As in all the series of "The Directors" it is narrated by Ryan Mandrake with contributions from film critics and experts Ian Nathan, Bonnie Greer, Stephen Armstrong, Neil Norman and Derek Malcolm.
Episode 1 Sydney Pollack
Derek Malcolm introduced the episode by saying that Sydney Pollack was "one of the most valuable directors in Hollywood". All the contributors were impressed by his character. He was also hugely prolific in his output, nearly a film every year through the 1970's and 80's.
Pollack was born in a small town in Mid-West Indiana. He started out as an actor and moved to New York. There he became a dialect coach and this took him into movies, where he also found acting jobs. His first film as a director was
The Slender Thread (1965) that was poorly received. However in 1966 Pollack directed Roberts Redford and Natalie Wood in
This Property is Condemned. The screenplay was by Francis Ford Coppola from a one act play by Tennessee Williams and this set Pollack on his way.
In 1968 came
The Scalphunters starring Bert Lancaster and Pollack worked with the star again with !969's
Castle Keep. The same year came Pollack's first huge hit with the very moving
They Shoot Horses Don't They. Derek Malcolm says that this led him to becoming "a leading Hollywood Director". It received nine nominations at the Academy Awards including one for Best Director, and for Jane Fonda as Best Actress. But it holds the record for the number of nominations without one for Best Picture.
Next came
Jeremiah Johnson in 1972. Robert Redford is here again, and will work with this director many times. Almost a silent movie watching Redford in the mountains of the old west. Redford again, this time with Barbra Streisand appears in 1973's
The Way We Were. Again a big success critically, and at the box office, with Oscar wins for music and nominations in other categories.
The Yazuka from 1974 was set in Japan with Roberts Mitchum as a retired detective. It was said to look really good, but it failed commercially. This was put right in 1975 with
Three Days of the Condor. A classy thriller with Redford again, showed this was Pollack at his best. 1977 saw Al Pacino in the motor racing drama
Bobby Deerfield and in 1979 came
The Electric Horseman with a successful paring of Redford with Jane Fonda. 1981's
Absence of Malice starred Paul Newman and Sally Field. Another success and three Oscar nominations.
It seemed that Sydney Pollack found working with Dustin Hoffman a difficult proposition. But 1982's
Tootsie became a big success and won nominations for ten Academy Awards (including best picture and best director) , only winning for Jessica Lange as Best Supporting Actress. Then in 1985 came the marvellous
Out of Africa with Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. Neil Norman said it was "the last great epic romantic film" and it was called "a great classic". Not only did it win the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, but also Oscar wins in five other categories and nominations in four others. John Barry deservedly won his Oscar for Best Original Score, my favourite film music of all time.
It was not until 1990 that Pollack directed again, this time with
Havana, his last association with Roberts Redford. Definite similarities with his previous movie, except this is set in Cuba. Then on to 1993 for the successful legal drama
The Firm with a youngish Tom Cruise. In 1995 Pollack directed Harrison Ford in
Sabrina, a remake of the Billy Wilder film. Disappointing at the box office, but it did win Oscar nominations in two music categories. His last film would be
The Interpreter with Nicole Kidman, a good thriller set at the United Nations.
All the contributors were impressed with Pollack's body of work, as a producer as well as director, and the occasional acting role. (I will always remember him in
Eyes Wide Shut.) He was able to attract so many great stars as his films always had something to say. Stephen Armstrong said "he was a huge figure in Hollywood" and Ian Nathan said he made "terrific mainstream films". I'm just glad he collaborated with John Barry on
Out Of Africa, the music played over the end credits of this episode.
Episode 2 Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger was a cultured man who never really liked Hollywood according to Derek Malcolm. He always wanted to make films in his own style. Born in 1905 in the old Austrian/Hungarian Empire, he lived in Vienna as a boy and loved the theatre there. He worked as an actor with Max Reinhardt and then as a director in the theatre. In 1935 he moved to America before the onset of World War 2 when his was offered a job by Twentieth Century-Fox. He directed
Under Your Spell in 1936 and
Danger - Love at Work in 1937. But after two more films for the studio, Preminger fell out with boss Darryl F Zanuck and as a result, moved back to the theatre in New York.
