Edward Bernds (July 12, 1905 - May 20, 2000) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
screenwriter and director, born in Chicago, Illinois.
Career
While in his junior year in Lake View High School, he and several friends formed a small radio clique and obtained amateur licenses. In the early 1920s there was considerable prestige for amateur operators to have commercial radio licenses, and Bernds was in a good position to get into broadcasting when he graduated in 1923, a year when radio stations began popping up all over Chicago. He found employment — at age 20 — as chief operator at Chicago's WENR.
When talking pictures burst onto the scene in the late 1920s, Bernds and broadcast operators like him relocated to Hollywood to work as sound technicians in "the talkies." After a brief stint at
United ArtistsUnited Artists Entertainment LLC is an American film studio. The current United Artists was formed in November 2006 under a partnership between producer/actor Tom Cruise and his production partner, Paula Wagner, and Metro–Goldwyn–Mayer Studios Inc., an MGM company...
, Bernds quit and went to work at
ColumbiaColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, where he worked as sound man on many of
Frank CapraFrank Russell Capra was an American film director and a creative force behind a number of films of the 1930s and 1940s, including It Happened One Night , Mr. Deeds Goes to Town , You Can't Take It With You , Mr...
's '30s classics. He soon established himself as Columbia's best recording technician.
Directing the Three Stooges
Bernds wanted to be a director, but could not work up the nerve to approach Columbia president
Harry CohnHarry Cohn was the American president and production director of Columbia Pictures.-Career:Cohn was born to a working-class German-Jewish family in New York City. In later years, he appears to have disparaged his heritage...
about the reassignment. Frank Capra ran into Bernds one day, and made Bernds promise to talk with Cohn that evening. Cohn, although well aware of Bernds's prowess in the sound department, grudgingly granted Bernds's wish.
In 1945, Bernds became a screenwriter and director, first for the
Three StoogesThe Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce.- Overview :...
short subjects. His first effort with the team was the lackluster
A Bird in the HeadA Bird in the Head is the 89th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
, which featuring an ailing
Curly HowardJerome Lester Horwitz better known by his stage name Curly Howard was an American comedian and vaudevillian, best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine...
. The 41-year-old Howard had suffered a series of minor
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
s prior to filming; as a result, his performance was marred by slurred speech, and slower timing. Though Bernds was initially thrilled at being a director, he was horrified when he realized that Curly was in such bad shape (something Columbia short-subject head
Jules WhiteJules White born Jules Weiss was a movie director and producer. He is best known for his short-subject comedies starring the Three Stooges.-Early years:...
failed to tell Bernds). Years later, Bernds discussed his trying experience during the filming of
A Bird in the Head:
Realizing that Curly was no longer able to perform in the same capacity as before, Bernds devised ways to cover his illness. Curly could still be the star, but the action was shifted away from the ailing Stooge. In
A Bird in the Head, the action focuses more on crazy Professor Panzer and Igor. This allowed Curly to maintain a healthy amount of screen time without being required to contribute much.
Bernds often commented that he and Jules White never really got along. As a result, Bernds feared that his directing days would be over as soon as they began if he released
A Bird in the Head with a weak Curly as his first entry. Producer
Hugh McCollumHugh McCollum was an American film producer best known for his credits on Three Stooges short subject comedies.-Career:...
reshuffled the release order, and the superior
Micro-PhoniesMicro-Phonies is the 87th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:The trio are employed as handymen in a recording studio...
was released first, securing Bernds's directing position. Bernds struggled through three additional films (
The Three TroubledoersThe Three Troubledoers is the 91st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
,
Monkey BusinessmenMonkey Businessmen is the 92nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
and
Three Little PiratesThree Little Pirates is the 96th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
, with Curly in varying stages of decline) until the comedian suffered a debilitating stroke that ended his career. When Shemp Howard replaced his brother Curly as the third Stooge, it breathed new life into the Stooges' films, and allowed Bernds to add new flair and wit to the team's antics.
Columbia's short-subject department operated two units, one headed by Jules White, the other by Hugh McCollum. Edward Bernds worked for the McCollum unit, usually collaborating on scripts with
Elwood UllmanElwood Ullman was an American film comedy writer most famous for his credits on Three Stooges shorts and many other low-budget comedies....
