Fred Zinnemann

[moira finnie]

The subject of director Fred Zinnemann may have been covered before, but since I saw The Search (1947) very early this morning, I can't shake it. Lots of erudite cinephiles like to beat up on Fred Zinnemann's alleged lack of visual style (hello, have they seen Act of Violence?). Okay, so he doesn't film his movies with huge amounts of dazzling verve, big deal. The best of them seem to be more concerned with a.) real, recognizable people and b.) trying to see how a person develops a modicum of self-respect despite society's sometimes mindless, impersonal institutions. Oh, and he guides actors to give some of their best performances.

I see that an early movie of Zinnemann's at MGM, with the unpromising title of Little Mister Jim (1946) is being shown on TCM on Tues., April 29 at 9:30am. It seems to be a bit of a weeper with James Craig and Butch Jenkins as troubled father and son. I'm not expecting much, but has anyone seen this one? Thanks in advance for any info.

Say, I came across a fair minded, insightful evaluation of this director's work here at Senses of Cinema, if anyone's interested.

[MikeBSG]

I think Zinnemann had problems working with that child actor and that he sort of disowned the two films he made with him.

I have mixed feelings about Zinnemann. I love "From Here to Eternity" and I think "The Nun's Story" is well done. But "High Noon" isn't one of my favorites, nor is "A Man for All Seasons." "The Sundowners" was okay, but I've never been tempted to see it again.

I guess Zinnemann just doesn't inspire in me the interest/loyalty that directors like Hitchcock, Wilder, Siodmak, and others do. And I can't really figure out why that is.

[moira finnie]

Perhaps others who are interested in Fred Zinnemann's varied films will enjoy our own Kingrat's guest blog at the Skeins of Thought, linked below:

Looking at Zinnemann

[mongoII]

That's a good path, Kingrat, with "The Sundowners" being my favorite.

[JackFavell]

Great writeup, kingrat! I really enjoy The Nun's Story and Act of Violence. I haven't seen The Sundowners.

[knitwit45]

I haven't seen The Sundowners.

Jacks! do yourself a favor, WATCH THIS MOVIE. Remember the romance of Heaven Knows Mr. Allison? The playfulness of The Grass is Always Greener? Combine with warmth, comedy, drama, and gorgeous Australian scenery, and you begin to get an idea of this movie.

[JackFavell]

OK! I trust your opinion. I don't know why I have never gotten into this one before.

[moira finnie]

Just when it looks as though Fred Zinnemann is pretty forgotten by the world, The LA Times notes that an interesting retrospective is being shown at the Getty Institute on the West Coast. I wonder if any of our California members are going?

Classic Hollywood: Getty Research Institute honors Fred Zinnemann
The Oscar-winning director of 'From Here to Eternity' and 'A Man for All Seasons' gets a retrospective, 'Cinema of Resistance.'
By Susan King, Los Angeles Times
April 2, 2012

Fred Zinnemann, who won directing Oscars for 1953's World War II drama "From Here to Eternity" and 1966's historical epic "A Man for All Seasons," never played by the rules. He rankled under the studio system and fought to get the films he wanted to make, not the inconsequential pictures the studios chose for him.

"What he was interested in were characters who had to fight for what they believed in against all odds," said his son, Tim Zinnemann. "That is how he was in life."

So it's no wonder that the Getty Research Institute's retrospective on Zinnemann is called "Cinema of Resistance" because it reflects both the themes of his films and his personal philosophy.

"I think there are several strains that occur in Zinnemann's career and [the title] 'Cinema of Resistance' is able to capture some of the very deep interest that he had personally in making films," said Getty scholar Jennifer Smyth, the curator.

Zinnemann, who was born in Vienna in 1907 and moved to the U.S. in 1929, was concerned with World War II and its aftermath and anti-fascism, not only in Europe but also in the U.S., according to Smyth.

