MICHAEL CURTIZ (1886-1962)

MANÓ KERTSÉZ KAMINER

Born: December 24th, 1886 (Budapest, Austria-Hungary).

Died: April 10th, 1962 (cancer).

Marriage: Lucy Doraine (1918-1923), Lili Damita (1925-1926), Bess Meredyth (1929-1962 His death)

Children: He adopted the son of his third and final wife, John Meredyth Lucas, in 1929.

Interesting Fact: He died of cancer six months after the release of his final film Comancheros (1961).

Success: At Warner Brothers he directed some of the best known classics.

Awards: He received one Oscar out of his five nominations for Casablanca (1942). The other four films were Captain Blood (1935), Four Daughters (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) & Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942). He was nominated for six other achievements and received a star on the Walk of Fame, along with a Western Heritage Award for Comancheros in 1962.

My Favorite Film: I must admit that I had no idea who Michael Curtiz was until now, but as I looked down his impressive list of films, I was shocked that I didn't know of him before. My favorite of his is Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), which is even more impressive since he was not born in the US.

Michael has become a favorite of mine for a couple of reasons. As an immigrant he directed two of my favorite most patriotic films; Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) & This is the Army (1943). He had also successfully directed almost every genre imaginable from Western to War, Drama to Comedy & Gangster to Romance. He also discovered some of my favorite movie stars like Errol Flynn, John Garfield & Doris Day. Oh, and he directed White Christmas (1954) 'nough said.

As I mentioned above he is responsible for some of the greatest films of his time, including Casablanca (1942) which he did the same year as Yankee Doodle Dandy. He also did quite a few biopics besides Cohan, like Cole Porter in Night and Day (1946), Gus Khan in I'll See You in My Dreams (1951) & Jim Thorpe in Jim Thorpe - All American (1951). One other film worth mentioning is one of my favorite comedies, We're No Angels (1955). This film is an unknown classic that has a Christmas tradition following. You gotta see it!

YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)

Studio: Warner Brothers

Producer: Hal B. Wallis, Jack Warner & William Cagney

Director: Michael Curtiz

Awards: Received Best Actor for James Cagney, Best Music & Best Sound. Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Walter Huston), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture & Best Writing. Was also given a NYFCC Award and was placed on the National Film Registry in 1993.

Release Date: June 6th, 1942

Origination: Based on the life of the Broadway show tunes writer George M. Cohan.

Interesting Fact: Before James Cagney became known as a gangster on the screen he was a dancer. He won his only Oscar for his performance in this picture and later reprised Cohan with Bob Hope in The Seven Little Foys (1955).

Cohan: "My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you."

This is a beautiful picture about an amazing man who gave this country songs to sing. I was also born on the third of July, and I've treasured this movie ever since my mother showed it to me when I was young. To see such a man with the same birthday feel a drive to show the world what we stand for, has influenced me greatly. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to dance down steps like he did at the end of the movie. This film gave me a greater love for James Cagney as an actor, George Cohan as a songwriter and America as a country of opportunity and liberty. This is a must see for every American.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE?