Edward Bernds - Later Years

Later Years

In 1950 Bernds directed Gold Raiders, 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 Clements, which in turn led Bernds into Allied Artists' breadwinning series starring The Bowery Boys. Bernds directed Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, 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 Society. The Academy actually intended the nomination to be for the big-budget Frank Sinatra-Bing Crosby musical. Bernds and Ullman did make a film in 1955 called High Society — but theirs was a low-budget feature with The Bowery Boys. 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 Presley feature for Allied Artists, Tickle Me. His best-known work from this time period is arguably the 1959 horror film Return of the Fly. 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," 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.