Happy Birthday, Otto Preminger! Born today in 1905 as Otto Ludwig Preminger, this American theatre and film director, originally from Austria-Hungary, directed more than thirty-five feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre.
Born in Wiżnitz (Wischnitz), Bukovina, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Vyzhnytsia, Ukraine), Preminger was the son of a Jewish family.
His parents provided a stable home life for Preminger and his younger brother Ingwald, known as "Ingo".
Years later, he would be the producer of the original film version of Robert Altman's 1970 American black comedy war film 'M*A*S*H'.
After the assassination in 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which led to the Great War, Russia entered the war on the Serbian side.
Like other refugees in flight, Preminger's father, Markus, saw Austria as a safe haven for his family. He secured a position as public prosecutor in Graz, capital of Styria.
When the Preminger family relocated, Otto was nearly nine, and was enrolled in a school where instruction in Catholic dogma was mandatory and Jewish history and religion had no place on the syllabus. Ingo, not yet four, remained at home.
After a year in Graz, Markus, the decisive public prosecutor, was summoned to Vienna, where he was offered an eminent position, roughly equivalent to that of the United States Attorney General.
Markus was told that the position would be his only if he converted to Catholicism, which he refused to do. The next year, he relocated his family to Vienna, where Otto later claimed to have been born.
Preminger's first theatrical ambition was to become an actor. In his early teens, he was able to recite from memory many of the great monologues from the international classic repertory, and, never shy, he demanded an audience.
Preminger's most successful performance in the National Library rotunda was Mark Antony's funeral oration from "Julius Caesar". As he read, watched, and after a fashion began to produce plays, he began to miss more and more classes in school.
When the war came to an end, Markus formed his own law practice. He instilled in both his sons a sense of fair play as well as respect for those with opposing viewpoints.
As his father's practice continued to thrive in postwar Vienna, Otto began seriously contemplating a career in the theater.
In 1923, when Preminger was seventeen, his soon-to-be mentor, Max Reinhardt, the renowned Viennese-born director, announced plans to establish a theatrical company in Vienna.
Preminger entered the theater as a producer and director, came to America as a director in 1935 and was hired by 20th Century Fox.
After leaving the studio for Broadway at the end of the 1930s, he returned in the early 1940s, specializing in Nazi roles despite his Jewish faith.
Also, in the 1940s, Preminger was known for producing and directing the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1944 American black and white noir/mystery film 'Laura'.
It was based on American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories Vera Caspary's hit 1943 mystery crime fiction novel of the same name.
'Laura' was supposed to have directed by Rouben Mamoulian ('Love Me Tonight', 'Queen Christina'). However, he was fired soon after production began, and Preminger took over and finished the film, of which went on to become a huge hit.
In the early 1950s, Preminger became an independent producer/director, and immediately began making a name for himself through a series of successful challenges to the restrictive production code, which forbade the use of various controversial subjects onscreen.
Also, during the early 1950s, Preminger produced and directed the second film of which he is best known. This was the 1952 American black and white noir/crime film 'Angel Face'. It stars Jean Simmons and Robert Mitchum.
Two years later, Preminger produced and directed the third film of which he is best known.
This was the 1954 American CinemaScope Technicolor musical/drama film 'Carmen Jones'. It starred Dorothy Dandrige, Harry Belafonte and Pearl Bailey.
The screenplay by Russian-born American screenwriter and producer Harry Kleiner was based on the lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II.
This was from the 1943 stage musical of the same name, set to the music of Georges Bizet's 1875 opera Carmen. On a budget of $800,000, the 'Carmen Jones' grossed $9.8 million at the box office.
While filming the 'Carmen Jones', Preminger began an affair with the film's star, African-American film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer Dorothy Dandridge. The affair lasted for four years.
During that period, Preminger advised her on career matters. This was pertaining to an offer made to Dandridge for the featured role of Tuptim.
This was for the 1956 American DeLuxe Color biographical musical/romance drama film 'The King and I'.
Preminger had advised her to turn it down, as he believed it unworthy of her as it was not the lead role. Dandrige later regretted taking his advice.
One year after the release of 'Carmen Jones', Preminger produced and directed the fourth film of which he is best known.
This was the 1955 American black and white drama/romance film 'The Man with the Golden Arm'. It starred Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak and Darren McGavin.
The film was based on American writer Nelson Algren's 1949 fiction novel of the same name. Ben Hecht went uncredited as a co-writer for the screenplay. The film is now in the public domain.
The film's initial release was controversial for its treatment of the then-taboo subject of drug addiction.
Although the addictive drug in the film is never identified, according to the American Film Institute "most contemporary and modern sources assume that it is heroin", in contrast to Algren's book which named the drug as morphine.
The following year, 'The Man with the Golden Arm' was nominated for three Oscars.
This included Best Actor in a Leading Role (Frank Sinatra), Best Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Elmer Bernstein for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
However, the film did not win. This occurred at the 28th Academy Awards in late March 1956.
Three years later, Preminger produced and directed the fifth and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1959 American black and white courtroom mystery/crime drama film 'Anatomy of a Murder'.
With its frank courtroom discussions of rape and sexual intercourse, this led to the censors objecting to the use of words such as "rape", "sperm", "sexual climax" and "penetration".
The screenplay by American Hollywood screenwriter Wendell Mayes was based on noted American lawyer, author, fly fisherman and Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker (under the pen name Robert Traver).
Voelker had based 1958 mystery legal story fiction novel of the same name on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defense attorney.
'Anatomy of a Murder' starred Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Ben Gazzara and Arthur O'Connell.
The film features a musical score by Duke Ellington and an opening credit sequence designed by Saul Bass. He had also designed the opening credits for 'The Man with the Golden Arm'.
One year later, 'Anatomy of a Murder' received seven Oscar nominations, most notably Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jimmy Stewart), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Arthur O'Connell'), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George C. Scott).
However, the film won none of these. This occurred at the 32nd Academy Awards in early April 1960.
In 1963, Jean-Luc Godard listed 'Angel Face' as the eighth best American Sound film.
Three years later, Preminger appeared in two episodes of the American live action television series Batman (1966-1968). This was as Mr. Freeze.
Along with his fellow émigré, Austrian-American director, actor and producer Erich von Stroheim ('Foolish Wives', 'Greed', 'The Grand Illusion'), Preminger enjoyed a long reign in Hollywood as the quintessence of the dictatorial European auteur.
As a filmmaker, Preminger had helped bring about the relaxation of censorship regulations. This was due to him defying Hollywood's Production Code with a series of controversial films.
Preminger neither condemned nor condoned his protagonist's behavior, and his features became known for their moral morality, as he was particularly adept at making thrillers.
Several of Preminger's films in this period dealt with controversial and taboo topics, thereby challenging both the Production Code of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and their censorship, along with the Hollywood blacklist.
Preminger made but one concession (substituting "violation" for "penetration") and 'Anatomy of a Murder' was released with MPAA approval, marking the beginning of the end of the Hayes Production Code.
In 1992, 'Carmen Jones' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"
In 1999, 'Laura' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
The American Film Institute later named 'Laura' one of the 10 best mystery films of all time, and it also appears on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" series.
In 2012, 'Anatomy of a Murder' was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Today, Preminger's legacy has endured, due to the legend of his larger-than-life personality, his unforgettable physical presence, and the films he had created during his lifetime.
Nicknamed Otto the Ogre, Preminger had been active from 1924-1986.
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