Editing Arthur Laurents (section)

== Career ==
=== Theatre ===
[[File:Harvey Fierstein, Jerry Herman, Arthur Laurents, La Cage aux Folles.jpg|thumb|Left to right: [[Harvey Fierstein]], [[Jerry Herman]], Arthur Laurents, creators of the musical ''[[La Cage aux Folles (musical)|La Cage Aux Folles]]'', in front of the Palace theater where it is playing, 1983]]
According to John Clum, "Laurents was always a mirror of his times. Through his best work, one sees a staged history of leftist, gender, and gay politics in the decades after World War II."<ref>Clum, John, "The Works of Arthur Laurents: Politics, Love, and Betrayal", November 2014, Cambria Press, {{ISBN|1604978848}}</ref> After graduating from [[Cornell University]] in 1937, Laurents, who was gay, went to work as a writer for radio drama at [[CBS]] in New York. His military duties during World War II, which consisted of writing training films and radio scripts for ''Armed Service Force Presents'', brought him into contact with some of the best film directors—distinguished director George Cukor directed his first script. Laurents's work in radio and film during World War II was an excellent apprenticeship for a budding playwright and screenwriter. He also had the good fortune to be based in New York City. His first stage play, ''Home of the Brave'', was produced in 1945. The sale of the play to a film studio gave Laurents the entrée he needed to become a [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] screenwriter though he continued, with mixed success, to write plays. The most important of his early screenplays is his adaptation of ''[[Rope_(film)|Rope]]'' for [[Alfred Hitchcock]].<ref>Clum, John, "The Works of Arthur Laurents: Politics, Love, and Betrayal"</ref>

Soon after being discharged from the Army, Laurents met ballerina [[Nora Kaye]], and the two became involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship. While Kaye was on tour with ''[[Fancy Free (ballet)|Fancy Free]]'', Laurents continued to write for the radio but was becoming discontented with the medium. In 1962, Laurents directed ''[[I Can Get It for You Wholesale]]'', which helped to turn then-unknown [[Barbra Streisand]] into a star. His next project was the stage musical ''[[Anyone Can Whistle]]'', which he directed and for which he wrote the book, but it proved to be an infamous flop. He later had success with the musicals ''[[Hallelujah, Baby!]]'' (written for [[Lena Horne]]<ref>Laurents, p. 93.</ref> but ultimately starring [[Leslie Uggams]]) and ''[[La Cage aux Folles (musical)|La Cage Aux Folles]]'' (1983), which he directed, however ''[[Nick & Nora (musical)|Nick & Nora]]'' was not successful.

[[File:Arthur laurents.JPG|right|thumb|Laurents in 2009]]
In 2008, Laurents directed a Broadway revival of ''Gypsy'' starring [[Patti LuPone]], and in 2009, he tackled a bilingual revival of ''[[West Side Story]]'', with Spanish translations of some dialogue and lyrics by [[Lin-Manuel Miranda]]. While preparing ''West Side Story'', he noted, "The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity."<ref>Jones, Kenneth (July 16, 2008). [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119539.html "'West Side Story', This Time With Bilingual Approach, Will Return to Broadway in February 2009"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907052633/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/119539.html |date=2008-09-07 }}. ''[[Playbill]]''.</ref> Following the production's March 19 opening at the [[Palace Theatre (Broadway)|Palace Theatre]], [[Ben Brantley]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the translations "an only partly successful experiment" and added, "Mr. Laurents has exchanged insolence for innocence and, as with most such bargains, there are dividends and losses."<ref>Brantley, Ben (March 20, 2009). [http://theater2.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/theater/reviews/20west.html "Our Gangs"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> The national tour (2011–2012) was directed by [[David Saint]], who was Laurents' assistant director on the Broadway production. The Spanish lyrics and dialog were reduced from about 18% of the total to about 10%.<ref>Berson, M. (January 8, 2012). [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2017161274_westside08.html "'West Side Story': A classic revived"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112034307/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thearts/2017161274_westside08.html |date=January 12, 2012 }}. ''[[Seattle Times]]''.</ref>

=== Hollywood ===
Laurents' first Hollywood experience proved to be a frustrating disappointment. Director [[Anatole Litvak]], unhappy with the script submitted by [[Frank Partos]] and [[Millen Brand]] for ''[[The Snake Pit]]'' (1948), hired Laurents to rewrite it. Partos and Brand later insisted the bulk of the shooting script was theirs, and produced carbon copies of many of the pages Laurents actually had written to bolster their claim. Having destroyed the original script and all his notes and rewritten pages after completing the project, Laurents had no way to prove most of the work was his, and the [[WGA screenwriting credit system|Writers Guild of America]] denied him screen credit. Brand later confessed he and Partos had copied scenes written by Laurents and apologized for his role in the deception. Four decades later, Laurents learned he was ineligible for WGA health benefits because he had failed to accumulate enough credits to qualify. He was short by one, the one he failed to get for ''The Snake Pit''.<ref>Laurents, pp. 106–120.</ref>

