The Films of Michael Curtiz
My favorite director is probably Akira Kurosawa, but I think I'm probably more fascinated by Michael Curtiz. He was a studio director in Hollywood's Golden Age, so he cranked out a lot of fluff, but it is some really incredible fluff. He made a variety of films and I think it's amazing how good he was at almost every type of film he tackled. Anyway, I'm putting together a list of the Curtiz films I've seen just to help me keep track. Michael Curtiz: Great studio director or greatest studio director?
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- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartIngrid BergmanPaul HenreidA cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.This is, quite possibly, the best movie ever made.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam KeighleyStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandBasil RathboneWhen Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence in 1190s England, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a resistance movement.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyJoan LeslieWalter HustonThe life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer, and singer George M. Cohan.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJoan CrawfordJack CarsonZachary ScottA hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful restaurant business to support her spoiled daughter.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsFrank FayLaura La PlanteJoan BlondellA Parisian descendant of Don Juan vows to stop philandering in order to win the hand of a virtous young lady with a disapproving father.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJohn BarrymoreMarian MarshCharles ButterworthA crippled man finds a boy and vows to make him a great dancer.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayLee TracyA wisecracking New York reporter intrudes on a research scientist's quest to unmask The Moon Killer.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsRichard BarthelmessBette DavisDorothy JordanA tenant farmer's son is caught in the middle of owner-tenant disputes when he falls for the plantation owner's seductive daughter.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsSpencer TracyBette DavisArthur ByronBrash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
- DirectorMichael CurtizWilliam DieterleWilliam A. WellmanStarsRuth ChattertonGeorge BrentLois WilsonAlison Drake, the tough-minded executive of an automobile factory, succeeds in the man's world of business until she meets an independent design engineer.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsLionel AtwillFay WrayGlenda FarrellThe disappearance of people and corpses leads a reporter to a wax museum and a sinister sculptor.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellMary AstorEugene PallettePhilo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsKay FrancisGeorge BrentGlenda FarrellA woman (Kay Francis) with two husbands (Monroe Owsley, Henry Kolker) tries to divorce one of them by heading down to Havana where things get more complicated.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsKay FrancisRicardo CortezWarner OlandAbandoned by her lover, a woman becomes the main "hostess" in a decadent nightclub, but tries to put her past behind her on a steamer to Mandalay.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyBette DavisAllen JenkinsAn unpolished racketeer, whose racket is finding heirs for unclaimed fortunes, affects ethics and tea-drinking manners to win back the sweetheart who now works for his seemingly upright competitor.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBette DavisGeorge BrentRoscoe KarnsA woman reporter tries to prove she's just as good as any man, but runs into trouble along the way.An early Bette Davis film that has to be seen to be believed! This is one of those crazy, crazy, crazy 1930s movies about journalism that probably influenced the way newspapers were portrayed in Superman comic books.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandLionel AtwillAfter treating a Monmouth rebel against King James II in 1680s England, a young Irish doctor is exiled as a slave to Jamaica where he captures a Spanish galleon and becomes the most feared pirate of the Caribbean.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBoris KarloffRicardo CortezEdmund GwennAfter hapless pianist and ex-con John Elman is framed for murder, he is resurrected by a scientist after his execution.Karloff is brought back from the dead by scientific means and things get ugly for the gangsters who set him up for the death penalty. A great Karloff film, horror mixed with gangland intrigue, with a little movie science thrown in. An interesting hybrid film.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandPatric KnowlesA major countermands orders and attacks to avenge a previous massacre of men, women, and children.Not one of Curtiz' best films but still a rousing adventure tale.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsEdward G. RobinsonBette DavisHumphrey BogartFight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.A fun boxing picture with the triple threat of Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart. The boxer is played by Wayne Morris, who many viewers will remember from Paths of Glory.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJames CagneyPat O'BrienHumphrey BogartA priest tries to stop a gangster from corrupting a group of street kids.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandAnn SheridanA Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.In a way, it's just another Michael Curtis-Errol Flynn-Olivia de Haviland adventure movie. But it's still pretty good.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBette DavisErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandA depiction of the love/hate relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.Bette Davis as Elizabeth I of England. If you need to know anything else whilst deciding whether or not to watch this movie, then it's probably not for you.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnMiriam HopkinsRandolph ScottUnion officer Kerry Bradford escapes from Confederate Prison and is sent to Virginia City, Nevada, where he finds out that the former commander of his prison, Vance Irby, is planning to send $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy.Humphrey Bogart is a Mexican. There's a certain greatness in his performance that is hard to describe. The first half of this movie - in which Confederates plot to steal a fortune in silver in Nevada and use it to fund the Southern war effort - is quick and fun and has some great scenes. It kind of falls apart at the end.
Humphrey Bogart is the least of this movie's problems. - DirectorMichael CurtizStarsErrol FlynnOlivia de HavillandRaymond MasseyIn 1854, Jeb Stuart, George Custer and other graduates from West Point are posted to Kansas to help pacify the territory before railroad construction to Santa Fe can resume.I'm not a big fan of this movie, but it is kind of crazy at times. Errol Flynn is Jeb Stuart. Ronald Reagan is George Custer. Raymond Massey is abolitionist John Brown. Fate brings them all together on the Santa Fe Trail.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsEdward G. RobinsonIda LupinoJohn GarfieldAfter being fished out of the sea by a sailer, three fugitives find themselves prisoners of the ship's brutal skipper who refuses to put them ashore and they hatch an escape plan during a crew mutiny.Based on the novel by Jack London. Edward G. Robinson is "Wolf" Larsen. Also stars John Garfield and Ida Lupino.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsGeorge MurphyJoan LeslieGeorge TobiasA soldier wounded in the War (WWI) becomes a producer and stages a show for the forces.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartClaude RainsMichèle MorganFive patriotic convicts are helped to escape imprisonment in Devil's Island so they can fight for occupied Free French forces against the Nazis.Must be seen just for its out-of-control flashback-within-a-flashback story structure. And for Sydney Greenstreet as a disagreeable Vichy general.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellIrene DunneElizabeth TaylorA straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.This is fun because of the great cast - William Powell, Irene Dunne and Elizabeth Taylor.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsClaude RainsJoan CaulfieldAudrey TotterThe secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.This is probably the most under-rated movie on the list. Claude Rains is amazing.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsJoan CrawfordZachary ScottSydney GreenstreetA corrupt small town sheriff manipulates local candidates to the state legislature but he eventually comes into conflict with a visiting carnival dancer.Joan Crawford and Sydney Greenstreet act the hell out of this!
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsBing CrosbyDanny KayeRosemary ClooneyA successful song-and-dance team become romantically involved with a sister act and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsHumphrey BogartPeter UstinovAldo RayThree Devil's Island escapees hide out in the house of a kindly merchant and repay his kindness by helping him and his family out of several crises.It's been a while since I saw it. The main thing I remember is that it's WEIRD. If you're curious about a movie that teams Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov, you might want to give this a chance.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsAlan LaddCarolyn JonesDiane BrewsterA struggling artist in a small town becomes the prime suspect when his wife mysteriously disappears.Alan Ladd and Morticia Addams in a slightly-above-average crime thriller.