Samuel Donald Hartman (18 November 1900 – 23 March 1958) was an American screenwriter and director and former production head of Paramount Pictures.
[4] He started writing books and lyrics for musical plays and material for radio and stage shows.
In 1947, he became a writer-producer-director, making It Had to Be You (1947) and Every Girl Should Be Married (1948), working at Columbia Pictures, RKO and MGM, the latter with Schary again.
Desire Under the Elms was released just prior to his death and was panned by critics which left him frustrated and disappointed.
He had also been working on a third film based on the play The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold, but Paramount halted pre-production shortly before his death at age 57.