Samuel Bronston
By June 1964, Bronston declared bankruptcy due to the box office failures of The Fall of the Roman Empire and Circus World (1964), in which he owed over US$5.6 million to du Pont III.Bronston (né Bronstein) was born on 7 August 1908, in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russian Empire (present day Moldova) to a Jewish family.However, by late October 1940, the partnership had dissolved due to Roosevelt's active involvement with the United States Marine Corps Reserve, which left The Adventures of Martin Eden without a distributor.In 1944, Bronston enticed director Lewis Milestone away from the studio system and signed him to a multi-picture contract to direct independent film projects, which were be distributed by United Artists.During the summer of 1944, he acquired the screen rights to Agatha Christie's 1943 play And Then There Were None (which was also performed under the title Ten Little Indians),[17] with Clair hired to direct the film adaptation.[18] Meanwhile, Bronston decided to produce a film adaptation of the 1944 book A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown, after the Zeppo Marx Agency had sent him a copy.[28] In August 1946, Variety anticipated while A Walk in the Sun had earned $1.6 million in distributor box office rentals, it would leave no immediate net profit to reimburse Bronston, Milestone, and the creditors' financial investments.[7] By March 1950, after fifteen months of filming, Variety reported Bronston had returned to the United States, intending to sell his documentaries for theatrical distribution.When Bronston entered the United States as an immigrant, he studied American history in preparation for his citizenship test, and Jones's life resonated with him.James Powers of Variety wrote in his review: "John Paul Jones has some spectacular sea action scenes and achieves some freshness in dealing with the Revolutionary War.[49][50] Meanwhile, Twentieth Century Fox, under the leadership of studio president Spyros Skouras, had been long in development of The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), another religious biopic of Jesus.[53] At the Vatican, Bronston presented the script, credited to Yordan and Italian theologian playwright Diego Fabbri, to Pope John XXIII, who approved it.[57][58] Bosley Crowther, in his New York Times review, felt the filmmakers had "missed or disguised certain happenings that were dramatic and important in Jesus' life.[61] In April 1960, Variety announced that Bronston was independently producing El Cid after he had purchased the rights to screenwriter Fredric M. Frank's 140-page film treatment.[63] A known Hispanophile,[64] Mann expressed excitement at the project: "The reason I wanted to make El Cid was the theme 'a man rode out to victory dead on his horse.'[68] Before principal photography was to begin, Bronston was faced with an infringement lawsuit from Cesáreo González's Aspa Films, who had earlier announced his El Cid project in 1956.Yordan was initially reluctant to adapt the historic 1900 international siege stemming from the Boxer Rebellion into a film, but warmed up to the idea after a vacation cruise.[81] Weeks after his announcement, Bronston faced another infringement complaint, this time from producer Jerry Wald who went public about his in-development project, tentatively titled The Hellraisers.Having finished filming El Cid, Mann saw an Oxford concise edition of Edward Gibbon's six-volume series The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire near the front window at the Hatchards bookshop.Mann did not read the entire edition but selected the focal point of Marcus Aurelius's death and his son Commodus's reign as the beginning of the end of Rome's decline as an imperial power, as theorized by Roman historians.[90] Ben Barzman and Basilio Franchina, an Italian screenwriter, were selected to write the screenplay, while an ensemble cast included Stephen Boyd, Sophia Loren, Alec Guinness, Christopher Plummer, James Mason, Anthony Quayle, Omar Sharif, John Ireland, and Mel Ferrer.The fellows who wrote the screenplay — Ben Barzman, Basilio Franchina and Philip Yordan—have failed completely to shape a drama that has human interest or even sense."[96] Due to claims of historical inauthenticity, Mann subsequently shot back: "Now I guarantee you there is not one person had read Gibbon ... From Bosley Crowther on down or up.[107] In response, du Pont III hired Thomas Dewey, the former Governor of New York and two-time Republican presidential nominee in the 1944 and 1948 elections, as his attorney.[98] Before the release of Circus World, Bronston had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, reporting over $5.6 million in accumulated debts to du Pont III.[111][112] At this point, Bronston had pledged to continue filmmaking in Spain, with several projects in development including Battle of the Bulge, Suez, Brave New World, Nightrunners of Bengal, Paris 1900, and The French Revolution.Thanks to his connections with Adolfo Suárez, who was the programme director of the state broadcaster Televisión Española (TVE), Bronston managed to rent his studios to the network.Eventually, the real estate was acquired by Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón, who shot Los Diablos Del Mar (translated into The Sea Devils, 1982).The Los Angeles Times reported that Brosnan had cleared his "technical-legal monetary problems," and found new financing from Marion Harper, an advertising executive based in Madison Avenue.On January 10, 1973, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, in which it ruled that while Bronston's answer was "shrewdly calculated to evade," it did not rise to the level of perjury because he told the literal truth.
BessarabiaRussian EmpireSacramento, CaliforniaWilliamLeon TrotskyBessarabianmedia executiveAcademy AwardMoldovaJames RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltLos AngelesColumbia PicturesThe Adventures of Martin EdenSamuel Bronston ProductionsJack LondonUnited ArtistsLewis MilestoneA Walk in the SunRené ClairAnd Then There Were NoneVaticanMadridPierre S. du Pont IIIKing of KingsEl Cid55 Days at PekingThe Fall of the Roman EmpireCircus WorldSavage PampasDr. Coppeliusprominent caseU.S. Supreme CourtKishinevJewishRussian Revolution of 1917–1923Sorbonnevisual artsMetro-Goldwyn-MayerNetherlandsCharmian LondonUnited StatesWashington, D.C.Samuel Goldwyn Productionspenny arcadesLos Angeles TimesThe BatAlfred HitchcockPot o' Goldsyndicated radio seriesJohn StahlMartin EdenUnited States Marine Corps ReserveSidney SalkowGlenn FordClaire TrevorCharmianMichael O'SheaSusan HaywardThe Valley of the MoonThe Star RoverThe Little Lady of the Big HouseCity Without MenJulien DuvivierAgatha Christiethe film adaptationa film adaptationHarry BrownZeppo MarxEdward ChodorovUnited States Office of War InformationfascismRobert RossenSan Fernando ValleyWalter E. Heller & Co.The Story of G.I. JoeTwentieth Century FoxVarietyDudley NicholsKnights of ColumbusChancellery of the VaticanBob Considinehigh-key lightingJohn Paul JonesJohn WayneJesse Lasky, Jr.Jose Maria AreilzaSpanish Ambassador to the United StatesLas RozasJohn FarrowRobert StackMacdonald CareyCharles CoburnMarisa PavanJean Pierre AumontBette DavisCatherine the Greatinvestment companydu Pont familyVersaillesScotlandRoyal Palace of MadridFrancoist Spanish governmentGeorge Washingtonone-dollar U.S. billsJohn CrawfordSpyros SkourasThe Greatest Story Ever ToldSonya LevienNicholas RayPhilip YordanDiego FabbriPope John XXIIIJeffrey HunterJohn FordThe SearchersSergeant RutledgeThe True Story of Jesse James1960 Cannes Film FestivalJoseph VogelBen-Hurguarantee bondsBosley CrowtherCastle of BelmonteHarold LambRodrigo Díaz de Vivar