Biography
Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953; New York City) was an American screenwriter, who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Earlier, he was the Berlin correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the drama critic for The New York Times and The New Yorker. Alexander Woollcott said that Herman Mankiewicz was the "funniest man in New York". Both Mankiewicz and Welles received Academy Awards for their screenplay. Mankiewicz's younger brother was Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993), an Oscar-winning Hollywood director, screenwriter, and producer. His nephew Tom Mankiewicz (1942 – 2010) was also a screenwriter and director. He was often asked to fix the screenplays of other writers, with much of his work uncredited. Occasional flashes of what came to be called the "Mankiewicz humor" and satire distinguished his films, and became valued in the films of the 1930s. The style of writing included a slick, satirical, and witty humor, which depended almost totally on dialogue to carry the film. It was a style that would become associated with the "typical American film" of that period. Among the screenplays he wrote or worked on, besides "Citizen Kane", were "The Wizard of Oz", "Man of the World", "Dinner at Eight", "Pride of the Yankees", and "The Pride of St. Louis". Film critic Pauline Kael credits Mankiewicz with having written, alone or with others, "about forty of the films I remember best from the twenties and thirties. ... he was a key linking figure in just the kind of movies my friends and I loved best.". Mankiewicz was an alcoholic. Ten years before his death, he wrote: “I seem to become more and more of a rat in a trap of my own construction, a trap that I regularly repair whenever there seems to be danger of some opening that will enable me to escape. I haven’t decided yet about making it bomb proof. It would seem to involve a lot of unnecessary labor and expense". A future Hollywood biographer went so far as to suggest that Mankiewicz’s behavior “made him seem erratic even by the standards of Hollywood drunks.” Herman Mankiewicz died March 5, 1953, of uremic poisoning, at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles.
Wrote 89
1980s
- 1989
Dinner at Eight
Original Film Writer
1950s
- 1952
The Pride of St. Louis
Screenplay
- 1950
1940s
- 1949
A Woman's Secret
Screenplay
- 1945
The Enchanted Cottage
Writer, Screenplay
- 1944
See Here, Private Hargrove
Writer
- 1943
The Good Fellows
Screenplay
The Human Comedy
Writer
- 1942
Stand by for Action
Screenplay
This Time for Keeps
Characters
- 1941
Rise and Shine
Screenplay
The Wild Man of Borneo
Theatre Play
- 1940
Keeping Company
Story
Comrade X
Writer
The Ghost Comes Home
Staff Writer
1930s
- 1939
It's a Wonderful World
Original Story
- 1937
Live, Love and Learn
Writer
My Dear Miss Aldrich
Screenplay, Original Story
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Dialogue
Street of Shadows
Writer
John Meade's Woman
Writer
- 1936
Love in Exile
Writer
Suzy
Writer
The Three Maxims
Adaptation
- 1935
The Perfect Gentleman
Writer
It's in the Air
Writer
The Murder Man
Writer
Escapade
Screenplay
After Office Hours
Screenplay
- 1934
Stamboul Quest
Screenplay
Come On, Marines!
Writer
The Show-Off
Screenplay
- 1933
Meet the Baron
Story
Another Language
Writer
Fast Workers
Screenplay
- 1932
Girl Crazy
Adaptation
The Lost Squadron
Dialogue
Dancers in the Dark
Writer
- 1931
Ladies' Man
Writer
Man of the World
Screenplay, Story
Every Woman Has Something
Adaptation
- 1930
The Royal Family of Broadway
Adaptation
Laughter
Writer
Love Among the Millionaires
Dialogue
True to the Navy
Dialogue
Ladies Love Brutes
Screenplay
Honey
Writer, Dialogue
Men Are Like That
Adaptation
The Vagabond King
Screenplay
1920s
- 1929
The Mighty
Dialogue
Thunderbolt
Writer
The Man I Love
Story, Screenplay
The Dummy
Writer
The Love Doctor
Dialogue
- 1928
What a Night!
Dialogue
Three Week Ends
Dialogue
Avalanche
Dialogue, Screenplay
Take Me Home
Dialogue
Moran of the Marines
Writer
The Barker
Dialogue
The Water Hole
Dialogue
The Mating Call
Dialogue
The Big Killing
Writer
His Tiger Lady
Dialogue
The Magnificent Flirt
Dialogue
The Drag Net
Dialogue
Abie's Irish Rose
Dialogue
Something Always Happens
Dialogue
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Dialogue
Love and Learn
Dialogue
- 1927
Serenade
Dialogue
Two Flaming Youths
Dialogue
The Gay Defender
Dialogue
The Spotlight
Dialogue
The City Gone Wild
Dialogue
Figures Don't Lie
Writer
A Gentleman of Paris
Writer
Fashions for Women
Writer
- 1926
Stranded in Paris
Adaptation
The Road to Mandalay
Story
Produced 5
1940s
- 1949
A Woman's Secret
Producer
1930s
- 1933
- 1932
Million Dollar Legs
Producer
- 1931
Acted in 4
1990s
- 1996
The Battle Over Citizen Kane
Movie
1940s
- 1941
1920s
- 1928
The Mating Call
Newspaperman
Other crew 2
1930s
- 1931
Dude Ranch
Additional Dialogue
1920s
- 1929
Appearances2
2020s
- 2026
The Mad Dog of Europe
Self (archive footage)
1990s
- 1991
The Complete 'Citizen Kane'
Self
Thanked in the credits1
1970s
- 1976
That's Entertainment, Part II
Thanks