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Joseph L. Mankiewicz is a Actor, Director, Scriptwriter, Producer and Title Graphics American born on 11 february 1909 at Wilkes-Barre (USA)

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Joseph L. Mankiewicz
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Birth name Joseph Leo Mankiewicz
Nationality USA
Birth 11 february 1909 at Wilkes-Barre (USA)
Death 5 february 1993 (at 83 years) at Bedford (USA)
Awards Academy Award for Best Director, Writers Guild of America Award

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was a film director, screenwriter, and producer. Mankiewicz had a long Hollywood career, and twice won the Academy Award for both Best Director and Best Writing, Screenplay, for A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950).

Biography

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz est le fils cadet de Franz Mankiewicz et Johanna Blumenau, immigrés juifs venus d'Allemagne. Après ses études secondaires à la Stuyvesant High School, il s'inscrit à l’université Columbia où il obtiendra son Bachelor of Arts en 1928. Puis, sur les conseils de son père, il part à Berlin pour parfaire son éducation. À Berlin il est correspondant du Chicago Tribune, parallèlement, il s’intéresse au théâtre et au cinéma et est embauché par l’UFA pour traduire les intertitres des films destinés au marché anglo-saxon. À la suite de l'émission d’un chèque sans provisions, il quitte précipitamment Berlin pour Paris. En 1929, son frère Herman qui travaille comme scénariste (Marx Brothers, Citizen Kane, etc.) à la Paramount Pictures lui suggère de rentrer le rejoindre. Joseph se voit chargé de la rédaction de sous-titres puis de scénarios pour des comédies simples (Skippy, 1931, nommé aux Oscars pour son scénario) et burlesques (pour W. C. Fields).

Passant à la MGM il obtient une nouvelle nomination aux Oscars du scénario pour L’Ennemi public n 1 tourné par W.S. Van Dyke. Alors qu’il exprime le souhait de tourner lui-même ses scénarios, Louis B. Mayer le nomme producteur — il produisit entre autres Furie de Fritz Lang, qui ne lui pardonna pas d’avoir procédé à des coupes, contre son avis, sur la fin du film.

En 1942, il se brouille avec L. B. Mayer et rejoint la 20th Century Fox. C’est à ce moment que Lubitsch, victime d’une crise cardiaque et incapable de tourner, lui confie la tâche de réaliser un film qu’il devait faire : Le Château du dragon (1946).

Mankiewicz rencontre ensuite le succès avec Chaînes conjugales (1949), qui remporte les Oscars du scénario et de mise en scène. L’année suivante il réitère la performance, obtenant exactement les mêmes prix pour Ève, qui remporte également l’Oscar du meilleur film.

En 1950 alors qu’il est président de la Screen Director Guild, Cecil B. DeMille profite d’une période où Mankiewicz est absent pour tenter une offensive pro-maccarthysme. À son retour, Mankiewicz s’oppose à la manœuvre et, soutenu par John Ford, repousse l’attaque.

En 1951, après avoir tourné L’Affaire Cicéron, il quitte la Fox et Los Angeles pour aller s’installer au calme sur la côte Est.

En 1952, il adapte le Jules César de William Shakespeare pour la MGM et met en scène La Bohème de Giacomo Puccini pour le Metropolitan Opera.

En 1953, il crée sa propre maison de production, Figaro Inc., qui produisit l’année suivante La Comtesse aux pieds nus . Les films suivants rencontrent moins de succès. Il faut attendre 1959 pour que Soudain l’été dernier le ramène à l’avant-scène.

En 1960, il est appelé en urgence pour sauver le tournage de Cléopâtre. Très réticent, il accepte en échange d’une grosse somme d’argent et du sauvetage de Figaro Inc. du naufrage financier. Cléopâtre l’accapare jusqu’en 1963. Son montage fut remanié par Zanuck et Mankiewicz renia le film.

En 1967 sort Guêpier pour trois abeilles et en 1970, un western, Le Reptile.

En 1972, il tourne son dernier film, Le Limier.

Il se retire ensuite, se consacrant à la lecture et se tenant en retrait de l’industrie cinématographique.

Il décède des suites d'un infarctus le 5 février 1993 à 6 jours de son 84e anniversaire au Northern Westchester Hospital de Mount Kisco dans l’État de New York.

Il est enterré au cimetière Saint Matthew's Episcopal Churchyard de Bedford (comté de Westchester dans l’État de New York).

Joseph Mankiewicz s'est marié trois fois :


Elizabeth Young (1934-1937)
L'actrice Rose Stradner (1913-1958).
Rosemary Matthews (1962-1962)
Il obtient son étoile sur le Walk of fame le 8 février 1960.

