of his World Title.
The Greatest
A European princess jeopardizes her crown when she falls for an American millionaire.
A Breath of Scandal
An industrial espionage group calls on a retired spy living with his wife and children in Paris.
The Deadly Trap
Amber St Clair, orphaned during the English Civil War and raised by a family of farmers, aspires to be a lady of high society; when a group of cavaliers ride into town, she sneaks away with them to London to achieve her dreams.
Forever Amber
A behind the scenes look at the making of the movie M*A*S*H. The documentary reveals all of the chaos, politics, and conflict that was going on behind the scenes during production of the movie through new interviews done with director Robert Altman as well as Richard Zanuck, who was head of production for 20th Century Fox at the time, and others.
Enlisted: The Story of 'M*A*S*H'
A look at the life and work of Charlie Chaplin in his own words featuring an in-depth interview he gave to Life magazine in 1966.
The Real Charlie Chaplin
A young man zigzags through the sordid vortex of downtown Los Angeles while seeking vengeance on the man that beat his father.
The Big Night
Italian partisans help a professor sent by the OSS to find an atomic scientist held by Nazis.
Cloak and Dagger
The story of the tumultuous marriage of a gruff sportswriter and a sophisticated international reporter who work together on the same newspaper.
Woman of the Year
Documentary is about the life and work of American screenwriter Waldo Salt who won two Academy Awards and was put on the Hollywood blacklist in the 1950s. The story is told through interviews with collaborators and friends such as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jon Voight, John Schlesinger and with clips from Salt's films, chiefly Midnight Cowboy.