Zanuck was in the forces during WW2 and Preminger took the opportunity to direct
Margin for Error in 1943. He had played the lead on the stage. After the war, although the rift with Preminger was still there, the studio let him produce
Laura in 1944, eventually replacing the director, and winning an Oscar nomination. This was his breakthrough film and now believed to be a classic starring Dan Andrews and Gene Tierney. He combined theatrical interiors with exterior action scenes to great effect. The film was also nominated in other Academy Award categories.
With Dana Andrews again in
Fallen Angel in 1945, but it was not until 1950 that Preminger had another success, this time with 1950's
Where The Sidewalk Ends. It was film noir that the director was so good. But Derek Malcolm said he was "not an easy director to work with. But he could be most charming". In 1953 Roberts Mitchum and Jean Simmons were teamed for another film noir in
Angel Face. It was described as an amazing film with Jean Simmons at her best.
Carmen Jones in 1954 starred an all African American cast in this musical from the original Broadway production. The same year Marilyn Monroe appeared in the Western
River of No Return. Quite unusual for Preminger, but Marilyn was fine under his direction. This was followed in 1955 with
The Man with the Golden Arm with Frank Sinatra ("one of his best") and Kim Novak. The historical epic
Saint Joan came in 1957. Preminger chose the novice actress Jean Seberg for the title role and as a result the film was not well received. But he did cast her again in 1958's
Bonjour Tristesse.
Another big success came in 1959 with James Stewart in
Anatomy of a Murder. I think it was Neil Norman who said it was "quite probably the greatest courtroom drama ever filmed". A great cast included George C Scott and should have won an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. One of his best films" was the general consensus. Then in 1960 Preminger directed
Exodus. Apparently Preminger toned down the anti-British element of the original script to concentrate on the human drama with Paul Newman and Eva Marie saint and a wonderful supporting cast.
The political drama
Advise and Consent was released in 1962 and the following year came
The Cardinal that won Preminger a second Oscar nomination for Best Director. This was followed by
In Harm's Way in 1965 with a strong cast including Kirk Douglas, John Wayne and Henry Fonda. A military drama it was described as "spectacular". Yet another movie in black and white which seemed to be the director's preferred medium. As was
Bunny Lake is Missing in 1965 starring Laurence Olivier, another theatrical drama mystery at which Preminger excelled.
He continued to make films into the second half of the 1960's and into the 70's but never reached the same heights as his earlier career. His last movie was 1979's
The Human Factor that i remember very well. Otto Preminger was always seeking to provide a moral thread to his films, the heroes and villains were never black and white and this gave his movies a tremendous depth.
Episode 3 Joseph Mankiewicz
It was Ian Nathan who said that Joseph Mankiewicz was "a great director of dialogue and Neil Norman added that he "enjoyed the interplay of wit and language". It obviously helped that
Mankiewicz was a great writer. Stephen Armstrong said he directed an "enormous range of pictures".
Born in 1909 in Pennsylvania, Mankiewicz came from a German Jewish family. His older brother Herman was a screenwriter in Hollywood and was a big influence on Joseph. We were told a lot about his background. Herman was at Paramount Studios and Joseph joined him there, working hard on writing and anything that was going. This gave him the experience to join MGM as a producer, but Joseph always wanted to direct, and it was 20th Century Fox who gave him that chance with
Droganwyk in 1946. A period gothic drama, it starred Gene Tierney and Vincent Price. It went OK.
This was followed in the same year with
Somewhere in the Night, a classic film noir with a decent script. The following year came the comedy
The Late George Apley and
The Ghost and Mrs Muir with Rex Harrison and Gene Tierney. Bonnie Greer thought it looked beautiful, and it was helped with the superb score by Bernard Hermann.
In 1949 Mankiewicz wrote and directed the romantic drama
A Letter to Three Wives, a huge success that won him both Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture. After
Escape and
House of Strangers, came
No Way Out in 1950 starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. Bonnie Greer said this was a "brave" take on a political drama setting racists against a talented and friendly black American doctor.
