Alternative Film Guide

Known as a refined “woman’s director,” George Cukor has had his considerable output either relegated to the sidelines or simply dismissed by those who like their directors macho and their films male-centered. Not helping matters is the general perception that Cukor was merely a hired hand for the likes of David O. Selznick at RKO and Louis B. Mayer at MGM, not an auteur following a clear professional path. Except, of course, for the (assumed) fact that he was a woman’s director — and we’re back to square one.

Actually, George Cukor was one of the most remarkable directors of the studio era. Like Elia Kazan, Cukor served his apprenticeship in the theater, thus developing into an excellent actor’s director. Actor’s. Regardless of gender.

Because Cukor was gay, some have claimed that his sexual orientation explains his flair for directing actresses and for handling projects revolving around women. By having sex with guys, he is supposed to have somehow been more attuned to his “feminine” self, and thus able to handle Katharine Hepburn (in 10 films, including two made-for-TV movies), Joan Crawford (four times), Norma Shearer (three times), Rosalind Russell, Greta Garbo, Jeanne Crain, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Holliday, Sophia Loren, Anna Magnani, Lana Turner, Jean Simmons, Maggie Smith, Jacqueline Bisset, and Candice Bergen, among others.

The list is impressive, though one must remember that Cukor worked mostly at RKO and MGM, two studios that, while Cukor was under contract, relied heavily on the star power of their female stars. Other RKO and MGM contract directors, regardless of their sexual orientation, also had to handle star vehicles for Garbo and Crawford and Shearer and Hepburn, and so on.

Additionally, the “gay sensibility” nonsense ignores the fact — and that is a fact — that Cukor was equally adept at directing male actors. Clark Gable may have gotten Cukor fired from the Gone with the Wind set, but the Oscar list below includes Fredric March, Basil Rathbone, Charles Boyer, James Mason, Anthony Quinn, and no less than three male Oscar winners, James Stewart, Ronald Colman, and Rex Harrison.

Cukor also guided numerous other male stars, including Cary Grant (three times), Spencer Tracy (five times, right), Melvyn Douglas (twice), John Barrymore (three times), Yves Montand, Laurence Olivier, Jack Lemmon, Aldo Ray, Gene Kelly, William Holden, Broderick Crawford, Robert Taylor, Maurice Chevalier, Wallace Beery, Joel McCrea, Dirk Bogarde, Stewart Granger, and Leslie Howard.

Perhaps by having sex with men, Cukor was able to absorb some of the masculine vibes of his partners? Or perhaps it takes a real man to do it with another. No matter.

In any case, Cukor himself received five best direction nominations: Little Women, 1932/33; The Philadelphia Story, 1940; A Double Life, 1947; Born Yesterday, 1950; and My Fair Lady, 1964. He won for the last film.

George Cukor

21 Acting Nominations

(s) supporting category

(*) Academy Award winner

1930-31

Fredric March The Royal Family of Broadway (co-directed with Cyril Gardner)

1936

Norma Shearer Romeo and Juliet

Basil Rathbone (s) Romeo and Juliet

1937

Robert Taylor and Greta Garbo in Camille. Garbo could be as mannered as its physically feasible, but George Cukor managed to restrain the actress who, as the doomed courtesan, gives one of the screen’s most passionate performances.

Greta Garbo Camille

1940

Box-office poison Katharine Hepburn came back to Hollywood with her Broadway hit The Philadelphia Story. She won the New York Film Critics best actress award, but only James Stewart — unfairly — took home that year’s acting Oscar.

James Stewart The Philadelphia Story *

Katharine Hepburn The Philadelphia Story

Ruth Hussey (s) The Philadelphia Story

1944

Ingrid Berman turns the tables on Charles Boyer in Gaslight. Irene Dunne, who had been offered the part, would have been a better choice for the role.

Charles Boyer Gaslight

Ingrid Bergman Gaslight *

Angela Lansbury (s) Gaslight

1947

Ronald Colman A Double Life *

1949

Deborah Kerr Edward, My Son

1950

Judy Holliday Born Yesterday *

1954

The overlong and old-fashioned A Star Is Born is (more or less) saved by Judy Garland’s excellent performance.

James Mason A Star Is Born

Judy Garland A Star Is Born

1957

Anthony Quinn Wild Is the Wind

Anna Magnani Wild Is the Wind

1964

Audrey Hepburn was the only top player from My Fair Lady not to receive an Academy Award nomination. Rex Harrison won that year, and so did Julie Andrews — the original Eliza Doolittle — for Mary Poppins.

Rex Harrison My Fair Lady *

Stanley Holloway (s) My Fair Lady

Gladys Cooper (s) My Fair Lady

1972

Maggie Smith Travels with My Aunt

William Wyler: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - I

Elia Kazan: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - II

Fred Zinnemann: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - IV

Martin Scorsese: Top Oscar Directors for Actors - V

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Oscar answers - part I

Oscar Nominations 2007 - Article

Oscar Nominations 2007 - List

Academy Awards 2007 - Nominated Producers

Berlin Film Festival 2007 Film Line-Up

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