Following
up on a recent post in which I suggested that Otto Preminger was
overdue for a critical re-evaluation, I notice that Film Forum in New
York is hosting a 23-film retrospective of the director's work — which
coincides with the recent release of a new Preminger biography by
Foster Hirsch, which Tony D'Ambra of the films noir site recently
directed attention to here.
The Film Forum site offers this from Andrew Sarris — “Otto
Preminger is still the most maligned, misjudged, misunderstood and
misperceived American filmmaker. His films have stood up better
stylistically, thematically and subtextually than I ever imagined they
would.”
Indeed,
Preminger's films are so interesting and so good that all this
attention should lead to the restoration of his reputation in no time
at all. (Let's hope it leads to a widescreen DVD edition of Anatomy Of A Murder as well . . .)
Tks for the plug Lloyd 🙂
Apropos Preminger, I have been reading A Panorama of Film Noir 1951-53 (for those who don't know, the first book on the genre published in 1955 and only translated from the French in 2000). Authors Borde anbd Chaumeton, considered Preminger not only a seminal and innovative noir director of the period, but as one of the foremost directors of American film. Laura (1946) is cited as one of the first great noirs. Preminger's 1950 releases, Whirlpoool (” the direction is faultless”) and Where the Sidewalk Ends (“deserves a special mention”) are higlighted, and Angel Face (1952) “confirms Otto Preminger's mastery and subtlety where psychological analysis is concerned”.
That sounds like a book I really need to read . . .