The same year came
All About Eve, the original film version of the play I saw in 2019 with Gillian Anderson and Lily James. In the movie it was Bette Davis and Anne Baxter. It won a record fourteen Academy Award nominations and won six including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Among the nominations were two for best actress (Davis and Baxter) and two for best supporting actress (Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter). None of these four won but this was the only time in Oscar history for four women to be nominated in the acting categories.
In 1951 Mankiewicz directed the medical drama
People will Talk starring Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain.
Five Fingers came in 1952, a spy mystery with Michael Rennie and James Mason. Another Oscar nomination for best director followed. In 1953 came the epic blockbuster
Julius Caesar based on the Shakespeare play. An all star cast included the big risk that was Marlon Brando as Mark Antony. The contributors thought that this paid off (Brando was nominated for a best actor Oscar) and that the great film making made for a top Shakespearean movie, gaining an Academy Award nomination for best picture.
In 1954 Mankiewicz started his own production company writing and directing
The Barefoot Contessa out of the Cinecitta Studios in Rome. he paired Humphrey Bogart with Ava Gardner. te film was nominated for best story and screenplay at the Oscars. It was said to look great on the screen, even exquisite. 1955 saw Mankiewicz direct his first musical with
Guys and Dolls starring Frank Sinatra. Another big hit and a "box office sensation". 1958 saw
The Quiet American from the novel by Graham Greene and the following year the powerful drama
Suddenly Last Summer was adapted from the play by Tennessee Williams. It starred Katherine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.
It was not until 1963 that the directors next film was released. Not surprising as it was
Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and an all star cast including Richard Burton (of course) and Rex Harrison. This huge spectacular epic was described by Ian Nathan as a "production running out of control". It was supposed to be "the epic of all epics" but ended up in "financial chaos". It did receive nine nominations at the Academy Awards including one for best picture. "A grand Hollywood folly" that did exceptionally well at the box office.
Another four years before the straightforward drama
The Honey Pot with Rex Harrison and then in 1970 Mankiewicz's firs Western with
There was a Crooked Man with Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda. In 1972 came his final film
Sleuth with Lawrence Olivier and Michael Caine. It just showed how good was Mankiewicz when adapting plays. "Almost the perfect thriller" said Neil Norman.
Ian Nathan described his career as him being a "great film architect" and "ahead of his time". Bonnie Greer knew that he was foremost "always a writer". He gave Bette Davis (in
All About Eve) the classic line "Fasten Your Seat Belts, it's going to be a Bumpy Ride".
Episode 4 Robert Altman
Stephen Armstrong introduced the episode on Robert Altman by remarking that he was a "groundbreaking" director who "found new ways to tell stories". Ian Nathan described him as "America's Bergman" while Neil Norman said his films were "about real people and real life". Bonnie Greer called him "a master".
Robert Altman was born in 1925 in Kansas City and came from a wealthy family. During WW2, Altman joined the USAF and was part of the crew on B-24's. After the war, he had a short lived success as a film writer, and back in Kansas City, started making some 65 short industrial films as writer and director. This led him to be employed in 1957 to write and direct
The Delinquents. When Alfred Hitchcock saw the film, he brought in Altman to direct his TV show
Alfred Hitchcock Presents. But after only two episodes, Altman left and was directing all sorts of TV series over a period of ten years.
His first feature film was
Countdown in 1967 but the following
That Cold Day in the Park in 1969 was a disaster. However, that same year he took on a movie that was to make his name. We were told that fourteen directors had turned down a film called
Mash, but Neil Norman said that for Altman, "It was the perfect film ". Starring Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland, it became a big success. It won the Palme D'or at Cannes and gained five Academy Award nominations. including best picture and best director.
Refusing to follow up this success with a mainstream movie, Altman made the little known
Brewster McCloud in 1970, a very odd film. The western
McCabe and Mrs Miller followed in 1971 and then
The Long Goodbye in 1973, again with Elliot Gould as Philip Marlowe. The following year Altman directed
Thieves Like Us and
California Split, again with Gould. But Altman was always experimenting which did not always suit the critics or the box office.
