The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: very unpleasant set, unseeing witness, disorganized soul, New York, Junie Moon, Carmen Jones (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Preminger, maker of classics like Anatomy of a Murder and bombs like the LSD-tinged Jackie Gleason vehicle Skidoo, was the archetype of the tyrannical Hollywood director. A cue-ball–headed bully who alternated icy sarcasm with frothing rages and had the sense of humor of a guillotine, Preminger calmed one jittery thespian by shaking him and screaming Relax! Relax! Relax! into his face. (In acting roles, Preminger was reliably cast as a Nazi.) Fujiwara's respectful but lively bio sticks closely to his subject's groundbreaking if sadistic creative process. Each chapter covers the making of a single movie, starting with Preminger's wrangles with screenwriters, meddling studio chiefs and Hollywood's prim Production Code, whose hold his risqué films helped break. Production starting brought the director's terrorization of cast and crew ( 'Otto turned on me like a mad dog,'  recalls Faye Dunaway), which drove actors of both sexes to hysterical tears—and, some admit, fine performances. Fujiwara's auteurist appreciations of Preminger's work tend toward abstract analyses of, say, the encounter and resistance of objects in space, but they arouse the reader's interest in revisiting his films. Photos. (Mar. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“[A] major contribution to what we know about Preminger—substantially surpassing former efforts.”—Jonathan Rosenbaum, Cineaste

“Gives Preminger’s work the serious and subtle analysis it deserves.”—Geoffrey O’Brien, author of The Phantom Empire: Movies in the Mind of the Twentieth Century

“Exceptional.”—Christopher Hontos, The Rake

“A rich, rewarding, unique volume that sets the standard in the study of this key director in the history of American cinema.”—Dana Polan, Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University

“It’s clear early on that Fujiwara ‘gets’ [Preminger] . . . [He] is a serious and valuable critic [and] does an excellent job of directing us back to the movies.”—Robert Horton, Film Comment

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1 Reprint edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 086547995X
• ISBN-13: 978-0865479951
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #876,404 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First class study, January 6, 2009

By	Addison de Witt "Addy" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger (Hardcover)

By far the best study of Otto Preminger's work published so far in english. Highly recommended for serious students of the cinema.

2.0 out of 5 stars fair, April 27, 2009

By	Robert J. Ricci (New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nothing in depth, covered old ground without much new insight. Predictable , could have included more background on the movie industry in the 40's thru the 60's, also glossed over events and character traits and why.

1 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius At Work, May 15, 2008

By	F. I. Khattab "F. I." - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger (Hardcover)

In all honesty, I haven't had a chance to read this book as of yet, but as I like Otto Premingers movies, and he was the one who gave Dorothy Dandriges a chance in Carmen Jones, I admire him for that. Considering the times and the racism of american, not giving people of African descent a chance to act in the so called classical vein, he was a pioneer in giving talent a chance in this land of hypocriscy.