Otto Preminger

• Born: December 5, 1906
• Birthplace: Vienna, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Austria)
• Died: April 23, 1986
• Place of death: New York, New York

Austrian-born actor, director, and producer

A fiercely independent filmmaker who chafed under Hollywood’s studio system, Preminger brought an elegance and a sophistication to the genre of film noir in the 1940’s.

Early Life

Otto Preminger (AH-toh PRE-mihn-jur) was born in 1906 in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Markus, a public prosecutor, was a well-respected official in Emperor Franz Josef’s administration, even though as a Jew he refused the government request that he convert to Catholicism. Young Preminger grew up in Vienna, which he later described as a rather provincial city when compared to the culturally diverse and dynamic Berlin, where he first pursued his career.

When Preminger decided he wanted to become an actor and explore a career in the theater, his tolerant father did not object, except to say that he hoped his son would have another profession to rely on, should acting prove to be a less-than-sustaining occupation. Preminger earned a law degree, but he never practiced as an attorney. His early years were happy, although he later described an incident in which he was attacked by a group of anti-Semitic boys. Not wishing to alarm his parents, Preminger never told them about the beating. The repercussions of this incident, however, had a marked impact later on his work in theater and in film.

Successful roles in several productions of William Shakespeare’s plays brought Preminger to the attention of the famous director Max Reinhardt, who treated Preminger as a protégé. Soon Preminger was directing his own productions, deciding early on that he would pursue his career in the United States. In April, 1935, he made a sudden decision to go to the United States after meeting the American film producer Joseph Schenck, who assured Preminger that he would find employment in Hollywood. Although he had yet to master English and he did not know how he would support his wife, Marion, whom he had married in 1932 and who had given up her theatrical career for his sake, Preminger arrived in Hollywood seeking work at Schenck’s studio, Twentieth Century-Fox.

Life’s Work

At first, Preminger thrived in the studio system, even though he quickly gained a reputation as a dictatorial director. However, actors who knew their lines and adapted to Preminger’s firm ideas of how a film should be shot and acted in did well for him. Then Preminger ran afoul of Twentieth Century-Fox’s production chief Darryl F. Zanuck. The two strong-willed men quarreled over the filming of Kidnapped (1938), an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic 1886 novel. By the end of 1937, Zanuck had bought out Preminger’s contract. Preminger was unable to obtain work in Hollywood, so he moved to New York City, where he became a successful Broadway director and an actor, performing as a Nazi in the hit play Margin for Error (1939). This role brought him to the attention of screenwriter Nunnally Johnson, and before long Preminger was again in Hollywood, performing in a series of roles that capitalized on his rather menacing stage presence.

At the same time, Preminger continued to regard himself as a director, and during Zanuck’s absence from Twentieth Century-Fox to serve in the Army, Preminger was again able to act and to direct with the approval of Zanuck’s replacement, William Goetz. Almost immediately Preminger began to seek out scripts that he could direct or produce for the studio. Film history was made when Preminger singled out a script based on Vera Caspary’s novel Laura (1943), the story of a police detective who falls in love with the portrait of a beautiful woman who has been murdered—or so it seems until the beautiful woman returns to the scene of the crime. The story then becomes the detective’s mission to find out the identity of the woman who was murdered and why Laura had been the target. By this time, Zanuck had returned to the studio, determined not to let Preminger direct, although he tolerated Preminger’s role as producer. It soon became clear, even to Zanuck, that Preminger alone knew how to direct the script and how to obtain the best performances from the film’s cast. Indeed, the film made stars out of its three principals: Clifton Webb, Dana Andrews, and Gene Tierney.Laura (1944) became one of the celebrated films of the 1940’s and remains high in the estimation of film critics. Preminger was then assigned to direct several films, including Fallen Angel (1945), Daisy Kenyon (1947), and Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950). This acclaimed work displayed Preminger’s talent for long takes with fluid camera movements. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he disliked cuts in scenes, and whenever possible he made the camera move toward or away from the actors rather than stop the action of a scene to adjust camera placement. This approach to filmmaking was influenced by his theater work. He put the movement of his actors first and rarely sought to emphasize the technical virtuosity of the film industry.

However, Preminger chafed under the confines of the studio system that did not allow him to explore his social and political concerns. He was denied the opportunity to direct Pinky (1949), a film about racism that spoke to his own searing memories of the anti-Semitism he had experienced in Vienna. (Elia Kazan directed the film.)

As soon as his contract with Twentieth Century-Fox was fulfilled, the director embarked on an illustrious career as an independent filmmaker, supervising every aspect of his films, including their editing and marketing. A fierce opponent of censorship, he refused to make changes in scenes when asked by film distributors and by Hollywood executives. In films such as The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and The Cardinal (1963), he took on controversial subjects, such as drug addiction and the politics of the Catholic Church. Exodus (1960), based on Leon Uris’s novel, deals directly with Preminger’s Jewish heritage. He carefully developed a screenplay dealing with the founding of the state of Israel, but he had a falling-out with his staunchly pro-Israel collaborator, Uris, who objected to Preminger’s desire to portray both the Jews and the Arabs with empathy. Preminger’s first two

marriages failed, but his marriage to Hope Bryce produced two children and lasted until his death in 1986 from complications of lung cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Significance

Preminger brought an elegance and a sophistication to the genre of film noir in 1940’s Hollywood and to films that provided strong parts for women. His role in establishing the independent producer not bound by Hollywood conventions and censorship is even more important. He was not afraid to take on momentous issues, such as the founding of the state of Israel, in his films. Preminger’s body of work shows his keen sensitivity to the dignity of minority groups and his opposition to any form of discrimination. He transformed Georges Bizet’s opera Carmen (1875) into Carmen Jones (1954), a story about African Americans. He also filmed George Gershwin’s 1935 opera of African American life, Porgy and Bess (1959). Several of Preminger’s films have become classics, including Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Advise & Consent (1962).

Bibliography

Fujiwara, Chris. The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger. New York: Faber & Faber, 2008. A comprehensive biography by an astute film critic. Includes filmography, film stills, and detailed notes section.

Pratley, Gerald. The Cinema of Otto Preminger. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1971. Based on interviews with the director. Provides an introduction to Preminger’s life and career, concentrating on his films and his Jewish background in Austria. Includes detailed filmography and several film stills.

Preminger, Otto. Preminger: An Autobiography. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1977. A detailed account of his life and career up to the making of The Cardinal and his third marriage. Includes a filmography, film stills, and index.