ERNEST LEHMAN

Krampner examines the life, work, and eccentricities of one of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters in this entertaining biography.

Raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Ernest Lehman got his start as a freelance writer before becoming a press agent for Broadway publicist Irving Hoffman. This occupation inspired his acclaimed novellas Tell Me About Tomorrow (later retitled Sweet Smell of Success), from 1950, and 1952’s The Comedian, leading to a contract with Paramount Pictures in 1952. Lehman’s much-lauded screenplay for 1954’s Executive Suite established him as a gifted adapter of other works, confirmed by back-to-back critical and box office hits, including Sabrina (1954), The King and I (1956), and Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). But it was Lehman’s collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock on 1959’s North by Northwest that cemented his status. The author has done exhaustive research, revealing how the pressure of creating that movie’s original screenplay strained Lehman’s anxious nature to the point he nearly quit the project: “Given his deeply rooted fear of failure, the idea of having a multimillion-dollar film rest squarely on his narrow shoulders may also have been a factor.” More success and stress followed: Lehman’s adaptation of The Sound of Music (1965) saved 20th Century Fox from financial ruin, but his first opportunity to produce as well as write (on 1966’s controversial Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) was marred by conflict with director Mike Nichols. Krampner excels at juxtaposing Lehman’s prodigious talent with the personal flaws that undermined him—his aversion to confrontation, for example, often allowed his contributions to be undercut. The author also highlights the tension between Lehman’s focus on profitability and his desire for critical acclaim: “Few screenwriters—few people—will ever attain the level of success Lehman did. But can you imagine Franz Kafka or Edgar Allan Poe going on about profit participation?” For a man who so adroitly skewered the drive to succeed in his early work, Lehman demonstrated a single-minded focus to do just that. It is Krampner’s recognition of this character trait, balanced with his admiration for Lehman’s accomplishments, that makes this an exceptional biography.

A meticulously researched and well-balanced portrait of a classic Hollywood talent.