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Dear Colleagues,
Writers and directors, working in the kind of collaboration that dignifies both of our professions, stand together once again in our official identities as the Writers Guild of America, west
and the Directors Guild of America, to present the Preston Sturges Award in recognition of a
career achievement in filmmaking.
Our honoree is Blake Edwards, the third artist to be so selected, preceded by Richard Brooks
and Billy Wilder. How proud we are to have been in their presence and to be working at the
same crafts!
Somewhere, Preston Sturges is smiling; surely Blake Edwards is a talent after his own heart.
Consider Blake's body of work, outlined in detail elsewhere in this publication. It is the journey
of an instinctive artist learning his craft. A journey through the latter days of the legendary
Hollywood studio system, writing low-budget westerns and romantic comedies, then directing
his own scripts. Then the gradual development of a personal style, a "touch."
Then, in 1963, his script (with Maurice Richlin) and his direction of The Pink Panther,and film
buffs throughout the world knew that they had another stylist to enjoy. (Remember the spinning
globe of the earth, and Inspector Clouseau inadvertently touching it, and spinning himself right
to the floor?) After that, Blake's work, unaffected by the storytelling fads of the moment,
showed the maturing of a master. He developed into one of those rare creative minds who holds
true to his unique talent and to the cinematic tradition of the great era of visual comedy of
Chaplin, Keaton and Harold Lloyd, and later, Preston Sturges himself.
Still in mid-career, he has been a writer and director for a few years short of five decades.
It is a great pleasure for us, as Presidents, to salute Blake Edwards now, a distinguished member
of both of our Guilds.
We honor Blake with the Preston Sturges Award, the only joint award we give. Blake honors us
with the quality of his work.
Sincerely,
Gene Reynolds
Del Reisman
President, WGAW
K
President, DGA
Y
film was made under the subsidiary
Allied Artists banner. Edwards' career
as a film writer and producer was
underway.
In the late 40s he started writing
for radio after an episode similar to the
one that started him out as a screenwriter. His girlfriend, who worked in
radio, showed him a script that he criti-
ATTIFFANY'S.
onthe setof BREAKFAST
George Peppard
Audrey
Hepburn,
Blake
Edwards,
cized: "She said, 'All you do is sit
format and I said, 'Here' and gave it to
important radio work. The program
around and criticize. Do you think you
her and she took it to the man who had
was noted for its originality and
can do better?' And I said, Yeah.' So I
produced her radio show. He said, 'I
groundbreaking style. The first genera-
took her script to my father's and sat
want to sign you.'" Edwards' script
tion of radio detectives were those
down and wrote a radio show using that
introduced Jack Webb as a radio per-
adapted from literature. Richard
sonality.
Diamond was one of the first major
a
Although he has come to be recog-
detectives created specifically for the
nized as a consummate visual stylist,
and although he is an accomplished
medium of radio. He was also the first
painter and sculptor, radio was the
medium that held the most fascination
who would seize the public imagina-
for Edwards in his formative years:
highly successful Peter Gunn television
"You were living in the hearing world
show and in the mid-60s the character
and not in the seeing world. But I lived
of Inspector Clouseau who would
so much in the hearing world anyway. I
appear in the hit Pink Panther Series.
grew up on all of those wonderful
shows.
It was so great because you
tion: in the late 50s he created the
Aside
episodes
from
directing
of 'Richard
some
Diamond,'
imagined these things. You weren't
Edwards' directing career really began
limited strictly to what you could see
out there. You had a starting point, a
in television: "The very first directing I
focal point, but you could imagine these
never sold.
things and that dimension was the
unit directing on Drive a CrookedRoad,
a film starring Mickey Rooney that
greatest. It was just wonderful to lie
there as a kid and imagine. And it
could be any way you wanted."
Edwards created and wrote many
Edwards
withchildren, Jennifer andGeoffrey.
Blake
of three detectives created by Edwards
did was The Chase. It was a pilot and it
I had done some second
Dick Quine directed. After The Chase,
the next thing I did was another pilot
that was, I believe, sponsored by Four
episodes for Richard Diamond, Private
Star Playhouse. Then I did a couple
Detective, today considered his most
more things for Four Star, one with
David Niven and one or two with Dick Powell. Those were
my beginning directorial chores." Edwards' work as a film
(Top photo): Blake
Edwards
andCary Grant discuss a scene onlocation for OPERATION
PETTICOAT, (Bottom
photo):
Jack Lemmon
andLeeRemick confer with
director began with a studio assignment at Columbia when he
inglocation atSanFrancisco's Place Pigalle restaurant.
wrote and directed two films for Frankie Laine. Edwards had
coauthored a number of scripts with his friend Richard Quine
who directed "B" features for Columbia. When Quine was
elevated to bigger projects, Edwards moved into his position.
