Editing Michael Curtiz (section)

=== 1940s ===
During the 1940s Curtiz continued to release more critically acclaimed films, including ''[[The Sea Hawk (1940 film)|The Sea Hawk]]'' (1940), ''[[Dive Bomber (film)|Dive Bomber]]'' (1941), ''[[The Sea Wolf (1941 film)|The Sea Wolf]]'' (1941), ''[[Casablanca (film)|Casablanca]]'' (1942), ''[[Yankee Doodle Dandy]]'' (1942), ''[[This Is the Army]]'' (1943), ''[[Mildred Pierce (film)|Mildred Pierce]]'' (1945), and ''[[Life with Father (film)|Life with Father]]'' (1947).

One of the biggest hits of 1940 was ''The Sea Hawk'', starring Errol Flynn in the role of an adventurer in the mold of [[Sir Francis Drake]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4gJUnSUSJE ''The Sea Hawk'', original theatrical trailer (1940)]</ref> [[Flora Robson]] played [[Queen Elizabeth I]], and Claude Rains acted as the Spanish ambassador, whose job it was to mislead the Queen, who rightly suspected the [[Spanish Armada]] was about to attempt to invade England. Some critics felt the story was equivalent to actual events then taking place in Europe, describing it as a "thinly veiled diatribe against American [[isolationism]] on [[World War II]]'s brink."<ref>''Los Angeles Times'', May 6, 1990, p. 653</ref> Film columnist Boyd Martin noticed the similarities:
{{blockquote|The parallel of the dreams of empire indulged in by King Philip of Spain and those apparently momentarily enjoyed by Hitler is so obvious that it will not escape detection even by the youngest film follower who reads his newspaper and goes to see the film ... In having been supplied with a parallel, Mr. Curtiz rides his ''Sea Hawk'' neck and neck with contemporary history.<ref>Martin, Boyd. "Modern Parallel Found in 'The Sea Hawk'", ''The Courier-Journal'' (Louisville, Kentucky), August 11, 1940, p. 24</ref>}}

[[File:SB2Us in movie Dive Bomber 1941.jpg|thumb|left|Scene from ''Dive Bomber'' (1941)]]

''Dive Bomber'' (1941)<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPrW5Lq5K80 ''Dive Bomber'' (1941) Official Trailer]</ref> was released a few months before the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].

Curtiz shot every foot of ''Dive Bomber'' with Navy assistance and under strict Navy scrutiny.<ref>''Ames Daily Tribune'', (Ames, Iowa), September 20, 1941, p. 12</ref> Filming at the active naval base in San Diego required great care, especially for aerial sequences. To create realistic shots, he mounted cameras on the Navy's planes to achieve "amazing point-of-view shots," taking viewers inside the cockpit during flight. He also mounted cameras underneath the wings of planes to dramatize take-offs from the ''[[USS Enterprise (CV-6)|Enterprise]]'', an aircraft carrier launched a few years earlier.<ref name=Welky />

[[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' gave it a good review:<ref>Crowther, Bosley. [https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E06E1DE1038E333A25753C3A96E9C946093D6CF "Dive Bomber (1941) Review."]  ''The New York Times'', August 30, 1941. Retrieved: September 4, 2009.</ref>
{{blockquote|The Warners have photographed this picture in some of the most magnificent technicolor yet seen ... masses of brilliantly colored planes, ranked in impressive rows about an air base or upon the huge flight decks of carriers, and roaring in silver majesty, wing to wing, through the limitless West Coast skies. Never before has an aviation film been so vivid in its images, conveyed such a sense of tangible solidity when it is showing us solid things or been so full of sunlight and clean air when the cameras are aloft. Except for a few badly matched shots, the job is well nigh perfect.}}

The film was well received by the public, becoming the sixth-most popular film that year.<ref>"Film money-makers selected by Variety: 'Sergeant York' Top Picture, Gary Cooper, Leading Star." ''The New York Times'', December 31, 1941, p. 21.</ref> No other pre-Pearl Harbor picture matched the quality of its flying scenes.<ref name=Welky /> Film columnist [[Louella Parsons]] wrote, "''Dive Bomber'' again makes us glad we are Americans protected by a Navy as competent as ours."<ref name=Welky>Welky, David. ''The Moguls and the Dictators'', Johns Hopkins Univ. Press (2008) pp. 314–316</ref>

