Director Spotlight: Michael Curtiz

Michael Curtiz (1886-1962) was born Mano Kertesz Kaminer in Budapest, Hungary. He was active in the movie industry in Europe before arriving to America in 1926. Once he was here, he had a varied and prolific career directing over 100 films in many different genres. In the 1930s, he directed a string of successful films starring Errol Flynn. Some of these movies were Captain Blood, The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Dodge City, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, The Sea Hawk and The Santa Fe Trail. By the 1940s, Curtiz had become a very wealthy director making upwards of $3600/week. His success continued in the 1940s directing such hits as Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Life With Father, and Mildred Pierce. He even directed the pro-Soviet propaganda film Mission to Moscow at the request of president Franklin D. Roosevelt in order to help the wartime effort. Although Curtiz left Hungary well before the rise of the Nazi regime, his family was not as fortunate. His sister and her family were imprisoned at Auschwitz where her husband and children perished. Curtiz paid part of his own salary into the European Film Fund which was an association set up to help European refugees in the film business to establish themselves in the United States. In the late 1940s, he struck an agreement with Warner Brothers under which the studio and his own production company would share both the costs and profits of his films. Unfortunately, these films did not have the success as his earlier pictures and his relationship with Warners deteriorated into a bitter court battle. Curtiz did continue to direct on a freelance basis and also directed some films for Paramount such as White Christmas, We're No Angels and King Creole. His final film, The Comancheros, was released less than a year before his death. Although Curtiz was extremely active and busy in the film industry, he did not always get along well with colleagues. He was exceptionally dedicated to the art of film making but did not have respect for actors and was often very steely towards them. Many of his cohorts found him arrogant and he had the reputation of being mean to subordinates. On the flip side, during the filming of Casablanca, Claude Rains found him to be most helpful by showing him the difference between theatre acting and film acting, or as he put it-"what not to do in front of a camera." Curtiz was nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Director. Before winning for Casablanca, he was nominated for Yankee Doodle Dandy, Angels with Dirty Faces, and Four Daughters. Captain Blood came second as a write-in nomination in 1936. Michael Curtiz was one of those directors whose name you might not necessarily know but whose movies you've seen. His eye for detail created not only lavish and lush productions such as Robin Hood but also created tense and dramatic productions such as Casablanca. Luckily for us, we can all still enjoy his films.
Selected filmography:
The Cabin in the Cotton (1932) starring Richard Barthelmess and Bette Davis
Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, and Glenda Farrell
Captain Blood (1935) starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) starring Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone
Casablanca (1942) starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) starring James Cagney and Walter Huston
Mildred Pierce (1945) starring Joan Crawford
White Christmas (1954) starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera Ellen
King Creole (1958) starring Elvis Presley, Walter Matthau, and Carolyn Jones