Until, that is, the 1975 classic
Nashville. This country music fiesta is regarded as Altman's finest film. No real story or plot, it still echoed America of that particular time. There was a large ensemble cast and multiple story lines. It did very well commercially and again gained five Academy Award nominations (including best picture and best director) and this time eleven nominations at the golden Globes, a record.
But Altman continued to experiment with his own company with 1977's
Three Women and 1978's comedy
The Wedding, again with that ensemble cast he favoured. After
Quintet, A Perfect Couple and
Health came 1980's
Popeye as Altman made a comeback at the box office, if not a critical success. He went back to independent film making with 1982's
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean. A female ensemble cast get to play strong characters. (But there are so many of his movies I had never heard of). Altman struggled to make an impression in the rest of the 1980's but in 1990 he returned to form with
Vincent and Theo.
Then in 1992 came
The Player with Tim Robbins and Greta Scacchi. This was called his "True comeback" with a film about his own industry, a black comedy about |Hollywood. His first mainstream hit for a decade gained three Oscar nominations including best director and best screenplay. The following year Altman directed
Short Cuts with another huge cast, and in 1994 came
Pret-a-Porter with a collection of international superstars in a story about high fashion.
But again, after more poorly received movies, it wasn't until 2001 that another top drawer ensemble cast made
Gosford Park a big success and his "final great triumph". Altman's last two films were
The Company in 2003 and
The Prairie Home Companion in 2006. They wrapped up a career famous for experimentation in all facets of film making. He was called "an unusual director" who concentrated on making films that "demanded your attention". If not always successfully.
Episode 5 Ernst Lubitsch
Neil Norman introduced the episode on Ernst Luitsch by saying that "he brought Wuropean sensibility to American cinema". He was certainly a trailblazer for American comedies such as those by Billy Wilder. Lubitsch was born in Berlin and was active in drama at school and afterwards. He already had a flair for comedy and joined Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater as an actor. But he was more interested in directing in the German film industry and became noticed in America. His first trip there didn't go well, but in 1922 he was contracted by Mary Pickford to direct her in
Rosita. It became a big success and as a result he was given a six picture contract by Warner Brothers.
Among these was
The Patriot which gave him his first Oscar nomination. His last silent movie was
Eternal Love with John Barrymore. His first film with sound was
The Love Parade in 1929, a musical with an early role for Maurice Chevalier. Already Lubitsch wanted the songs to mean something to the story. There followed
Monte Carlo and in 1931 the nusical
The Smiling Lieutenant again with Chevalier and this time Claudette Colbert. It was a critical success. In 1932 came
Trouble in Paradise, an original comedy with sparkling dialogue, and given that Lubitsch touch that became so familiar. Ian Nathan said it was the "classic Lubitsch love triangle".
1933's
Design for Living was a take on the Noel Coward play, another romantic triangle that was beautifully acted. In 1934 came the
The Merry Widow with Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette McDonald. The filming at Maxim's night club was one huge ensemble dance scene and started off the big MGM musicals. In 1938 the charming comedy
Bluebeard's Eighth Wife starred Claudette Colbert again then in 1939 came the classic that was
Ninotchka, co-written by Billy Wilder. It was a vehicle for Greta Garbo who, at the beginning, played it dead straight, only to burst into a romantic comedy that Stephen Armstrong said "worked amazingly well".
The Shop around the Corner came in 1940, a complicated romance starring James Stewart. Then
That Uncertain Feeling in 1941 and the following year
To Be Or Not To Be. Another comedy wrapped up with a theatre troupe and Nazis starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard. In 1943 came Lubitsch's first film in colour
Heaven Can Wait and in 1945
A Royal Scandal, a remake of the director's silent movie. Lubitsch became less involved with film making as his health deteriorated. 1948 saw Otto Preminger complete
The Lady in Ermine with Betth Grable, released after Lubitsch's death. Neil Norman said he was "a magician" and Ian Nathan added that "his influence was just vast".
Episode 6 Peter Weir
Peter Weir is Australia's leading film director. Ian Nathan said he was one of his favourite directors. Neil Norman added that he had "supreme intelligence" and a "great modesty and Bonnie Greer said that he "sees films as poetry". Weir was born in Sydney in 1944 (the best year) and initially worked in Australian TV. His first independent film was
Homesdale in 1971 that he made with a grant on a tiny budget. It was a ragged, experimental start.
