Charles Schnee (6 August 1916Bridgeport, Connecticut – 29 November 1962Beverly Hills, California) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He wrote the scripts for theWesternsRed River (1948) andThe Furies (1950), the socialmelodramaThey Live by Night (1949), and the cynicalHollywood sagaThe Bad and the Beautiful (1952), for which he won anAcademy Award.
He worked primarily as a film producer and production executive during the mid-1950s (credits includeUntil They Sail), but he eventually turned his attention back to scriptwriting.
He was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and graduated fromYale in 1936. He studied law for the next three years and practised law in Massachusetts. He was writing plays and a playApology had a run in 1943 withElissa Landi.[1]
Schnee came to Hollywood in 1945. He did some writing onFrom This Day Forward (1946) atRKO and was credited onCross My Heart (1946) forParamount. He soldAngel Face to Paramount for $25,000[2] and stayed at Paramount to writeI Walk Alone (1947) forHal B. Wallis which was a success and really helped establish him.
Schnee returned to RKO, then under headDore Schary, and worked with directorNicholas Ray and producerJohn Houseman onThey Live by Night (1948).Howard Hawks hired him to work on the script forRed River (1948), which became established as a classic.
He did some uncredited writing for Hal B. Wallis onThe Accused (1949), and he wroteEasy Living (1949) at RKO.
Schary joinedMGM and Schnee followed, working onScene of the Crime (1949).[3] He wrotePaid in Full (1950) for Wallis, then did Schary's personal production,The Next Voice You Hear... (1950) at MGM.
Schnee wroteThe Furies (1950) for Hal B. Wallis, andBorn to Be Bad (1950) for Nicholas Ray at RKO.[4]
At MGM he wroteRight Cross (1950) andBannerline (1951), then did another Schary personal production,Westward the Women (1952).[5]
Schnee wrote a comedy,When in Rome (1952) which was a flop then didThe Bad and the Beautiful (1952) for Houseman and directorVincente Minnelli which was a critical and commercial success. Schnee won an Oscar for this script and Schary promoted him to producer.
In January 1952,Dore Schary of MGM announced the formation of a new production unit under the supervision of Charles Schnee. The idea was to make ten to fifteen films a year[6][7] with budgets under $500,000 to absorb studio overhead.[8]
The unit included several sons of executives who had helped establish MGM, Matthew Raft (son ofHarry Rapf), Arthur Loew (son ofMarcus Loew), and Sidney Franklin Jnr (son ofSidney Franklin). Other producers were Hayes Goetz, Henry Berman (brother ofPandro S. Berman) and Sol Fielding.
Schnee was the uncredited producer onRogue's March (1952) withPeter Lawford, which lost money, andJeopardy (1953), which earned MGM a profit. He produced aJoan Crawford vehicle,Torch Song (1953),
In September 1953, his unit was disbanded and he was assigned producer onBad Day at Black Rock[8] but the production ceased in November.[9] He next made a Biblical movie,The Prodigal (1955) which was a fiasco.[10]
Schnee enjoyed more success withTrial (1955) starringGlenn Ford and especiallySomebody Up There Likes Me (1956) withPaul Newman andRocky Graziano, both popular movies that were critically acclaimed.
Schnee producedThe Wings of Eagles (1957), a biopic ofSpig Wead starringJohn Wayne directed byJohn Ford. He produced a crime film,House of Numbers (1957) andUntil They Sail (1957), the latter reuniting him with the star and director ofSomebody Up There Likes Me.[11] He producedParty Girl (1958) for Nicholas Ray at MGM.[12]
He left MGM and setup as an independent producer at Columbia. He announcedCompany of Cowards withHugh O'Brian,[13] an adaptation ofThe Tiger Among Us byLeigh Brackett[14] and was going to do an original screenplayAtom and Eva.[15] He was also going to makeThe Image Makers withClark Gable.[16] None of the films were made apart fromTiger which would be produced by others years later as13 West Street. Schnee returned to screenwriting.
He wroteTheMark Hellinger Story forGeorge Sidney but the film did not proceed due to casting issues.[17] He wroteThe Crowded Sky (1960) at Warners and a significant success withBUtterfield 8 (1961) at MGM. In 1961 he was president of the Writers Guild of America, West.
As "John Dennis" he wroteBy Love Possessed (1961). Then he was reunited with the star, producer and director ofThe Bad and the Beautiful withTwo Weeks in Another Town (1962), a critical and commercial disappointment. Following his work onTwo Weeks in Another Town,Kirk Douglas hired him to rewriteThe List of Adrian Messenger (1963).[18]
His wife, Mary Schnee, predeceased him by committing suicide in October 1961.
Schnee had just signed a contract withDino De Laurentiis on theSacco and Vanzetti case when he died of a heart attack on November 29, 1962. He was 46,[1] survived by a 14-year-old daughter, Tina.[19]
