Michael B Druxman

THE HOLLYWOOD LEGENDS is a series of one and two person, two-act plays by Hollywood biographer, historian, screenwriter and playwright Michael B. Druxman that explore the life and times of some of filmdom's most glittering personalities.This is the first time that all ten plays have been incorporated into one volume.From Clara Bow, "The 'It' Girl" of the silent era, through the birth of the talkies with Al Jolson and Maurice Chevalier, on through the thirties and forties with superstars like Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Carole Lombard, Errol Flynn, Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, Basil Rathbone and, finally, Hollywood's "boy genius," Orson Welles, these anecdote-filled dramatic pieces present a humorous, often touching portrait of each star and the era in which he/she lived.The plays, many of which have seen several productions, utilize simple costumes and props, and are designed to be staged on a single setting, with shifts in lighting to denote changes in time and place.

To the average moviegoer, the name of Basil Rathbone conjures an image of fiction's most famous detective - Sherlock Holmes. Certainly, of all the actors who have played the Baker Street sleuth, his interpretation was the most definitive. Yet, for the true aficionado of the cinema, the actor was much more than the personification of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. He was also Mr. Murdstone in DAVID COPPERFIELD, Richard III in TOWER OF LONDON, Louis XI in IF I WERE KING, Tybalt of ROMEO AND JULIET, Captain Estaban Pasquale in THE MARK OF ZORRO, Sir Guy of Gisbourne from THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and, of course, the SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. For most of his years in motion pictures, Rathbone was the victim of type-casting. During the 1930s, he was known as the screen's ultimate villain - constantly in demand by producers to carry out dastardly deeds. Later, he assumed the guise of Sherlock Holmes and his past accomplishments were virtually forgotten. However, the fame that accompanied that role came at a high price: in a twist of fate, the role of a lifetime managed to irrevocably damage Rathbone's career.Michael B. Druxman's RATHBONE joins the actor near the end of his life while, because of his troubled financial condition, he is working on still another less than memorable film. The play delves into Rathbone's "dark side," exploring his relationships with his first wife, the son he virtually abandoned and Ouida, the divisive woman to whom he was married for over forty years, yet perhaps never really knew.

Nelson Eddy was a tall, handsome baritone from the opera and concert stage.Jeanette MacDonald was a beautiful redhead, a soprano who began her career in a Broadway chorus, then was drafted to Hollywood when the movies started to "talk" and sing.Together at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, they were "America's Singing Sweethearts," starring in a series of classic musicals that endeared them to audiences during the 1930s and decades beyond. NAUGHTY MARIETTA, ROSE MARIE, MAYTIME, SWEETHEARTS and NEW MOON are among the films that their legions of fans enjoy to this day.Off-screen, however, the MacDonald/Eddy relationship was not always as amiable as their public might have fantasized. Rumors persisted of their on-set quarrels, as well as a torrid romance, even though both would marry others.NELSON AND JEANETTE, Michael B. Druxman's two-character stage play, takes an affectionate, insightful look at the two beloved stars, joining them in the early 1960s, as they think back on their careers, struggling to decide whether they should work together in one last film. They reminisce about the good times and the bad, recalling Louis B. Mayer, Clark Gable, Maurice Chevalier, Allan Jones, John Barrymore and others, as they sing the songs for which they're warmly remembered

What if you hated your next door neighbor...and he has just been elected President of the United States?In Michael B. Druxman's outrageous comedy, HAIL ON THE CHIEF , cantankerous gentleman rancher Oliver Pettridge hates his neighbor, a former cowboy movie star. He's hated him for years over a property line dispute.As the play begins, the neighbor has just been elected President of the United States. Now, Oliver must deal with all the inconveniences that anyone living next to the President must endure...including a paranoid Secret Service Agent. After the agent "bugs" Oliver's house, Pettridge decides to declare "war" on the Secret Service. (5m, 2w; simple unit set)

PUTZ, Michael B. Druxman's two-character comedy, explores the vicissitudes of the father & son relationship.Alan Nathan is a twice-divorced Jewish screenwriter who can't understand why his beloved son, Marty, is suddenly causing him problems. Not only has the high school senior begun criticizing Alan's self-indulgent lifestyle, but he's now decided to quit school and go on the road as a rock musician. "If only he had lived with me all these years," Alan bemoans, "instead of his mother, my son's head wouldn't be so screwed up."Tragedy strikes. Alan gets his wish. The boy moves in, and it's a disaster. He now has to "deal" with his son on a day-to-day basis...and Alan's psyche is not equipped for that... especially after Marty suddenly announces that he's become a "Jew for Jesus".2 men; 1 set

This Original Screenplay by Michael B. Druxman is a memory piece, a Jewish American saga featuring a cast of rich, colorful characters and taking place in a small resort town in central Washington State during the late 1940s/early 1950s.The narrator recalls his childhood when his family spent their summers in the town of Mineral Lake which, despite opposition from many anti-Semitic residents, his father hoped to develop into a Palm Springs of the Pacific Northwest. Inspired by a true story.

