In "George Cukor's People," Joseph McBride seeks to make a case for the brilliance and talent of the director, George Cukor.. In his lengthy introduction to this book, McBride writes, "Cukor’s way of seeing the world surrounds and provides context for his actors’ behaviour and movements through space and time remains inadequately explored." He wants to explore the way George Cukor brought out the best in his actors. He divides the books into the performances that McBride believes will highlight Cukor's talent as a director.

In aiming his attention towards the performances, McBride dispels the idea that Cukor was only a woman's director. Cary Grant, James Stewart, John Barrymore, and Laurence Olivier are just some of the actors whose performances are praised and detailed in the book. He also shows the reader that Cukor was director of all genres and that he could adapt to all different types of stories. McBride is such a keen observer and empathic critic that he displays immense care in how he approaches the evaluation of Cukor's work. He wants to give Cukor his due, but he also acknowledges some of the missteps.

I came away from the book with a renewed appreciation for George Cukor. McBridge is a knowledgeable writer and critic who makes you feel comfortable in his hands. Even when you don't always agree with him (I find Sylvia Scarlett tedious after a solid beginning), you understand why he appreciates a film or performance. That's what good criticism is all about. This is another winner from Columbia University Press.

George Cukor directed one of my all time favorite movies as well as my favorite actress Katherine Hepburn. I was looking forward to learning more about George and his life. However this book is not about that despite the summary on the back.

Very few of the people associated with each film get to speak to their experience with Cukor; relatively few are quoted directly, and even fewer private reflections come out through letters, diaries, or unpublished records. Colleagues who are still living do not seem to have been interviewed for this book, and the reliance on public record contributes to the clinical style of writing.

If, like me, you are wanting this book to be a behind the scenes style book it is not for us. However if you are a film buff and/or student you will enjoy the technical details given about the films.

As a work of pure film criticism, this book is admirably thorough, and anyone studying the films of George Cukor will surely get something valuable out of it. As a title for public library consideration, this is only really suitable for very large collections with well-used film sections, and even there it may be too academic for popular appeal. This is quickly apparent from the introduction debating whether Cukor qualifies as an auteur or was more of a (very successful) company hack. Unfortunately, the film school party debates squeeze out new or humanizing revelations about Cukor or his people. What follows is a film-by-film analysis of Cukor's (mainly) on-screen choices, which illustrate how he created a working environment that helped actors produce great performances, even when working with limiting material.

Even granting that this is not a biography, there is remarkably little information given about Cukor's life (outside of the sketchiest basics) - surely even discreet and publicly closeted professionals had personalities and relationships that would provide colorful details. Very few of the people associated with each film get to speak to their experience with Cukor; relatively few are quoted directly, and even fewer (no?) private reflections come out through letters, diaries, or unpublished records. Colleagues who are still living do not seem to have been interviewed for this book, and the reliance on public record contributes to the woodenness of the writing. (Perhaps a sign of how eventually the book started to feel like a slog is my gradual fixation on stylistic tics; this is the first book I've read that found occasion to use "picaresque" eleven times! I also started a running debate in my head over the definition of "camp classic:" can Sylvia Scarlett really be considered one, as the author claims on multiple occasions, when I can't think of one person in my life who would recognize the title, much less anything about it?) George Cukor was the director of a huge number of critically and publicly beloved films; this book outlines many of them and identifies much of what makes them so. Unfortunately, it's such a long, dry read that I think it's only going to appeal to film studies-types, rather than enthusiastic TCM viewing-types (like myself).

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

If you love movies, actors (and/or film acting,) fjlm history (especially that of the 1930's and 1950's Hollywood), movie directing, and, specifically, the director George Cukor, then this is George Cukor's People by Joseph McBride is a must-read for you. In fact, unless you're a filmaphobe (okay--invented word) you will find this book a fascinating and enjoyable read.

The stated aim of the author is to provide a more complete analysis of the film director George Cukor than has yet been written, specifically looking at his work through the lens of how Cukor worked with actors. In particular, McBride examines what he calls the "climate" on the set created by Cukor and how that allowed actors to access deeply personal experiences and vulnerabilities.

However, I found that, in addition to that focus, the book explored Cukor's work in many other ways. I was fascinated by how he used shooting decisions, such as the long tracking shot (a favorite of his--at least in part because it gave actors a great opportunity to open up), close-up, as well as his skills in adapting plays and books into screenplays, his work with set and lighting designers--all of the many details a film director needs to not only be aware of but utilize--to create an impressive body of work (including many of my own favorite films).

I found the discussions of Cukor's brief time working on Gone With The Wind, particularly fascinating. But of equal interest to me was his work on Judy Garland's classic (although butchered) version of A Star is Born, Cukor's adaptation of Little Women (revealing a dark side to the story of which I was unaware) , Camille (starring Garbo), Katharine Hepburn's screen debut in A Bill of Divorcement (and Cukor's working relationship with her as well as with the star of the film, theater great John Barrymore), and Cukor's last "great" work, Hepburn and Olivier's Love in the Ruins. I'll stop--clearly I found so much in this book exciting.