Les archives de Joseph Mankiewicz sont déposées à la Bibliothèque Margaret Herrick Library de l'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Best films

Cleopatra (1963)
(Director)
All About Eve (1950)
(Director)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
(Director)
Guys and Dolls (1955)
(Director)
Julius Caesar (1953)
(Director)
The Philadelphia Story (1941)
(Producer)

Usually with

Cedric Gibbons
Cedric Gibbons
(20 films)
Thomas Little
Thomas Little
(11 films)
Ben Nye
Ben Nye
(10 films)
Adrian
Adrian
(13 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Joseph L. Mankiewicz (76 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Woman Trap
Woman Trap (1929)
, 1h22
Directed by William A. Wellman, Charles Barton
Origin USA
Genres Crime
Actors Evelyn Brent, Hal Skelly, Chester Morris, William B. Davidson, Effie Ellsler, Guy Oliver
Roles Reporter (as Joseph Mankiewicz)
Rating53% 2.6982952.6982952.6982952.6982952.698295

Director

Sleuth
Sleuth (1972)
, 2h18
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime
Themes Films about writers, Théâtre, Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine
Rating79% 3.997953.997953.997953.997953.99795
Andrew Wyke (Olivier), a successful writer of crime fiction, who lives in a large country manor house filled with elaborate games and automata, invites his wife's lover Milo Tindle (Caine), a hairdresser of Italian heritage, to his home to discuss the situation. Andrew explains that he has tired of his wife and wants Milo to take her off his hands. In order to provide Milo with enough money to take care of her, Andrew suggests that Milo steal some jewellery from the house, with Andrew recouping his losses through an insurance claim. Milo agrees and allows Andrew to lead him through an elaborate charade to fake the robbery. At the conclusion, Andrew pulls a pistol and reveals that the entire plot was meant to frame Milo as a robber, giving Andrew an excuse for shooting him. Andrew then appears to execute Milo by shooting him in the head.
There Was a Crooked Man..., 2h6
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Action, Western
Themes Prison films, Évasion
Actors Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Burgess Meredith, Arthur O'Connell, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates
Rating68% 3.4475553.4475553.4475553.4475553.447555
Paris Pitman has pulled off a $500,000 robbery and is the only one who knows where the money is hidden. He is seen in a bordello and is captured, tried, convicted and sentenced to an Arizona penitentiary.
The Honey Pot, 2h6
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Crime
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Rex Harrison, Susan Hayward, Cliff Robertson, Capucine, Edie Adams, Maggie Smith
Rating67% 3.3962153.3962153.3962153.3962153.396215
Struggling actor William McFly (Cliff Robertson) is hired by wealthy Cecil Fox (Rex Harrison) to play his personal secretary for a practical joke. Pretending to be on his deathbed, Fox invites three former lovers to his Venetian palazzo for a final visit: penniless Princess Dominique (Capucine), fading movie star Merle McGill (Edie Adams), and Texas millionairess Mrs. Lone Star Crockett Sheridan (Susan Hayward). Accompanying Mrs. Sheridan is her spinster nurse, Sarah Watkins (Maggie Smith). By chance, each of the women brings Fox a timepiece as a present.
Cleopatra
Cleopatra (1963)
, 4h8
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Darryl F. Zanuck, Rouben Mamoulian
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Biography, Historical, Peplum, Romance
Themes Films set in Africa, Politique, Political films, Films based on plays, Films based on works by William Shakespeare, Children's films, Films about royalty
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy McDowall, Martin Landau, Hume Cronyn
Rating70% 3.500673.500673.500673.500673.50067
After the Battle of Pharsalus where Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) has defeated Pompey, Pompey flees to Egypt, hoping to enlist the support of the young Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII (Richard O'Sullivan) and his sister Cleopatra (Elizabeth Taylor). The Romans hold, and the armies of Mithridates arrive on Egyptian soil. The following day, Caesar passes judgment. He sentences Ptolemy's lord chamberlain to death for arranging an assassination attempt on Cleopatra. Cleopatra is crowned Queen of Egypt. She dreams of ruling the world with Caesar. When their son Caesarion is born, Caesar accepts him publicly, which becomes the talk of Rome and the Senate.
Suddenly, Last Summer, 1h54
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Action
Themes Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Films about sexuality, Théâtre, LGBT-related films, Films about psychiatry, Films based on plays, Adaptation d'une pièce de théâtre de Tennessee Williams, Films set in psychiatric hospitals, LGBT-related films, Lobotomie, LGBT-related film
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift, Albert Dekker, Mercedes McCambridge, Gary Raymond
Rating74% 3.7479453.7479453.7479453.7479453.747945
New Orleans, 1937: Catherine Holly (Elizabeth Taylor) is a young woman institutionalized for a severe emotional disturbance that occurred when her cousin, Sebastian Venable, died under questionable circumstances while they were on summer holiday in Europe. The late Sebastian's wealthy mother, Violet Venable (Katharine Hepburn), makes every effort to deny and suppress the potentially sordid truth about her son and his demise. Toward that end, she attempts to bribe the state hospital's administrator, Dr. Lawrence J. Hockstader (Albert Dekker), by offering to finance a new wing for the underfunded facility if he will coerce his brilliant young surgeon, Dr. John Cukrowicz (Montgomery Clift), into lobotomizing her niece, thereby removing any chance that the events surrounding her son's death might be revealed by Catherine's "obscene babbling.