Then in 1974 he made
The Cars That Ate Paris, a type of comedy horror filmed in the Australian outback. The next year came his big breakthrough with
Picnic at Hanging Rock. Another film set in the outback, but already with only his third feature, Weir was presenting something new and surreal. In 1977 came
The Last Wave with some daring casting in the soap star Richard Chamberlain. Another quite surreal mystery. After the TV movie
The Plumber came 1981's
Gallipoli starring a very young Mel Gibson set in that disastrous WW1 battle. It's success did herald Weir's "international arrival". Mel Gibson again starred in 1982's
The Year of Living Dangerously. Neil Norman thought it was a "fantastic film"... "intelligent and and complicated". Set in Jakarta, "it's use of documentary footage with his own was exemplary".
In 1985 came Weir's first Hollywood movie with
Witness. The script had been around for a long time and it needed someone like Weir to bring it to life. It became a huge success with a young Harrison Ford and a Amish community. It garnered eight Oscar nominations including those for best director, leading actor and best film. Weir's following film
The Mosquito Coast in 1986 was a commercial disappointment but later regarded as a good movie. However in 1989 came a huge critical and commercial success in
Dead Poet's Society. Oscar nominated again for best director, leading actor and best film, it actually won the BAFTA for best film.
The following year, Weir directed the romantic comedy
Green Card and then in 1993 came
Fearless with Jeff Bridges, the lone uninjured survivor of a plan crash. It was not until 1998 that Weir directed his next film, one of my favourites,
The Truman Show with Jim Carey. It won nominations at all the award ceremonies including winning best director at the BAFTA's. I have always loved the setting (Seaside, Florida), where it is always sunny, and the huge cast of extras that are so well choreographed. Like me, Ian Nathan was highly impressed and called it a "Hollywood Masterpiece".
Another gap to 2003 with the release of
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World with Russell Crowe. This time nominated for ten Academy Awards including best director and best picture. Then even longer, seven years to
The Way Back in 2010. It was critically well received but did not do well at the box office. It was Weir's last movie. Neil Norman believed his legacy included "layers of social commentary" but I like Ian Nathan's last words that Weir was a "director of mainstream, highbrow, Hollywood entertainment".
Episode 7 John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger was born in Hampstead in 1926 into a middle class Jewish family. Neil Normand said he tackled "difficult subjects" and Ian Nathan called him "an adventuress director". In WW2 he joined the Royal Engineers making films in their entertainment unit. After the war he acted in the Oxford University Dramatic Society while at Balliol College. Although his main interest was acting, he was starting to shoot short dramas on his camera. He carried on acting after Uni but this was all in character parts, never the lead. It was this that led him to shoot his first short docu-drama called
Terminus for British Transport Films that won awards at Venice and the BAFTA's.
This led him to make his first feature film:
A Kind of Loving in 1962 with Alan Bates. It was an instant success and was nominated at the BAFTA's. Another gritty Northern town followed in 1963's
Billy Liar with Tom Courtney and the magical Julie Christie. 1965 saw Schlesinger direct Christie again in
Darling with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. Neil Norman thought it was "one of the most important films of the 1960's" but more importantly it was a big hit in America where Julie Christie became a big star. The film was nominated for best director at the Oscars and won best actress for Christie.
In 1967 Schlesinger released
Far from the Madding Crowd, a third successive collaboration with Julie Christie. It also starred Peter Finch and Terence Stamp. It was called "the definitive Hardy adaptation". In 1969 Schlesinger moved to America to direct what was to become the international blockbuster
Midnight Cowboy with Dustin Hoffman and John Voight. Neil Norman said it was "one of the great American movies". The directors English eye picked out the streets of New York as none had before. It was a surprise big hit and won best picture and best director at the Oscars and BAFTA's.