It was, however, in the late 50s and early 60s that Edwards
cemented his reputation as a director with a series of hits with
big name stars:
Operation Petticoatstarring Cary Grant and
Tony Curtis, Breakfast at Tifany's starring Audrey Hepburn;
and Days of Wine and Roses starring Jack Lemmon. He did
not write or originate those projects though they showed his
stylistic versatility and his ability to direct actors.
After the success of those films, Edwards made the transition to being writer/director of major films starting with The
Pink Pantherand A Shot in the Dark in 1964. At this point in
his career he collaborated as a writer on all his films. Although
Edwards speaks of his earlier writing collaboration with
Richard Quine as the "truest" collaboration he was involved in
because the two of them would sit in the same room "and kick
Blake
Edwards
before ascene for Warner Bros.'
DAYS
OFWINE
AND
ROSES
dur-
The Pink Pantherand he didn't understand it at all but he said, 'I made a deal
with you and if this is what you want to
nal scripts: "To become an accredited
do, go do it.' Even while we were mak-
writer, a director has to change at least
ing it there was a lot of concern on the
Mitisch's part about what kind of a
50% of the screenplay. So it's almost
product was coming out.
and you've got a script that's already
written, to change it 50%, but you can
Nobody
seemed to be able to really relate to it as
far as feeling that it was commercially
viable, that it was a good product for
them.
David
Niven
andBlake
Edwards
ona'Panther' location.
it back and forth," his later writing style
was different: "With other collaborators, because I would find it was convenient, I would have the story, give it to
them, have them do a lot of the writing
as I supervised, and then I would totally
rewrite from beginning to end. I did
that a lot."
the credited screenwriter or story writer,
he did significant rewriting of the origi-
At the preview of The Pink
impossible if you want to do something
change it substantially." Indeed,
Edwards frequently changes scripts so
Panther, Harold rushed up to me. I've
substantially that, in retrospect, he
thinks that it is usually best for him to
never seen anyone so happy. It was like
write his own screenplays: "I inevitably
he had just won the lottery. And in a
way he had." And in a way, Edwards
end up making enemies because I usual-
had too since the Pink Panther Series
ly rewrite everything and they end up
feeling that I've corrupted their material.
would repeatedly prove of great impor-
It would be better if I just tackled the
tance to his career.
whole project myself. You always hope
that someone is going to come in with
Since the mid-60s, nearly all of
Edwards' films have involved him in the
roles of a "hyphenate": writer-producer-
some genius writing and then you don't
have to do it."
director. On the few on which he is not
Based upon his previous successes,
he entered into a favorable production
agreement with the Mirisch Brothers.
It was a happy period in Edwards' career
because they respected his creative judgment and gave him the promised creative control he needed:
"Harold
Mirisch was good to his word. He said,
You come with us and you don't have to
worry about the studio. That's our job,
that's where we make our money, partly.
You deal with me. You want to do
something, you come to me and you and
I will agree upon it.' And he proved
right from the
beginning that he was as
good as his word. I went to him with
Herbert Lom and Blake Edwards onthe set of a 'Panther' film.
Between 1975 and 1984, Edwards
produced or co-produced all of his films. Since 1984, his close
and trusted associate Tony Adams has fulfilled that function
on behalf of Edwards' company which has produced all of the
projects. Edwards is, thus, still closely involved with the production of his films. When asked whether his move into the
hyphenate functions of writer-producer-director grew out of a
struggle to retain more control over his films, Edwards
responds, "Well, that is true and there's a simple explanation.
I continually witnessed judgments being made by people I
considered incompetent. I saw people in charge making creative judgments that really, in my opinion, just had no business
making those."
The mid to late 60s were a period of astonishing creative
achievement for Edwards even though the films he made then
received little attention from either the critics or the public.
(Top photo): Blake Edwards with longtime friend and stunt coordinator, Dick
Crockett. (Bottom photo, from left to right): Actors Robe
ndJulie
Andrews confer with Tony Adams (producer) and ake Edwards onthe set of
The GreatRace, The Party, Peter Gunn, and What Did You Do
MGM's presentation of Edwards' VICTOR/VICTORIA.
*
in the War, Daddy? stand with his best
work. During this time period,
Edwards also produced Soldier in the
Rain and Waterhole Number Three, films
thing, why have my name on it? I'm not
fil films with some extremely good films
a producer."
