Henry Hathaway: A Directors Guild of America Oral History

Lanham MD/London: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.. Near Fine in Fine dj. 2001. First Edition. Hardcover. [a nice clean as-new book, slightly blemished by modest bumping to the lower corners and a couple of minor scuff marks on the top edge of the text block; the jacket is flawless]. (Filmmakers, No. 84) Series A comprehensive interview with the noted director of LIVES OF A BENGAL LANCER, THE DARK CORNER, KISS OF DEATH, CALL NORTHSIDE 777, and numerous other classic and near-classic films. The interview sessions were conducted in the early 1970s by Polly Platt, under the auspices of The American Film Institute's oral history program, but the project was put on hiatus in 1973 due to a lengthy illness suffered by Hathaway, and was never resumed, at least in part because of Platt's burgeoning career as a production designer, screenwriter and producer. (Because of this, the interviews cover Hathaway's career only through the late 1940s.) Hathaway died in 1985, by which time responsibility for his oral history had been transferred to the Directors Guild of America; the Guild engaged Rudy Behlmer to edit and annotate the transcripts of the completed interviews, and to provide supplementary material. The latter includes a "Postscript" on Hathaway's later career, cobbled together from various other interviews he had given, and a comprehensive filmography. (xx) .