The four-film festival begins Tuesday at the Getty with 1944's "The Seventh Cross," Zinnemann's first major hit, starring Spencer Tracy as a German communist who escapes from a concentration camp in prewar Nazi Germany. Zinnemann scholars Jan-Christopher Horak, the head of the UCLA Film & Television Archive, Smyth and Marsha Hunt, who appeared in Zinnemann's first feature, 1942's "Kid Glove Killer," will discuss the film.

"The Seventh Cross" was a "completely unusual film because it was about German resistance prior to the beginning of the war," said Smyth. "Zinnemann thought just because somebody is German doesn't mean necessarily that someone is a monster. It was an unusual way of looking at a genre that came to demonize the enemy sometimes in a very overt manner."

The 1948 drama "The Search," which screens April 10, was shot in postwar Germany. It revolved around a young Czechoslovakian boy (Oscar-winning Ivan Jandl) trying to find his family after World War II. Montgomery Clift, who plays a U.S. soldier trying to help the boy, earned his first lead actor Oscar nomination for the film. Tim Zinnemann and Smyth will be at the screening.

With "The Search," Zinnemann became the first Hollywood filmmaker to go to Germany after the war. A meticulous researcher, he interviewed child Holocaust survivors to give him insight.

The film paralleled his own search for his parents, who had been in Auschwitz. "I don't know if it changed him, but I know it emotionally affected him," said his son. "He was the kind of person who never revealed how he felt to anyone — at least to me. But I am sure it was extremely traumatic for him because he had just found how his own parents had been killed as he was doing research in Germany."

Zinnemann's seminal 1952 allegorical western, "High Noon," for which Gary Cooper earned his second Academy Award as a sheriff who must face three killers alone, screens April 17. Tim Zinnemann, Smyth and Cooper's daughter, Maria Cooper Janis, will be at the screening.

The filmmaker had always loved westerns so he jumped at the chance to do "High Noon." But "High Noon" defied western conventions, becoming more a political allegory about the blacklist in Hollywood.

"A lot of people hated that movie with a passion, like Howard Hawks and John Wayne," Zinnemann said. "They thought it was un-American because it sort of defied the unusual genre tradition of the hero. You know he even cried in one scene."

The festival concludes on April 24 with 1977's "Julia," based on Lillian Hellman's memoir about her friendship with a wealthy girl who leaves her privileged life behind to resist the Nazis. Jane Fonda earned an Oscar nomination as Hellman and Vanessa Redgrave won supporting actress as Julia. Zinnemann was nominated for director. Editor Walter Murch, the film's Oscar-winning screenwriter Alvin Sargent and Smyth will discuss Zinnemann's penultimate film.

Smyth believes the film "started this resurgence of women in Hollywood. It is a magnificent and complex film and in spite of that, managed to reach audiences of all kinds."

More can be seen at http://www.getty.edu

[JackFavell]

Man, that's a fantastic lineup! I would seriously think about getting there for some of those if it were the east coast.

The Search is probably my favorite Zinnemann film , vying for first place with Act of Violence. The Seventh Cross is also a favorite, and one that doesn't get analyzed or talked about much. I'd love to see both those programs.

[MissGoddess]

If these screenings are taking place up at the Getty Museum, it's worth the trip. That has to be one of the most beautifully located museums in the world.

I have a soft spot for The Kid Glove Killer, it's such an enjoyable sleuther.

[JackFavell]

I'd like to check The Kid Glove Killer out, I've never seen it.

[MissGoddess]

Marsha Hunt is terrific in it. I think you will really like it, Wendy.

[RedRiver]

THE SEARCH came to me fairly late in my film watching career. I saw it on TCM a few years ago. That is a good, sensitive drama. Montgomery Clift is fine as always. I like HIGH NOON a lot, with due respect to the film's detractors. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY is one movie I like better than the book. Of course, I didn't care for the book!

KID GLOVE KILLER? Not familiar with this one. It sounds like one I'd like.