The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz

by Robertson, James C.

• ISBN13: 9780415068048
• ISBN10: 0415068045
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-06-25
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Michael Curtiz (1888-1962) was one of the most important and prolific directors in the history of cinema, yet he has never been granted the recognition he deserves.The Casablanca Manis the first full length work on Curtiz, surveying his unequalled mastery over diverse genres: biography, comedy, horror melodrama, musical, swashbuckler, and western. The book also examines Curtiz' relationship with the Hollywood studio moguls, based on documentary evidence culled from archive research at Warner Brothers, rather than the hearsay which has caused his underrating. The access to production and financial details of the Warner Brothers films from 1926 to 1953 makes Robertson's work unique, most of the material never having been available to the general public. Concentrating on Curtiz' best-known films--Casablanca,Angelswith Dirty Faces,Mildred PierceandKing Creoleamong them--Robertson explores the practical struggles over screenplays, his use ofreality footage in feature films, and the instinctive visual sense which governed his work. Along with these technical aspects, the author looks at Curtiz' friendships and rivalries with other film celebrities, including Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and James Cagney, and his discovery of future stars.The Casablanca Manis the first comprehensive critical exploration of Curtiz' full career, and as such is the first book to link his European work with his subsequent American films into a coherent whole, re-establishing his true standing in the history of cinema.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
Europe, 1888 to 1926	p. 5
Hollywood Baptism, 1926 to 1929	p. 10
An Expanding Repertoire, 1930 to 1935	p. 20
Near and at the Summit, 1935 to 1941	p. 36
World War, December 1941 to August 1945	p. 74
The Twilight Warners Years, September 1945 to April 1953	p. 92
Hollywood Nomad, April 1953 to April 1962	p. 117
Assessment	p. 127
Notes	p. 156
Select bibliography	p. 169
Filmography	p. 174
Index of personalities	p. 192
Index of film titles	p. 198
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.