Suits Me

I just read Walter Mirisch's Hollywood memoir I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History. Mirisch was a top producer responsible for many highly respected films, some of which are even good. The list includes Some Like It Hot, West Side Story, In the Heat of the Night, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Apartment, The Pink Panther, Fiddler on the Roof, One, Two, Three, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, The Thomas Crown Affair, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, The Party, A Shot in the Dark and Irma La Douce

With so many books concentrating on directors and actors, and treating producers like suits--philistine money men who get in the way of the artists--it can be be interesting to see movies from a different angle. In the real world, producers put the films together, finding the story, developing the script, hiring the talent and so on. (If they're the suits, does that make the artists the spoiled children?)

Unfortunately, Mirisch, who had to be at least somewhat tough to rise to the top--he was involved in some notable firings in the midst of major productions--comes across as too nice. He honestly doesn't have a harsh word to say about anyone. Every stressful moment, and there are plenty, is treated with an equanimity that may have made him great to deal with, but also makes for a dull book.

He obviously loves movies, but the passion is missing. However, I do like it when he notes, good or bad, how the film did financially.

I may check out Norman Jewison's autobiography. He worked with Mirisch on a lot of his top films. I wonder what he'll say on his end.