Maxwell Anderson

James Maxwell Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, on December 15, 1888 to William Lincoln Anderson and Charlotte Perrimela (Stephenson) Anderson. The second child born to the couple, Anderson spent his formative years on his maternal grandmother's farm in Atlantic before the family moved to Andover, Ohio when he was three years old. His father attended a seminary at night to study for the ministry while he supported the family as a railroad fireman. His father took up the life of a traveling minister, moving his family frequently until Anderson was in his late teens. Anderson attended schools in Ohio, Iowa, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.

The Anderson family's life was a vagabond one until they settled in Jamestown, North Dakota in 1907.

After graduating from Jamestown High School, Anderson went to the University of North Dakota in 1908. He worked his way through college as a waiter and serving on the night copy desk of the newspaper "The Grand Forks Herald. " He was a member of the literary society Ad Altiora at UND and helped put together the "Dacotah" Annual. He also participated in college theatrics, serving as assistant director for the Sock and Buskin Dramatic Society.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature in June 1911, Anderson married his UND classmate Margaret Haskett, a farmer's daughter, on August 1, 1911. They eventually had three sons, Quentin, Alan, and Terence. His first job after college was serving as the principal of the Minnewaukan, North Dakota high school, where he doubled as an English teacher. After making pacifist comments to his students, his contract was not renewed, and he moved to Palo Alto, California, where he enrolled in a master's program in English Lit at Stanford University.

After graduating from Stanford in 1914, he spent three years as a high school English teacher in San Francisco before accepting an offer to become chairman of Whittier College's English Department in 1917. Once again he got in trouble with his pro-pacifist statements, and he was fired after his first year for speaking out publicly on behalf of a student seeking conscientious objector status during World War I. Moving back to San Francisco, he worked as a journalist on the "San Francisco Chronicle" and the "San Francisco Bulletin," then moved to New York City to take an editorial position on the liberal periodical "The New Republic. " He continued his work as a newspaperman, becoming a stringer for the "New York Globe" and the New York World. " He also found time to help launch the poetry magazine "Measure.

"Turning his interest to the theater, he wrote his first play in 1923. Written in verse, "White Desert" was a flop, lasting only 12 performances, but it attracted the attention of "New York World" critic Laurence Stallings.

Stallings chose Maxwell as his collaborator on his World War One play "What Price Glory?" Opening on September 3, 1924, the play was one of the stage sensations of the decade, earning kudos and running for 430 performances. The financial rewards of helping create such a big boffo box office blockbuster enabled Anderson to retire from journalism and become a full-time dramatist.

He published two books of poetry, "You Who Have Dreams" in 1925, and "Notes on a Dream," published posthumously in 1972.

"What Price Glory?" was made into a silent film in 1926 and was remade by John Ford in 1952.

"His plays included "Elizabeth the Queen" (1930), "Mary of Scotland " (1933), "Key Largo" (1939); "Truckline Café" (1945), "Joan of Lorraine" (1946), "Anne of the Thousand Days" (1947), and "The Bad Seed" (1954).

Anderson also worked on numerous screenplays, including All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), for which he received an Academy Award nomination, Washington Merry-Go-Round (1932), Rain (1932) , Death Takes a Holiday (1934), and So Red the Rose (1935).

His wife Margaret died on February 26, 1931, and he remarried in 1933, taking Gertrude "Mab" Higger as his second wife.

Anderson won the 1933 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play "Both Your Houses," and repeated as the New York Critics Circle Award winner for "High Tor" in 1936.

They had a daughter, Hesper, born on August 12, 1934, and when Gertrude died on March 21, 1953, he married Gilda Hazard on June 6, 1954.

Many of his plays were written in verse, and they typically touch on social and moral problems, such as "Winterset" (1935), which addressed the Sacco & Vanzetti trials in fictional form. The play, which won the first New York Critics Circle Award, is about a gangster who visits the children of the anarchists executed for the murder he himself committed.

Plays of his that were turned into movies were "Mary of Scotland (1936), "Saturday's Children," which was filmed three times (once as "Maybe It's Love"), Winterset (1936), "Elizabeth the Queen", which became The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939), The Eve of St.

He wrote many historical dramas and two librettos for Kurt Weill, "Knickerbocker Holiday" (1938) and "Lost in the Stars" (1940). He was also a lyricist, his most famous creation being "September Song" from "Knickerbocker Holiday.

Anderson also published two collections of essays, "The Essence of Tragedy and Other Footnotes and Papers" (1939) and "Off Broadway Essays About the Theatre" (1947).

Mark (1944), Knickerbocker Holiday (1944).

Among his many honors were honorary Doctor of Literature degrees from Columbia University in 1946 and the University of North Dakota in 1958, and the National Institute of Arts and Letters' Gold Medal in Drama in 1954.

Key Largo (1948), "Joan of Lorraine," which became Joan of Arc (1948), The Bad Seed (1956), "The Devil's Hornpipe", which became Never Steal Anything Small (1959), and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).

