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Max Marcin
Max Marcin
Max Marcin
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Poster for Obey the Law

Key Information

Max Marcin (née Schlamjack; 5 May 1879 – 30 March 1948) was a Polish-born American playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and film director. He wrote for 47 films between 1916 and 1949. He also directed six films between 1931 and 1936. His stage work includes See My Lawyer (1915), directed by Frank M. Stammers; he wrote and/or produced almost 20 plays for Broadway from 1916 to 1938.[1] Marcin wrote for and produced The FBI in Peace and War[2] and created, produced and wrote for the Crime Doctor radio program, which became the basis for a series of ten Crime Doctor films.[3]

Biography

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He was born in Krotoschen, Posen, Germany (now Poznań, Poland). At the age of seven, Max emigrated to the United States with his father and mother, Hirsch and Johanna Schlamjack, and two siblings, Julius and Emma. They were steerage passengers on the S/S Taormina, which sailed from the Port of Hamburg on 14 July 1886[4] and arrived at the Port of New York on 2 August 1886.[5] They settled in New York City, where his father continued working as a butcher. Max Schlamjack was admitted to City College as a student in 1895. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in 1898 and, with the passing years, devoted himself to more creative literary work, primarily as a writer of plays and short stories. He died in Tucson, Arizona, aged 68. He was survived by a brother and a sister.[2][6]

Selected plays

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Selected short stories

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  • "The Return of Esther" (New York Tribune, Sunday, 11 April 1909)[9]
  • "Call of the Schutzenfest" (The Buffalo Courier, Sunday, 5 May 1909)
  • "Better Than Rube" (New York Tribune, November 1911)[10]
  • "The Spy" (New York Tribune, 1 September 1912)[11]

Novels

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  • Are You My Wife? (1910) (311 pp., illus.; New York: Moffat, Yard & Co.)[12]
  • The Substitute Prisoner (1911) (New York: Moffat, Yard & Co.)[13]

Partial filmography

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References

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Max Marcin

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from Grokipedia
'''Max Marcin''' (May 5, 1879 – March 30, 1948) was a Polish-born American playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and film director. Born in Poznań, Prussia (now Poznań, Poland), he emigrated to the United States and became known for his work in Broadway theater, Hollywood cinema, and radio during the early to mid-20th century. Marcin achieved success on Broadway as a writer, director, and producer with plays including ''Cheating Cheaters'' (1916), ''The House of Glass'' (1915), and ''Eyes of Youth'' (1917). His career extended to Hollywood in the 1930s, where he wrote and directed films such as ''Silence'' (1931), ''King of the Jungle'' (1933), and ''The Love Captive'' (1934). He contributed to over 50 film credits as a writer. Marcin also wrote the novel ''The Substitute Prisoner'' (1911) and created the radio series ''Crime Doctor'', which premiered in 1940 and inspired a series of films.

Early life

Family origins and immigration

Max Marcin was born on May 5, 1879, in Posen, Prussia, Germany, the city now known as Poznań in Wielkopolskie Voivodeship, Poland. His family origins trace to the Prussian region, with the area historically part of the Province of Posen under German administration at the time of his birth. Marcin immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s.

Early work in theater publicity

Max Marcin began his professional involvement in the theater through publicity work associated with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., most notably crafting a high-profile stunt for Ziegfeld's star performer Anna Held in the early 1900s. Described at the time as a minor writer, Marcin conceived the fabricated story that Held maintained her renowned complexion and voluptuous figure by bathing in forty gallons of milk daily—eighty on Sundays—supposedly delivered to her hotel suite, drawing inspiration from ancient Roman milk baths. Ziegfeld rewarded Marcin $250 for the concept and promoted the tale aggressively to the press, even fabricating a milk dealer (named variously R. H., H. R., or H. B. Wallace of Brooklyn) who would sue Ziegfeld for non-payment on the grounds that the milk had turned sour, thereby amplifying the scandalous appeal. The stunt proved wildly successful in attracting media attention and public fascination, despite the dealer's eventual denial and Held's later revelation that her actual regimen involved olive oil rather than milk. Marcin's contribution to such innovative and effective theatrical promotion established valuable industry connections that facilitated his subsequent shift toward creative writing for the stage.

Theater career

Playwriting and notable stage works

Max Marcin began his literary career as a novelist before transitioning to playwriting in the early 1910s. His first published work was the novel The Substitute Prisoner, released in 1911, which established him as an author of mystery and intrigue. This early novel reflected his interest in dramatic narratives that would later characterize his stage works. Marcin soon shifted focus to the theater, writing original plays that gained attention in the pre-World War I era. His drama The House of Glass premiered on Broadway in 1915, showcasing his ability to craft tense, emotional stories. The play explored themes of imprisonment and justice, marking one of his initial contributions to American drama. His most notable early stage work was the comic melodrama Cheating Cheaters, written in 1915. This play featured a clever plot involving deception and rival schemes, blending humor with suspense in a style that proved popular with audiences. Several of Marcin's plays, including Cheating Cheaters, were later adapted into motion pictures, reflecting their enduring appeal beyond the stage.

