A refugee of the Russian Czarist regime, Joseph "Jo" Swerling grew up on New York's lower East Side, where he sold newspapers to help support his family. Swerling moved up the journalist ladder to become a newspaper and magazine writer in the early '20s, then launched a prolific playwriting career, scoring a major success with 1929's The Kibitzer, which he co-wrote with actor Edward G. Robinson (among his later Broadway efforts was the 1950 musical blockbuster Guys and Dolls). Also in 1929, Swerling was brought to Hollywood by Columbia Pictures chieftain Harry Cohn. Summoned to Cohn's office to assess the screenplay for the latest Frank Capra picture, Swerling angrily derided the script as trash, and vowed that he could do better without even trying. Impressed by this display of bravado, Cohn and Capra ordered the writer to put up or shut up. The result was Ladies of Leisure (1930), the first of several fruitful Capra-Swerling collaborations, culminating in the 1946 classic It's a Wonderful Life. Some have claimed that Frank Capra's fabled cinematic populism was more due to Swerling, a Roosevelt Democrat, than Capra, a rock-ribbed Republican (whatever the case, the collaboration ended abruptly when Swerling, like many others before him, finally tired of Capra's credit-hogging tendencies). Active in films until 1961, Swerling wrote for many other top Hollywood directors; in 1942, he shared an Academy Award nomination for his work on Sam Wood's Pride of the Yankees (1942). Jo Swerling was the father of TV writer/producer/director Jo Swerling Jr.
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | ||||
|
Guys and Dolls
Book Author |
1955 | |||
|
Thunder in the East
Screenwriter |
1953 | |||
|
It's a Wonderful Life
Screenwriter |
1946 | |||
|
Leave Her to Heaven
Screenwriter |
1946 | |||
|
Lifeboat
Screenwriter |
1944 | |||
|
A Lady Takes a Chance
Short Story Author |
1943 | |||
|
Crash Dive
Screenwriter |
1943 | |||
|
The Pride of the Yankees
Screenwriter |
1942 | |||
|
Blood and Sand
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
|
Confirm or Deny
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
|
New York Town
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
|
The Westerner
Screenwriter |
1940 | |||
|
Made for Each Other
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
|
The Real Glory
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
|
Doctor Rhythm
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
|
I Am the Law
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
|
Double Wedding
Screenwriter |
1937 | |||
|
Pennies from Heaven
Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
The Music Goes 'round
Dialogue Writer, Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
Love Me Forever
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
|
The Whole Town's Talking
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
|
Lady by Choice
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
No Greater Glory
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
Once to Every Woman
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
Sisters under the Skin
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
The Defense Rests
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
|
A Man's Castle
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
As the Devil Commands
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
Below the Sea
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
East of Fifth Ave.
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
The Circus Queen Murder
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
The Woman I Stole
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
The Wrecker
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
|
Attorney for the Defense
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Behind the Mask
Screenwriter, Short Story Author |
1932 | |||
|
Forbidden
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Hollywood Speaks
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Love Affair
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Man Against Woman
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Shopworn
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
War Correspondent
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Washington Merry-Go-Round
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
|
Dirigible
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Platinum Blonde
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Ten Cents a Dance
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
The Deceiver
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
The Good Bad Girl
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
The Miracle Woman
Screenwriter |
1931 | |||
|
Around the Corner
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Hell's Island
Editor, Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Ladies Must Play
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Ladies of Leisure
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Madonna of the Streets
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Rain or Shine
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Sisters
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
The Squealer
Screenwriter |
1930 | |||
|
Melody Lane
Play Author |
1929 | |||
|
The Kibitzer
Play Author |
1929 |







