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Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Ann Blyth interviewed in new book on director Michael Curtiz


Ann Blyth fans may be interested to read the excellent new biography of her favorite director, Michael Curtiz, by Alan K. Rode. Two of her films were directed by Curtiz:  Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar at the age of 17, and her last film (pictured above with Paul Newman), The Helen Morgan Story (1957).


Michael Curtiz – A Life in Film, published by the University Press of Kentucky (2017) is a well-written and well-researched study on one of Hollywood’s most talented, and yet perhaps most overlooked, directors.  Mr. Rode rectifies Curtiz’s omission among the great auteurs with a fair and unblinking examination of the director’s foibles, even occasional cruelty, but chronicling his impressive body of work and his unique cinematic storytelling.  The book is foremost a tribute to a complex but talented man.


The author interviewed Ann Blyth for this book, and she supplies her memories of working with Michael Curtiz and her experiences on her two films with him, praising his talent and reaffirming how much she enjoyed working with him.  She sensed that, “…he was always seemed to be in my corner.  I remember that we talked about this later on in years when I worked with him again and I wished that that had happened more often…He had a wonderful way and would say all kinds of crazy things, but there was always a twinkle in his eye….I was very, very fond of him.”


There is a photograph in the book of Curtiz directing Ann in the memorable scene in Mildred Pierce where she sings “The Oceana Roll” in the waterfront dive owned by Jack Carson.  For more on Ann’s interview, and for an in-depth review on the life and career of this director whose hits include Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Casablanca (1943), and White Christmas (1954) to name only a few perennial favorites, Michael Curtiz –A Life in Film is a treat for classic film buffs who have waited a long time for a book-length biography on this director.

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