Broadway productions and roles

Max Marcin established himself as a multifaceted contributor to Broadway theater, working as a playwright, producer, director, and stager across numerous productions from 1915 to 1938. His involvement often extended beyond writing, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s, when he took on production and staging responsibilities for many of his own scripts to oversee their realization on stage. Marcin's Broadway credits encompass a range of genres, including melodrama, comedy, drama, farce, and mystery, reflecting his versatility in crafting stage works for commercial audiences. Early in his Broadway career, Marcin was primarily credited as a writer on original plays, including The House of Glass (1915), Cheating Cheaters (1916), Eyes of Youth (1917, co-written with Charles Guernon), and The Woman in Room 13 (1919, co-written with Samuel Shipman). Several of these productions enjoyed respectable runs, indicating commercial viability for his early dramatic and comedic efforts. By the early 1920s, he expanded his role to include producing, as seen in Give and Take (1923) and Three Live Ghosts (1920). In the mid-1920s and late 1920s, Marcin frequently served in multiple capacities on his own plays, combining writing with producing and staging/direction. Notable examples include The Nightcap (1921, co-written with Guy Bolton, produced and staged by Marcin), Silence (1924, written and directed by Marcin), Trapped (1928, written, produced, and staged by Marcin), and The Humbug (1929, written, produced, and staged by Marcin). These productions highlight his hands-on approach to bringing his material to Broadway audiences. Marcin's final Broadway credit was Censored (1938), a melodrama he co-wrote with Conrad Seiler and staged, which opened at the 46th Street Theatre on February 26, 1938, and closed after 9 performances on March 5, 1938.

Film career

Screenwriting in Hollywood

Max Marcin transitioned to screenwriting in Hollywood around 1916, applying his theatrical background to the emerging medium of silent and later sound films. He became a prolific contributor to the industry, penning screenplays for approximately 47 to 51 films from 1916 through 1949. Many of his Hollywood scripts adapted his own successful stage plays, bridging his earlier theater career with motion pictures. Notable examples include Cheating Cheaters (1934), adapted from his play of the same name, and The Love Captive (1934), based on his earlier work The Humbug. Other significant contributions during the 1930s featured original or story work on films such as The Jungle Princess (1936) and Hollywood Boulevard (1936). In the 1940s, Marcin's radio creation served as the basis for the Crime Doctor film series (1943-1949) at Columbia Pictures, with multiple installments crediting his radio program or characters.

Directing credits

Max Marcin's brief career as a film director occurred in the early 1930s at Paramount Pictures, where he received directing credits on features, often sharing duties with other filmmakers. He served as co-director on Silence (1931). His directing projects included The Strange Case of Clara Deane (1932), King of the Jungle (1933) which he co-directed with H. Bruce Humberstone, Gambling Ship (1933), and The Love Captive (1934). Marcin is particularly noted for his work on King of the Jungle (1933), Silence (1931), and The Love Captive (1934). On The Love Captive (1934), he also contributed to the screenplay.

Radio career

Creation and impact of Crime Doctor

Max Marcin created the radio series Crime Doctor, which premiered on CBS on August 4, 1940, and continued until 1947. Drawing from his experience as a former police reporter, Marcin wrote and produced the program, centering it on Dr. Benjamin Ordway, a criminal psychologist who had been a criminal named Phil Morgan before an accident caused amnesia, allowing him to reform and use his knowledge to rehabilitate offenders and assist in crime-solving. The series initially featured Ordway on a parole board where studio audience juries decided convicts' fates, but later shifted to a format in which Ordway helped police solve mysteries, often revealing overlooked evidence in a signature segment. The program achieved notable popularity, with promotional materials for its film adaptations claiming it attracted 11 million listeners each Sunday night. This success led Columbia Pictures to produce a film series based on Marcin's radio creation, running from 1943 to 1949 with ten entries starring Warner Baxter as Dr. Robert Ordway. The films, which credited the source material as "based on the radio program by Max Marcin," included Crime Doctor (1943), The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943), The Crime Doctor's Courage (1945), and concluded with The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949), with Marcin's character and stories providing the foundation for the adaptations.

Personal life and death

Marriage and family

Max Marcin married Clara May Mings on November 29, 1915. Their marriage continued until her death sometime in the 1920s. No records indicate any children from the union or additional spouses in his life.

Later years and passing

Max Marcin died on March 30, 1948, in Tucson, Arizona, at the age of 68. Some of his screenwriting contributions continued to appear in posthumous releases into 1949.
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