num_pages: 343
description: A trade paperback edition of David Chierichetti's biography,  Mitchell Leisen, Hollywood Director, has been published by Photoventures Press. A feast for film buffs, the book contains over 160 photographs, and exclusive interviews with Leisen and many of his collaborators. Among those interviewed are Olivia de Havilland, Dorthy Lamour, Fred MacMurray, cinematographer Charles Lang, and costume designer Edith Head. The most extensive interview, with Leisen himself, was conducted just before the author died in 1972.At a time when homophobia was rampant in the United States, Leisen was the only important Hollywood figure to be out of the closet. Not only was he very open about his long liaison with dancer Billy Daniels, Leisen was the only American director to include portrayals of recognizably gay characters in his films during Hollywood's Golden Era.Author Chierichetti says the book came about through his teenage friendship with Leonard Maltin (now a bestselling author and critic on TV's Entertainment Tonight). "When Leonard and I were kids," Chierichetti recalls, "he used to come to Los Angeles every summer and do interviews for a fan magazine he published called Film Fan Monthly. I was thrilled to get the chance to accompany him to an interview with Leisen, whose films I admired very much. When Leonard was finished, I asked Leisen if I could visit him again and eventually got a grant from the American Film Institute to do an extensive oral history with him."Those interviews and others were first published in 1973, under the title Hollywood Director. That version of the book soon went out of print, but has remained the only source of information about Leisen and has often been quoted by other authors over the years."I felt I needed to add to it," Chierichetti says, "since I had learned much more about Leisen in the intervening 20 years. I became good friends with some of the people I interviewed, such as Olivia de Haviland and Edith Head, and they told me more. I also interviewed more people, such as MacDonald Carey and Roddy MacDowell, who worked with Leisen on TV's The Twilight Zone. The first edition contained very little about Leisen's private life, since he was still alive as I was writing it. This time around it has become more of a biography." The new version of Mitchell Leisen, Hollywood Director is 360 pages long, completely revised and expanded, and contains about 170 photos, many never before published.Considering how important Leisen was to the Hollywood scene in the 30's and 40's, it is surprising that he is so little remembered today. However, Chierichetti's book restores him to his rightful place as one of the major directors of Hollywood's Golden Era.Mitchell Leisen's career in films started with the legendary Cecil B. DeMille, for whom he designed sets and costumes. Eventually he began staging silent sequences for DeMille's The Sign of the Cross (1932), and when that was over Paramount Pictures gave Leisen the chance to collaborate with director Stuart Walker on Tonight is Ours. His first film on his own was 1933's Cradle Song and he followed that with such popular titles as Death Takes a Holiday (1933), Murder at the Vanities and Easy Living (1937), The Big Broadcast of 1938 and Midnight (1938), Arise My Love (1940), Hold Back the Dawn (1941), Take a Letter Darling (1943), Lady in the Dark (1944), Frenchman's Creek (1945) and Kitty (1946). His last big box office hit was Golden Earrings in 1947, and he continued to work in film until 1956. In his later years he worked in television.
language: English
title: Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director
titlecomplete: Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director
ratings_count: 9
publisher: Photoventures Co