Maurice Chevalier was the quintessential Frenchman. He introduced the world to such memorable songs as "Louise", "Mimi", "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me", and, from the Academy Award-winning film, Gigi, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls."Privately, the man was not anything like his happy-go-lucky public persona. Insecure and dour, the only "true" loves in his life were his mother, who died in the 1930s, and the vast international audiences that adored him.Michael B. Druxman's play is set in 1963, when the star's failing health makes his ability to perform in the future questionable. Reminiscing backstage in his dressing room, he talks about his days of glory in the French music halls, his early Hollywood movies, romantic encounters with Marlene Dietrich and other well-known personalities, as well as the more unnerving times, such as his experiences in France and Germany during WW2 when he was falsely accused of being a Nazi collaborator.CHEVALIER is an affectionate, revealing, song-filled portrait of the man that America once called "the French Al Jolson."

Two Original Screenplays of the Supernatural by Michael B. DruxmanBLACK WATCH: A group of mercenaries, bent on ransoming both Edinburgh Castle and its Crown Jewels, seize the fortress. Their plan is foolproof, ingenious, but what they don't count on is the interference of a retired Army sergeant, now a tour guide, a young soldier, and the ghosts of the castle, who, once released, roam about seeking a bloody revenge for past injustices.THE CAVERN: Following an earthquake, tourists have begun to disappear in the Lorenzo Caverns. The FBI claims that a bear is the culprit, but the local sheriff and an esteemed archeologist suspect that the missing people have become the victims of a bloodthirsty alien creature.

BARRY & THE BIMBO is an original romantic/action/comedy screenplay by Michael B. Druxman.Barry is a young, somewhat naive, aspiring screenwriter, who has got the "hots" for Dawn. She's the cute blonde who lives upstairs and who runs around with a nasty guy involved in the local rackets. When the mob "hits" Dawn's fella, she and Barry become the cops' chief suspects. Then, when they're kidnapped out of a police car by some hoods and both officers are killed, the unlikely couple find themselves on the run...with the law, the mob and an important politician on their tail. It seems that everybody thinks that Dawn has her dead boy friend's secret diary, a little journal can put a lot of people into jail. Events reach a spectacular climax near the historic town of Angels Camp, with the lead heavy pursuing Barry and Dawn in a roller coaster chase on rafts down the American River.

An original screenplay by Michael B. Druxman, CHEYENNE WARRIOR was produced by Roger Corman's Concorde/New Horizons Pictures and released in 1994. Mark Griffiths directed the film, which starred Kelly Preston, Dan Haggerty, Bo Hopkins and Pato Hoffmann.CHEYENNE WARRIOR was a critical and financial success, and through home video and cable television, achieved a worldwide fan following that persists to the present day.CHEYENNE WARRIOR II and HAWK are Druxman's two diverse versions of a long awaited sequel to that original film, each following "Soars Life a Hawk," the character played by Pato Hoffmann, as he and his Cheyenne brothers seek revenge for the bloody 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, in which the Colorado Militia slaughtered over one hundred peaceful Cheyenne men, women and children. With both the U.S. Army and ruthless bounty hunters on his trail, Hawk becomes a hunted fugitive, determined to reunite with his people and his destiny.The epic historical saga continues....

SARAH GOLDEN HAIR is an original screenplay by Michael B. Druxman.During the infamous Sand Creek Massacre of November 29, 1864 in which a group of Colorado Militia slaughtered over 100 peaceful Cheyenne men, women and children, scout Robert Bent rescues Sarah Lindstrom and her child from the devastated Indian camp and takes her to safety. Sarah had been adopted by the Cheyenne when she was nine, after white renegades killed her mother and brother, and now she is happily married to Brave Wolf, a Cheyenne warrior chief.Bent escorts Sarah and her child to the Wyoming Territory where her father, now remarried, owns a trading post.While Sarah and her "new" family adjust to each other, Bent searches for Brave Wolf, hoping to reunite husband and wife. But Brave Wolf is now being hunted by the U.S. Cavalry, branded a renegade for exacting a bloody revenge against the whites who were at Sand Creek. SARAH GOLDEN HAIR is not only a classic western in the tradition of DANCES WITH WOLVES and CHEYENNE WARRIOR, but it is also a great love story about family and people who must adjust to changing times.