All these films were so familiar to me, but I had nor remembered the director. In 1971 came
Sunday, Bloody Sunday with Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson, "an underrated masterpiece" said Neil Norman. It was again nominated for best director at the Oscars. Schlesinger had his first big flop in 1975 with
Day of the Locust. A Hollywood satire did not go down well in America. But Schlesinger returned to form with 1976's
Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. The director's first thriller worked extremely well and was a critical and box office hit. I have always loved the tension, drama and great acting.
In 1979 came
Yanks with Richard Gere
, an interesting story for Schlesinger as it pictured GI's in England in 1944. Then in 1981 came the director's first all out comedy in
Honky Tonk Highway. Was this his "great folly"? A box office failure but Neil Norman thought it was funny. This was followed by
The Falcon and The Snowman in 1985 with Sean Penn. Less successful were 1987's
The Believers and 1988's
Madam Sousatzka with a stand out performance from Shirley McClain. Bonnie Greer thought it was very moving.
Through out his career, Schlesinger wanted to keep working and directed documentaries and in the theatre and television. In 1990 he directed
Pacific Heights with Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton, successful at the box office, a quite decent thriller. His last three films
The Innocent in 1993,
Eye for an Eye in 1996 and
The Next Best Thing in 2000 brought to an end a marvellous career in film making. He had a huge influence on the British Film Industry and then a successful period in America where, as Neil Norman pointed out "he did things that no American director could do". Bonnie Greer said that "the documentary spirit was always there".
Episode 8 Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma was an "outrageously talented" director according to Ian Nathan. Stephen Armstrong said that he could "draw something out of actors that almost no other director can". De Palma grew up in Philadelphia and studied physics at Columbia University. After gaining his degree, he enrolled in the theatre department of the Sarah Lawrence College, having fallen in love with the cinema. An early meeting with Robert De Niro led to them helping to make the low budget film
The Wedding Party in 1963.
After helping with the production of documentary films, in 1968 he made his first feature
Greetings with Robert De Niro. He used an ensemble cast that was basically a series of sketches. However it was well received and won an award at the Berlin Film Festival. He followed this with a sequel "
Hi, Mom" in 1970. De Palma made his first studio pictures with
Sisters, Get To Know Your Rabbit and
Phantom of the Paradise (1974). In 1976 he directed
Obsession, a psychological thriller heavily influence by the work of Alfred Hitchcock.
The same year came the film that made De Palma's name.
Carrie was a big box office success. Starring John Travolta, Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, the last two gaining Oscar nominations. Bonnie Greer told us "it was the ultimate revenge movie". In 1978 came
The Fury with Kirk Douglas, another psychic thriller. (Good taste was taking a back seat). After 1979's independent
Home Movies came 1980's
Dressed To Kill with Angie Dickinson and Michael Caine. Another Hitchcock influenced movie, it was even more outrageous and "shocked audiences". But Neil Normand thought it was a "fantastic movie" and so did I.
1981 was
Blow Out with John Travolta and Nancy Allen. Almost a rip off of
Blow Up with the main character recording a sound of the "accident". In 1983 came
Scarface with Al Pacino, a reworking of the old Howard Hawks movie, now an iconic modern gangster thriller. The episode skipped over 1984's erotic movie
Body Double and discussed it's opposite in the comedy
Wise Guys. Starring Danny DeVito and Joe Piscopo, it still contained an element of violence. !987 saw De Palma direct
The Untouchables, a feature film based on the TV series, this time with Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia and Robert De Niro. It was a huge success and memorable for the filming at Chicago Station complete with a rip off from
Battleship Potemkin. The Ennio Morricone score was impressive.
Then came a more challenging period in De Palma's career. The Vietnam film
Casualties of War was a big disappointment and
Bonfire of the Vanities also did poorly at the box office. Then the 1992
Raising Cain with Joh Lithgow, playing a man with multiple personality disorder, divides opinion. The more successful
Carlito's Way came in 1993 with Al Pacino again. Playing a gangster trying to escape his past, it was Pacino who chose De Palma to direct. The scene at Grand Central Station was said to be beautifully shot. But it was in 1996 that De Palma found huge commercial success when he directed
Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, the start of this blockbuster franchise. A huge action movie with a wonderful sequence in Prague.
