Aben Kandel
Aben Kandel (August 15, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Joan Crawford's final movie Trog, and one of Leonard Nimoy's first starring vehicles, Kid Monk Baroni. He is the father of poet Lenore Kandel and screenwriter Stephen Kandel.
Biography Edit
Born in Berlad, Romania, Kandel came to the United States as a child and was educated at New York University and its law school. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and later enlisted in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.[1]
He began writing novels in 1927 and wrote two hit plays Hot Money (1931) that was filmed as High Pressure (1932) and Hot Money (1936), and translated a German play Die Wunderbar by Geza Herczeg and Karl Farkas together with Irving Caesar where the pair added their own songs calling at The Wonder Bar that was acquired by Al Jolson and filmed in 1934.[2] One of Kandel's unpublished short stories So, You Won't Sing, Eh? was filmed as Sing and Like It (1934). Kandel began writing Hollywood stories and screenplays with Manhattan Moon (1935). His novel City for Conquest (1936), based on some of his experiences as a boxer was made into a James Cagney feature in 1940.
Kandel began writing for American television in 1950 whilst continuing to write screenplays and novels.
In 1957 he began writing several lurid screenplays for producer Herman Cohen, for whom he had written Kid Monk Baroni. Cohen and Kandel collaborated on such classic films such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Blood of Dracula (all 1957), How to Make a Monster (1958), Horrors of the Black Museum and The Headless Ghost (both 1959), Konga (1961), Black Zoo, (1963), Berserk! (1967, that he also co-produced), Trog (1970), and Craze (1974). As Kandel was involved in writing prestigious film scripts for major film studies such as MGM and Warner Bros. he used pseudonyms such as Ralph Thornton and Kenneth Langtry.[3]
Personal life and death Edit
Kandel had two children, a son, Stephen and daughter, Lenore. He died of heart failure at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in 1993, at age 95.[4]
Novels Edit
- Vaudeville (1927)
- Black Son (1929)
- Ex-Baby (1930)
- Rabbi Burns (1931)
- City of Conquest (1936)
Filmography Edit
Films Edit
| Year | Film | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 | High Pressure | Story by | based on his play "Hot Money" |
| Le bluffeur | Story by | based on his play "Hot Money" | |
| 1934 | Sing and Like It | Story by | Based on his short story "So You Won't Sing, Eh?" |
| 1935 | She Gets Her Man | Screenplay by, Story by | Co-wrote story with David Diamond |
| Manhattan Moon | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Barry Trivers, Ben Grauman Kohn | |
| 1936 | Hot Money | Story by | Based on his play "Hot Money" |
| Come Closer, Folks | Story by | ||
| More Than a Secretary | Story by | ||
| 1937 | Thunder in the City | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Robert E. Sherwood, Ákos Tolnay |
| They Won't Forget | Screenplay by | Based on the novel "Death in the Deep South" by Ward Greene, Co-wrote screenplay with Robert Rossen | |
| 1939 | Rio | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Edwin Justus Mayer, Frank Partos, Stephen Morehouse Avery |
| 1940 | City for Conquest | Story by | Based on his Novel of the same name |
| 1943 | What's Buzzin', Cousin? | Story by | |
| The Iron Major | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Warren Duff | |
| Three Russian Girls | Screenplay by | Co-wrote screenplay with Dan James | |
| 1947 | High Conquest | Story by | Based on the novel by James Ramsey Ullman |
| 1952 | The Fighter | Screenplay by | Based on the short story "The Mexican" By Jack London, Co-wrote screenplay with Herbert Kline |
| Kid Monk Baroni | Written By | ||
| 1956 | Time Table | Screenplay by | Based on a story by Robert Angus |
| Singing in the Dark | Adaption by | ||
| 1957 | I Was a Teenage Werewolf | Written By | Co-wrote screenplays with Herman Cohen |
| Blood of Dracula | |||
| I Was a Teenage Frankenstein | |||
| 1958 | How to Make a Monster | ||
| 1959 | Horrors of the Black Museum | ||
| The Headless Ghost | |||
| 1961 | Konga | ||
| 1963 | Black Zoo | ||
| 1967 | Berserk! | ||
| 1970 | Trog | Screenplay by | Based on an original story by Peter Bryan and John Gilling |
| 1974 | Craze | Screenplay by | Based on the novel by Henry Seymour, Co-wrote screenplay with Herman Cohen |
Television Edit
| Year | TV series | Credit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950-51 | Studio One in Hollywood | Story by | Episodes "The Blonde Comes First (1950)" & "The Blonde Comes First (1952)" |
| 1950 | Big Town | Writer | Episode "The Pay Off" |
| 1951 | Repertory Theater | Story by | Episode "Kitty Doone" |
| 1952 | Schlitz Playhouse | Writer | Episodes "The Trail", & "The Von Linden File" |
| 1954 | The Philip Morris Playhouse | Story by | Episode "Kitty Doone" |
| 1957 | General Electric Theater | Writer | Episode "No Skin Off Me" |
| 1960 | The Untouchables | Writer | Episode "The Underworld Bank" |
| 1964 | Arrest and Trial | Writer | Episode "A Roll of the Dice" |
| The Man from U.N.C.L.E. | Story by | Episode "The Fiddlesticks Affair" |
Notes Edit
- ^ "Aben Kandel; Screenwriter, Novelist, Playwright Was 96". Los Angeles Times. February 1993.
- ^ "Aben Kandel – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
- ^ p. 56 Weaver, Tom Herman Cohen Interview]] in Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews McFarland, 19 Feb 2003
- ^ "Aben Kandel, Screenwriter, 96". The New York Times. February 2, 1993.
External links Edit
- N.Y. Times obituary: "Aben Kandel, Screenwriter, 96"
- Aben Kandel at IMDb