In the early 70s, Edwards went
such as The Curse of the Pink Panther,
The Man Who Loved Women, A Fine
from a period of neglect to one of overt
Mess, and Skin Deep which did not
which he did not direct. Indeed, he did
confrontation with the powerful studios.
receive either the critical or the box-
not originally plan on directing 'Gunn':
On DarlingLili, Wild Rovers, and The
office reception they deserved. The
"'When I had to go in and take over
Carey Treatment, he fought, and lost the
'Gunn' and direct it myself, I said, 'I
battles over a wide variety of studio
interference. The experiences were so
period, in fact, was a productive one
during which he made, on average, one
film a year. Although he remains puzzled by the reception of his films during
don't like what there doing, my name's
on it.' Unless, I can contribute some-
traumatic that Edwards moved to
Europe where, in a couple of years time,
his fortunes reversed nearly as suddenly
such periods, he confidently dedares, " I
do know I'm a survivor." He also recog-
as they had declined. He entered into a
nizes that his need to work constantly
production agreement with Sir Lew
Grade and made The Tamarind Seed
separates him from other directors who
are more selective about their projects:
with Julie Andrews. Edwards normally
"It's been important to me to work and
is a highly intuitive director who works
express myself constantly. I'm jumping
around like a bee. I need that arena to
out all the visuals on the set. This time,
however, things were different: "It's the
only screenplay that I have ever done
where I blocked it out and did a storyboard. I wrote little things and put
be happy in. I wouldn't want to be
Stanley Kubrick and spend all those
years waiting. But that's great for
Stanley."
them up on a board. What I feel is truly
When asked whether he thinks the
good about the book is that convoluted
plot with people doing this and discov-
Blake Edwards who directed Son of the
ering that. That kind of thing has to
have real clarity if you're going to lead an
audience through it."
With his next film, Return of the
Pink Panther, Edwards once again won
the lottery and he followed it with two
more Pink Panther films which reestablished his commercial viability.
Pink Panther directs in the same way as
the Blake Edwards who directed The
Pink Panthernearly 30 years earlier, he
says, "Yeah, to a great extent. I don't
think that anybody who has the career
curve I do, who has a lengthy career, is
ever the same as they were in the beginning. Simply because you get older and
continue to do what you do doesn't
This enabled him to make 10, S.O.B.
mean that you don't get better. I know a
and Victor/Victoria, three critically
lot of older people that I consider far
DAYS
OFWINE
AND
ROSES,
Martin Manulis produc-
acclaimed films which marked a new
tion for the studio. Atleft iscinematographer Philip
Lathrop.
peak in his career. As in the 60s,
Edwards followed these highly success-
better in technique, if nothing else, and
more internally secure about what they
Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick and Blake Edwards pose
with members of the camera crew onWarner Bros.
do. You have a conditioned reflex where
I
I'm working with someone that's 26 years old, though I would
love to be able to socialize, I'm not able to. And I think that
maybe they would be uncomfortable with it too. They're looking to me as a figure who has made it and been around a long
time and they expect a little more seriousness." Luckily, that
seriousness has done nothing to curtail one of the greatest
comic spirits of our time. Blake Edwards remains today an
artist of immense creativity and ambition and one who is busy
Tony Adams and Blake Edwards.
there isn't that terrible panic where sometimes you walk out on
a set and you don't know what the hell to do and you don't
planning a variety of exciting future projects including writing,
producing, and directing a stage version of his hit film,
Victor/Victoria. He is more than a survivor; he is an inspiration.
want to let anyone know it. I seldom walk on the set now and
struggle to find ... I do struggle to find things but it's more of a
process and not so much of a fear that I'm not going to manage. So there is the security factor, having done it so many
times. And there is a certain learning about actors. If you
PETER LEHMAN, Professor in the Department of Media Arts at the University
of Arizona, and WuLAM LunR, Professor in the Department of English at
Saint Peter's College, are co-authors of BLAKE EDwARDs and RETURNING TO
THE SCENE: BLAKE EDWARDS, VoL 2 (Ohio UniversityPress).
work with them enough, you begin to discover more things
every time you come out of the starting gate. The newness of
becoming a director brought with it a certain insecurity, not
having walked that mine field before. But if you walk that
minefield enough and you know where the mines are, you're
able to look up for a change and see more things and you don't
have to keep concentrated on your feet and hopefully you don't
blow your legs off and nobody moves the mines."
Although Edwards feels that he works with actors in the
same manner now that he did thirty years ago, the nature of
that relationship has, of necessity, changed: "As one suffers
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in this business,
you have a tendency to become more introspective, to investigate yourself, to be more demanding and when you're more
demanding of yourself, I think you become more isolated.
