Stanley Kramer

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Stanley Kramer (September 29, 1913 – February 19, 2001) was an American film director and producer responsible for some of Hollywood's most famous "message" movies.^[1] His work was recognized with The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1961.

Director Steven Spielberg once described him as "one of our great filmmakers, not just for the art and passion he put on screen, but for the impact he has made on the conscience of the world."^[1]

1 Early years
2 Columbia Pictures
3 Directing
4 Filmography
- 4.1 As director
- 4.2 As producer
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early years

Kramer lived with his grandmother in the area known as Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. From an early age, Kramer had connections with the film industry; his uncle, Earl Kramer, worked in distribution at Universal Pictures and then as an agent in Hollywood. Kramer's mother also worked in a secretarial position at Paramount Pictures. Kramer attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx and New York University; in his final year at the university, he was offered a paid internship in the writing department of 20th Century Fox. Kramer took the job although he had originally planned on attending law school.^{[citation needed]}

In 1941 he worked as a production assistant on The Moon and Sixpence and So Ends Our Night.^[2] Two years later, in 1943, Kramer was drafted, but avoided going to war by working for an army film unit in New York. In 1948 Kramer organized an independent production company, Screen Plays Inc. His partners in the company were with the writer Herbie Baker, publicist George Glass and producer Carl Foreman, who he had met previously during his time with the army film unit. It was during Kramer's career as a producer that he began to receive recognition for his talent.

While the first movie produced under his production company was a failure, So This Is New York (1948), directed by Richard Fleischer, the following film directed by Mark Robson, Champion, starring Kirk Douglas, was a success. The film received six Academy Awards nominations: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Cinematography, Black and White, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay. The film also won an Oscar for Best Film Editing. In the next three years, Kramer produced Home of the Brave (1949), which was another success for the budding producer. In 1950, he produced The Men, which included Marlon Brando's screen debut.

[edit] Columbia Pictures

A year later, Harry Cohn, the president of Columbia Pictures offered Kramer the chance to make movies under his studio. Kramer was given free rein over what films he chose to make, along with a budget that topped at 980,000 dollars.^{[citation needed]} While Kramer accepted the job, he spent the rest of the year finishing his last independent production, the film High Noon, a Western drama directed by Fred Zinnemann. The movie was well received, winning four Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Song and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic of Comedy Picture, as well as three nominations for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay.

In October 1951, Kramer ended his partnership with Carl Foreman, who was asked to testify about his past involvement with the Communist Party. Kramer was still producing movies at Columbia, such as Death of a Salesman (1951), The Sniper (1952), The Member of the Wedding (1952), The Juggler (1953), The Wild One (1953) and The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953). While the movies were not considered successful, they are now found very interesting and are highly praised.^{[citation needed]}

In 1953 the president of Columbia, Harry Cohn and Stanley Kramer agreed to terminate the five year contract Kramer had made to Columbia. However, for his last Columbia film, Kramer was determined to regain all of the investments Columbia had made in Kramer's previously unsuccessful films. The film, The Caine Mutiny, was an adaptation of the book written by Herman Wouk and was directed by Edward Dmytryk. Kramer faced resistance from the US Navy, which the film depicted, for presenting what they considered an unfair portrayal. Kramer was able to negotiate a deal with the Navy, attempting to make the film as accurate and fair as possible. The film's cast included multiple noted actors of the time, including Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray and Jose Ferrer. Cohn kept Kramer under tight limitations, such as a budget under two and half million dollars and a running time of two hours. The result was extremely successful. The eleven million dollars it generated made up for any of Kramer's lost profits previously.

[edit] Directing

After The Caine Mutiny, Kramer left Columbia and resumed his independent production, but this time he occupied the role of the director. During this time, Kramer reestablished himself through Not As a Stranger (1955) and The Pride and the Passion (1957). Fortunately for Kramer, he was able to avoid the Hollywood blacklist, which had affected so many other members of the film industry. However, Kramer was well known for his liberal views and his desire to produce and direct controversial films.^{[citation needed]} He directed The Defiant Ones (1958), On the Beach (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961). All of the films were bold and dealt with uncomfortable and serious subjects.

In contrast to his previous films however, in 1963 Kramer produced and directed the multi-million dollar, all-star comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Four years later, in 1967, Kramer released Guess Who's Coming To Dinner. It is speculated that out of all of his films, this film was the one that Kramer was the most proud of.^{[citation needed]} The film starred Sidney Poitier and Katharine Houghton and the final screen teaming of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The film was a hit, earning eight Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music and Best Picture, along with two Oscars for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay. In the following years, Kramer directed films such as Bless the Beasts and Children (film) (1971), Oklahoma Crude (1973) and The Runner Stumbles (1979).

In 1997 Kramer published his autobiography, entitled A Mad Mad Mad Mad World: A Life in Hollywood. Stanley Kramer died on February 19th, 2001 in Los Angeles after suffering from pneumonia.