Edward Dmytryk was one of the so-called “Hollywood Ten” who were jailed for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. Finding himself blacklisted after his prison sentence and unable to operate under a pseudonym, he took the step of testifying and naming names to the Committee. His career resumed to considerable commercial success, but also to prolonged and bitter criticism from the left and persistent mistrust from the right. Acknowledged as one of the key figures in the development of the film noir genre, having directed one of its first films, Murder, My Sweet, Edward Dmytryk has otherwise been frequently sidelined in critical studies because of the political controversy. This book is the first to critically evaluate each of the dozens of films he made between the 1930s and the 1970s including The Young Lions, Crossfire and The Caine Mutiny, among many others.

Fintan McDonagh is a London-based writer on film and culture whose work has appeared in Sight & Sound, The Guardian and the website of the British Film Institute.

Fintan McDonagh
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: ca. 10 photos bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8092-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4314-4
Imprint: McFarland

“This book is a carefully researched and perceptive study of the work of one of Hollywood’s most controversial directors, whose career has long been crying out for sympathetic yet incisive re-evaluation. High on the list of any critic’s priorities should be a passionate engagement with the subject and, if necessary, a restoration of justice; and the author has risen impressively to the challenge.”—Neil Sinyard, emeritus professor of film studies, University of Hull, UK