Private Screenings with Walter Mirisch

[Lzcutter]

I can't believe that no one has posted a thread about this. His interview tonight was wonderful! What a distinguished gentleman. His stories were just great. I could have listened to him and Robert O talk for another hour easily.

His memories of working with Billy Wilder, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe and Norman Jewison were just terrific.

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this session.

On another note, I love the new open and close. Does anyone know the singer and the song?

[moira finnie]

Hey, Lynn,
Thanks to you I checked it out and found that you were right. From Bomba the Jungle Boy to The Apartment to In the Heat of the Night, Walter Mirisch has done it all. I loved hearing about his friendship with Joel McCrea, (who sent him a car, because Mirisch may have been one of the few producers in Hollywood who didn't practice creative accounting), his run-in with the talented if temperamental Jerome Robbins, to his realization that Katharine Hepburn really was interested in coming to the Academy Awards once she claimed that "she didn't have a thing to wear."

As a producer, it was particularly striking how much Walter Mirisch seemed to be interested in telling stories first, and finding profitable movies second during his producing time. Like Walter Wanger, whom he mentioned having worked with during Wanger's darkest days, I suspect that story was his first love much more than the alleged glam of movies.

I loved his description of his job, when working with surprisingly fragile, talented people like Marilyn Monroe, Steve McQueen, and Peter Sellers, as being a molder, a nurturer, a cushion and an interpreter of their talents enabling him to be a part of the many people who helped to present them at their best to the world. It was noteworthy how often Mirisch seemed to use the word "we" rather than "I" when describing his long career.

He came across as a heckuva unpretentious guy whose roots at poor, beleagured Monogram studios sound like one of the most interesting periods of his career. I really look forward to reading his autobiography. Wish that TCM would run the Bomba movies sometime. They were dumb but lots of fun.

Funny, Horst Buchholz didn't quite steal The Magnificent Seven, did he?

Although this isn't currently scheduled for a replay, I'll look at the Time Warner digital on demand service to add this private screening soon, (I hope).

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dear Moira and Lynn,

I loved it, too. And another hour would have been great. It was wonderful to see what happens when you work hard, help others along, and , voila!
Because of all that hard work and attention to detail, and looking for the great scripts, the excellent directors, and following along to where the creative juices flow, many great films are left as a legacy for everyone to enjoy!

[moira finnie]

If you have Time Warner digital cable in those parts of the country that offer TCM On Demand, you have an opportunity to the Walter Mirisch Private Screenings there, which has just been added to the lineup. It was one of those exceptional Private Screenings programs that could have been longer.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Dear Moira,

I definitely concur.

The Mirisch legacy was fascinating, and I enjoyed hearing about the developments of projects i.e.,from losing Ustinov, then Gardner, then finding Sellers and Capucine on The Pink Panther, and all the creative processes involved that helped to merge so many talents into so many cohesive films.

Has anyone yet read his book?