Bernard Gordon 1918-2007

"The present danger has ended"

I’m going to try to get out of work early enough on Tuesday to go to a memorial for Bernard Gordon at the Writers Guild.

When I was a kid on Long Island, Bernard Gordon scared the be-jesus out of me. Twice. I saw two movies he contributed to at The Westbury Theater. One was Earth vs. the Flying Saucers the other was Day of the Triffids. The first scene of the latter freaked me out so much I made my parents take me home on the spot...and then begged them to let me go back the next night to see the rest of the picture. So, at a very early age, Bernard Gordon was one of the writers who got into my head and stayed there.

At the time I saw those two movies, Bernard Gordon’s name didn’t appear in the credits of either. He was a blacklisted writer, working under pseudonyms or with no credit at all. It was only a few years ago that I learned he had anything to do with the two movies in question.

Bernard Gordon passed away earlier this year, you’ll find his full obituary by clicking the title of this post.

I admire him for scaring me as a kid, for nudging me toward the career I have, and for having the courage of his convictions. But mostly for telling Elia Kazan to go fuck himself.