The Quiet American, 2h
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Bernard Vorhaus
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Romance
Themes French war films, La colonisation française, Films about writers, Films about journalists, Politique, La guerre d'Indochine, Political films, Histoire de France
Actors Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave, Claude Dauphin, Giorgia Moll, Bruce Cabot, Yoko Tani
Rating66% 3.3426353.3426353.3426353.3426353.342635
In Saigon in 1952, as Vietnamese insurgents are delivering major strikes against the French colonial rulers, an innocent and enigmatic young American economist (Audie Murphy), who is working for an international aid organization, gets caught between the Communists and the colonialists as he tries to win the "hearts and minds" of the Vietnamese people. By promising marriage, he steals away a young Vietnamese woman (Giorgia Moll) from an embittered and cynical English newspaperman (Michael Redgrave), who retaliates by spreading the word that the American is actually covertly selling arms to the anti-Communists.
Guys and Dolls, 2h23
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action, Musical, Crime, Romance
Themes Seafaring films, Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Musical films, Films based on plays, Films based on musicals
Actors Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Robert Keith, Stubby Kaye
Rating70% 3.546293.546293.546293.546293.54629
Although there are detail differences between the stage and movie versions, the plot is essentially based on the activities of New York petty criminals and professional gamblers in the late 1940s.
The Barefoot Contessa, 2h8
Directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Bernard Vorhaus
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about films, La provence, Films about television
Actors Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart, Edmond O'Brien, Olga San Juan, Valentina Cortese, Rossano Brazzi
Rating68% 3.448483.448483.448483.448483.44848
Down on his luck, veteran movie director and writer Harry Dawes (Humphrey Bogart) is reduced to working for abusive, emotionally stunted business tycoon Kirk Edwards (Warren Stevens), who has decided he wants to produce a film to stroke his monumental ego. Looking for a fresh leading lady, they discover, in a Madrid night club, stunning dancer Maria Vargas (Ava Gardner), a blithe but proud spirit who likes to go barefoot and has a troubled home life.
Julius Caesar, 2h
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Documentary, Historical, Peplum
Themes Théâtre, Political films, Films based on plays, Films based on works by William Shakespeare
Actors Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Louis Calhern, Edmond O'Brien, Greer Garson
Rating71% 3.597783.597783.597783.597783.59778
Caius Julius surnommé Caesar, ambitieux leader politique, est déterminé à devenir dictateur. Il est accueilli en triomphe dans Rome lors de la célébration des Lupercales. Les sénateurs (et en particulier Cassius), face à la réaction de la foule, en viennent à le considérer comme une menace pour Rome. Mais la popularité dont jouit César rend difficile tout complot contre lui.
5 Fingers
5 Fingers (1952)
, 1h48
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Gerd Oswald
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Spy
Themes Spy films, Political films, Children's films
Actors James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Walter Hampden, Oskar Karlweis, Herbert Berghof
Rating75% 3.797313.797313.797313.797313.79731
In neutral Turkey in 1944, German ambassador Franz von Papen (John Wengraf) and his British counterpart Sir Frederic Taylor (Walter Hampden) attend a reception and encounter Countess Anna Staviska (Danielle Darrieux), who is a Frenchwoman and the widow of a Polish count. Now destitute, the countess volunteers to become a spy for a fee, but she is turned down.
People Will Talk, 1h50
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Curt Goetz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films based on plays, Children's films
Actors Cary Grant, Jeanne Crain, Hume Cronyn, Finlay Currie, Walter Slezak, Sidney Blackmer
Rating72% 3.647423.647423.647423.647423.64742
People Will Talk describes an episode in the life of Dr. Noah Praetorius (Cary Grant), a physician who teaches in a medical school and founded a clinic dedicated to treating patients humanely and holistically. The plot contains two parallel story lines: a professional-misconduct challenge brought against Praetorius by his more conventional colleague Dr. Rodney Elwell (Hume Cronyn), who dislikes Praetorius's unorthodox but effective methods; and the struggle of a distressed young woman named Deborah Higgins (Jeanne Crain), who falls in love with Praetorius while dealing with an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The film also highlights Praetorius's close friend and confidant, physics professor Lyonel Barker (Walter Slezak), who plays bass viol in the student/faculty orchestra conducted by Praetorius.
All About Eve, 2h18
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy
Themes Films about films, Films about television, Théâtre, Children's films
Actors Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill, Hugh Marlowe
Rating81% 4.099354.099354.099354.099354.09935
At an awards dinner, Eve Harrington—the newest and brightest star on Broadway—is being presented the Sarah Siddons Award for her breakout performance as Cora in Footsteps on the Ceiling. Theatre critic Addison DeWitt observes the proceedings and, in a sardonic voiceover, recalls how Eve's star rose as quickly as it did.