They Made the Movies: Conversations with Great Filmmakers

The fourth collaboration (following Conversations with Legendary Television Stars) between the late TV columnist Bawden (1945–2021) and former president of the Television Critics Association Miller digs deep into their reservoir of vintage interviews to share 31 more chats with great filmmakers. Not all of the interviews probe deeply, but collectively they paint a picture of a different age of moviemaking. Directors were studio employees, not auteurs, who could be called upon at a minute’s notice to clean up the work another director had abandoned or botched, or grind out a quickie second feature to fill a theater bill. The goal was to be more of “a reliable craftsman” than a genius, but doing so took considerable ingenuity and endurance, Bawden and Miller argue. Occasionally, genius flashed through anyhow. Interviewees include Hal Willis, Frank Capra, George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Edward Dmytryk, John Frankenheimer, animator Chuck Jones, and Irving Rapper (who recalls working with octogenarian Mae West in her final film, Sextette). The authors devote attention to the work of marginalized filmmakers, such as actress Ida Lupino. A decided bonus are the 58 pages of black-and-white film stills and photos of directors.