Joseph Krumgold was born on April 9, 1908, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Henry and Lena Gross Krumgold.

Fascinated with his father's career as a film exhibitor, Joseph decided that he, too, wanted to work with movies. He attended New York University, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1928, and went to work in the New York office of MetroGoldwyn-Mayer. He then moved to Hollywood to begin a career as a screenwriter and producer, working for Paramount, Republic, RKO, and Columbia. His screenplays include Lady from Nowhere (1936), The Blackmailer (1936), Adventure in Manhattan (1936), Lone Wolf Returns (1936), Join the Marines (1937), Jim Hanvey—Detective (1937), Lady Behave (1938), Speed to Burn (1938), Main Street Lawyer (1939), The Phantom Submarine (1940), The Crooked Road (1940), Seven Miles from Alcatraz (1942), Magic Town (1947), and Dream No More (produced in Israel in 1950).

From 1940 to 1946 Krumgold served as a producer and director for Film Associates in New York City, and...