Another downturn came with 1998's
Snake Eyes with Nicholas Cage. I agreed with Neil Norman who said that this was an underrated movie. It was like an "extreme Hitchcock", especially during the rising tension at the opening boxing match. Again the episode glossed over the unremarkable
Mission to Mars, Femme Fatale and
Passion. However, De Palma then found a movie just right for him with
The Black Dahlia in 2006, being a true crime film noir based on the James Elroy novel.
Neil Norman summed up his career by saying his films "actually looked like no other". He was said to a great actor's director and "one of the great voices of America".
Episode 9 Victor Fleming
The one huge fact I learnt about Victor Fleming was that in the same year of 1939 he directed two of the biggest films ever to come out of Hollywood. Ian Nathan said that he was "the heart and soul of Hollywood" while Neil Norman added that he "worked over and over again with the same stars". Stephen Armstrong thought he was the most misunderstood of the great directors (wait until we see what films he actually made).
Fleming was born in 1889 in California and came from a poor family, his father actually died when he was four years old and he became a little wild as a result. But his mother married better and young Victor graduated from high school. He was more interested in mechanics, worked in a bike repair shop, became proficient in the car repairs that was the sideline and eventually became a driver and ended up as a chauffeur to a film director. This led to becoming a film handyman, doing some stunt driving, a camera assistant and eventually a main camera operator. Fleming was very personable and good looking and it was not long until he became a cinematographer.
During WW1, he joined the signal corp and made training films. When President Woodrow Wilson wanted a camera man when he travelled to Versailles, it was Fleming that was chosen. Back in Hollywood, it was Douglas Fairbanks Snr that encouraged him to start directing silent movies. Starting with some short films, his first feature was 1919's
When Clouds roll By starring Fairbanks himself. Neil Norman said that it was "an astonishing piece of work for a first film" and that it was "breathtaking". That iconic scene when it sees the actor travelling up the walls and across the ceiling was many years before it was replicated in Fred Astaire's
Royal Wedding. Stephen Armstrong said it was "a ground breaking piece".
Fleming learnt his trade on other silents through the 1920's but it was when sound arrived that he instantly captured the medium with 1929's
The Virginian, the first great Western with Gary Cooper. The director and actor remained great friends for ever. In 1932 Fleming gained a prestigious contract with MGM, the biggest studio at the time. In that year, he directed
Red Dust set in Indo-China and starred Clark gable, Jean Harlow and Mary Astor. It had very good dialogue and Ian Nathan quoted another director at the time who said "when you see Clark Gable on the screen, that is Victor Fleming".
In 1933 it was Gable again in
The White Sister with Helen Hayes and the same year it was Jean Harlow in
The Blonde Bombshell. This was her most iconic role playing a movie star and poking fun at Hollywood. Ian Nathan said that it
"invented screwball comedy". 1934 saw
Treasure Island with an all star cast and more location work than was usual. It only became a hit three years after it's first disappointing release. It was
Reckless in the same year with Jean Harlow again, but was not a success. Although the following year's
The Farmer Takes a Wife" was. In 1936 came
Captain Courageous with Spencer Tracy that impressed critics and audiences. Fleming's passion project was
Test Pilot in 1938 with Tracy and Clark Gable again, and it was nominated for best picture at the Oscars.
Then 1939 was that monumental year for Victor Fleming, with two of the greatest movies ever made. The first was
The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland and was a huge
co-ordination exercise and the marvellous use of Technicolor. It gained six nominations at the Academy awards including one for best picture where it lost out to the next one. Two weeks after finishing
The Wizard of Oz, Fleming was parachuted in to take over the troubled production of
Gone With The Wind. Clark Gable wanted his old pal back. Vivienne Leigh was much less impressed, especially as Fleming wanted her to act up the melodrama. Fleming pushed himself and the cast and crew hard, the scale is just huge and was called a "phenomenon". It became a roaring success at the box office and at all the award ceremonies. At the Oscars it won in eight of the thirteen categories for which it was nominated, a record!
But Fleming collapsed after filming and it was not until 1941 that he released
Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He went back to black and white to create the atmosphere, the film starred Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Another big success. Then in 1942 came
Tortilla Flat based on the novel by John Steinbeck and starring Tracy again and Hedy Lamar. Neil Norman thought it was a "wonderful film" if not a famous one.
