Samuel Hoffenstein

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Samuel Sam Hoffenstein October 8 1890 October 6 1947 was a screenwriter and a musical composer Born in Russia he emigrated to the United States and began a career in New York City as a newspaper writer and in the entertainment business In 1931 he moved to Los Angeles where he lived for the rest of his life and where he wrote the scripts for over thirty movies These movies included Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde 1931 The Miracle Man 1932 Phantom of the Opera 1943 The Wizard of Oz 1939 Tales of Manhattan 1942 Flesh and Fantasy 1943 Laura 1944 and Ernst Lubitschs Cluny Brown 1946 In addition Hoffenstein along with Cole Porter and Kenneth Webb helped compose the musical score for Gay Divorce 1933 the stage musical that became the film The Gay Divorcee 1934 He died in Los Angeles California A book of his verse Pencil in the Air was published three days after his death to critical acclaim Another book of his work was published in 1928 titled Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing The book contained some of his work that had been formerly published in the New York World the New York Tribune Vanity Fair the D A C News and Snappy Stories