Peerless: Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway

by Kurt Jensen

A proud Armenian who claimed a distant link to nobility, born in what was then part of czarist Russia, Rouben Mamoulian (1897–1987) was one of the most astonishing and confounding figures in American film and theater, directing the original stage productions of Porgy and Bess, Carousel, and Oklahoma!, as well as films including Love Me Tonight, Queen Christina, City Streets, and Silk Stockings. He was famously fired from the film version of Porgy and Bess in a dispute over publicity and quit Cleopatra after arguments over a single scene. Mamoulian’s mercurial confidence and autocratic tendencies were among the reasons he had a reputation for being uncompromising. This frustrating mix of genius and stubbornness, of critical successes and financial flops, has proven challenging for biographers. Kurt Jensen’s magisterial volume, extensively researched and filled with trenchant observations, brings to life this charming, flawed, and fascinating man—and demonstrates how the wellspring of his art contained the seeds of his own destruction. Drawing upon Mamoulian’s unfinished memoir and voluminous diaries, as well as interviews with the director’s surviving collaborators, Jensen delivers fresh and informative insider stories from seminal productions. Meanwhile, he explores Mamoulian’s aesthetic principles and strategies as manifested in lighting, choreography, and sound design. A tour de force, Peerless offers readers a multifaceted, in-depth look at an idiosyncratic genius.

376 pages, Hardcover

Published May 7, 2024

Reviews

[Malcolm Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moulin was an innovative film director in the thirties with such films as Applause,Love Me Tonight,and Becky Sharp amongst his vredits.On stage his career included the original productions of Oaklahoma and Varousel.
Yet after that his career became more noted for the films he was fired from,Laura,Porgy And Beds and Cleopatra.Maybe it was because of his artistic temperment.In any event he ended his life in Penrith and squalor.
I wasn't really interested in his theatrical career.Particularly since the book contains detailed synopsis.
However I found the telling of his film career to be absorbing,particularly as I have seen many of his films.So I enjoyed reading about that part of his career.