John L. Balderston

Biography

John L. Balderston was an American playwright, screenwriter, and journalist from Philadelphia. He specialized in creating horror and fantasy stories. He is primarily remembered for the time travel-themed play "Berkeley Squarte" (1926), the 1927 American adaptation of the play "Dracula", the screenplays for the horror films "The Mummy" (1932), "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935), and "Dracula's Daughter" (1936), the screenplay for the adventure film "The Prisoner of Zenda" (1937), and the screenplay for the psychological thriller "Gaslight" (1944). Balderston received his college education at Columbia University, a private research university located in New York City. In 1912, he was hired as a journalist by the daily newspaper "The Philadelphia Record" (1877-1947). He served as the newspaper's New York City correspondent. During World War I, Balderston served as a war correspondent for the for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. He also served as a director of information in England and Ireland for the United States Committee on Public Information. In 1916, Balderston co-wrote "The Brooke Kerith", a biography of Jesus. In 1919, he wrote his debut play, "The Genius of the Marne". From 1920 to 1923, Balderston served as a magazine editor for the London-based publication "The Outlook" (1898-1928). The magazine was founded by the British Conservative politician George Wyndham (1863-1913), and was closely aligned with the Conservative Party for most of its existence. From 1923 to 1931, Balderston was the head of the London bureau for the daily newspaper "New York World" (1860-1931). The newspaper was owned at the time by the Pulitzer family, heirs of its former publisher Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911). In 1931, the Pulitzer family sold the newspaper to their competitor Roy W. Howard (1883-1964). The new owner decided to shut down the newspaper, and to fire its 3,000 employees. Balderston decided at the time to retire as a journalist, in order to work as a full-time screenwriter. Balderston had written several plays in the early 1920s, to little success. His first major hit was "Berkeley Squarte" (1926). Its main plot concerned a 20th-century man who time travels back to late 18th-century London and interacts with his own ancestors. The plot was loosely based on the unfinished novel "The Sense of the Past" (1917) by Henry James, though most of the characters were originally created by Balderston. The play enjoyed 179 performances at London's West End theaters, and 229 performances in Broadway. In 1927, Balderston was retained by stage producer Horace Liveright (1884-1933) to write a revised version of the play "Dracula" (1924) by Hamilton Deane. Balderston reduced the total cast from eleven characters to eight, combined the main female characters Lucy Westenra and Mina Murray into a single character, and revised the origin of Dracula himself. He clearly identified the fictional vampire with the historical ruler Vlad the Impaler, something only hinted at the original novel by Bram Stoker. Balderston's version enjoyed 261 performances at Broadway, and turned lead actor Bela Lugosi into a rising star. At a later point, actor-producer Hamilton Deane hired Balderston to write a revised version of the play "Frankenstein" (1927) by Peggy Webling. Balderston's version never made it to Broadway, but Balderston sold the film rights to the film studio Universal Pictures. Balderston's plays served as the basis for the hit horror films "Dracula" (1931) and "Frankenstein" (1931). Universal decided to directly hire Balderston as a screenwriter for the horror film "The Mummy" (1932). Balderston in turn decided to move the film's setting to Egypt, figured that the main villain should be motivated by immortal love (rather than revenge), and invented the concept of the magical Scroll of Thoth (loosely based on the historical "Book of the Dead"). Throughout the 1930s, Balderston worked as a screenwriter for various film studios. He was one of the team of writers who collaborated on the film adaptation of "Gone with the Wind" (1939). He wrote screenplays for several films in the early 1940s, but his only major success in this period was "Gaslight" (1944). With his screenwriter career at its end, he tried his hand at writing his own novels. He wrote the novel "A Goddess to a God" (1948), which depicted the relationship of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII. In 1952, Balderston was appointed as a lecturer in drama at the University of Southern California. In 1953, he settled a law suit with Universal Pictures over the "Frankenstein" sequels. Based on his original contract, Balderston should have received part of the revenue of any sequel to the original "Frankenstein". Universal had reneged on the deal, and Balderston had sued them. In March 1954, Balderston suffered a heart attack at his residence in Beverly Hills. He died shortly after, at the age of 64. His enduring fame since then is based mostly on his screenplays to popular films. Several of his works received new adaptations following his death. He is considered one of the most successful screenwriters of the interwar period.