McBride looks at Cukor's "outsider" status in Hollywood, as both Jewish and gay and how those influenced his work. This is particularly important in the film Sylvia Scarlett--a box office failure at the time of its release and a cult classic now: the way the film plays with gender roles and ambiguous and fluid sexuality was shocking at the time and still relevant today.

I was lucky: while I was reading this book, TCM ran several of the films discussed which allowed me to watch the films, all of which I'd seen before, from a new perspective with new information and awareness. My viewing experience was tremendously enriched by this (and also was more fun).

A wonderful book for which I'm grateful to NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy, the publisher Columbia University Press and, of course, the author, Joseph McBride.

A striking look into the mind of one of our most foundational Hollywood directors. A must-read for any classic Hollywood fan.

Joseph McBride’s entertaining and informative book seeks to advance the directors reputation beyond the reductive designation of ‘Womens director’ and elevate him to a singular place among so-called non-auteur American filmmakers. And the book accomplishes that. Cukor’s skill in bringing the best out of some of Hollywood’s greatest stars is told convincingly and with a storytellers skill.

Although McBride had the pleasure of interviewing Cukor as a young writer/performer and clearly had affection for both the work and the man, this is not a hagiography. The Cukor on the page here is vivid and human. The dangers of navigating both the Hollywood system and his life as a gay man in an unforgiving time are told with respect and candor (Gable, a homophobe and an anti-Semite, had Cukor fired from GWTW).

George Cukor’s ability to work in to his 80’s is deftly explained through detailed passages describing the directors skill at finishing pictures started by other directors as well as lobbying for meaningful films he knew he could translate and cast with the right actors. The careers of Katherine Hepburn, Judy Holliday and Cary Grant were positively affected by the opportunity to work with a director who could connect to them as people and artists and not see them as just vehicles for success. Chapters on The Women (1939) and My Fair Lady (1964) are particularly excellent. A touching story about Cukor working privately with Joan Fontaine to overcome her well known anxiety is a high point.

As a guide for watching (or re-watching) Cukor’s films, this book is invaluable. Films like Sylvia Scarlett (1935) or The Chapman Report (1962) can be seen more easily as the radical achievements they are after knowing the trials and tribulations the director and his stable of writers and performers went through to get them to the screen. Thank you to NetGalley for advanced copy.

This is a paean to the film director George Cukor, director of, among other classics, 'The Philadelphia Story', 'The Women' and 'My Fair Lady'. The author, film historian Joseph McBride, has been writing about Cukor for half a century, and observed him at work on the set of his last film (although the fact that he heard Cukor repeatedly say "Come on, let's get on with it" perhaps undermines the book's central argument that he was a wonderful director of actors...).

In this book, McBride seeks to pinpoint "precisely what it is that makes him a great director" through the lens of a series of actors' performances in his films. This approach is engaging, as it brings into focus for analysis not only the work of George Cukor, but a roster of Old Hollywood screen idols, including Greta Garbo, Ingrid Bergman and Katharine Hepburn. In this way, the book reminded me a little of Peter Bogdanovich's "Who the Hell's in It".

Much of the pleasure of the book is being reminded of some wonderful films, such as 'Holiday' with Cary Grant, and I finished reading with a wishlist of ones to watch again. (This comes with the caveat that readers who are unfamiliar with these golden-age films/actors might find the book quite hard-going - but such are perhaps unlikely to pick it up in the first place.) The book appears to end without a concluding chapter and could perhaps have benefitted from one to bring the threads together. Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable read: illustrated with beautiful photographs, and anchored by a deep knowledge of film history, the book feels like a labour of love.

Many thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley or the advance copy.

George Cukor was known in Hollywood as a "woman's director", whether it was because he was homosexual or that he was sensitive to how women should be directed. Regardless, this book shows just how many successful movies he directed and how many actors and actresses liked working for him. There were a few, Clark Gable for instance, who wouldn't work with him (and had him removed from his directorial duties on "Gone With The Wind") for implied reasons that Cukor was a homosexual.

This was ultimately a very interesting book both because it shows how Mr. Cukor's directorial methods worked so well, and why so many people in Hollywood liked his work and liked working for him.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and review it.

In George Cukor’s People, Joseph McBride takes us on a journey full of clues, details and facts about the lesser appreciated director, George Cukor’s art and craft. This is how I want my film books to be from now on; well-detailed, well-analysed and edited.
I like quite many of Cukor’s films, but I was not informed about his directing style. I was not aware of his love for his people either.
At the bottom of this academic and excellently detailed non-fiction book lies the goal to understand Cukor’s films through his directing which was a reflection of his personality.
The pictures included were relevant and interesting and added to the text well.