. Every Columbia series alternated between the White and McCollum units, allowing Bernds to direct the other Columbia comedians: Shemp Howard.
Hugh HerbertHugh Herbert was a motion picture comedian. He began his career in vaudeville, and wrote more than 150 plays and sketches....
,
Andy ClydeAndrew "Andy" Clyde was a Scottish movie and TV actor whose career spanned more than four decades. He broke into silent films in 1925 as a Mack Sennett comic...
, Gus Schilling and Richard Lane,
Joe BesserJoe Besser was an American comedian, known for his impish humor, and is now best remembered for his brief stint as a member of the Three Stooges in movie short subjects of 1956-57...
. Joe DeRIta, Vera Vague, Wally Vernon and
Eddie QuillanEdward "Eddie" Quillan was an American film actor whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s.- Vaudeville and silent films :...
,
Harry Von ZellHarry von Zell , born in Indianapolis, made his mark as an announcer of radio programs and an actor in films and television shows....
, and
Billie BurkeMary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an American actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz.-Early life:...
, among others. Bernds also began directing the feature-length
BlondieBlondie is a 1938 movie directed by Frank Strayer, based on the comic strip of the same name. The screenplay was written by Chic Young and Richard Flournoy....
comedies with
Penny SingletonPenny Singleton was an American film actress.During her sixty year career, Singleton appeared in films and television, most frequently as the comic strip heroine, Blondie Bumstead in a series of 28 motion pictures, from 1938 until 1950, and the popular Blondie radio program from 1939 until...
and
Arthur LakeArthur Lake was an American actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie to life in film, radio, and television....
.
When the Columbia shorts department downsized in 1952, Hugh McCollum was fired and Bernds quit the studio, out of loyalty to McCollum.
Later years
In 1950 Bernds directed
Gold RaidersGold Raiders is a comedy Western film, directed by Edward Bernds with a script by B-movie writer William Lively and veteran comedy writer Elwood Ullman. The film was an attempt by independent producer Bernard Glasser to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien...
, an independently produced comedy-western co-starring veteran cowboy star George O'Brien and The Three Stooges. This led to an assignment at the Allied Artists studio, directing action features starring
Stanley ClementsStanley Clements was an American actor and comedian.Stanley Clements was born Stanislaw Klimowicz in Long Island, New York. Young Stan realized that he wanted a show-business career while he was in grammar school, and when he graduated from college he toured in vaudeville for two years...
, which in turn led Bernds into Allied Artists' breadwinning series starring
The Bowery BoysThe Bowery Boys were a group of actors who made a series of films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958. The group was a revamping of "The East Side Kids," who had been making films together since 1940...
. Bernds directed
Leo GorceyLeo Bernard Gorcey was an American stage and movie actor who became famous for portraying on film the leader of the group of young hooligans known variously as the Dead End Kids, The East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys...
,
Huntz HallHenry Richard "Huntz" Hall was an American radio, theatrical, and motion picture performer perhaps best known for his acting in the "Dead End Kids" movies, such as Angels with Dirty Faces...
, and company as though he was still working with the Stooges; the Bernds efforts in the series have the most slapstick content.
Bernds has the distinction of receiving an Oscar nomination by mistake. In 1956 the Academy nominated him and co-writer Elwood Ullman for the screen story to
High SocietyHigh Society is musical film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in VistaVision and Technicolor with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It was directed by Charles Walters and produced by Sol C. Siegel from a screenplay by John Patrick, based on the play The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry...
. The Academy actually intended the nomination to be for the big-budget
Frank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers." His professional career had stalled by the...
-
Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
musical. Bernds and Ullman
did make a film in 1955 called
High Society — but theirs was a low-budget feature with
The Bowery BoysThe Bowery Boys were a group of actors who made a series of films released by Monogram Pictures from 1946 through 1958. The group was a revamping of "The East Side Kids," who had been making films together since 1940...
. Graciously and voluntarily, Bernds and Ullman withdrew their nomination, though it still stands in the record books.
