Customer Reviews

Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director

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In a list of now-forgotten great American directors, Mitchell Leisen would be right on top (together with Rouben Mamoulian and Gregory La Cava).

His films are seldomly seen; none of them is available on DVD and some of the best, like "Hold Back the Dawn", one of the best melodramas ever done, and the Kurt Weill musical adapation "Lady in the Dark", do not exist even in VHS.

Therefore, this book would always have at least the merit of drawing attention to this great director. I don't know of any other book written about him.

It is a good book, focusing on his films and including an interesting interview. The photo selection is also quite good.

So, if you want to discover an almost-forgotten director who I believe deserves a place in American Cinema alongside people like George Cukor and Leo McCarey, this book is an excellent way to start.

Then try and see as many of his movies as you can.

I really enjoyed this book on a long forgotten director of the golden era of Hollywood. A period of film making that I really enjoy reading about. Leisen was a first rate director who turned out many memorable films and was a fascinating personality in himself. An great read.