{"product_id":"michael-curtiz-a-life-in-film-screen-classics-9780813173917","title":"Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film (Screen Classics)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcademy Awardwinning director Michael Curtiz (18861962)whose best-known films include Casablanca (1942)  Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)  Mildred Pierce (1945) and White Christmas (1954)was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his unprecedented twenty-seven year tenure at Warner Bros.  he directed swashbuckling adventures  westerns  musicals  war epics  romances  historical dramas  horror films  tearjerkers  melodramas  comedies  and film noir masterpieces. The directors staggering output of 180 films surpasses that of the legendary John Ford and exceeds the combined total of films directed by George Cukor  Victor Fleming  and Howard Hawks.  In the first biography of this colorful  instinctual artist  Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industrys most complex figures. He explores the directors little-known early life and career in his native Hungary  revealing how Curtiz shaped the earliest days of silent cinema in Europe before immigrating to the United States in 1926. In Hollywood  Curtiz earned a reputation for explosive tantrums  his difficulty with English  and disregard for the well-being of others. However  few directors elicited more memorable portrayals from their casts  and ten different actors delivered Oscar-nominated performances under his direction.  In addition to his study of the directors remarkable legacy  Rode investigates Curtizs dramatic personal life  discussing his enduring creative partnership with his wife  screenwriter Bess Meredyth  as well as his numerous affairs and children born of his extramarital relationships. This meticulously researched biography provides a nuanced understanding of one of the most talented filmmakers of Hollywoods golden age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45279806324789,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813173914","price":36.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813173917.jpg?v=1780611277","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/michael-curtiz-a-life-in-film-screen-classics-9780813173917","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}