Mitchell Leisen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mitchell Leisen (b. October 6, 1898, Menominee, Michigan – d. October 28, 1972, Los Angeles) was an American director, art director, and costume designer. He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments.

He garnered his sole Academy Award nomination in 1930, for Art Direction, for Cecil B. DeMille's Dynamite. He directed his first film in 1933 and became known for his keen sense for aesthetics and glossy Hollywood melodramas.

His best known films include the Alberto Casella adaptation Death Takes a Holiday (1934), as well as Midnight (1939) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941), both scripted by Billy Wilder. Easy Living (1937), another hit for the director, was written by Preston Sturges.

Later in his career, he directed episodes of The Twilight Zone and Shirley Temple's Storybook.

Mitchell Leisen died of heart disease in 1972, aged 74.

[edit] Selected filmography

• Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
• Murder at the Vanities (1934)
• Hands Across the Table (1935)
• Easy Living (1937)
• Swing High, Swing Low (1937)
• The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
• Midnight (1939)
• Remember the Night (1940)
• Arise, My Love (1940)
• Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
• Frenchman's Creek (1944)
• To Each His Own (1946)
• Gold Earrings (1947)
• No Man of Her Own (1950)
• The Mating Season (1950)

[edit] External links

• Senses of Cinema: Mitchell Leisen

• IMDb