John Berry (film director) facts for kids

John Berry (September 6, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American film director. His career was stopped for a time by the Hollywood blacklist, which made him move to France.

Early Life and First Steps

John Berry was born Jak Szold in The Bronx, New York. His father was from Poland and his mother was from Romania. He started performing on stage at just four years old in vaudeville, which was a popular type of variety show with different acts.

As a teenager, he even worked briefly as a boxer under the name Jackie Sold. His father owned many restaurants, but lost them during the Great Depression. This was a time in the 1930s when many people lost their jobs and money. To support himself, John Berry worked as a comedian and actor.

Working in Theatre and Hollywood

John Berry got his first big chance when he joined the Mercury Theatre in 1937. This was a famous theatre group started by Orson Welles and John Houseman. Berry acted in plays and also helped direct a play called Native Son in 1942.

He really enjoyed working with Welles and Houseman. He once said it was like being near a "volcano of creating inspiration."

By 1943, John Houseman was making movies in Hollywood. He hired Berry to direct films at Paramount Pictures. Berry directed movies like Miss Susie Slagle's, From This Day Forward, and Cross My Heart. He was later fired from Paramount for not wanting to direct a spy movie called O.S.S..

After leaving Paramount, Berry directed other films. These included the musical Casbah (1948) and the crime drama Tension (1950). He also directed He Ran All the Way (1951), which starred John Garfield and Shelley Winters.

The Hollywood Blacklist

In the 1950s, John Berry's career faced a big challenge. He agreed to direct a short film about the Hollywood 10. These were directors and writers who refused to answer questions from the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). HUAC was a government committee that investigated people they thought might be involved with the Communist Party.

After directing He Ran All the Way, Berry was named as a communist by another director, Edward Dmytryk. Dmytryk had been part of the Hollywood Ten but later decided to cooperate with HUAC. He named Berry and others to be able to work in Hollywood again. John Berry had joined the Communist Party during the Spanish Civil War.

Because he was named, John Berry found it impossible to get work in Hollywood. This was part of the "Hollywood blacklist," a list that stopped people from working in the film industry. So, Berry moved with his family to Paris, France. He Ran All the Way was the last American film he directed for almost 25 years.

In France, Berry helped direct Atoll K (1951), which was the last comedy film starring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. He didn't get credit for directing this movie. During the 1950s, he also directed films like Tamango (1958), which was a story about a slave uprising.

Returning to Hollywood

The Hollywood blacklist started to end in 1960. This happened when two films written by Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted writer, were released. These films were Exodus and Spartacus. Trumbo finally got credit for his work again.

With the blacklist mostly over, John Berry returned to the U.S. in the early 1960s. He directed episodes for TV shows like East Side/West Side. He continued to work in France as well.

In the 1970s, he came back to the U.S. again and directed more films. These included Claudine (1974), which earned Diahann Carroll an Academy Award nomination. He also directed Thieves (1977) and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978).

When he passed away in Paris, he was working on a film version of the play Boesman and Lena. He had directed the play's first U.S. performance in 1970.

John Berry's Legacy

John Berry spent the rest of his career directing plays in London and films in Paris. His experiences during the Hollywood blacklist inspired a character in the 1991 film Guilty by Suspicion. In that movie, the character played by Robert De Niro was based on Berry's life. Berry himself acted in the movie Round Midnight (1986).

Looking back at his life, John Berry once said, "I wouldn't give up my life for anything. I have been a curiously blessed individual despite all I've lived through."

His son, Dennis Berry (1944-2021), also became a film director.

Selected Filmography