Otto Preminger: Notorious October 1–29, 2006

As a director and producer, Otto Preminger enjoyed-in all senses of the word-a monstrous reputation. On the few occasions he appeared before the camera, he was often cast as a Nazi officer, an association that only cemented the volatile persona the press ascribed to him in reports that he terrorized his actors. After achieving early success at Twentieth Century Fox (where he was briefly banished by Darryl F. Zanuck), Preminger incurred the wrath of and was picketed by the Catholic Legion of Decency when he independently produced The Moon Is Blue, a cheerful sex comedy that played fast and loose with the word "virgin." A master promoter and an extraordinarily diverse artist, Preminger was equally gifted with film noir obsessiveness (Laura), forlorn romance (Bonjour Tristesse), CinemaScope musicals (Carmen Jones), and all-star adaptations of national bestsellers (Advise and Consent, Exodus), among other, quasi-unclassifiable genres (Skidoo). This centenary tribute to the prov ocative director offers a chance to view his most beloved films along with seldom-screened work. All films are from MoMA's collection, and produced and directed by Preminger, except where noted.

Organized by Leigh Goldstein, Executive Assistant, Department of Film.

Laura. 1944. USA. Screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Betty Reinhardt, based on the novel by Vera Casparay. With Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb. Preminger's classic, chic murder puzzle is more of a who-done-what than a whodunit. Set in Manhattan, it features a beautiful woman, a skeptical detective, and a brilliant columnist. 88 min.
Sunday, October 1, 2:30; Saturday, October 21, 7:30. T1

Advise and Consent. 1962. USA. Screenplay by Wendell Mayes, based on the novel by Allen Drury. With Henry Fonda, Walter Pidgeon, Gene Tierney. A dark, multilayered look at the ways and means of political maneuvering inside the nation's capital. Despite a plethora of stellar performances from an all-star cast, Charles Laughton (as a South Carolina Senator with an ax to grind) handily steals every moment he's onscreen. 139 min.
Sunday, October 1, 4:30 (introduced by Hope Preminger and Preminger Historian Foster Hirsch). T1; Saturday, October 14, 7:30. T2

Saint Joan. 1957. USA. Screenplay by Graham Greene, based on the play by George Bernard Shaw. With Jean Seberg, Richard Widmark. To cast the lead role in his rendition of this classic story, Preminger held a widely publicized open call, finally settling on Seberg, a then-unknown seventeen-year-old from Iowa. As a result, Seberg was a star before a single frame was shot. Preceded by the original theatrical trailer. 110 min.
Monday, October 2, 6:00. T1

Bonjour Tristesse. 1957. USA. Screenplay by Arthur Laurents, based on the novel by Françoise Sagan. With Jean Seberg, David Niven, Deborah Kerr. As Cécile, a willful seventeen-year-old intent on containing the developing relationship between her playboy father and her stylish godmother, Seberg scampers and schemes throughout a lusciously colorful French Riviera setting. A vivid evocation of the emotional damage wrought by cavalier gestures. 94 min.
Monday, October 2, 8:30 (introduced by Hope Preminger and Preminger Historian Foster Hirsch). T1; Sunday, October 8, 4:00. T2

Carmen Jones. 1954. USA. Screenplay by Harry Kleiner, based on material by Oscar Hammerstein II, Prosper Merimee. With Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte. Opening on a Southern army base, this mélange of Broadway lyrics and Bizet arias is a showcase for Dandridge as the ultra-sexy and untamable Carmen, a combustible woman who answers only to herself. Dandridge's songs are dubbed by Marilyn Horne; Belafonte's by Le Vern Hutcherson. Print courtesy Twentieth Century Fox. 105 min.
Friday, October 6, 6:00; Saturday, October 21, 5:00. T1

The Moon Is Blue. 1953. USA. Produced by Otto Preminger, F. Hugh Herbert. Screenplay by Herbert. With William Holden, Maggie MacNamara. A charming bedroom comedy about a self-professed virgin (MacNamara) entertaining the advances of an ardent bachelor (Holden) and a more senior suitor (David Niven). Adapted from a hit play and released without the motion picture production code's seal of approval, the film's cardinal sin was to present sex and seduction as the logical outcome of an evening's adventure. 99 min.
Saturday, October 7, 4:00; Sunday, October 8, 6:00. T1

Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (The Moon Is Blue). 1953. USA. Produced by Otto Preminger, F. Hugh Herbert. Screenplay by Herbert, Carl Zuckmayer. With Hardy Krueger, Johanna Matz. Rushing in a German cast while his American actors took breaks, Preminger shot a German-language version of The Moon Is Blue alongside the American film. Rarely screened, this version boasts brief cameos by Maggie MacNamara, William Holden, and Preminger himself. In German, English subtitles. 99 min.
Saturday, October 7, 6:30. T2

Exodus. 1960. USA. Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, based on the novel by Leon Uris. With Paul Newman, Eva-Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson. Filmed in Israel and Cyprus, this drama about the founding of the state of Israel was the event movie of its era. Working from a best-selling novel and with an endless roster of A-list stars, Preminger injected the epic with small bits of unexpected humor. 208 min.
Wednesday, October 11, 6:30; Sunday, October 29, 1:30. T2

Skidoo. 1968. USA. Screenplay by Dorian W. Cannon. With Jackie Gleason, Carol Channing. Preminger's most peculiar comedy-in which all credits are sung, Groucho Marx plays a gangster named God, and Gleason and Channing play a couple who own a car wash. 98 min.
Monday, October 16, 7:45. T2; Friday, October 20, 8:00 (introduced by Preminger Historian Foster Hirsch). T1

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Pictured above:

Bonjour Tristesse. 1957. USA. Directed by Otto Preminger