Pandro S. Berman Movies
Pandro S. Berman's father Henry was general manager of Universal Pictures during Hollywood's formative years. The younger Berman spent most of the 1920s as an assistant director, learning the business from such masters as Mal St. Clair and Tod Browning. In 1930, Berman was hired as a film editor at fledgling RKO Radio Pictures, then became an assistant producer. When RKO supervising... (read more) producer William LeBaron walked out during production of the ill-fated The Gay Diplomat (31), Berman took over LeBaron's responsibilities, remaining in the driver's seat until 1939. During the Berman regime, the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals hit their peak, Katharine Hepburn rose to prominence, and such RKO classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (39) and Gunga Din (39) came to fruition. Berman was willing to give creative people plenty of elbow room, but there were limits; having been coaxed by Katharine Hepburn and director George Cukor to push through production of the 1936 film Sylvia Scarlett, Berman reacted to the poor audience response to that film (the worst in RKO's history) by telling Hepburn and Cukor that he never wanted to see their faces again! Upset when an RKO power-play diminished his authority, Berman left for MGM in 1940, where he oversaw such productions as Ziegfeld Girl (41), National Velvet (44), Father of the Bride (50), The Blackboard Jungle (55) and Butterfield Eight (58). He survived several executive shake-ups at MGM and remained there until 1963, then went into independent production, closing out his career with the unsuccessful Move (70). The winner of the 1977 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, Pandro S. Berman became a sort of guru to film historians in his twilight years, providing crystal-clear insights into the day-to-day operations of the old Hollywood Studio System. Berman died of congestive heart failure on July 13, 1996 in his Beverly Hills home; he was 91. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
1984
The man who assembled the remarkable documentary George Stevens: A Filmaker's Journey had the benefit of knowing the subject intimately: the film was written, produced and...
Move
R 1970
This humorless comedy finds Hiram Jaffe (Elliott Gould) earning a living as a pornography writer and dog walker to the rich in New York. When he and wife Dolly (Paula Prentiss)...
Justine
R 1969
Justine (Anouk Aimee) is a Jewish prostitute living in Egypt who manages to sleep her way to the top. Marrying a financial minister, Justine works her way up from her...
A Patch of Blue
NR 1965
Shelley Winters won an Academy Award for her searing performance as Rose-Ann d'Arcy in A Patch of Blue. The star, however, is not Winters but Elizabeth Hartman,...
Honeymoon Hotel
1964
Intending to marry Cynthia (Anne Helm), Jay Menlow (Robert Morse) is stranded at the alter on the day of the blessed occasion. Left with a paid Honeymoon vacation in the...
The Prize
1963
Based on the novel by Irving Wallace, The Prize takes place in Stockholm, where several laureates gather to accept their Nobel Prizes. At first, the film concentrates on...
Sweet Bird of Youth
1962
Paul Newman recreates his Broadway role in the 1962 film version of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Newman plays handsome hustler Chance Wayne, who romances...
Butterfield 8
1960
A woman who has long been short on feelings falls in love with a married man in this emotional drama. Gloria Wondrous (Elizabeth Taylor) is a model and party girl who...
All the Fine Young Cannibals
1960
Robert Wagner plays Chad Bixby, a role reportedly inspired by the life of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in this romantic drama about two young couples linked by the...
The Reluctant Debutante
1958
The Reluctant Debutante is a vintage example of the sort of elegant, witty "polite" comedy that Hollywood used to pull off so well. Real-life husband and wife Rex...
The Brothers Karamazov
1958
Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov is given a Hollywood screen treatment by producer Pandro S. Berman and director Richard Brooks. Yul Brynner plays Dmitri...
Jailhouse Rock
NR 1957
One of the best of Elvis Presley's pre-Army films, Jailhouse Rock offers us the sensual, "dangerous" Elvis that had won the hearts of the kids and earned the animosity of...
Something of Value
1957
The literalism of writer-director Richard Brooks serves him well in this meticulously faithful adaptation of the Robert Ruark novel Something of Value. Filmed on location in...
Tea and Sympathy
1956
1956's Tea and Sympathy is a diluted filmization of Robert Anderson's Broadway play. The original production was considered quite daring in its attitudes towards...
Bhowani Junction
1956
Ava Gardner was never more alluring than as the half-caste heroine of Bhowani Junction. Set during India's battle for independence from Britain, the film begins with...
Quentin Durward
1955
Sir Walter Scott's medieval take on the "John Alden" story formed the basis of Quentin Durward. Robert Taylor dons armor in the title role, playing the son of an aging...
Blackboard Jungle
NR 1955
In this gritty urban drama, war veteran Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford) wants to begin his career as a teacher and is given an assignment at a boys high school in inner-city...
The Long, Long Trailer
1954
At the height of their TV fame, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were contracted by MGM to make two theatrical films. The first of these, The Long, Long Trailer, stars Lucy...
Battle Circus
NR 1953
In his only MGM film, Humphrey Bogart plays the commanding officer of a M*A*S*H unit during the Korean War. Bogart runs his operation by the book, though he can take time...
Knights of the Round Table
1953
MGM's first CinemaScope production was the lavishly appointed Knights of the Round Table. Without overlapping into any copyrighted material (specifically T.H. White's...