Lillian Hellman was one of the more popular and influential playwrights of the '30s and '40s. Her dramas were often politically oriented or socially conscious, and frequently centered on taboo subjects such as lesbianism, as in The Children's Hour, or getting away with murder, as in Little Foxes. Later she became a screenwriter, and not only adapted a few of her own plays to film, but also the work of others such as her distinguished screen version of Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play Dead End. In the early '50s, Hellman was called to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee, but she refused to testify saying "I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions." As a result she was blacklisted. Later in life she began writing autobiographies. The first, An Unfinished Woman (1969) chronicled her long-time relationship with author Dashiell Hammett; the second Pentimento (1973) was a chronicle of her attempts to smuggle money into Nazi Germany to help out a struggling, victimized friend. Pentimento was later adapted into the film Julia (1977).
| Title | Year | Editors' Rating | User Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Candide
Lyricist |
2003 | |||
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Directed by William Wyler
Participant |
1986 | |||
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Julia
Screen Story |
1977 | |||
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The Rehearsal
Actor |
1974 | |||
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The Chase
Screenwriter |
1966 | |||
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Toys in the Attic
Play Author |
1963 | |||
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The Children's Hour
Play Author |
1961 | |||
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Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Little Foxes
Play Author |
1956 | |||
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Another Part of the Forest
Play Author |
1948 | |||
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The Searching Wind
Play Author, Screenwriter |
1946 | |||
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The North Star
Screenwriter |
1943 | |||
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Watch on the Rhine
Play Author, Screenwriter |
1943 | |||
|
The Little Foxes
Play Author, Screenwriter |
1941 | |||
|
Dead End
Screenwriter |
1937 | |||
|
These Three
Play Author, Screenwriter |
1936 | |||
|
The Dark Angel
Screenwriter |
1935 |