Next up in 1943 was
A Guy Named Joe, again with Spencer Tracy and this time Irene Dunne and Van Johnson in a kind of rom-com. After 1945's
Adventure with Clark Gable and Greer Garson (not mentioned in this episode) came Fleming's last film in 1948. Ingrid Bergman's project
Joan of Arc wanted Fleming as director and Neil Norman concluded that there are "elements that are simply magnificent". There are numerous close ups of Bergman set against the battle scenes.
But it was to be Fleming's last move as he died of a heart attack two weeks after completing the filming, far too young at 59. Ian Nathan said that he was "one of the great driving forces of Hollywood itself" and that he "fathered the careers of Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper and Jean Harlow". Neil Norman said "he could do anything" and was "one of Hollywood's great titans".
Episode 10 Anthony Mann
Ian Nathan kicked off this episode with the assertion that Anthony Mann was "a great architect of the American western". Neil Norman said that "he took a film noir sensibility to the western". It is both these genres for which the director is renowned. He was born in 1906 in San Diego, California and had the name Emil Anton Bundsmann. His parents were Jewish immigrants who settled in a cult. However at the age of three, Mann's parents left to go back to Austria where his grandfather was ill. His mother did not return until he was fourteen when she removed him from that cult and settled in Newark, New Jersey.
They were quite poor and Mann took jobs while he was at school where his only pleasure was appearing in High School productions. He left school early and took odd jobs and acting when he could. In New York he set up a theatre company and became their director. This led to a job at RKO as an assistant director and it was there he settled on his new name. In 1942 he directed
Dr. Broadway and
Moonlight in Havana. He then directed what were B movies for Republic Pictures including 1944's
Strangers in the Night", a dark and complicated thriller and
The Great Flamarian.
After a spell back at RKO, he was hired by MGM in 1949 to direct
Border Incident. Stephen Armstrong thought it looked very modern, almost like a documentary and "a superb piece of work". But Mann's first big studio picture was with paramount in 1950 where he made
The Furies. This was his first true western, and he went on to make many, many more. Moreover, it was a big critical and commercial success. He followed this the same year with another success in
Winchester '73 with James Stewart, a collaboration where they would make seven more films together, four of which were westerns.
Mann made yet another film in 1950, this time
Side Street which Stephen Armstrong called "a very, very advanced film" although it was not a hit at the box office. Of his next few films, the programme only showed a clip of another western,
The Naked Spur of 1953. James Stewart starred again in brilliant Technicolor. Then, out of the blue, came a very different movie for this director in 1954's
The Glen Miller Story. Again with James Stewart, this was a huge success and a big cinematic event. The first of all these films of which I had heard. The programme showed the clip for
Moonlight Serenade with a wonderful fade from it's composition to live performance.
In 1954 came
The Far Country and then
The Man From Laramie, both starring James Stewart
. (I remember the song from the latter, sung by Jimmy Young!). In 1955 came
The Last Frontier with Victor Mature and Anne Bancroft, almost a romance.
Serenade came in 1956 and the following year Mann directed the black and white movie
Tin Star with Henry Fonda, Lee Van Cleef and Anthony Perkins. The low budget was seeing the end of westerns as a big draw. Then in 1957 came
Men in War followed by
God's Little Acre and in 1958
Man of the West with Gary Cooper. Although being highly prolific, I felt these were second rate movies, although Neil Norman said the last of these was "probably his finest western" and that it was highly influential.
But then, and at last, towards the end of his career came the biggest epic of the time in 1961's
El Cid. Starring Carlton Heston and Sophia Loren it came in at three and a half hours and Neil Norman thought it was better than
Ben Hur. This big success led to Mann directing 1964's
The Fall of the Roman Empire, another blockbuster repeating the epic scale of his previous film. In 1965 came
The Heroes of Telemark, a great British war film with Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris. Mann's last film would be
Dandy in Aspic in 1968.
It was left for Stephen Armstrong to conclude that Anthony Mann "influenced so many directors" and for Neil Norman to remind us that he rebooted the career of James Stewart.
