Hall Bartlett

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Hall Bartlett (born November 27, 1922; died September 7, 1993) was an American film producer, director, and writer.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, he graduated from Yale University Phi Beta Kappa, and was a Rhodes Scholar nominee. He served five years in Naval intelligence, then began his career with the documentary film Navajo, the first^{[citation needed]} contemporary picture to focus attention on the plight of the American Indian. Bartlett was the first^{[citation needed]} filmmaker to do a picture about professional football, His Crazylegs was the story of superstar Elroy Hirsch.

Unchained was filmed inside the California Institution for Men at Chino, California, and Bartlett spent six months behind the walls living as an inmate while he wrote the screenplay. The film's musical theme, “Unchained Melody”, became an international classic. Hall acquired the first novel of Arthur Hailey, Zero Hour, and made it into the suspense film of the year (the plot of which was later used for Airplane!, the 1980 spoof of disaster films). Drango, a study of the post Civil War era, was based on the true story about a Union officer who returned to the land his fellow soldiers had ravaged to try to rebuild the South as Lincoln had encouraged before his assassination.

All the Young Men, starring Sidney Poitier, a classic story about a black man’s struggle to achieve first class citizenship, was another outstanding Hall Bartlett film. The Caretakers centered on the problems of mental health and was the first film ever shown on the floor of the United Stares^{[citation needed]} at the request of President John F. Kennedy. Two days after the screening, President Kennedy’s mental bill was passed without a dissenting vote. A Global Affair, a true story^{[citation needed]} about the first baby ever born in the United Nations building in New York, starred Bob Hope and Lilo Pulver. Hall’s film, Sol Madrid, was made from the Robert Wilder novel, “The Fruit of The Poppy.

On the contemporary scene, Bartlett filmed Changes, a strongly personal examination of the younger generation that was shot in college communities across the country to record an honest insight into the problems of today. The New York Times called the film “one of the most imaginative, haunting and artistic movies yet made. It is a remarkable film and -- more than that –- a remarkable experience.” The Sandpit Generals received international acclaim, with Bartlett receiving the VII Moscow International Film Festival Grand Prize Award for Best Film and Best Director of the festival.^{[citation needed]}

Bartlett’s highly original film Jonathan Livingston Seagull is regarded as a classic^{[citation needed]} which will live on through each generation of film-goers. A monumental technical and philosophical achievement in film experimentation, Jonathan was filmed entirely without human actors. The Search of Zubin Mehta is a story of an extraordinary family, eminently making a high place of cultural achievement in the world.

Hall Bartlett’s The Children of Sanchez, the world-famous classic study of a Mexican family, was written for the screen by Cesare Zavattini from the late Oscar Lewis’s book. The Children of Sanchez is now required reading in universities all over the world and has already become a classic.

Comeback is the true story of one of the most daring escapes in modern history. John Everingham rescued his Laotian fiancée under the watchful guns of the Pathet Lao Army, executing an unforgettable, exciting, dangerous, and life-risking plan. The plan demanded a year’s careful training and study, after John Everingham, a top reporter for Time, Newsweek, Associated Press, United Press, National Geographic, Paris Match, The New York Times, and other publications of the world, was imprisoned in Laos, than expelled from the country with a high price for his murder if he ever returned. Bartlett filmed Comeback in Thailand. He is the first person^{[citation needed]} to get permission to shoot on the Mekong River, two miles away from the Army of Laos.

Hall Bartlett was heavily involved in the Los Angeles community, as a founder of the Music Center, a director of the James Doolittle theatre, a patron of the Art Museum, a patron of the American Youth Symphony, a board member of KCET, and was the organizer of the Los Angeles Rams Club and the Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Club.

At the time of his passing in 1993, Bartlett was finishing his second novel for Random House, “Face to Face.” “The Rest of Our Lives,” his first novel, was a best seller in 1988. Bartlett had partnered with Michael J. Lasky and developed a dozen projects for the 11 years prior to his death. One of these film projects included “Catch Me If You Can”. Bartlett and Lasky both wrote drafted many scripts for the project and Hall was positioned as the director, with Lasky producing. (the rights were eventually sold and produced/directed by Steven Spielberg, 19 years after Michael's first option) In his last days, they were working on a three picture slate which included the re-mastering of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The production team grew to include Robert Watts (of Spielberg and Lucas fame) as a production executive with an exemplary credit list of blockbuster motion pictures.

Bartlett’s films have received ten Best Picture and Best director awards at international film festivals, seventeen Academy Award nominations, eight Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globe Awards, and more than seventy-five national and international awards from publications and organizations.

Critics' comments include;

“Hall Bartlett is a sensitive, powerful, and distinguished director.” Rex Reed

“Hall Bartlett’s work is emotional, direct, hauntingly beautiful, and reflects his great artistry.” New York Times

“Hall Bartlett is an exceptional film maker, born to make motion pictures that stand up and demand attention. He is an actor’s director.” Time Magazine

“Hall Bartlett is not afraid to be original and controversial. He never copies. He originates. His films have a unique look. He is a director of magnitude and meaning.” The London Times

“Hall Bartlett is one of the few American film makers who can direct, produce, and write a motion picture with brilliance and creativeness in all these tasks.” Saturday Review of Literature

“Hall Bartlett is a true auteur film maker. He is brilliant, original and openly emotional. He is an artist.” Paris Match

Persondata
NAME	Bartlett, Hall
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH	November 27, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kansas City, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH	September 7, 1993
PLACE OF DEATH	Los Angeles, California