Editing Otto Preminger (section)

===Peak years===
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Preminger expected acclaim for ''Laura'' would promote him to work on better pictures, but his professional fate was in the hands of Zanuck, who had Preminger take over for the ailing [[Ernst Lubitsch]] on ''A Royal Scandal'', a remake of Lubitsch's own silent ''[[Forbidden Paradise]]'' (1924), starring [[Pola Negri]] as [[Catherine the Great]]. Before he suffered a heart attack, Lubitsch had spent months in preparation, and had already cast the film. Preminger cast [[Tallulah Bankhead]], whom he had known since 1938 when he was directing on Broadway.

Bankhead learned that Preminger's family would be barred from emigrating to the U.S. due to [[Immigration Act of 1924|immigration quotas]], and she asked her [[William B. Bankhead|father]] (who was [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]]) to intervene to save them from the Nazis. He did, which earned Bankhead Preminger's loyalty. Thus when Lubitsch wanted to make the film into a vehicle for [[Greta Garbo]], Preminger, although he would have been eager to direct the film that brought Garbo out of retirement, refused to betray Bankhead. They became good friends and got along well during filming. The film received generally lackluster reviews as the [[Ruritanian romance]] genre had become outdated, and it failed to earn back its cost of production.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

''[[Fallen Angel (1945 film)|Fallen Angel]]'' (1945) was exactly what Preminger had been anticipating. In ''Fallen Angel'', a con man and womanizer ends up by chance in a small California town, where he romances a sultry waitress and a well-to-do spinster. When the waitress is found killed, the drifter, played by [[Dana Andrews]], becomes the prime suspect. [[Linda Darnell]] played the doomed waitress. ''[[Centennial Summer]]'' (1946), Preminger's next film, would be his first shot entirely in color. The reviews and box office draw were tepid when the film was released in July 1946, but by the end of that year Preminger had one of the most sumptuous contracts on the lot, earning $7,500 a week.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

''[[Forever Amber (film)|Forever Amber]]'', based on [[Kathleen Winsor]]'s internationally popular novel ''[[Forever Amber (novel)|Forever Amber]]'', published in 1944, was Zanuck's next investment in adaptation. Preminger had read the book and disliked it immensely. Preminger had another bestseller aimed at a female audience in mind, ''[[Daisy Kenyon]]''. Zanuck pledged that if Preminger did ''Forever Amber'' first, he could make ''Daisy Kenyon'' afterwards. ''Forever Amber'' had already been shooting for nearly six weeks when Preminger replaced director [[John M. Stahl|John Stahl]]. Zanuck had already spent nearly $2 million on the production.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

Only after turning to his revised script did Preminger learn Zanuck had recast star [[Peggy Cummins]] with Linda Darnell. Zanuck was convinced that whoever played Amber would become a big star, and he wanted that woman to be one of the studio's own.<ref>{{cite book|title=Forever Amber: From Novel to Film|first=Gary A.|last=Smith|publisher=BearManor Media|year=2010}}</ref> Zanuck had bought the book because he believed its scandalous reputation promised big box-office returns, and he was not surprised when the [[Catholic Legion of Decency]] condemned the film for glamorizing a promiscuous heroine who has a child out of [[Marriage|wedlock]]; they successfully lobbied [[20th Century Fox]] to make changes to the film. ''Forever Amber'' opened to big business in October 1947 and garnered decent reviews. Preminger called the film "the most expensive picture I ever made and it was also the worst".{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Preminger maintained a busy schedule, working with writers on scripts for two planned projects, ''Daisy Kenyon'' (1947) and ''The Dark Wood''; the latter was not produced. [[Joan Crawford]] starred in ''Daisy Kenyon'' alongside [[Dana Andrews]], [[Ruth Warrick]] and [[Henry Fonda]]. ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' proclaimed the film "high powered melodrama surefire for the femme market". After the modest success of ''Daisy Kenyon'', Preminger saw ''That Lady in Ermine'' as a further opportunity. [[Betty Grable]] was cast opposite [[Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.]] The film had previously been another Lubitsch project, but after Lubitsch's sudden death in November 1947, Preminger took over. His next film was a period piece based on  ''[[Lady Windermere's Fan]]''. Over the spring and early summer of 1948 Preminger turned [[Oscar Wilde]]'s play into ''[[The Fan (1949 film)|The Fan]]'' (1949), which starred [[Madeleine Carroll]]; the film opened to poor notices.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}