Edward G. Robinson starred in ''The Sea Wolf'' (1941), his second film directed by Curtiz.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li2o104xGRU ''The Sea Wolf'' (1941) – Official Trailer]</ref> He portrayed the rampaging, dictatorial captain of a ship in an adaptation of one of [[Jack London]]'s best known novels. Robinson said the character he portrayed "was a Nazi in everything but name," which, Robinson observed, was relevant to the state of the world at that time.<ref name=TCM /><ref name=Robinson /> John Garfield and [[Ida Lupino]] were cast as the young lovers who attempt to escape his tyranny.  Some reviews described the film as one of Curtiz's "hidden gems ... one of Curtiz's most complex works."<ref>Lyttelton, Oliver. [http://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/the-essentials-5-of-michael-curtizs-greatest-films-252657/ "The Essentials: 5 Of Michael Curtiz's Greatest Films"], ''Indiewire'', April 10, 2012</ref> Robinson was impressed by Garfield's intense personality, which he felt may have contributed to Garfield's death at age 39:
{{blockquote|John Garfield was one of the best young actors I ever encountered, but his passions about the world were so intense that I feared any day he would have a heart attack. It was not long before he did.<ref name=Robinson />}}

{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|bgcolor = LightCyan|quote=With Michael Curtiz' magnificent 1941 version of ''The Sea Wolf'' ... full justice was for once done to London's text ... with the aid of models, newly introduced fog machines, and a studio tank, the film hauntingly captured an eerie malevolent atmosphere, brooding and full of terror ... From its economic opening scenes ... to its powerful climax ... it gripped consistently. Throughout, Curtiz provided object lessons in the use of sound{{mdash}}the groaning timbers of the ship, creaking footsteps, the wind{{mdash}}and closeups.|source=– Charles Higham and Joel Greenburg,<br /> ''Hollywood in the Forties''<ref name=Beck>Beck, Robert. ''The Edward G. Robinson Encyclopedia'', McFarland (2002)</ref>{{rp|281}}}}

Curtiz directed another Air Force film, <!-- Shot mid Jul--mid Oct 1941, see AFI catalog -->''[[Captains of the Clouds]]'' (1942), about the [[Royal Canadian Air Force]]. It starred James Cagney and Brenda Marshall. According to [[Hal B. Wallis]], its producer, it became Warner Bros.' most extensive and difficult production, and everything had to be relocated to Canada.<ref name=Wallis />{{rp|76}} Like ''Dive Bomber'', the vivid aerial scenes filmed in Technicolor were another feature that garnered critical attention, and the film was nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Color Cinematography.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEvtvrSf22A ''Captains of the Clouds'' (1942) – Trailer]</ref>

Shortly after ''Captains of the Clouds'' was completed, but released after his next picture, ''Casablanca'', Curtiz directed the musical biopic, <!-- shot 3 Dec 1941--10 Feb 1942, premiere 29 May 1942 (NYC), but release delayed until January 1943 (AFI catalog) -->''[[Yankee Doodle Dandy]]'' (1942), a film about singer, dancer, and composer [[George M. Cohan]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9hW0Evk2jA ''Yankee Doodle Dandy'' (1942) Official Trailer]</ref> It starred James Cagney in a role totally opposite from the one he had played four years earlier in Curtiz's ''Angels with Dirty Faces''. Where the earlier film became a career high point for Cagney's portrayals of a gangster, a role he played in many earlier films, in this film, an overtly patriotic musical, Cagney demonstrates his considerable dancing and singing talents. It was Cagney's favorite career role.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Peter B. |date=1986-03-31 |title=James Cagney Is Dead at 86; Master of Pugnacious Grace |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/31/obituaries/james-cagney-is-dead-at-86-master-of-pugnacious-grace.html |access-date=2023-08-28 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Cagney's bravura performance earned him his only Academy Award as Best Actor. For Warner Bros., it became their biggest box-office success in the company's history up to that time, nominated for nine Academy Awards and winning four. The success of the film also became a high point in Curtiz's career, with his nomination as Best Director. The film has been added to annals of Hollywood as a cinematic classic, preserved in the United States National Film Registry at the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name=Britannica />

