Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz (
December 24,
1886 -
April 10,
1962) was a
Hungarian-American film director, whose best known films include
The Adventures of Robin Hood,
Casablanca, and
White Christmas.
Born
Manó Kertész Kaminer to a
Jewish family in
Budapest,
Hungary (then
Austria-Hungary), he ran away from home at age 17 to join a circus, then trained for an acting career at the Royal Academy for Theater and Art. In
1912, he began his acting and directing career as
Mihály Kertész in Hungary, making 43 films.
Curtiz fought for the Hungarian army during
World War I. Afterwards, he continued his work, making another 21 films, at first in
Vienna,
Austria and subsequently in
Germany; his best-known work from this period is the Austrian
silent film Sodom und Gomorrha (
1922).
In
1926 Curtiz emigrated to the
United States, anglicizing his name. He had a lengthy and prolific Hollywood career, racking up directing credits on over 100 films in many
genres. At
Warner Brothers during the 30s, Curtiz was often credited on four films in a single year, although he was not always the sole director on these projects. In the pre-Code period Curtiz directed such films as
Mystery of the Wax Museum (shot in two-strip Technicolor) and
The Kennel Murder Case with William Powell as Philo Vance.
In the mid-30s, he began the highly successful cycle of adventure films starring
Errol Flynn that included
Captain Blood (1935),
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936),
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and
Santa Fe Trail (1940).
Prime examples of his work in the 1940s are
The Sea Wolf (1941),
Casablanca (1942) and
Mildred Pierce (1945). During this period he also directed the pro-Soviet propaganda film
Mission to Moscow (
1943), which was commissioned at the request of president
Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to aid the wartime effort.
During his career, Curtiz received four nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Director, including two in the same year, and took home the gold statue for
Casablanca.
Curtiz had a lifelong struggle with the
English language and there are many
anecdotes about his failures. He bewildered a set dresser on
Casablanca by demanding a '
poodle', when he actually wanted a puddle of water.
David Niven liked Curtiz's phrase "bring on the empty horses" (for "bring on the horses without riders") so much that he used it for the title of his autobiography.
He was married three times:
* 1)
Lucy Doraine, an actress, (
1918-
1923)
* 2)
Lili Damita, also an actress, (
1925-
1926)
* 3)
Bess Meredyth, an actress and screenwriter, (
1929-
1962)
He is interred in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California.
Curtiz is often used as an example of a director who was not an
auteur - that is, an artist with a recognizable style; he worked in many different genres, and did not use unusual cinematography or editing. However, admirers of his work argue that by the 1940s, Curtiz had developed an extremely sophisticated visual style, marked by fluid camera movement, strong compositions and textured lighting, that is recognizable to the perceptive viewer.
*
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)
*
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
*
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
*
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)
*
Dodge City (1939)
*
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)
*
Santa Fe Trail (1940)
*
Virginia City (1940)
*
The Sea Hawk (1940)
*
Casablanca (1942)
*
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
*
Mildred Pierce (1945)
*
Night and Day (1946) (starring
Cary Grant as
Cole Porter)
*
The Breaking Point (1950)
*
White Christmas (1954) (starring
Bing Crosby)
*
King Creole (1958) (starring
Elvis Presley)
*
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960)
*Robertson, James C.
The Casablanca Man (Routledge, 1993).
*Behlmer, Rudy (ed.).
Inside Warner Brothers (Viking, 1985).
