John Howard Lawson

John Howard Lawson (September 25, 1894 – August 11, 1977) was an American writer. He was for several years head of the Hollywood division of the Communist Party USA. He was also the organization's cultural manager and answered directly to V.J. Jerome, the Party's New York-based cultural chief. He was the first president of the Writers Guild of America, West after the Screen Writers Guild divided into two regional organizations. Lawson was one of the Hollywood Ten, the first group of American film industry professionals to be blacklisted during the 1950s McCarthy era. Before going to Hollywood, Lawson wrote several minor pieces before World War I. After the war he wrote a few more pieces and was drawn to European cubist, futurist and constructivist plays. In 1928, Lawson moved to Hollywood where he wrote scripts for films such as The Ship for Shanghai, Bachelor Apartment, and Goodbye Love. In the winter of 1930-1931, it was at this time during the Great Depression that Lawson wrote Success Story. The Theater Guild rejected the script, but Harold Clurman, a reader for them, had recently just formed the Group Theater and needed new scripts. Clurman and Lawson reworked the play during the summer of 1932, and Success Story opened on September 26, 1932 for 121 performances. Lawson would also pen the screenplay based on the play, Success at Any Price in 1934. During the 1930s, leftists accused Lawson of having a lack of ideological and political commitment. New Playwrights Theater a…