Editing Michael Curtiz (section)

=== 1930s ===
In 1930, Curtiz directed ''[[Mammy (1930 film)|Mammy]]'' (1930), [[Al Jolson]]'s fourth film after being in Hollywood's first true [[talking picture]], ''[[The Jazz Singer]]'' (1927). During the 1930s, Curtiz directed at least four films each year.

{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|bgcolor = LightCyan|quote=The most obvious aspect of Curtiz's directorial signature is his [[expressionistic]] visual style, and its most obvious feature is its unusual camera angles and carefully detailed, crowded, complex compositions, full of mirrors and reflections, smoke and fog, and physical objects, furniture, foliage, bars, and windows, that stand between the camera and the human characters and seem to surround and entrap them.|source=– Biographer Sidney Rosenzweig<ref name=Rosenzweig />{{rp|157}}}}

Although unusual projects for Warner Bros., Curtiz directed two horror films for the studio, ''[[Doctor X (film)|Doctor X]]'' (1932) and ''[[Mystery of the Wax Museum]]'' (1933), both in early [[Technicolor#Process 3|Technicolor]], with numerous atmospheric scenes filmed on the studio's back lot.<ref name=TCM />

Another breakthrough film was ''[[20,000 Years in Sing Sing]]'' (1932), starring then little-known actors [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Bette Davis]] in one of their earliest films.<ref>{{Citation |title=20,000 Years In Sing Sing (1932)Trailer | date=November 30, 2009 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2f9JNfq1V4 |access-date=2023-11-08 |language=en}}</ref> [[MGM]] head [[Louis B. Mayer]] saw the film and was impressed enough by Tracy's acting that he hired him on to MGM's roster of stars.<ref name=Higham>Higham, Charles. ''Merchant of Dreams'', Donald I. Fine, Inc., N.Y. (1993)</ref>{{rp|221}}

Curtiz's American career did not really take off until 1935.<ref name=Gerstner>Gerstner, David A., and Staiger, Janet. ''Authorship and Film'', Psychology Press (2003)</ref>{{rp|63}} In the early 1930s,  Warner Bros. was struggling to compete with the larger MGM, which was releasing costume dramas such as ''[[Queen Christina (film)|Queen Christina]]'' (1933) with [[Greta Garbo]], [[Treasure Island (1934 film)|''Treasure Island'']] (1934) with [[Wallace Beery]], and [[The Count of Monte Cristo (1934 film)|''The Count of Monte Cristo'']] (1934). Warner Bros. decided to take a chance and produce their own costume drama.

Until then, it was a genre in which Warners' had assumed they could never succeed, owing to its higher production budgets during the years of the [[Great Depression]]. However, in March 1935, Warners announced it would produce ''[[Captain Blood (1935 film)|Captain Blood]]'' (1935), a [[swashbuckler]] action drama based on the novel by [[Rafael Sabatini]], and directed by Curtiz.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|63}} It would star a then unknown extra, [[Errol Flynn]],<ref name=Tennessee /> alongside the little-known [[Olivia de Havilland]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXb1QqmrRNc ''Captain Blood'' (1935), original trailer]</ref>

[[File:Errol Flynn in The Charge of the Light Brigade trailer.JPG|thumb|Errol Flynn in ''The Charge of the Light Brigade'' (1936)]]
The film was a major success with positive critical reviews. It was nominated for the [[Academy Award]] [[Academy Award for Best Picture|for Best Picture]], and though not nominated, Curtiz received the second-highest number of votes for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], solely from [[write-in]] votes. It also made stars of both Flynn and de Havilland, and it elevated Curtiz to being the studio's leading director.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|63}}

Curtiz continued the successful genre of [[adventure film]]s starring Flynn (often with de Havilland) that included ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1936), a depiction of the British Light Brigade during the [[Crimean War]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2sNWQfdfq0 ''Charge of the Light Brigade'' Trailer]</ref> The film, another Oscar winner, was a greater success at the box-office than ''Captain Blood''.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|64}} It was followed by ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'' (1938, co-directed with [[William Keighley]] whom Curtiz replaced), the most profitable film that year,<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|64}} also winning three Academy Awards and being nominated for Best Picture.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpqR6Ca-LL8 ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938) Trailer]</ref> It is in [[Rotten Tomatoes]]' list of Top 100 Movies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/top/bestofrt/ |title=Top 100 Movies Of All Time |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=May 14, 2019}}</ref>

That being their third Curtiz film together, Flynn and de Havilland continued to star in other hugely successful films under his direction, including ''[[The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex]]'' (1939), also co-starring Bette Davis.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGQJndhKsUY ''The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex'' (1939) Official Trailer]</ref> Davis starred in a Curtiz film in most years during the 1930s.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|73}}

