Michael Curtiz directed some of the greatest American films of the twentieth century but has been largely forgotten. He does not fitthe conventional definition of a cinematic auteur, and many of his pictures, including The Adventures of Robin Hood,Casablanca,Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas, left an enduring imprint on American popular culture. Curtiz remains the greatest film director that nobody every heard of. The heretofore unreported account of Curtiz’s early years in silent Hungarian cinema, which evolved into direction of distinguished European films, is juxtapos ... More

Michael Curtiz directed some of the greatest American films of the twentieth century but has been largely forgotten. He does not fitthe conventional definition of a cinematic auteur, and many of his pictures, including The Adventures of Robin Hood,Casablanca,Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas, left an enduring imprint on American popular culture. Curtiz remains the greatest film director that nobody every heard of. The heretofore unreported account of Curtiz’s early years in silent Hungarian cinema, which evolved into direction of distinguished European films, is juxtaposed against his Pygmalion-like marriage to the actress Lucy Doraine, whom he made into a movie star. His relationships with four different women that resulted in an equal number of out-of-wedlock children were aspects of a tumultuous personal life that always remained secondary to his filmmaking. His marital collaboration with the screenwriter Bess Meredyth proved integral to his ascent as the top director at Warner Bros. Highlights includerevelatory accounts of his alleged drowning of extras during Noah’s Ark (1928), the reputed abuse of horses in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1935), and his often tumultuous relationships with Jack Warner, Darryl Zanuck, Hal Wallis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis,and others,whichare meticulously detailed, as well as a comprehensive examination of his vast résumé of 181films. Supported by scrupulous research and numerous interviews, Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film is the long-awaited biography that separates fact from fiction about Hollywood’s most prolifically accomplished director.