Michael Curtiz A Life in Film—a finalist for the 2018 Theater Library Association (TLA) Wall Award
Order hard cover first edition autographed by author Alan K. Rode!
Academy Award–winning director Michael Curtiz (1886–1962)—whose best-known films include Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Mildred Pierce (1945) and White Christmas (1954)—was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his unprecedented twenty seven-year tenure at Warner Bros., he directed swashbuckling adventures, westerns, musicals, war epics, historical dramas, horror films, melodramas, comedies, and film noir masterpieces. The director’s staggering output of 180 films surpasses that of the legendary John Ford and exceeds the combined total of films directed by George Cukor, Victor Fleming, and Howard Hawks.
In the first biography of this colorful, instinctual artist, Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industry’s most complex figures. He begins by exploring the director’s early life and career in his native Hungary, revealing how Curtiz shaped the earliest days of silent cinema in Europe as he acted in, produced, and directed scores of films before immigrating to the United States in 1926. In Hollywood, Curtiz earned a reputation for his explosive tantrums and his dificulty communicating in English. However, few directors elicited more memorable portrayals from their casts, and ten different actors delivered Oscar-nominated performances under his direction.
Rode also investigates Curtiz’s dramatic personal life, discussing his enduring creative partnership with his wife, screenwriter Bess Meredyth, as well as his numerous affairs and children born of his extramarital relationships. This meticulously researched biography provides a nuanced understanding of one of the most talented filmmakers of Hollywood’s golden age.
Writer and film scholar Alan K. Rode is the author of Charles McGraw: Film Noir Tough Guy. He is the host and producer of the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California, and director-treasurer of the Film Noir Foundation.
Reviews
Beverly in Movieland – Beverly Gray
Times of Israel – JP O’ Malley
Hollywood Elsewhere – Jeffrey Wells
Los Angeles Times – Kenneth Turan
The Wall Street Journal – Scott Eyman
Makers & Moguls – Stephen Rees
Film/Biography
November 630 pages ∙ 6 x 9 ∙ 76 b/w photos
ISBN 978-0-8131-7391-7 ∙ Cloth $50.00
ISBN 978-0-8131-7397-9 ∙ PDF
ISBN 978-0-8131-7396-2 ∙ EPUB
Screen Classics series
“In a superbly researched, highly compelling account of one of cinema’s most gifted and underrated directors, Rode provides a vivid description of Curtiz’s personality and work- ing methods. It is di cult if not impossible to imagine a more complete account of his life.” —Steven C. Smith, author of A Heart at Fire’s Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann
.
ORDERING INFORMATION
Online: www.kentuckypress.com or phone 800-537-5487
Postal Rates:
Domestic (shipped media mail): $5.00 for the first book, add $2.00/book additional
Foreign (shipped postal international): $10.00 for the first book, add $6/book additional
Bulk orders will be shipped via UPS Ground with charges based on weight and distance. Call 1-800-537-5487 for details.
Website: kentuckypress.com
Twitter: @KentuckyPress
Facebook: facebook.com/KentuckyPress
Blog: kentuckypress.wordpress.com
Instagram: instagram.com/KentuckyPress
Tumblr: upkebooks.tumblr.com
Pinterest: pinterest.com/kentuckypress/
You must be logged in to post a comment.