Bernds graduated to dramatic features in the late 1950s, although he was reunited with the Three Stooges in the 1960s for their feature films, and the live-action portions of their TV cartoons. He and Ullman also collaborated on an
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
feature for Allied Artists,
Tickle MeTickle Me is a 1965 western comedy-musical starring Elvis Presley. It is also the only Elvis film released by Allied Artists Pictures. It is said to have singlehandedly saved the Allied Artists studio from financial despair....
. His best-known work from this time period is arguably the 1959 horror film
Return of the FlyReturn of the Fly is the first sequel to the 1958 horror film The Fly. It was released in 1959, and directed by Edward Bernds. Unlike the preceding film, Return of the Fly was shot in black and white. The film was followed by another sequel in 1965, Curse of the Fly.-Storyline:The story resumes 15...
. Although Bernds had become a proficient all-around director, he confessed to enjoying his short-subject comedies more.
Bernds's autobiography is "Mr. Bernds Goes to Hollywood," published in 1999. It details the earlier stages of his career, before he was a director. Bernds's directorial career is chronicled in "The Columbia Comedy Shorts," ISBN 0786405775, first published in 1986; Bernds wrote the foreword and is quoted throughout.
Outliving most of his peers, Edward Bernds died peacefully on May 20, 2000, in Van Nuys, California.
Three Stooges films directed by Bernds
- Micro-Phonies
Micro-Phonies is the 87th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:The trio are employed as handymen in a recording studio...
(1945)
- A Bird in the Head
A Bird in the Head is the 89th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1946)
- The Three Troubledoers
The Three Troubledoers is the 91st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1946)
- Monkey Businessmen
Monkey Businessmen is the 92nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1946)
- Three Little Pirates
Three Little Pirates is the 96th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1946)
- Fright Night
Fright Night is the 98th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1947)
- Out West
Out West is the 99th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1947)
- Brideless Groom
Brideless Groom is the 101st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.- Plot :...
(1947)
- Pardon My Clutch
Pardon My Clutch is the 105th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:Shemp has been ill with a toothache for quite some time...
(1948)
- Squareheads of the Round Table
Squareheads of the Round Table is the 106th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1948)
- The Hot Scots
The Hot Scots is the 108th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1948)
- Mummy's Dummies
Mummy's Dummies is the 111th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1948)
- Crime on Their Hands
Crime on Their Hands is the 112th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1948)
- Who Done It?
Who Done It? is the 114th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1949)
- Vagabond Loafers
Vagabond Loafers is the 118th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:The Stooges are inept plumbers at Day and Nite Plumbers...
(1949)
- Punchy Cowpunchers
Punchy Cowpunchers is the 120th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1950)
- Dopey Dicks
Dopey Dicks is the 122nd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1950)
- Studio Stoops
Studio Stoops is the 126th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1950)
- A Snitch in Time
A Snitch in Time is the 128th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1950)
- Three Arabian Nuts
Three Arabian Nuts is the 129th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1951)
- Merry Mavericks
Merry Mavericks is the 133rd short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1951)
- The Tooth Will Out
The Tooth Will Out is the 134th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1951)
- Hula-La-La
Hula-La-La is the 135th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959. The film is a satire of the South Seas genre of films.-Plot:...
(1951)
- Gold Raiders
Gold Raiders is a comedy Western film, directed by Edward Bernds with a script by B-movie writer William Lively and veteran comedy writer Elwood Ullman. The film was an attempt by independent producer Bernard Glasser to inaugurate a new western series starring old favorite George O'Brien...
(1951, feature film)
- Listen, Judge (1952)
- Gents in a Jam
Gents in a Jam is the 141st short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.-Plot:...
(1952)
- The Three Stooges in Orbit
The Three Stooges In Orbit was the fourth feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita. Released by Columbia Pictures, The Three Stooges In Orbit was directed by long-time Stooge...
(1962, feature film)
- The Three Stooges Meet Hercules
The Three Stooges Meet Hercules was the third feature film to star the Three Stooges after their 1959 resurgence in popularity. By this time, the trio consisted of Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly Joe DeRita. Released by Columbia Pictures, The Three Stooges Meet Hercules was directed by long-time...
(1962, feature film)