GHOUL CITY is an original screenplay by Michael B. Druxman.The first thing that Greg Hemmings did when he arrived in the quiet, Midwestern manufacturing town of Silo City was to shoot down the neighborhood grocer and his wife. He followed that by blowing away a farmer and his son, a deputy sheriff, plus several other of the townsfolk.When Sheriff Abel McIntire finally captured Greg and threw him into jail, the former high school science teacher from Canada told him that Silo City was a town of flesh-eating ghouls and that it was his intention to wipe out every one of them. Naturally, the peace officer scoffed at that allegation, but then, maybe there was something he knew that he wasn't about to tell.After all, there's really no such thing as a ghoul, is there?

An Original Screenplay by Michael B. Druxman, inspired by a sensational Hollywood murder.The Seattle police claim that Robby Abbott, 20, has murdered his mother, a former internationally-known high fashion model.When first assigned to defend the young man, attorney Rebecca Gleason believes her client to be guilty, as does her former husband, Harry Gleason, a private investigator of dubious reputation. Yet, as they delve deeper into the case, both Harry and Rebecca come to realize that they have more than a simple murder on their hands.A subsequent homicide and the appearance of the F.B.I. on the scene makes them realize that they have stumbled onto an international conspiracy, involving long hidden dark secrets capable of bringing down a powerful monarchy.Now, both Harry and Rebecca's lives, as well as that of their young son, are in danger, and the only thing that will save them from the killers who are stalking them is to learn the truth from a dying potentate, currently undergoing medical treatment in Canada.

A One-Person Play About the Life and Times of Al Jolson (Acting Edition)."Play relies on good writing and research by Druxman...." - Daily Variety"Michael B. Druxman has written a fine play which captures the many moods of Jolson." - The Longboat Observer"An exciting, withering portrait...." - Ft. Lauderdale Sun-SentinelAl Jolson was the "world's greatest entertainer". He made immortal such songs as "Swanee" and "April Showers", and starred in THE JAZZ SINGER, the movies' first talkie. He was also one of the most disliked men in show business.Revolving around the making of THE JOLSON STORY in 1946, the play looks in on "Jolie" at the lowest point of his career. He's a wealthy show business "has been," unwanted on the set of his own film biography. As he sits in his dressing room, he recalls the early years: an unloving father, a feud with his older brother, and his four marriages, including one to Ruby Keeler. We see that Jolson was ruthless, both in his career and personal life.JOLSON is the story of a great performer, a "lovable s.o.b." and the most sensational comeback in the history of show business.

A one-person play about the life and times of Clark Gable. Acting Edition]"...we actually forget our surroundings and believe we're listening to Gable's life story." -- News Enterprise.For nearly thirty years, Clark Gable was "the King" of Hollywood. Female fans swooned, male admirers were made envious of his unaffected masculinity. Through jaunty, self-assured performances in films like IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, SAN FRANCISCO, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and GONE WITH THE WIND, he carved a niche for himself as the quintessential American movie star.The play is set on the Nevada location of Gable's last picture, THE MISFITS. While waiting for his perennially tardy co-star Marilyn Monroe to arrive on the set, Gable reminisces about his Horatio Alger life and career, touching on his stormy relationship with his oil wildcatter father, his marriages to older women, his numerous affairs and his great love, wife Carole Lombard, who died in a 1942 plane crash...a tragedy from which Gable never recovered."Insightful", "funny", and "racy" are words that audiences have used to describe Michael B. Druxman's GABLE.

CLARA BOW is a one-woman play in two acts about the life and times of Clara Bow. Acting Edition]The "It" Girl was the movies' first American sex goddess. The star of WINGS, the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar, Clara Bow's unhappy life, in many ways, paralleled that of her successor, Marilyn Monroe.A longtime victim of insomnia, Ms. Bow lies awake on the morning of her estranged husband's funeral and painfully remembers the mentally ill mother who once tried to kill her; her career as the ultimate "flapper"; her many nervous breakdowns; and affairs with the likes of Gary Cooper, Gilbert Roland, director Victor Fleming, and, as is said, the USC football team.Michael B. Druxman's CLARA BOW is a tragi-comic tale about another of Hollywood's victims.