Hy Kraft

Hy Kraft was an American screenwriter, playwright, and theatrical producer. Among the notable comedy plays that he wrote were TEN PER CENT (1932), POPPA (1929), CAFÉ CROWN (1942), and TOP BANANA (1952). In 1964, CAFÉ CROWN was revised as a Broadway musical produced by Philip Rose and Swanlee with music by Albert Hague and lyrics by Marty Brill. The musical plot is set in the early 1930s in and around the Cafe Crown at the corner of Second Avenue and twelfth Street in New York City. It had one Broadway revival in 1989. Hy Kraft's 1954 musical play TOP BANANA was filmed for the screen and released as a movie in 1954, starring Phil Silvers as a television comic trying to regain his ratings on TV. Kraft's screenwriting credits include “Stormy Weather” (1943) with Lena Horne and short story credit for “Smartest Girl in Town” (1936) and “Champaign Waltz” (1937), in the latter case collaborating with Billy Wilder. He also contributed writing (uncredited) to “Mark of the Vampire” (1935) with Lionel Barrymore and Bela Lugosi. Kraft also wrote an autobiography, “On My Way to the Theater,” published by Macmillan, 1971.