Mitch Bitch

Over at the Billy Wilder Theater in Westwood they're holding a Mitchell Leisen festival.  Leisen is a stylish director who turned out quite a few hits at Paramount in the 30s and 40s.  His films are certainly worth reviving.

But the irony here is as a screenwriter Billy Wilder hated Leisen for how the director mangled his scripts. In fact, Wilder claimed one of the reasons he became a director in Hollywood was to protect himself from people like Leisen.  Preston Sturges, who'd also had scripts shot by Leisen, said--and did--the same thing.

PS  The first showing of the series featured what are probably Leisen's two best films--Midnight (script by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) and Easy Living (script by Preston Sturges).

In the Los Angeles Times here's how the 7:30 screening was listed:

Midnight Friday: "Easy Living"

I hope not too many people missed these two fine movies.