Joseph Krumgold (1908-1980) was an American director, screenwriter, and author. Krumgold took his first steps in the film industry writing and directing at MGM, where he penned many a screenplay for countless films including Adventure in Manhattan (Edward Ludwig, 1936) and Seven Miles from Alcatraz (Edward Dmytryk, 1942), to name but a few. His 1941 documentary short, Adventure in the Bronx earned an Oscar nomination. Krumgold lived in Palestine/Israel between 1947-1950 where he made a number of fiction and documentary films including The House in the Desert (‘bayit ha’arava’, 1948), and Out of Evil (1950) which made the official selection for the Venice Film Festival. Krumgold is a two-time recipient of the prestigious John Newbery Medal for children’s literature, for his books And Now Miguel (1953) and Onion John (1959).