---
name: "Sonya Levien"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sonya-levien"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "25 December 1888"
died: "20 March 1960"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 4
average_fi1m_score: 66
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-09-20T02:12:38.982755+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sonya Levien

Writer. Born 25 December 1888 in Panimunik, Russia Empire. Died 20 March 1960.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 25 December 1888, Panimunik, Russia Empire
- **Died:** 20 March 1960
- **Active:** 1933–1951
- **Also known as:** Sonya Hovey, Соня Левин
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 4: 3 writing, 1 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 66, as writer, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 60 (2), 1940s 70 (1), 1950s 65 (1)
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 2, History 2, Romance 2, Comedy 1
- **Screen time:** 6 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $24m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonya_Levien, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q434645, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0397022/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/70045

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Sonya Levien was a Russian-born American screenwriter. Born Sara Opesken on 25 December 1888 in Panimunik in the Russian Empire, she emigrated to the United States as a child. She earned a law degree from New York University, practised briefly, and worked as a journalist and magazine editor before entering screenwriting.

Levien received her first film credit in 1919 and went on to write or co-write screenplays for more than seventy films. Her credits include *Cavalcade* (1933), *State Fair* (1933 and 1945), *In Old Chicago* (1938), *Drums Along the Mohawk* (1939), *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1939), *Quo Vadis* (1951) and *Oklahoma!* (1955). She shared an Academy Award for the screenplay of *Interrupted Melody* (1955).

She worked primarily at 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and later at MGM. Levien died on 19 March 1960 in Hollywood, California.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, jwa.org, imdb.com, catalog.afi.com.*

## On Fi1m (4)

### Wrote (3) — the average rests on these

- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *State Fair* (1945), Fi1m 70, Adaptation — [page](https://film.one/film/state-fair.md)
- *In Old Chicago* (1938), Fi1m 64, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-chicago.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Cavalcade* (1933), Fi1m 57, Continuity — [page](https://film.one/film/cavalcade.md)

## Complete filmography (70)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *State Fair* (1962), Adaptation
- *Pepe* (1960), Story
- *Jeanne Eagels* (1957), Screenplay
- *Bhowani Junction* (1956), Screenplay
- *Oklahoma!* (1955), Screenplay
- *Interrupted Melody* (1955), Writer
- *Hit the Deck* (1955), Screenplay
- *The Student Prince* (1954), Screenplay
- *The Merry Widow* (1952), Screenplay
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Screenplay — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Three Daring Daughters* (1948), Screenplay
- *Cass Timberlane* (1947), Adaptation
- *The Green Years* (1946), Screenplay
- *State Fair* (1945), Adaptation — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/state-fair.md)
- *Rhapsody in Blue* (1945), Story
- *The Valley of Decision* (1945), Screenplay
- *The Amazing Mrs. Holliday* (1943), Story
- *Ziegfeld Girl* (1941), Screenplay
- *Drums Along the Mohawk* (1939), Screenplay
- *The Hunchback of Notre Dame* (1939), Screenplay
- *The Cowboy and the Lady* (1938), Screenplay
- *Kidnapped* (1938), Writer, Screenplay
- *Four Men and a Prayer* (1938), Screenplay
- *In Old Chicago* (1938), Screenplay — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/in-old-chicago.md)
- *Reunion* (1936), Writer
- *The Country Doctor* (1936), Screenplay
- *Paddy O'Day* (1936), Story
- *Here's to Romance* (1935), Story
- *Navy Wife* (1935), Writer
- *Change of Heart* (1934), Screenplay
- *As Husbands Go* (1934), Writer
- *Mr. Skitch* (1933), Writer
- *Berkeley Square* (1933), Screenplay
- *The Warrior's Husband* (1933), Writer
- *State Fair* (1933), Screenplay
- *Cavalcade* (1933), as Continuity — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/cavalcade.md)
- *Tess of the Storm Country* (1932), Writer
- *Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm* (1932), Screenplay
- *After Tomorrow* (1932), Screenplay
- *Delicious* (1931), Writer
- *Surrender* (1931), Writer
- *The Brat* (1931), Writer
- *Daddy Long Legs* (1931), Writer
- *The Man Who Came Back* (1931), Writer
- *Lightnin'* (1930), Writer
- *Liliom* (1930), Dialogue, Screenplay
- *So This Is London* (1930), Screenplay
- *Song o' My Heart* (1930), Screenplay
- *South Sea Rose* (1929), Writer
- *Frozen Justice* (1929), Writer
- *They Had to See Paris* (1929), Scenario Writer
- *Lucky Star* (1929), Writer
- *Behind That Curtain* (1929), Writer
- *Trial Marriage* (1929), Screenplay
- *The Younger Generation* (1929), Screenplay
- *The Power of the Press* (1928), Writer
- *A Ship Comes In* (1928), Writer
- *A Harp in Hock* (1927), Writer
- *The Heart Thief* (1927), Writer
- *The Princess from Hoboken* (1927), Writer
- *Christine of the Big Tops* (1926), Writer
- *Why Girls Go Back Home* (1926), Screenplay
- *Salome of the Tenements* (1925), Writer
- *The Exciters* (1923), Writer
- *The Snow Bride* (1923), Writer
- *Pink Gods* (1922), Writer
- *The Top of New York* (1922), Story
- *First Love* (1921), Story
- *Cheated Love* (1921), Writer
- *Who Will Marry Me?* (1919), Story

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated

- 1956: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won), for *Interrupted Melody*
- 1934: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *State Fair*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sonya-levien