Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: At the American Film Institute Review

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Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: At the American Film Institute ReviewAs a founding director of the American Film Institute (AFI) and the son of one of the most legendary filmmakers, author George Stevens Jr. is well qualified to present this superb compilation of interviews that the AFI fellows conducted with thirty-two behind-the-camera luminaries from the classic mid-20th century era of cinema, both Hollywood-based and abroad. The fact that most of these interviews took place in the 1970's does not detract from the wealth of relevant insight provided here from not only leading directors and producers but also well-regarded screenwriters and cinematographers.
For the most part, the tone is more celebratory than critical, and given that almost all the subjects were in the twilight of their careers at the time of the interviews, there is a pervasive nostalgia about the comments. That's not to say there are no heaping spoonfuls of vitriol, as the most famously acerbic filmmakers - Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Howard Hawks among them - show unsurprising candor when discussing famously problematic people both onscreen and in the front office. For example, Wilder hurls a sharp zinger at his "Some Like It Hot" and "The Seven Year Itch" star, Marilyn Monroe, when comparing the litany of books about her to those of WWII and then pointing out that the subjects are just about the same. Similarly, Elia Kazan calls James Dean "a twisted boy", and Stanley Kramer admits to choosing an aging Judy Garland for two high-profile films during her most insecure period. Yet none of these filmmakers regret their casting decisions.
Most of the interviewees have little fondness for the Hollywood studio politics and interference that ran rampant during the production on many of their classic films. Probably as a counterpoint to what could have been, Stevens chooses to end the volume with four subjects completely outside the big studios and in fact, outside the country - Jean Renoir, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman and Satyajit Ray. Their comments show how the business aspects do not necessarily have to impede the creative process. At the same time, stalwarts such as George Cukor, Mervyn LeRoy and Raoul Walsh unapologetically voice their support of the often reviled studio heads claiming that the family-like atmosphere allowed them the security to make their proudest work. Inevitably, Stevens includes his own father, who gives his famously terse responses to the questions volleyed to him.
Among the more intriguing comments are made by cinematographers James Wong Howe, George Folsey and Stanley Cortez and writers Ray Bradbury and Ernest Lehman, all of whom had to deal with the often singular, sometimes monumentally ego-driven visions of the master directors. It's interesting to note that the interview questions are not coming from adoring fans but aspiring craftsmen in the industry, some of whom eventually reached their goals later, such as Terrence Malick, David Lynch, Paul Schrader, and Ed Zwick. With this type of Q&A format, there are inevitably instances of selective memory as recollections made of the same film vary from different people involved with the production, for example, director Hitchcock and writer Lehman on "North by Northwest" or producer Kramer and director Fred Zinnemann on "High Noon". Regardless, this tome is an invaluable read for anyone interested in the production aspects during Hollywood's golden age.Conversations with the Great Moviemakers of Hollywood's Golden Age: At the American Film Institute Overview

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