Abraham Polonsky

Abraham Polonsky (1910-99) was interviewed for nearly three hours in Beverly Hills, CA. Mr. Polonsky spoke frankly about appearing before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1951 (in which he was labeled by Congressman Harold H. Velde as “the most dangerous man in America”) and his subsequent blacklisting in the film and television industry.  He spoke about working as a writer under pseudonym and through several fronts on such television series as Danger (1950-55) and You Are There (1953-57).  He discussed several You Are There scripts he wrote including: “The Crisis of Galileo,” “The Execution of Joan of Arc,” and “The Torment of Beethoven,” all of which reflected in theme the hysteria of the McCarthy era.  He recited the famous tag line that he wrote for the series: “’What sort of day was it?  A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our time… and YOU WERE THERE.’”  He talked about the collaboration between You Are There writers Walter Bernstein, Arnold Manoff, and himself with producer Charles Russell and director Sidney Lumet.  He described breaking into the business writing for the radio show The Goldbergs and his feature film work as a writer-director, a career he resumed nearly 20 years after his 1948 debut Force of Evil, starring John Garfield with 1969’s Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, starring Robert Redford and Robert Blake.  The interview was conducted by Charles Davis on July 6, 1999.