Anderson first considered a musical adaptation of "High Tor" for television in 1949. In mid-1954 CBS President William Paley first approached him with the intent to produce the play for his newly planned anthology series Ford Star Jubilee (1955). During production development, Anderson and John Monks Jr.. adapted the play specifically as a made-for-television musical fantasy in early 1955, with music composed by Arthur Schwartz and lyrics by Anderson. Another factor to consider in the relationship and history between Bing Crosby (b.1904-1977, 77) and William S. Paley (b.1901-1990, 89) should be noted: In the mid 1930s, Bill Paley signed and contracted Bing Crosby (at age 32) to be a regular radio performer on his daily-and-weekly CBS radio network schedule. Bing Crosby (at age 51 in 1955) became the leading drive for the "High Tor" project which brought indirectly creative film talents at Paramount Studios where Crosby's Production office was situated. Because Crosby was uncomfortable with the exigencies of live television, performing 90 minutes non-stop in front of a television studio audience, he insisted that it be filmed. Bing Crosby did not want to use the CBS Hollywood Television City studio facility nor the New York Studio 72 stage. Situated adjacent to Paramount Studios is the former RKO-Pathé Film studio/stages. renamed Desilu Studios when husband and wife comedy team Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball acquired the studio to film their CBS television series "I Love Lucy." The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz television "filmed" production unit had pioneered a number of methods, still in use in television production - filming before a live studio audience with a number of cameras; this established the multiple camera filming procedure to produce, edit, and deliver their filmed show to the CBS network. Paramount Studios negotiated with the Desilu studio facilities to utilize the Desilu "I Love Lucy" production unit facility system, their feature-film production crew in staging, filming, editing and delivering the color film musical special to CBS. Network executives considered the use of film an unnecessary extravaganza. Bing Crosby convinced CBS to allow him to cover all additional costs with filming "High Tor". The total cost of the CBS production was $450,000.00, the most expensive television production up to that time, and the first special filmed for broadcast by CBS. Bing Crosby was reportedly paid $375,000.00. The production was filmed during the month of November 1955 on the Desilu Studios' lot-stages with 35mm cameras. Director of photographer Lester Shorr (at age 48,1907-1992, 85) experienced in filming filmed productions for network clients was part of the Hollywood Paramount-Desilu production package. Two Hollywood directors James Neilson (at age 46, 1909-1979, 70) and Franklin J. Schaffner (at age 35, 1920-1989, 69), both had television-film experience with network filmed productions, shared directorial reigns. Discovered in 1948 on stage at UCLA, Paramount signed Nancy Olson (b. 1929) to a studio contract. Nancy Olson as a relatively inexperienced starlet was given the role of a lifetime as script girl Betty Schaefer, who attracts never-do-well writer William Holden and irks reclusive diva Gloria Swanson in the towering classic "Sunset Blvd. (1950). Her pairing with Holden, in fact, went over so well, they were teamed in a succession of Paramount standard features. With these film credentials Nancy Olson (at age 26) was cast in the musical project. Nancy married to renowned lyricist Alan Jay Lerner knew that Julie Andrews (age 20; b. 1935) had been discovered by her husband lyricist Alan Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe having seen Andrews' Broadway debut in the British hit musical "The Boy Friend" (1954-1955, 485 performances). Julie Andrews had been signed to perform the Eliza Doolittle role in their Broadway bound musical "My Fair Lady". Bing Crosby (at age 52; b.1903-1977, 74) had also seen Julie Andrews in her Broadway debut in "The Boy Friend" and invited her to appear in his television-musical "High Tor". It was Andrews' first work in a Hollywood color film-production, and her American television debut. Hollywood film and Broadway stage performers Hans Corned (age 38; b.1917-1982, 65), Keenan Wynn (age 39; b.1916-1986-70), Everett Sloane (age 46; b. 1909-1965, 55), John Pickard (age 42; b. 1913-1993, 80), Lloyd Corrigan (age 54; b. 1900-1969, 69) completed the illustrious cast; James Neilson (age 46; 1919-1979, 70) was an established Hollywood film director. Arthur Schwartz, who had also produced films for Columbia Pictures, was a highly successful stage/film composer. The songs Arthur Scwartz composed in collaboration with Maxwell Anderson as lyricist for "High Tor" follow: "Living One Day at a Time"/"When You're in Love" - Bing Crosby; "Sad Is the Life of the Sailor's Wife - Julie Andrews; "When You're in Love - Everett Sloane and Julie Andrews; "A Little Love, a Little While"- Bing Crosby; "When you're in Love" (reprise) - Everett Sloane; "John Barleycorn"- Bing Crosby; "Once Upon a Long Ago"- Julie Andrews; "Once Upon a long Ago"- Bing Crosby; "John Barleycorn"- Bing Crosby & chorus; "A Little love, A Little While (reprise) - Bing Crosby. "High Tor" is considered the first television film musical. "High Tor" was broadcast Saturday night, March 10, 1956 as a 90 minute color production on the CBS television network's short one season series "The Ford Star Jubilee". The following week on a Thursday night, Julie Andrews and Alan Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical-play "My Fair Lady" premiered on Broadway on March 15, 1956. Maxwell Anderson had little interest in television, and considered his adaptation a "potboiling job". Julie Andrews later wrote that she thought her performance was "very stilted," and, "Alas, High Tor was not a memorable piece, and received only lukewarm reviews." The song score of the show, with story narration by Bing Crosby, was released by Decca Records in 1956.