Norman Jewison

Norman Jewison directed some of the most iconic and beloved films of an era, from In the Heat of the Night and The Thomas Crown Affair to Jesus Christ Superstar and Moonstruck. But despite being what his friend William Goldman called "a giant of the industry," Jewison could also walk the streets of any city in the world and go unrecognized. Jewison was a man of contradictions: he cared more about telling great stories than gaining fame and fortune by showcasing movie stars, but generations of Hollywood's marquee actors - Judy Garland, Sidney Poitier, Faye Dunaway, Al Pacino, Jane Fonda, Burt Reynolds, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington - trusted him at crucial moments in their careers. Yet, for all his talent and the passionate support of his actors, Jewison suffered heartbreaking rejection from the executives who refused to believe in his dreams. Norman Jewison: A Director's Life is a story of artistic survival and reinvention, and about the fate of original cinematic ideas in an industry increasingly captive to corporate greed. Drawing upon exhaustive archival research and dozens of interviews, Ira Wells provides a soulful portrait of an idealist who had to fight for every frame of his legacy. Here are Norman's legendary collaborators--Hal Ashby, William Rose, Steve McQueen, and more--brought to vivid life in original letters, telegrams, and revealing, unpublished interviews. A clear-eyed reassessment of Hollywood's final golden age, Norman Jewison: A Director's Life is both the intimate portrait of an artist and a rallying cry for anyone who has had to fight for their creative vision.

One of Hollywood's most celebrated directors captures the excitement and success of his four decades in filmmaking in this funny, absorbing memoir.

Vancouver is now North America’s third largest center for film and television production, recently witnessing the filming of Halle Berry’s Catwoman and Will Smith’s I, Robot, among others. But Vancouver has been hosting filmmakers for years, coming into its own in the early 1970s when Robert Altman, Warren Beatty and Julie Christie made McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Mike Nichols, Jack Nicholson and Candice Bergen filmed Carnal Knowlege. Dreaming in the Rain tells the story of how Vancouver became North by Northwest, from its early days as a Hollywood studio backlot to its becoming home to a vibrant indigenous scene that is among the most acclaimed, provocative, independent filmmaking communities anywhere. But with Hollywood’s growing concern over “runaway” productions, Vancouver’s growing filmmaking scene is wrought with controversy. The city’s American-based film industry is powerful enough to inspire loathing and threats from Hollywood. Along with tracing the art and commerce of Vancouver filmmaking, Vancouver Province movie critic David Spaner brings to life the flamboyant film personalities who left their marks. From visitors like Errol Flynn and Robert Altman, to local heroes such as The Matrix’s Carrie Anne Moss, who grew up in Vancouver, and Kissed star Molly Parker and director Lynne Stopkewich, vital players in the groundbreaking Vancouver indie scene. Includes more than 40 black and white photographs. “. . . [Spaner] has . . . scrupulous attention to detail and an obvious curiosity and passion for both Vancouver and its film industry.”—Entertainment Today David Spaner is a movie critic for the Vancouver Province.

In this bestselling autobiography, Norman Jewison reflects on his life as a Hollywood director. Jewison's passionate and entertaining films cover a wide range of subjects and styles, from the classic The Cincinnati Kid to the political satire of The Russians Are Coming to the sultry mystery of In The Heat of the Night (winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture of 1967), and from the powerful screen version of Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof to the critically acclaimed A Soldier's Story. Moonstruck, Jewison's most beloved film, garnered three Academy Awards. A mentor to many in the business, Norman Jewison wrote this memoir as part of his legacy to future generations of filmmakers.

Great Canadian Film Directors is the first major study that reflects the cultural and linguistic diversity of Canada’s most dynamic film directors. The 19 essays in this collection focus on each filmmaker’s ability to create a vision that both reveals and redefines our national cultures. Together, these essays, by established and emerging scholars, highlight the diversity, imaginative power, and talent of Canadian filmmakers. This collection’s value is in its contemporary analysis of major figures as well as critical discussions of the work of women directors and young filmmakers. Filmographies and selected bibliographies for each director provide film students and the movie-going public with an unrivalled study of a cinema that now garners world attention.

John Box had one of the most continuously productive design careers in British cinema, winning a record for Academy Awards and four BAFTAs. After learning his craft in the 1950s, he shot to fame with Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Directors from David Lean and Carol Reed to Norman Jewison and Michael Mann have valued his experience, as he brought `a vocabulary of life' to bear on the new challenges posed by each film. Whether creating Chaina in Wales for The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), revolutionary Russia in Spain for Dr. Zhivago (1965), or Dickensian London for Oliver! (1968), imagining the mythic past in First Knight (1995) or the future in Rollerball (1975). Box shaped screen worlds across five decades, helping to establish the traditions of British production design which continue today. His greatest wish was that his career should encourage others by example. Based on interviews with John Box and the co-operation of some of his key collaborators, this lavishly colour-illustrated book focuses on solutions to design problems and provides a unique insight into the production designer's role in the collaborative business of filmmaking. --Book Jacket.

Seminar paper from the year 2013 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,7, University of Regensburg (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: American Literature II: The 20th and 21st Centuries, language: English, abstract: The thesis is about the film drama "Dinner with Friends" by Norman Jewison. In that contemporary drama "Dinner with Friends", written in 2000 by the author Donald Margulies, and in the following filmic adaptation one year later by Norman Jewison, the two modern families show that reviving the ideal of the traditional postwar suburban nuclear family of the 1950s as well as falling apart can still mean the fulfillment of the American Dream as a peak target in life. In "Dinner with Friends", the situation of going through divorce and finding a new personal orientation in life is depicted by the couple Tom and Beth. In contrast to that, the other couple Gabe and Karen depict the opposite way of living together, which is the convinced will of maintaining the traditional suburban values of loyalty, love, intensive care and honoring each other. Inspite of changing moral concepts among the society of the 21st century, in many heads the latter attributes still represent the prototypical ideal of a perfect family. Nevertheless, this does not mean that any of those two ways is better than the other one, the only secret is just that they are both differently realized.