{"product_id":"studio-affairs-my-life-as-a-film-director-9780813119755","title":"Studio Affairs: My Life as a Film Director","description":"\u003cp\u003eAs a young Jewish boy growing up in Vienna  Georgia  Abe Orovitz could never have predicted the twists and turns his life would take. Many years later  as retired film director with more than thirty movies to his credit  Vincent Sherman is no less surprised when he looks back on that life.  In Studio Affairs he retraces his life with candor and enthusiasm. Sherman discusses the details of his three-year relationship with Joan Crawford  his inadvertent connection with the death of Bette Daviss second husband  and his poignant romantic involvement with Rita Hayworth. Providing counterpoint to these liaisons is the love and devotion of Shermans wife  Hedda  who accepted her husbands occasional infidelities as part and parcel of his career.  Studio Affairs provides an inside look at the motion picture industry during the heyday of the studio system by one who worked his way from nearly starving actor and playwright to respected director. In effect  the book serves as a primer on the art of film directing. Sherman quickly developed a reputation of being a consummate rewrite artist  able to take whatever assignment given him and turn it into a first rate motion picture. His skill at reworked scripts led him to bigger and bigger projects  even as the salary set by his long-term contract with Warner Brothers remained below that of most of his colleagues. Though not originally signed to direct  when asked to do so he drew on his experience putting together productions at summer camps across the \"borscht circuit\" in upstate New York.  Like so many talented individuals in Hollywood during the 1950s  Sherman was targeted by the House Un-American Activities Committee  owing in part to his active support of the WPA Theatre project in New York two decades previous. Time spent on the lesser known gray list kept him out of work for several years. Eventually  he again enjoyed some critical success  but after the demise of the studio system life was never quite the same. The quintessential \"studio director\" ended his career directing for television. Vincent Shermans path from Georgia to southern California is compelling  and his legendary talent for good storytelling makes the book impossible to put down.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647768125493,"sku":"ByrdShop_0813119758","price":32.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780813119755.jpg?v=1781697120","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/studio-affairs-my-life-as-a-film-director-9780813119755","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}