A few years back, I came across something online about the 100 greatest film directors of all time, and I was disappointed that two names weren't included: Steven Spielberg and Michael Curtiz. (I don't remember the source.) Some may argue that Spielberg is too commercial or sentimental for such a list, disregarding his more serious works such as The Color Purple (1985) and Schindler's List (1993) - Lincoln (2012) hadn't come out yet at the time. (I don't agree with anti-Spielberg sentiment, but I can understand it to some degree.) But Michael Curtiz? The guy who directed some of the greatest films of Hollywood's Golden Age? I was appalled. So this week, I'm going to do a shout-out to the director behind some of the greatest (as well as some of my favorite) classic Hollywood films.
(Originally posted on Channel Awesome on February 9, 2015) A few years back, I came across something online about the 100 greatest film directors of all time, and I was disappointed that two names weren't included: Steven Spielberg and Michael Curtiz. (I don't remember the source.) Some may argue that Spielberg is too commercial or sentimental for such a list, disregarding his more serious works such as The Color Purple (1985) and Schindler's List (1993) - Lincoln (2012) hadn't come out yet at the time. (I don't agree with anti-Spielberg sentiment, but I can understand it to some degree.) But Michael Curtiz? The guy who directed some of the greatest films of Hollywood's Golden Age? I was appalled. So this week, I'm going to do a shout-out to the director behind some of the greatest (as well as some of my favorite) classic Hollywood films. Michael Curtiz (1886 - 1962), whose real name was Manó Kaminer Kertész, was born to a Jewish family on December 24th, 1886 in Budapest, Hungary (Austria-Hungary at the time). He graduated from Markoszy University and Budapest's Royal Academy of Theater and Art in 1906. His mother was an opera singer, which was Kertész's gateway into acting on stage, as well as directing. Details of how he got started in film are sketchy and unreliable, but we do know that he worked for a few months in the Hungarian film industry before relocating to Denmark in 1913 to work at the Nordisk studio. He performed in the first feature-length Danish film, Atlantis (1913), as well as serving as assistant director. His career was briefly put on hold when he joined the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I, but he returned to filmmaking in Hungary in 1915. Kertész left Hungary in 1919, spurred by its new Communist government attempting to control movies' content. He bounced around Europe for the next few years, during which time he racked up extensive experience by directing twenty films. In 1926, he accepted an invitation to join Warner Bros., and it was around this time that he adopted his new name of Michael Curtiz. He made his American film debut with The Third Degree (1926), based on a popular 1909 play. The next two decades were Cutiz's glory days, as he directed a substantial number of films in a wide variety of genres: Noah's Ark (1928), Captain Blood (1936), Four Daughters (1938), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938 - with William Keighley), Angels With Dirty Faces (1938), The Sea Wolf (1940), Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Mildred Pierce (1945), Life With Father (1947), White Christmas (1954), and that's barely scratching the surface. Warner Bros. would even call him in to direct individual scenes from other films or to take over troubled productions. His career started to decline a bit in his later years, but he kept on directing movies throughout his life. By the time of his death in April 1962, he'd directed well over 100 films - during the 1930s and 1940s, he would often direct four or five films a year. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director five times, finally winning for Casablanca. What impresses me about Curtiz in particular is his sheer versatility. Comedies, dramas, swashbuckers, musicals, westerns, gangster movies, horror - he could do them all, and more importantly, he could do them all well. It's been pointed out to me that as Curtiz was part of the studio system, he worked on whatever jobs he was assigned to, so he wasn't choosing to be versatile with the films he directed. Fair enough, but that still doesn't change the fact that he was still good at directing films in a wide range of genres. Not every director, even great directors, can say the same. John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock tried their hands at comedy, and the results were "meh" at best. However, it's not just his versatility, his output, or even his commercial success that makes Curtiz a noteworthy director. Although he never developed a distinctive style as a director, aside from a tendency to use crane shots to convey a sense of large scale, there's both a grandeur and sense of meticulous craft within every one of his films that I've seen, and even the misfires are impressive in their own way. He knew how to frame and light a shot, and was relentless in making sure what he pictured ended up on screen. Also, he was great at directing action scenes, knowing how to make them intense and exciting. The Sea Hawk (1940) The Unsuspected (1947) Curtiz has been criticized by some for emphasizing spectacle over character, something he himself admitted to, but I don't think that's fair to him. I've seen plenty of empty spectacle films devoid of anything resembling character development or depth, and Curtiz's work doesn't deserve to be lumped in with them. Look at Angels With Dirty Faces, for example. Despite some thrilling action sequences and a meticulously created sordid neighborhood the characters inhabit, this film is a character piece. It's all about the relationship between Rocky Sullivan and Father Connolly, and how the choices they made in the past have shaped them. Or hell, what about Casablanca? The whole story hinges on the romance between Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), and Rick's pain over having been jilted by her years before. The film is regarded as one of the best movies ever made, not just because of how it was shot, but because of the characters and the way they interact and play off each other (not to mention a great script loaded with iconic film quotes). Yeah, you could attribute this to good screenwriting and good performances, and there's no dismissing their part in filmmaking, but how many times have we seen bad direction kill a good scene featuring a stellar cast? Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) And what a roster of acting talent Curtiz got to work with! He was lucky enough to direct some of the biggest names of their day. Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Doris Day, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Danny Kaye, Myrna Loy, David Niven, Elvis Presley (!!!), Vincent Price, Claude Rains, Edward G. Robinson, Ann Sheridan, Peter Ustinov, John Wayne, Fay Wray...the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, Curtiz had little respect for his actors, if any, referring to them as "bums" and working them ruthlessly. Many of his actors didn't like him much either, although they put up with him because he made top-quality and high-grossing pictures. His working relationship with Errol Flynn, who he directed in twelve movies (most of them huge hits), was especially toxic, although they supposedly got along okay when they weren't working together. Curtiz directing Rosalind Russell and Errol Flynn, Four's a Crowd (1938) Nevertheless, Curtiz got excellent performances out of his actors, despite his self-declared preference for emphasizing cinematography and scale over character development. During the production of Captain Blood (1935), Flynn, making his debut in a leading role in a Hollywood film, was nervous and stilted at first, but improved so dramatically under Curtiz's direction that Warner Bros. green-lit re-shooting some of his earlier scenes, despite the expense. Curtiz directed ten Academy Award nominated performances, two of which ended up being winners; James Cagney won for Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) and Joan Crawford for Mildred Pierce (1945). He also had high praise for Cary Grant - he once said of him, "Some actors squeeze a line to death. Cary tickles it to life." Speaking of Curtiz quotes, this tribute would be incomplete without mentioning his famous misuse of the English language. According to his adopted son, Curtiz spoke five languages, all of them badly. During the filming of the final battle in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Curtiz famously declared "Bring on the empty horses!" referring to riderless horses. (David Niven, who had a supporting role in this film, used this quote for the title of his autobiography.) While filming the climactic airport scene in Casablanca, Curtiz demanded a poodle. After getting over the sheer WTFery of Curtiz's request, the prop guy brought him the dog (after hours of searching, holding up production). Curtiz was furious - it turned out he'd asked for a puddle, not a poodle. Good thing he was never sent after the Necronomicon - otherwise, he would have doomed us all. The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) Curtiz is a filmmaker worthy of being remembered both for his diverse filmography and the effort he put into making each one of them as successful as possible, commercially and artistically. I've already reviewed some of his work on the INCspotlight, and there will definitely be many more such reviews to come.
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