Don Hartman

Former journeyman actor Don Hartman settled down in New York in the mid-1920s to write lyrics and librettos for Broadway shows and special material for radio and nightclubs. In films from 1930, Hartman was busiest at Paramount Pictures, where he co-scripted the first three Bob Hope-Bing Crosby "Road" pictures and worked extensively on Hope and Crosby's solo vehicles. Moving to Sam Goldwyn's operation in 1944, Hartman helped forge the screen image of Danny Kaye in Up in Arms (1944), Wonder Man (1945) and The Kid From Brooklyn (1946). He went on to produce and direct his own scripts, turning out such light comedies as Ginger Rogers' It Had to Be You (1947) and Cary Grant's Every Girl Should Be Married (1948). Don Hartman was put in charge of production at his old stamping grounds of Paramount in 1951; five years later he formed his own production company, using Paramount as the distributor for Desire Under the Elms (1958) and The Matchmaker (1958).

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide