Rapf, Maurice, 1914-2003

Dates

• Existence: 1914 - 2003

Biography

Maurice Harry Rapf grew up in New York City and Los Angeles, attending Los Angeles High School before matriculating at Stanford University. After two years at Stanford, he enrolled at Dartmouth College for his junior and senior years, graduating in 1935 with a degree in English. While at Dartmouth, he was a member of Pi Lambda Phi and the Sphinx, and wrote, directed, and acted in plays as a member of the Dartmouth Players. He won the Experimental Theatre's original play contest two years in a row. Rapf also wrote several articles for "The Dartmouth." After graduating, he became a freelance screenwriter in Hollywood, where his screenwriting credits included "Song of the South," "They Gave Him a Gun," "Cinderella," and "So Dear to My Heart." He played a prominent role in establishing the Screen Writers Guild (later the Writers Guild of America) and served as its secretary. During World War II, Rapf was a screenwriter with the Navy's Office of Inter-American Affairs.

Blacklisted in Hollywood in the late 1940s for his union activities and Communist sympathies, Rapf returned to the Hanover for several years, where he helped make "My First Week at Dartmouth," a recruiting film for the college. He then moved to New York City, where he wrote and directed nonfiction films and was a film critic for "Life" magazine and "Family Circle." In the late 1960s, Rapf was invited back to Dartmouth to help teach courses on film. He became an adjunct professor there, helping to establish the Film Studies program and eventually serving as its acting director.

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