Curtiz directed ''Casablanca'' <!-- Shot 25 May--3 Aug 1942, premiere late Nov 1942 in NYC. -->(1942), a World War II-era romantic drama described by [[Roger Ebert]] in 1996 as one of the most popular films ever made.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ebert|first=Roger|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-casablanca-1942|title=Casablanca|website=Roger Ebert.com|date=September 15, 1996|access-date=10 April 2022}}</ref> Its stars were Humphrey Bogart, playing an expatriate living in Morocco, and [[Ingrid Bergman]] as a woman who was trying to escape the Nazis. The supporting cast features [[Paul Henreid]], Claude Rains, [[Conrad Veidt]], [[Sydney Greenstreet]], and [[Peter Lorre]]. The picture received eight Academy Award nominations and won three, including one for Curtiz as Best Director.<ref name=TCM /> ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine in 2012 described ''Casablanca'' as <!-- source distinguishes between a "film" and a "movie", so the direct quote needs to be used if detail & citation retained. -->"the best movie ever made".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Cosgrove|first=Ben|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2012/11/23/the-best-movie-of-all-time-turns-70-heres-looking-at-you-casablanca/|title=The Best Movie of All Time Turns 70: Here's Looking at You, Casablanca|magazine=Time|date=November 23, 2012|access-date=April 10, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Casablanca, Trailer Screenshot.JPG|thumb|upright 1.2|Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in ''Casablanca'' (1942)]]

Another patriotic Curtiz film was ''[[This Is the Army]]'' (1943), a musical adapted from the stage play with a score by [[Irving Berlin]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulll1BnOEYI ''This Is The Army'' (1943) – Original Trailer]</ref> As America was engaged in World War II, the film boosted the morale of soldiers and the public. Kate Smith's rendition of "[[God Bless America]]" was one of the highlights of the film's nineteen songs.
<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEJo7x9y3D4 "Kate Smith sings "God Bless America" in ''This Is the Army'' (1943)]</ref> As a result of the film's numerous popular and generic elements, such as ground and aerial combat, recruitment, training, and marching as well as comedy, romance, song, and dance, it was the most financially successful war-themed film of any kind made during [[World War II]].<ref name=Eberwein>Eberwein, Robert. ''The Hollywood War Film'', John Wiley & Sons (2010) p. 48</ref>

{{quote box|align=left|width=25em|bgcolor = MistyRose|quote=''This Is the Army'' is still the freshest, the most endearing, the most rousing musical tribute to the American fighting man that has come out of World War II ... buoyant, captivating, as American as hot dogs or the Bill of Rights ... a warmly reassuring document on the state of the nation. It is, from beginning to end, a great show.|source=– [[Bosley Crowther]], ''New York Times''<ref name=Eberwein />}}

During this period, Curtiz also directed the World War II [[propaganda film]] ''[[Mission to Moscow]]'' (1943), a film which was commissioned at the request of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in support of the U.S. and [[British Empire|British]] [[Alliance|ally]], [[the Soviet Union]], at that time holding down 80% of all German forces as they repelled the [[Nazi invasion of Russia]]. The film was mostly well received by critics and was a success at the box office, but the film soon proved to be controversial after it stirred up strong [[anti-Communist]] attacks. Curtiz took the criticism personally and vowed never again to direct an overtly political film, a promise which he kept.<ref name=Pontuso>Pontuso, James F. ''Political Philosophy Comes to Rick's: Casablanca and American Civic Culture'', Lexington Books (2005)</ref>{{rp|148}}

[[File:Joan Crawford - 1936 - Hurrell.JPG|thumb|[[Joan Crawford]] starred in ''Mildred Pierce''.]]
''[[Mildred Pierce (film)|Mildred Pierce]]'' (1945) was based on the novel by [[James M. Cain]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoOr_OoHbv4 ''Mildred Pierce'' (1945) – Trailer]</ref> Its star, [[Joan Crawford]], gave one of the strongest performances in her career, playing a mother and successful businesswoman who sacrifices everything for her spoiled daughter, played by [[Ann Blyth]].

At the time Crawford accepted the part from Warner Bros., her 18-year career at MGM had been in decline.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2GjmtvxU3c;t=1m5s "Mick Garris on Mildred Pierce"]</ref> She had been one of Hollywood's most prominent and highest-paid stars but her films began losing money, and by the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison". Rather than remain at MGM and see newer, younger talent draw  most of the studio's attention with better roles, she left MGM and signed a contract with Warner Bros. at a reduced salary.<ref name=Hay>Hay, Peter. ''MGM: When the Lion Roars'', ''Turner Publishing'', (1991) pp. 194–198</ref>

