Aben Kandel

Aben Kandel (August 15, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American screenwriter, novelist, and boxer. He was screenwriter on such classic B movies as I Was A Teenage Werewolf, Joan Crawford's final movie Trog, and one of Leonard Nimoy's first starring vehicles, Kid Monk Baroni. He is the father of poet Lenore Kandel and screenwriter Stephen Kandel.

Biography

Born in Berlad, Romania, Kandel came to the United States as a child and was educated at New York University and its law school. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and later enlisted in the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.[1]

He began writing novels in 1927 and wrote two hit plays Hot Money (1931) that was filmed as High Pressure (1932) and Hot Money (1936), and translated a German play Die Wunderbar by Geza Herczeg and Karl Farkas together with Irving Caesar where the pair added their own songs calling at The Wonder Bar that was acquired by Al Jolson and filmed in 1934.[2] One of Kandel's unpublished short stories So, You Won't Sing, Eh? was filmed as Sing and Like It (1934). Kandel began writing Hollywood stories and screenplays with Manhattan Moon (1935). His novel City for Conquest (1936), based on some of his experiences as a boxer was made into a James Cagney feature in 1940.

Kandel began writing for American television in 1950 whilst continuing to write screenplays and novels.

In 1957 he began writing several lurid screenplays for producer Herman Cohen, for whom he had written Kid Monk Baroni. Cohen and Kandel collaborated on such classic films such as I Was a Teenage Werewolf, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, Blood of Dracula (all 1957), How to Make a Monster (1958), Horrors of the Black Museum and The Headless Ghost (both 1959), Konga (1961), Black Zoo, (1963), Berserk! (1967, that he also co-produced), Trog (1970), and Craze (1974). As Kandel was involved in writing prestigious film scripts for major film studies such as MGM and Warner Bros. he used pseudonyms such as Ralph Thornton and Kenneth Langtry.[3]

Personal life and death

Kandel had two children, a son, Stephen and daughter, Lenore. He died of heart failure at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in 1993, at age 95.[4]

Novels
  • Vaudeville (1927)
  • Black Son (1929)
  • Ex-Baby (1930)
  • Rabbi Burns (1931)
  • City of Conquest (1936)

Filmography

Films
YearFilmCreditNotes
1932 High Pressure Story by based on his play "Hot Money"
Le bluffeur Story by based on his play "Hot Money"
1934 Sing and Like It Story by Based on his short story "So You Won't Sing, Eh?"
1935 She Gets Her Man Screenplay by, Story by Co-wrote story with David Diamond
Manhattan Moon Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Barry Trivers, Ben Grauman Kohn
1936 Hot Money Story by Based on his play "Hot Money"
Come Closer, Folks Story by
More Than a Secretary Story by
1937 Thunder in the City Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Robert E. Sherwood, Ákos Tolnay
They Won't Forget Screenplay by Based on the novel "Death in the Deep South" by Ward Greene, Co-wrote screenplay with Robert Rossen
1939 Rio Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Edwin Justus Mayer, Frank Partos, Stephen Morehouse Avery
1940 City for Conquest Story by Based on his Novel of the same name
1943 What's Buzzin', Cousin? Story by
The Iron Major Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Warren Duff
Three Russian Girls Screenplay by Co-wrote screenplay with Dan James
1947 High Conquest Story by Based on the novel by James Ramsey Ullman
1952 The Fighter Screenplay by Based on the short story "The Mexican" By Jack London, Co-wrote screenplay with Herbert Kline
Kid Monk Baroni Written By
1956 Time Table Screenplay by Based on a story by Robert Angus
Singing in the Dark Adaption by
1957 I Was a Teenage Werewolf Written By Co-wrote screenplays with Herman Cohen
Blood of Dracula
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein
1958 How to Make a Monster
1959 Horrors of the Black Museum
The Headless Ghost
1961 Konga
1963 Black Zoo
1967 Berserk!
1970 Trog Screenplay by Based on an original story by Peter Bryan and John Gilling
1974 Craze Screenplay by Based on the novel by Henry Seymour, Co-wrote screenplay with Herman Cohen

Television
YearTV seriesCreditNotes
1950-51 Studio One in Hollywood Story by Episodes "The Blonde Comes First (1950)" & "The Blonde Comes First (1952)"
1950 Big Town Writer Episode "The Pay Off"
1951 Repertory Theater Story by Episode "Kitty Doone"
1952 Schlitz Playhouse Writer Episodes "The Trail", & "The Von Linden File"
1954 The Philip Morris Playhouse Story by Episode "Kitty Doone"
1957 General Electric Theater Writer Episode "No Skin Off Me"
1960 The Untouchables Writer Episode "The Underworld Bank"
1964 Arrest and Trial Writer Episode "A Roll of the Dice"
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Story by Episode "The Fiddlesticks Affair"

Notes
  1. "Aben Kandel; Screenwriter, Novelist, Playwright Was 96". Los Angeles Times. February 1993.
  2. "Aben Kandel – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
  3. p. 56 Weaver, Tom Herman Cohen Interview]] in Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews McFarland, 19 Feb 2003
  4. "Aben Kandel, Screenwriter, 96". The New York Times. February 2, 1993.


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