Programmed January 2022

Joseph L. Mankiewicz: Talking Pictures

Crafter of some of the most literate and sophisticated films of Hollywood’s golden age, writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz left behind a body of work that stands apart for its cutting intelligence, acerbic wit, and unsparing insights into human nature. The rare studio-era director who also scripted many of his films, he had a gift for acid-tongued dialogue that made favorites like A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve into enduring, endlessly quotable classics of cultured cattiness. He also had an iconoclast’s penchant for tackling taboo subjects, bringing passion and complexity to his treatments of racism ( No Way Out ) and McCarthyism ( People Will Talk ). Contributing defining works to nearly every genre—from romance ( The Ghost and Mrs. Muir ) to musicals ( Guys and Dolls ) to historical epics ( Cleopatra , whose infamously arduous production drove the filmmaker to collapse)—Mankiewicz proved that intellect and entertainment could go hand in hand.

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