Curtiz originally wanted [[Barbara Stanwyck]] for the role. However, Crawford, who by then had not been in a film for two years, did her best to get the part. Rare for a major star, she was even willing to audition for Curtiz. She was already aware that "Mr. Mike Curtiz hated me ... I don't want those big broad shoulders," he said. During her reading of an emotional scene as he watched, she saw him become so overwhelmed by her delivery that he cried, and he then said, "I love you, baby."<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cjveAUN2pM;t=23m20s Joan Crawford "Always the Star"], 1996 documentary</ref>

To help Crawford prepare for certain court scenes, Curtiz took her downtown, where they spent time visiting jails and watching criminal trials.<ref name=Evening>"Hard-to-do Films Best Training School for Directors, Says Curtiz", ''The Evening Independent'' (Massillon, Ohio), October 1, 1946, p. 11</ref> In photographing her, he used careful [[film noir]] camera techniques, a style he learned in Europe, to bring out the features of Crawford's face, using rich black-and-white highlights.<ref>Solomons, Gabriel. ''World Film Locations: Los Angeles'', Intellect Books (2011) p. 16</ref> He was aware that Crawford guarded her screen image very carefully, and that she truly cared about quality. Crawford learned to appreciate Curtiz's genius with the camera.<ref name=Davis /> [[Eve Arden]], who was nominated as [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] for the film, said "Curtiz was one of the few directors who knew what he wanted and was able to express himself exactly, even in his amusing Hungarian accent."<ref name=Davis>Davis, Ronald L. ''Zachary Scott: Hollywood's Sophisticated Cad'', Univ. Press of Mississippi (2006) p. 97</ref>

''Mildred Pierce'' was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Only Crawford won, for Best Actress, her first and only Oscar.<ref name=Hay /> The novel's author, James M. Cain, gave her a leather-bound copy of ''Mildred Pierce'', which he inscribed: "To Joan Crawford, who brought Mildred to life as I had always hoped she would be, and who has my lifelong gratitude."<ref>Hare, William. ''Early Film Noir: Greed, Lust and Murder Hollywood Style'', McFarland (2003) p. 133</ref> The film returned Crawford to the ranks of leading stars.

After the success of the film, Jack Warner gave Curtiz two new and exceptional contracts in appreciation, boosting his salary and reducing the number of films he had to direct each year to two.<ref>Schatz, Thomas. ''The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era'', Henry Holt and Company (1988) p. 422</ref>

[[File:William Powell in After the Thin Man trailer.jpg|thumb|left|William Powell starred in ''Life With Father'' (1947).]]

Curtiz directed [[William Powell]] and [[Irene Dunne]] in ''[[Life with Father (film)|Life with Father]]'' (1947), a family comedy.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrbQ0YjSFSI ''Life With Father'' (1947) – trailer]</ref> It was a big hit in the United States, and was nominated for four Academy Awards, including [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] for Powell. During Powell's career, he acted in 97 films; his third and last nomination was for this film. One review stated, "He is magnificent in the role, imbuing it with every attribute of pomp, dignity, unconscious conceit, and complete loveableness! His is one of the really great screen performances of the year ... that crowns a long screen life."<ref>Parry, Florence Fisher. "William Powell's Superb Father Day Makes Him Candidate for an Oscar", ''The Pittsburgh Press'', August 31, 1947, p. 33</ref>

In the late 1940s, Curtiz made a new agreement with Warner Bros. under which the studio and his own [[production company]] were to share the costs and profits of his subsequent films with his films to be released through Warner Bros. "I'm going to try to build my own stock company and make stars of unknowns. It is getting impossible to sign up the big stars, because they are tied up for the next two years," he said.<ref name=Courier-46>Graham, Sheilah. "Movie Stars Clamor to Work Under Director Mike Curtiz", ''The Courier-Journal'', September 29, 1946, p. 31</ref> He also said that he was less concerned with looks than personality when using an actor. "If they are good-looking, that's something extra. But I look for personality."<ref name=Courier-46 />

He soon learned that good stories were even harder to come by: "Studios will pay anything for good stories ... they will buy it up before anyone else can get it," he complained. The story for ''Life With Father'' was said to have cost the studio $300,000, and the full budget for making the film was about $3 million.<ref name=Courier-46 />
The subsequent films did poorly, however, whether as part of the changes in the film industry in this period or because Curtiz "had no skills in shaping the entirety of a picture".<ref name=Harmetz />{{rp|191}} Either way, as Curtiz himself said, "You are only appreciated so far as you carry the dough into the [[box office]]. They throw you into gutter next day".<ref name=Harmetz />{{rp|332}}