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.