Morton Fine and David Friedkin
Born four years apart in the early 1900s, Morton Fine and David Friedkin were the dynamic duo who wrote the series On Stage. But this was only one of their many accomplishments as a writing duo. The two began their collaboration in the 1940s during the Golden Age of Radio. They wrote scripts for radio shows such as Bold Venture and Broadway is My Beat.
Fine and Friedkin also worked on the crime show Crime Classics. This pair was a huge talent during the reign of Old Time Radio. They even wrote the pilot to the radio show Gunsmoke – which, of course, became a huge television hit later.
Other great radio programs they wrote for include Suspense, The Lineup, which was a 1950's police drama, The Front Page a 1948 crime drama, Philip Morris Playhouse, Sara's Private Caper a 1950's detective spoof and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar from 1952 -1954 when John Lund was Johnny Dollar.
They also together wrote, produced and directed Many episodes of Escape during the its run from 1947 - 1954. It’s not surprising that the two made the leap from radio into films as the Golden Age of Radio began to fade away. They actually wrote two films together in the 1950s including Hot Summer Night.
They also wrote Handle With Care. In addition to writing the script, David Friedkin also directed both films. They also wrote the famous film The Pawnbroker that was released in 1965.
In addition to their work in radio and film, Fine and Friedkin are also well known for their work in television. As television grew more popular in the 1950s and 60s, Fine and Friedkin found a new niche with which they were quite successful.
You can see their writing work on shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Barnaby Jones, I Spy, Kojak, and The Streets of San Francisco. These shows all highlighted their amazing talent for scripting dialogue that was both exciting and developed the humanity of their characters.
The duo continued to work together until the death of David Friedkin in 1976. However, Fine continued to write on his own. He wrote the screenplay for the film The Next Man starring Sean Connery. He also wrote The Greek Tycoon, which starred Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Quinn. In addition, he wrote the famous film Caboblanco starring Charles Bronson in 1980. Morton Fine passed away in 1991 at the age of 75.
While neither Fine nor Friedkin is still alive to produce new films and television shows, their spirit lives on in their fine body of work. You may not have even known their names until now, but you’ve surely heard the words they’ve written.
With today’s technology you can listen to audio recordings of many of their radio shows. This talented pair of writers left a legacy of fine work for you to enjoy even now.
Happy listening my friends,
