Screenwriter Lester Cole will go down in cinema history as a member of the original "Hollywood Ten," one of the first unfortunate people in the film industry to be black-listed by the House Anti-American Activities Committee in 1947. Cole, the son of Polish immigrants, began writing and directing plays at age 16 after he dropped out of high school. During the 1920s and '30s he worked as an actor on stage and screen before embarking on his screenwriting career. While in Hollywood, he was a union activist and became a co-founder of the Screen Writers Guild in 1933. He was later black-balled for challenging the committee's right to interrogate him about his political beliefs. He then served 1 year in prison, leaving behind an unfinished script that was later finished by John Steinbeck for Kazan's Viva Zapata (1952). Following his release from prison, Cole worked a series of odd jobs. In 1961 he went to London, but eventually returned to the states where he began collaborating on screenplays under an assumed name. He also taught screenwriting at the University of California, Berkeley
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Hollywood on Trial
Archival Appearance |
1976 | |||
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Fiesta
Screenwriter |
1947 | |||
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The High Wall
Screenwriter |
1947 | |||
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The Romance of Rosy Ridge
Screenwriter |
1947 | |||
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Strange Conquest
Screen Story |
1946 | |||
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Blood on the Sun
Screenwriter |
1945 | |||
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Men in Her Diary
Screenwriter |
1945 | |||
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Objective, Burma!
Screenwriter |
1945 | |||
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None Shall Escape
Screenwriter |
1944 | |||
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Hostages
Screenwriter |
1943 | |||
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Night Plane from Chungking
Screenwriter |
1942 | |||
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Among the Living
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
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Footsteps in the Dark
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
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Pacific Blackout
Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
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The House of the Seven Gables
Screenwriter |
1940 | |||
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The Invisible Man Returns
Screenwriter |
1940 | |||
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When the Daltons Rode
Screenwriter |
1940 | |||
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I Stole a Million
Screen Story |
1939 | |||
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Pirates of the Skies
Screen Story |
1939 | |||
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The Big Guy
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
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Winter Carnival
Screenwriter |
1939 | |||
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Midnight Intruder
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
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Secrets of a Nurse
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
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Sinners in Paradise
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
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The Crime of Dr. Hallet
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
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The Jury's Secret
Screenwriter |
1938 | |||
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Some Blondes Are Dangerous
Screenwriter |
1937 | |||
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The Affairs of Cappy Ricks
Screenwriter |
1937 | |||
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The Man in Blue
Screenwriter |
1937 | |||
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Follow Your Heart
Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
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Hitch Hike Lady
Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
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The President's Mystery
Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
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Too Tough to Kill
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
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Under Pressure
Screenwriter |
1935 | |||
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Pursued
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
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Sleepers East
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
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Wild Gold
Screenwriter |
1934 | |||
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Charlie Chan's Greatest Case
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
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Walls of Gold
Screenwriter |
1933 | |||
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If I Had a Million
Screenwriter |
1932 | |||
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Love at First Sight
Actor |
1930 | |||
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Painted Faces
Actor |
1929 |


