The Casablanca Man: The Cinema of Michael Curtiz

Michael Curtiz (1888-1962) was one of the most important and prolific directors in the history of cinema, yet he has never been granted the recognition he deserves. The Casablanca Manis the first full length work on Curtiz, surveying his unequalled mastery over diverse genres: biography, comedy, horror melodrama, musical, swashbuckler, and western. The book also examines Curtiz' relationship with the Hollywood studio moguls, based on documentary evidence culled from archive research at Warner Brothers, rather than the hearsay which has caused his underrating. The access to production and financial details of the Warner Brothers films from 1926 to 1953 makes Robertson's work unique, most of the material never having been available to the general public.

Concentrating on Curtiz' best-known films--Casablanca,Angelswith Dirty Faces,Mildred Pierceand King Creoleamong them--Robertson explores the practical struggles over screenplays, his use of reality footage in feature films, and the instinctive visual sense which governed his work. Along with these technical aspects, the author looks at Curtiz' friendships and rivalries with other film celebrities, including Errol Flynn, Bette Davis and James Cagney, and his discovery of future stars. The Casablanca Manis the first comprehensive critical exploration of Curtiz' full career, and as such is the first book to link his European work with his subsequent American films into a coherent whole, re-establishing his true standing in the history of cinema.