Beginning as a writer for print, Gordon moved to California and got a production job as a script reader, providing written "coverage" of screenplays submitted to studios.
A western with Rock Hudson (The Lawless Breed) followed in 1953, but Gordon was subpoenaed to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigating communist influence in Hollywood.
Schneer employed Gordon many times during the 1950s, memorably as screenwriter of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, a low-budget alien-invasion film with special effects by Ray Harryhausen.
Gordon took ironic satisfaction in having written an introduction for the esteemed Admiral Chester Nimitz and having Reagan give voice to his words on film that was broadcast on television during his two terms as president.
At first, however, he was still denied screen credit, with Yordan frequently listing himself as sole author of films including Circus World (1964), Battle of the Bulge (1965), Custer of the West (1967) and The Day of the Triffids (1963).
The quotation is specific to the screenplay by principal scriptwriter, Bernard Gordon, since the remark and attribution do not appear in either the English or French versions of the 1963 book by Noel Gerson (written under the pseudonym Samuel Edwards).
[3] Returning to the US, Gordon had trouble finding work until his former production secretary in Madrid, Lisa Doty, found him a job in Canada adapting Margaret Atwood's 1972 novel Surfacing for producer Beryl Fox.
He helped lead the unsuccessful fight against the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award to Elia Kazan, who cooperated with HUAC during the blacklist era.