Joseph Moncure March (AC 1920) Papers

Joseph Moncure March was born in New York City in 1899. After graduation from Amherst College (1918) and service in the US Army, he held various editorial positions, did free lance writing and published poetry. In 1929 he went to Hollywood under contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. From then until 1975 he worked in the film industry as writer and producer with various motion picture companies. March died in Los Angeles, California in 1977.

1899 July 27

Born in New York City, son of Moncure March and Regina Anker. His father was a New York corporate lawyer, attorney-in-chief and head of the law department for the Equitable Life Assurance Company, N.Y. His mother was born in Vienna, the daughter of a Viennese physician. Educated in Vienna and Berlin, she died when Joseph was 16 years old. Moncure March remarried to Katherine O'Connell. Important members of the March family include his grandfather, Francis Andrew March, scholar and philologist, and his uncle, General Peyton Conway March, Chief of Staff of the American army during World War II.

1912-1914

Attends DeWitt Clinton High School, New York City (Public School 165)

1915-1916

Attends Lawrenceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey

1916 September-1918 April

Attends Amherst College (majors in Greek, Latin, and English; member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity)

1918 April 16

Enlists in United States Army. Private overseas with Battery B, 105th Field Artillery, 27th Division, American Expeditionary.Forces. Participates in Saint Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives

1919 April 3

Honorable discharge

1919 September-1920 June

Amherst College. Graduates Honoris Causa in 1920 (academic requirements were not completed but the degree was awarded in recognition of World War I service)

1921

Marries Cyra Thomas, a Vassar graduate. Divorces. She dies sometime before 1931 May 5.

1921-1925

Managing Editor, The Telephone Review. New York Telephone Company, Publicity Department. Similar work for other organizations. Also writing during these years, chiefly verse.

1925-1926

Managing editor, The New Yorker.

1927-1928

The New York Evening Post "Literary Supplement"

1928

Marries Sue Wise, a New York society girl and artist

1927-1929

Freelance writer. Publishes three books (two narrative verse and one lyric poems): The Wild Party Chicago, Pascal Covici, 1928; London Heineman, 1928. The Set Up Chicago, Covici-Friede, 1928; London, Martin Secker, 1928. Fifteen Lyrics New York, The Fountain Press, 1929 (417 copies printed at the Harbor Press.) The first two receive considerable critical acclaim.

1932

Divorces Sue Wise

1932 February 4

Marries Peggy Prior, former film actress recently divorced from actor Theodore von Elty. Subsequent publicized court case over custody of her two children, which she wins.

1929-1940

Hollywood motion picture scriptwriter. Moves to Hollywood under contract with Metro-Goldwyn Mayer Studios. Subsequent three-year writing contract with Howard Hughes, for whom he also works as a co-director, supervisor, and general manager during Hughes' absence. Salary in 1932 is $45,000. Also works in this period for Paramount, Columbia, Republic, Fox, Universal, and independent companies. Credits (and some cast) listed in American Film Institute Catalog: Feature Films include:
"Hell's Angels" (Caddo Co., 1930) with Jean Harlow and Ben Lyon
"Journey's End" (Tiffany-Gainsborough Prod., 1930)
"A Man From Wyoming" (Paramount Publix Corp., 1930) with Gary Cooper
"Hot Saturday" (Paramount Publix, Corp., 1932) with Cary Grant
"Madame Butterfly" (Paramount Publix Corp., 1932) with Spencer Tracy
"Sky Devils" (Caddo Co., 1932) with Spencer Tracy
"Hoop-la" (Fox Film Corp., 1933) with Clara Bow
"Jennie" Gerhardt (Paramount Prod., 1933)
"Jealousy" (Columbia Pictures Corp., 1934)
"Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round" (Reliance Pictures, Inc. 1934) with Jack Benny
"Two Alone" (RXO Radio Pictures, Inc. 1934)
"Let 'Em Have It" (Reliance Pictures, 1935)
"Rumba" (Paramount Prod., 1935) with George Raft and Carole Lombard
"And Sudden Death" (Paramount Prod., 1936)
"The Music Goes Round" (Columbia Pictures, 1936)
"Hideaway Girl" (Paramount Pictures, 1936) with Robert Cummings
"Flirting With Fate" (David L. Loew Prod., 1938)
"Her Jungle Love" (Paramount Pictures, 1938) with Dorothy Lamour and Ray Milland
"Woman Doctor" (Republic Pictures, 1939)
"Forgotten Girls" (Republic Pictures, 1940)
"Lone Star Raiders" (Republic Pictures, 1940)
"Three Faces West" (Republic Pictures, 1940) with John Wayne

1940-1942

Leaves Hollywood disenchanted. Lives briefly in New York City, then moves to Connecticut when he takes a job as a sheet metal worker in the Groton submarine shipyard. Soon becomes manager of the Gordon L. Hall Co., manufacturer of sheet metal assembly equipment.

1943-1945

Moves back to New York. Writer-producer of documentary films for the Office of War Information's Motion Picture Division (overseas branch Operating in New York City)

1945-1952

Free lance writer for documentaries and industrial public relations films for the State Department, the United Nations, and industry. Titles March mentions include:
"Tanglewood" (MPO for State Dept.)
"Yellowstone" (MPO for Ford Motor Co.)
"A Bottle of Milk" (State Dept.)
"Tomorrow Meets Today" (MPO for Ford Motor Co.)
"Cross Roads U.S.A. (Film Counselors for O.I.I.C.)
"Oil Tanker" (Film Counselors for Texaco)

1947-1949

Motion picture rights to "The Set Up" sold to R.K.O. in 1947. The feature film of it, starring Robert Ryan, was released in 1949.

1952-1953

Writer Producer, MPO Productions, Inc. Credits include:
"The American Road" (Ford Motor Co.)
"American Farmer" (Ford Motor Co.)
"Garden Wise" (Monsanto)
"Masters of Maintenance" (American Airlines)

1953-1964

Resigns MPO October 1953, but comes to a revised agreement to write three films a year thereafter. Credits include:
"American Cowboy" (Ford Motor Co.)
"Giants in the Land" (General Motors)
"Design for Dreaming (General Motors)
"The Stylists" (Ford Motor Co.)
"Equation for Progress" (Ford Research)
"Plan for Learning" (U.S. Steel)
"CPA" (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
"Where Were You" (Ford Motor Co.)

circa 1954

Motion picture rights to The Wild Party sold to R.K.O.

1964

Retires and returns to California to live near Hollywood

1968-1977

Continues writing, especially an unpublished book-length piece entitled "Hollywood Idyll." Contributes articles to The New Yorker Magazine.

1974

Sells motion picture rights to The Wild Party to Crown Publishers, Inc.

1975

"The Wild Party" (American International Pictures) is released starring James Coco and Raquel Welch.

1977 February 15

Dies in Los Angeles, California