Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (/ˈmæŋkəwɪts/ MANG-kə-wits; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American filmmaker. A four-time Academy Award winner, he is best known for his witty and literate dialogue and his preference for voice-over narration and narrative flashbacks. Also known as an actor's director, Mankiewicz directed several prominent actors, including Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor, to several of their memorable onscreen performances.
Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Mankiewicz studied at Columbia University and graduated in 1928. He moved overseas to Europe, where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and translated German intertitles into English for UFA. On the advice of his screenwriter brother Herman, Mankiewicz moved back to the United States, and was hired by Paramount Pictures as a dialogue writer. He then became a screenwriter, writing for numerous films starring Jack Oakie. He next moved to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), where he served as a producer for several films, including The Philadelphia Story (1940) and Woman of the Year (1942). Mankiewicz left MGM after a dispute with Louis B. Mayer.
In 1944, Mankiewicz began working for Twentieth Century-Fox, where he produced The Keys of the Kingdom (1944). He made his directorial debut with Dragonwyck (1946) after Ernst Lubitsch had dropped out due to illness. Mankiewicz remained at Fox, directing a broad range of genre films. Consecutively, in 1950 and 1951, he won two Academy Awards each for writing and directing A Letter to Three Wives (1949) and All About Eve (1950). In 1953, Mankiewicz formed his own production company Figaro, where he independently produced, as well as wrote and directed, The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and The Quiet American (1958).
In 1961, Mankiewicz took over direction from Rouben Mamoulian for Cleopatra (1963). Production was beset with numerous difficulties, including a heavily publicized extramarital affair between stars Taylor and Richard Burton. Relatively late into production, Darryl F. Zanuck reassumed control of Fox as studio president and briefly fired Mankiewicz for excessive overruns. Released in 1963, Cleopatra became the year's highest-grossing film and earned mixed reviews from critics. Mankiewicz's reputation suffered, and he did not return to direct another film until The Honey Pot (1967).
Mankiewicz then directed There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) and the documentary King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1972), sharing credit with Sidney Lumet on the latter. His final film Sleuth (1972), starring Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier, earned Mankiewicz his fourth and final Oscar nomination as Best Director. In 1993, Mankiewicz died in Bedford, New York, at the age of 83.
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Movies (88)
National Theatre Live: All About Eve
2019 · Writer
Pleins feux
2017 · Original Film Writer
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006 · Self (archive footage)
Backstory: 'All About Eve'
2000 · Self (archive footage)
Pleins feux
1992 · Original Film Writer
Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker
1991 · Self
Night of 100 Stars III
1990 · Self
Hello Actors Studio
1988 · Self
In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
1988 · Self
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986 · Self
W.C. Fields: Straight Up
1986 · Self
A Letter to Three Wives
1985 · Original Film Writer
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1985 · Self
All About Mankiewicz
1983 · Self
Bette Davis: The Benevolent Volcano
1983 · Self
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · Thanks
Sleuth
1972 · Director
There Was a Crooked Man...
1970 · Director, Producer
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970 · Director
The Honey Pot
1967 · Director, Screenplay
Carol for Another Christmas
1964 · Director, Producer
Cleopatra
1963 · Director, Screenplay
Suddenly, Last Summer
1959 · Director
The Quiet American
1958 · Director, Writer, Producer
Guys and Dolls
1955 · Director, Screenplay
The Barefoot Contessa
1954 · Director, Writer
Julius Caesar
1953 · Director, Screenplay
5 Fingers
1952 · Director
People Will Talk
1951 · Director, Writer
The Screen Director
1951 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
All About Eve
1950 · Director, Screenplay
No Way Out
1950 · Director, Writer
House of Strangers
1949 · Director
A Letter to Three Wives
1949 · Director, Screenplay
The Pirate
1948 · Additional Writing
Escape
1948 · Director
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
1947 · Director
The Late George Apley
1947 · Director
Somewhere in the Night
1946 · Director, Screenplay
Dragonwyck
1946 · Director, Writer
The Keys of the Kingdom
1944 · Screenplay, Producer
Reunion in France
1942 · Producer
Cairo
1942 · Producer
Woman of the Year
1942 · Producer
The Feminine Touch
1941 · Producer
The Wild Man of Borneo
1941 · Producer
The Philadelphia Story
1940 · Producer
Strange Cargo
1940 · Producer
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
1939 · Producer
A Christmas Carol
1938 · Producer
The Shining Hour
1938 · Producer, Screenplay
The Shopworn Angel
1938 · Producer
Three Comrades
1938 · Producer
Mannequin
1938 · Producer, Additional Writing
Double Wedding
1937 · Producer
The Bride Wore Red
1937 · Producer, Additional Writing, Story
Love on the Run
1936 · Producer
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936 · Producer
Fury
1936 · Producer
Three Godfathers
1936 · Producer, Writer
I Live My Life
1935 · Screenplay
Forsaking All Others
1934 · Screenplay
Our Daily Bread
1934 · Dialogue
Manhattan Melodrama
1934 · Screenplay
Alice in Wonderland
1933 · Screenplay
Too Much Harmony
1933 · Story
Emergency Call
1933 · Screenplay
Diplomaniacs
1933 · Writer, Original Story
If I Had a Million
1932 · Writer, Adaptation, Story
Night After Night
1932 · Writer
Million Dollar Legs
1932 · Story
Sky Bride
1932 · Screenplay
This Reckless Age
1932 · Screenplay, Story
Sooky
1931 · Writer, Story
Newly Rich
1931 · Writer
Skippy
1931 · Writer
June Moon
1931 · Screenplay, Story
Finn and Hattie
1931 · Writer
The Gang Buster
1931 · Dialogue
Only Saps Work
1930 · Screenplay, Adaptation
The Social Lion
1930 · Screenplay
Paramount on Parade
1930 · Screenplay
The Light of Western Stars
1930 · Writer
Slightly Scarlet
1930 · Screenplay
The Saturday Night Kid
1929 · Title Graphics
Woman Trap
1929 · Reporter (as Joseph Mankiewicz)
Fast Company
1929 · Screenplay
The River of Romance
1929 · Screenplay