[[File:Edward G. Robinson and Curtiz.jpg|thumb|[[Edward G. Robinson]] (l) with Curtiz, during filming of ''Kid Galahad'' (1937)]]
Curtiz elicited some of the finest work from [[Edward G. Robinson]] in ''[[Kid Galahad (1937 film)|Kid Galahad]]'' (1937), where Robinson played a tough and sardonic, but ultimately soft-hearted, boxing manager.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCapHEQOv6s ''Kid Galahad'' (1937) – Trailer]</ref> The picture co-starred Bette Davis and [[Humphrey Bogart]].<ref name=TCM /><ref>[http://67.media.tumblr.com/0df6a0ae24f38aff4d5b6ef26cb0d357/tumblr_myydfhaq7l1rovfcgo4_1280.jpg Photo of Michael Curtiz directing fight scene in '' Kid Galahad'']</ref>

Because of Curtiz's high film productivity, Warner Bros. created a special unit for his pictures, which then allowed him to manage two film crews. One worked with him during actual filming, while the other prepared everything for the next picture.<ref>"Rush Work on Three Pictures: Special Unit is Formed For Famed Director Michael Curtiz," ''Harrisburg Telegraph'' (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), August 12, 1939, p. 9</ref>

[[John Garfield]] was among Curtiz's discoveries.
Curtiz discovered Garfield, a stage actor, by accident, when he came across a discarded screen test he gave, and thought he was very good. Garfield had assumed he failed the screen test and was already heading back to New York in disgust. Curtiz then went to Kansas City to intercept the train, where he pulled Garfield off and brought him back to Hollywood.<ref name=Tennessee /> Garfield made his debut in ''[[Four Daughters (1938 film)|Four Daughters]]'' (1938), followed by a co-starring role in its sequel, ''[[Four Wives]]'' (1939). Garfield also later co-starred in Curtiz's ''[[The Sea Wolf (1941 film)|The Sea Wolf]]'' (1941).

In ''Four Daughters'', Garfield co-starred with [[Claude Rains]], who would star in 10 Curtiz movies over his career, with six of those during the 1930s.<ref name=TCM /> Garfield and Rains "were brilliant together in this unjustly neglected Curtiz classic," says biographer Patrick J. McGrath.<ref name=McGrath>McGrath, Patrick J. ''John Garfield: The Illustrated Career in Films and on Stage'', McFarland (1993) pp. 28–29</ref> Garfield considered it his "obscure masterpiece."<ref name=McGrath /> Reviews praised his role: "Perhaps the greatest single occurrence having to do with ''Four Daughters'' on reading the critics appears to be the debut of John Garfield, a brilliant young actor recruited from the Broadway stage."<ref name=Culver>"Critics Acclaim 'Four Daughters'", ''The Culver Citizen'', October 19, 1938, p. 9</ref> Similar approval came from ''[[The New York Times]]'', which called Garfield's acting "bitterly brilliant ... one of the best pictures of anybody's career."<ref name=Culver /> Garfield and Rains co-starred the following year in Curtiz' ''[[Daughters Courageous]]'' (1939).

When [[James Cagney]] starred in Curtiz's ''[[Angels with Dirty Faces]]'' (1938), he was nominated for an Oscar for the first time.<ref name=TCM /> The [[New York Film Critics Circle]] voted him as best actor for his portrayal in the film, where he played the part of a hoodlum who redeems himself.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|64}}<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uja8oWFm5M ''Angels with Dirty Faces'' – Trailer]</ref> Curtiz was also again nominated, solidifying further his status as the studio's most important director.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|64}} Curtiz was nominated for the  1938 Oscar for Best Director for both ''[[Angels with Dirty Faces]]'' and ''[[Four Daughters (1938 film)|Four Daughters]]'' losing to [[Frank Capra]] for ''[[You Can't Take It with You (film)|You Can't Take It with You]]''. Curtiz, however, had split his votes between two films and had actually the greater number of aggregate Academy votes.<ref>https://rode, "Curtiz: A Life in Film" page 237</ref>

The following year, Curtiz directed a short subject, ''[[Sons of Liberty (film)|Sons of Liberty]]'' (1939), starring Claude Rains, in a biopic which dramatizes the Jewish contribution to America's independence.<ref name=Gerstner />{{rp|44}} Curtiz won an [[Academy Award]] in the category of [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Best Short Subject (Two-reel)]], for this film.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/142277/Sons-of-Liberty/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520021708/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/142277/Sons-of-Liberty/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2011 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2011 |title=New York Times: Sons of Liberty |access-date=May 16, 2008}}</ref>

Three Westerns directed by Curtiz also starring Flynn were ''[[Dodge City (film)|Dodge City]]'' (1939),<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqB3Md5H72Y ''Dodge City'' – Trailer]</ref> ''[[Santa Fe Trail (film)|Santa Fe Trail]]'' (1940) co-starring future [[US president]] [[Ronald Reagan]],<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SposGx8dZts ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940)- Official Trailer]</ref> and ''[[Virginia City (film)|Virginia City]]'' (1940).<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIcBxsHlcO0 ''Virginia City'' (1940) Official Trailer]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/search.aspx?s=|title=AFI CATALOG|work=afi.com|access-date=April 19, 2016}}</ref>