Upon hearing [[20th Century Fox]] executives were pleased with Laurents' work on ''The Snake Pit'', [[Alfred Hitchcock]] hired him for his next project, the film ''[[Rope (film)|Rope]]'' starring [[James Stewart]]. Hitchcock wanted Laurents to Americanize the British play ''[[Rope (play)|Rope]]'' (1929) by [[Patrick Hamilton (writer)|Patrick Hamilton]] for the screen. With his then-lover [[Farley Granger]] set to star, Laurents was happy to accept the assignment. His dilemma was how to make the audience aware of the fact the three main characters were homosexual without blatantly saying so. [[United States Motion Picture Production Code of 1930|The Hays Office]] kept close tabs on his work, and the final script was so discreet that Laurents was unsure whether co-star James Stewart ever realized that his character was gay.<ref>Laurents, pp. 115–116, 124–131.</ref> In later years, Hitchcock asked him to script both ''[[Torn Curtain]]'' (1966) and ''[[Topaz (1969 film)|Topaz]]'' (1969), However, Laurents, in both cases unenthused by the material, declined the offers.<ref>Laurents, p. 136.</ref>

Laurents also scripted ''[[Anastasia (1956 film)|Anastasia]]'' (1956) and ''[[Bonjour Tristesse (1958 film)|Bonjour Tristesse]]'' (1958). ''[[The Way We Were]]'' (1973), in which he incorporated many of his own experiences, particularly those with the HUAC, reunited him with Barbra Streisand, and ''[[The Turning Point (1977 film)|The Turning Point]]'' (1977), inspired in part by his love for Nora Kaye, was directed by her husband [[Herbert Ross]]. The Fox animated feature film ''[[Anastasia (1997 film)|Anastasia]]'' (1997) was based in part on his screenplay of the live-action 1956 film of the same title.<ref>"[http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/West_Side_Story_author_Arthur_Laurents_dies_93_P112699/ "West Side Story Author Arthur Laurents Dies, 93"] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20120709071003/http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/West_Side_Story_author_Arthur_Laurents_dies_93_P112699/ |date=July 9, 2012 }} forum.bcdb.com. May 4, 2011.</ref>

=== Blacklist ===
Because of a casual remark made by [[Russel Crouse]], Laurents was called to Washington, D.C., to account for his political views.<ref>Laurents, p. 29.</ref> He explained himself to the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], and his appearance had no obvious impact on his career, which at the time was primarily in the theatre. When the [[McCarran Internal Security Act]], which prohibited individuals suspected of engaging in subversive activities from obtaining a passport, was passed in 1950, Laurents and Granger immediately applied for and received passports and departed for Paris with [[Harold Clurman]] and his wife [[Stella Adler]]. Laurents and Granger remained abroad, traveling throughout Europe and northern Africa, for about 18 months.<ref>Laurents, pp. 165–190.</ref>

Years earlier, Laurents and [[Jerome Robbins]] had developed ''Look Ma, I'm Dancin'!'' (1948), a stage musical about the world of ballet that ran for 188 performances on Broadway, and starred [[Nancy Walker]] and [[Harold Lang (dancer)|Harold Lang]]. Laurents left the project, however, and the musical was ultimately produced with a book by [[Jerome Lawrence]] and [[Robert Edwin Lee|Robert E. Lee]].<ref>Vaill, Amanda (2006). ''Somewhere: The Life of Jerome Robbins'', Random House, Inc. p. 135. {{ISBN|0-7679-0420-6}}.</ref><ref>[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=1648 "'Look Ma, I'm Dancin' listing"]. [[Internet Broadway Database]].</ref> When Robbins approached [[Paramount Pictures]] about directing a screen version, the studio agreed as long as Laurents was not part of the package.

It was only then that Laurents learned he officially had been [[Hollywood blacklist|blacklisted]], primarily because a review of ''Home of the Brave'' had been published in the ''[[Daily Worker]]''. He decided to return to Paris, but the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] refused to renew his passport. Laurents spent three months trying to clear his name, and after submitting a lengthy letter explaining his political beliefs in detail, it was determined they were so idiosyncratic he could not have been a member of any subversive groups. Within a week his passport was renewed, and the following day he sailed for Europe on the ''[[SS Ile de France|Ile de France]]''. While on board, he received a cable from [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] offering him a screenwriting assignment. The blacklisting had ended.<ref>Laurents, pp. 286–289.</ref>

=== Memoirs ===
Laurents wrote ''Original Story By Arthur Laurents: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood'', published in 2000. In it, he discusses his lengthy career and his many gay affairs and long-term relationships, including those with [[Farley Granger]] and Tom Hatcher (August 24, 1929 - October 26, 2006). Hatcher was an aspiring actor whom [[Gore Vidal]] suggested Laurents seek out at the [[Beverly Hills]] men's clothing store Hatcher was managing at the time. The couple remained together for 52 years until Hatcher's death on October 26, 2006.<ref>[http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/other_news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003345921 "Backstage.com obituary, November 1, 2006"]. ''[[Backstage (magazine)|Backstage]]''.</ref>

Laurents wrote ''Mainly on Directing: Gypsy, West Side Story and Other Musicals'', published in 2009, in which he discussed musicals he directed and the work of other directors he admired.

His last memoir titled ''The Rest of the Story'' was published posthumously in September 2012.