Happy Birthday, Rouben Mamoulian! Born today in 1897 as Rouben Zachary Mamoulian, this Georgian-born American theatre and film director noted for his contribution to the development of cinematic art at the beginning of the sound era.
Mamoulian was born in Tbilisi, which was ruled at that time by imperial Russia. His father was a bank president.
Mamoulian spent part of his childhood in Paris, France, and later went to Moscow to study law. This was at the same time training under Stanislavsky and Vakhtangov at the Moscow Art Theatre.
In 1922, Mamoulian directed his first play in London. The following year, he moved to Rochester, New York where George Eastman, the founder of Kodak, had started a new opera theatre.
Mamoulian began his Broadway director career with a production of DuBose Heyward's Porgy, which opened on October 10, 1927.
The following year, Mamoulian directed Wings Over Europe from late 1928 to 1929. He also directed the revival of Porgy in 1929, along with George Gershwin's operatic treatment Porgy and Bess, which opened on October 10, 1935.
During this time, Mamoulian produced and directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1932 American pre-Code black and white musical/comedy film 'Love Me Tonight'.
In this stylish musical comedy, Maurice Courtelin (Maurice Chevalier), a French tailor, travels to the castle of nearby royalty to collect payment on long overdue bills.
However, a series of mishaps force Courtelin to pose as a baron while he tries to woo the elegant Princess Jeanette (Jeanette MacDonald).
Resistant to Courtelin's charms at first, she eventually becomes intrigued by him. But when the truth gets out about Courtelin's humble identity, he risks losing the only woman that he loves.
'Love Me Tonight' is an adaptation by Russian screenwriter and musical composer Samuel Hoffenstein, American screenwriters George Marion Jr. and Waldemar Young of the 1924 play Le Tailleur au château ("The tailor at the castle").
This was by Russian-born French playwright and screenwriter Paul Armont and French dialogue writer, playwright and screenwriter Léopold Marchand.
The film features the classic Rodgers and Hart songs "Love Me Tonight", "Isn't it Romantic?", "Mimi", and "Lover".
However, "Lover" is sung not romantically, as it often is in nightclubs, but comically, as MacDonald's character tries to control an unruly horse.
The staging of "Isn't It Romantic?" was revolutionary for its time, combining both singing and film editing, as the song is passed from one singer (or group of singers) to another, all of whom are at different locales.
In his 1968 book Hollywood in the Thirties, Australian-born writer, journalist, and film-maker John Baxter declared “If there is a better musical of the Thirties, one wonders what it can be."
One year later after 'Love Me Tonight' Mamoulian directed the second and final film of which he is best known.
This was the 1933 American pre-Code black and white biographical romance/drama film 'Queen Christina'. It starred Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in their fourth and final film together.
The film tells of the wise and peace-loving Queen Christina (Greta Garbo), of whom has ruled Sweden since the age of six. When her heroic father died in battle. she is pressured to marry her cousin Karl Gustav (Reginald Owen) and produce an heir.
However, the queen slips away incognito and ends up at a country inn, where she meets and falls in love with Antonio (John Gilbert), a Spanish envoy on his way to the palace. But Count Magnus, himself in love with the queen, does not approve of her foreign lover.
The film portrays the life of Queen Christina of Sweden, who became monarch at the age of six in 1632 and grew to be a powerful and influential leader.
As well as coping with the demands of being a war-leader during the Thirty Years' War, Queen Christina is expected to marry a suitable royal figure and produce an heir.
However, she falls in love with a visiting Spanish envoy whom she is forbidden to marry because he is a Roman Catholic; she must choose between love and her royal duty.
The film was based on a story co-written by Austrian Jewish actress and Hollywood screenwriter Salka Viertel, of whom was a close friend of Garbo and co-wrote the screenplay.
Upon release, the film was a major commercial and critical success in the United States and worldwide. On a budget of $1,114,000, 'Queen Christina' grossed $2,890,00at the box office.
In the 1940s, Mamoulian was also the first to stage such notable Broadway works as Oklahoma! (1943), Carousel (1945), and Lost in the Stars (1949).
Throughout his career, Mamoulian had directed two actors to Oscar nominations: Fredric March (Best Actor) for ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' and Miriam Hopkins (Best Actress), ‘Becky Sharp' (1935). However, March won an Oscar for his performance in 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’.
In May 1963, Mamoulian served as Vice President of the Jury at the 16th Cannes Film Festival.
In 1981, Mamoulian was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
In 1982, Mamoulian received the Directors Guild of American D.W. Griffith Award for his lifetime achievement in motion pictures.
Five years later, Mamoulian passed from natural causes in Woodland Hills, California on December 4, 1987. He was 90.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Mamoulian received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1709 Vine Street.
In 1990, 'Love Me Tonight' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2006, 'Applause' was included in the annual selection of twenty-five motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.
In 2009, 'The Mask of Zorro was named to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and to be preserved for all time.
In 2011, 'Porgy and Bess' was chosen for inclusion in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
In 2019, 'Becky Sharp' was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2004, a $1.1 million gift to UCLA established the Rouben Mamoulian Endowed Chair in Directing for Film and Theatre.
The trademarks in Mamoulian's films always included a cat for a good luck token and (being a master of the tracking shot) was partial to p.o.v shots, such as in the opening to 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'.
His achievements included the skillful blending of music and sound effects with an imaginative visual rhythm. Mamoulian was an expert at integrating style and content.
In the interview compilation book Directing the Film (Acrobat Books), Mamoulian declared a strong preference for a stylized look to his scenes, stating that he was more interested in creating a poetic look to his films than in showing ordinary realism.
Parts of 'Becky Sharp', and almost the whole of 'Blood and Sand', with their heightened and artificial use of Technicolor, demonstrate Mamoulian's aesthetics. He also wrote a book titled Applause.
American actor, television director, producer, and executive Jackie Cooper stated in his autobiography that Mamoulian was his uncle, and this fact helped establish Cooper's early movie career.
His creative influence was so great that his films sometimes carried the credit 'A Rouben Mamoulian Production', even though he never produced any films.
Dividing his professional life between Hollywood and the theatre, Mamoulian directed (and sometimes also produced) only seventeen films between 1929 and 1957, when he returned from a long hiatus. Many of his films remain Hollywood classics.
And yet, it was his limited body of work was so stylish, deft, and imaginative that he left an indelible mark on film history. In between, he enjoyed an active career as one of Broadway’s leading directors.
And as a noted director of several famous Broadway productions, Mamoulian translated his sense for the theatrical to film.
Afterwards, he quickly became known for his innovative use of the camera, sound and color even in an age when black-and-white film was the standard.
Guided by a strong creative instinct, informed intelligence, and a staunch independence that often clashed with the staid Hollywood studio system, Mamoulian emphasized stylization over naturalism in his early works.
A victim of his strong independent nature, Mamoulian faded into retirement, but did leave behind a mark as a fierce innovator who brought a sense of theatricality to every film.
Nicknamed Mamoo, Mamoulian had been active from 1929–1963.
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