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Michael Curtiz
built 656 days ago
When he died in 1962, Michael Curtiz was, according to most of the obituaries, seventy-two years old. He may have been older. "Mike would never tell us his age," says his stepson. "When they went to get passports and my mother saw Mike's age, she said, 'But it says you're ten years younger than I am.' And Mike said, 'Darling, it's simple. You lie.'" By the time he died, he had directed more than 150 movies.
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Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA) directs James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and Pat O'Brien in one of the greatest gangster melodramas made during the Hollywood studio era. William "Rocky" Sullivan (Cagney) and Jerry Connolly (O'Brien), partners in mischief as boys, are separated when only Jerry is fast enough to get away from the cops after the duo steals fountain pens from a railroad car. Rocky, refusing to give the name of his friend, is sent off to a reform school where he falls under the influence of criminal elements. The grown-up Rocky's triumphant return to the neighborhood complicates the efforts of Jerry, now a parish priest, to keep a local group of boys (the Dead End Kids) out of trouble. When the gang begins to idolize Rocky, Connolly fears his good works may come to nothing. Meanwhile, Rocky vies for control of the criminal rackets in the neighborhood with mob boss Mac Keefer (George Bancroft) and a corrupt, double-crossing lawyer, James Frazier (Bogart).
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Michael Curtiz directs a Western that is almost of epic proportions, and screenwriters Warren Duff and Robert Buckner greatly assist in bringing about a snazzy script that is based on Clements Ripley's story. ...more about Gold Is Where You Find It
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Curtiz began acting in and then directing films in his native Hungary in 1912. After WWI he continued his filmmaking career in Austria and Germany and into the early 1920s when he directed films in other countries in Europe. Moving to the US in 1926, he started making films in Hollywood for Warner Bros. ...more about Michael Curtiz
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Lively and cheerful, but too banal to be a top-rate Curtiz or Wayne film; ... it's a pleasingly entertaining film. It comes at a time when an older and fatter Wayne is comfortable shooting for comic effects by self-parody. In addition, there's a fine supporting cast that includes such veteran character actors as Jack Elam (slimy renegade gun-runner), Henry Daniell and Richard Devon; veteran western stars Bob Steele and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams add to the lighthearted festivities with colorful cameos. Budd Boetticher was originally asked to direct this film, but preferred to remain in jail while in the middle of filming his beloved bullfighting homage to Arruza. That should speak volumes what he thought of this formulaic project, which was created to keep Wayne in front of the cameras for his faithful followers. Elmer Bernstein's sweeping musical score plays well in the background to all the action scenes.
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[One] secret to the Curtiz success is his editing rhythm. His films move in incisive camera strokes without sacrificing a graceful flow. The establishing shot, the two-shot, the close-up, the long-shot is Curtiz’s cinematic dance created to bring his vision to life. Watching a Curtiz film with an added awareness of his astounding visual vocabulary will layer the experience. Curtiz’s films, even when flawed, move with an unpretentious grace and effortless pace.
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Michael Curtiz