The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)

Born in New York City; educated at City College of New York. He entered films as a messenger boy and shipping clerk at Paramount's Astoria studios in Long Island City. In Hollywood from the early 1930s, he was secretary to Darryl F. Zanuck and Hal B. Wallis and associate producer for Edward Small before becoming a screenwriter at Fox in 1936 and a producer in 1941. After WW II service as a Marine captain, he formed an independent production company, U.S. Films. Notable writing credits (alone or in collaboration) include SING, BABY, SING (1936), THIN ICE (1937, a.k.a. "Lovely to Look at"), I'LL GIVE A MILLION (1938), HERE I AM A STRANGER (1939) and THE GREAT PROFILE (1940). His producing credits include I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941), TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI (1942), HELLO, FRISCO, HELLO and CRASH DIVE (both 1943), CLOAK AND DAGGER (1946), MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR (1958), THE RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND (1960) and several made-for-TV movies. Sperling's writer-producer credits include SUN VALLEY SERENADE (1941, uncredited writer), RETREAT, HELL! (1952), THE COURT-MARTIAL OF BILLY MITCHELL (1955), THE BRAMBLE BUSH (1960), MERRILL'S MARAUDERS (1962), BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965) and CAPTAIN APACHE (1971).  Nominated for Writing (Story and Screenplay) 1955: THE COURT-MARTIAL OF BILLY MITCHELL (w. Emmet Lavery) 1 nomination