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Otto Preminger
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Synopsis: Produced and directed by Otto Preminger, Exodus is a 212-minute screen adaptation of the best-selling novel by Leon Uris. The film is concerned with the emergence of Israel as an independent nation in 19Read More
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As “himself,” abetted by his genius for self-promotion, he had size and flair, and “Otto Preminger” may have been his most successful production. Big-boned, and with a stentorian voice that retained the staccato rhythm and spitting consonants of his native German, Preminger was not only physically but ... psychologically and existentially titanic, a force of nature. As the elder son of a prominent Austrian lawyer, Preminger was born into a world of wealth and status which, in living his own life on a grand scale, he never once abandoned. Hotel suites sparkling with Old World opulence, a baronial mansion in Bel-Air, a Manhattan town house of severe modern design, sleek modern offices with large marble desks, and a white marble villa on the French Riviera were among the infernally elegant settings in which he lived and worked. At fashionable restaurants in the great cities of the world, “Mr. Preminger” was an always honored guest.
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For many years Otto Preminger seemed to have a good idea of both what the American public wanted in its movies and what ideas would move the film industry forward. Preminger directed an all African-American cast in 1954’s Carmen Jones. Dorothy Dandridge became the first African-American ever nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. In 1955 Otto took on the subject of heroin addiction in The Man With The Golden Arm. During all of this, Preminger was leading a fight to prevent a film of his titled The Moon Is Blue from being tagged ‘indecent.’ The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled in Preminger’s favor. The ruling would eventually lead to the dissolution of the Legion of Decency and the Production Code and lead to the establishment of what would eventually become the Motion Picture Association of America in 1968.
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Otto Preminger had a reputation as a consummate professional who could deliver troubled productions on time and under budget. He ... had a rep as a petty tyrant who ruled over his sets like a back-lot Fuehrer—and he didn't exactly help that image when he developed a sideline playing Nazis in movies like Stalag 17. Instead, he empowered detractors who claimed he was a bullying interpersonal fascist, onscreen and off.
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Otto Preminger brought his film noir experience to controversial social issues with this hard-hitting drama about heroin addiction that gave Frank Sinatra one of his greatest roles. He plays Frankie Machine, an aspiring drummer, expert card dealer and former junkie, who leaves rehab only to find difficulty resisting the temptations of his old neighborhood. Eleanor Parker is his troubled wife who tries to hang on to him at any cost, and Kim Novak is powerful as Molly, his streetwise neighbor who could rescue him from oblivion. Opening with the extraordinary main titles by Saul Bass, and swept along by Elmer Bernstein’s great jazz score, Preminger’s dynamic production garnered Oscar nominations for Art Direction, Music and Actor. Now restored, it hasn’t looked this good in years. With Darren McGavin, Arnold Stang, Robert Strauss.
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SAINT JOAN, 1957, Preminger Films, 110 min. After a casting hunt rivaling that for Scarlett O’Hara, Otto Preminger chose Jean Seberg, an unknown, inexperienced eighteen-year-old from Marhsalltown, Iowa to play Shaw’s inspired heroine. Though widely dismissed by critics at the time, Seberg is quite touching in the role, and it’s easy to see why the filmmaker selected her. Preminger surrounded the novice with the cream of British theatrical royalty (John Gielgud, Anton Walbrook, Richard Todd, Kenneth Haigh), though his casting of Richard Widmark as a childlike Dauphin was as controversial as his choice of leading lady. Graham Greene’s adaptation is trim and intelligent, and the beautifully designed and photographed film is much sturdier than its reputation. NOT ON DVD
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Otto Preminger