You don't have as much time to be social. I used to have a
pool table on the set. I needed that social activity to make me
more secure. I took greater chances, perhaps. I was full of
youth and energy. It's not that I don't have energy now, but I
have to conserve it a little more. In those days I was dealing
more with contemporaries because I was a young person. If
Geoffrey Edwards (left) mulls over screenplay onwhich hecollaborated with
father Blake and Frank and Tom Waldman, onthe set of Blake Edwards' TRAIL
OF
THE
PINK
PANTHER.
LAUGHING
UNTIL IT HURTS
AND
LAUGHING
BECAUSE IT
BLAKE
EDWARDS'
HURTS:
COMEDY
BY
PETER
LEHMAN
AND
WILLIAM
LUHR
Andrew Sarris once perceptively
observed that "Blake Edwards is one
writer-director who received some of his
biggest laughs out of jokes that are too
gruesome for most horror films." Pain
has a great deal to do with laughter in
Edwards' films and many of his gags
supply a variation on the conventional
wisdom that something is funny only if
no one really gets hurt. Cartoon characters, for example, can suffer brutal and
even deadly punishments while bouncing back intact for the next scene with
*
little more than a smudge or a band-
cartoons than it is in the world of live action; he violates the
aid. When we see them back in
rule that, to be funny, no one can permanently get hurt in this
action, we quickly for-
style of comedy. In A Shot in the Dark, innocent bystanders are
get their previous,
gruesome fates.
killed in bungled attempts on Clouseau's life and, at the end of
A similar logic is
bomb intended for Clouseau. The most extreme instance of
at work when Inspector Clouseau (Peter
this, however, occurs, in S.O.B.; the comic mood shockingly
Sellers) gets knocked out of a second
shifts in the middle of the film when Felix Farmer (Richard
the film, a large part of the cast is inadvertently blown up by a
story window in A Shot in the Dark and
Mulligan) is shot dead in the midst of slapstick mayhem.
we see him, like Wile E. Coyote in the
Although the moment of his death is anything but funny, the
Road Runner cartoons, lying flattened on
last part of the film treats his dead body and funeral comically.
the ground. Moments later, however,
he brushes himself off and walks
Edwards frequently speaks of his mixture of comedy and
high drama as related to his perception of life: "My life is
away as if nothing had happened.
If there are similarities with cartoons, there are also crucial differences. Because he makes
live-action films which represent a believable world, Edwards
intensifies the element of pain which the make-believe world
of cartoons minimizes. Viewers may very likely wince in pain
when, in A Shot in the Dark, the frustrated Chief Inspector
Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) inadvertently cuts off his thumb and,
in Son pfthe Pink Panther,when, with his leg in a cast, he gets
mangled in a mechanical hospital bed. In Return of the Pink
Panther, Sir Charles (Christopher Plummer) systematically
and graphically breaks all of the fingers on both of Pepi's
(Graham Stark) hands. It is certainly much easier to watch
Daffy Duck get his feathers blown off and blackened with a
shotgun blast.
At times Edwards goes further than extending a comic
style that is, by conventional standards, more appropriate in
Ina scene from THEPINK
PANTHER,
Colin Gordon (left) and Peter Sellars (right).
exactly like that; I don't go through a
a hospital surrounded by men injured in
day where there isn't a high degree of
the great naval battles of the war, while
drama, a certain amount of comedy."
he got his injury in a swimming pool:
His descriptions of painful events in his
"And all these guys with purple hearts. I
life are often bound up with unexpected-
had the biggest laugh of my life in that
ly humorous aspects. As a young man
ward, because I woke up one day, and
in the Coast Guard during World War
there was Eleanor Roosevelt standing at
II, he broke his back and neck in a div-
the foot of my bed, and she looked at
ing accident and was a quadriplegic for
me and said, 'Where were you wound-
about forty hours. To compound this
ed, young man?' Now you've got to end
grim situation further, his treatment led
up with a sense of humor if you're going
to a morphine addiction. However,
when he relates the story, it is within the
to face things like that."
context of his embarrassment at being in
autobiographical strain in his work, nor
Many of the characters with strong
of the fact that many of the more
autobiographical overtones in his films
painful, as well as comical, incidents in
are not presented sympathetically;
films like 10, S.O.B., and That's Life/ are
rather, they are often quite conflicted in
based upon actual events in his own life,
whether middle-aged crises or profes-
their motivations and bring much of
sional calamities. And he is not fin-
pain is often very funny. After George
ished. He has recently spoken of a script
Webber (Dudley Moore) has a number
idea based upon the last three years of
of his teeth pulled in 10, he tries to smile
his life in a way that reveals his comic
at a woman while drinking a cup of cof-
sensibility: "It covers the three years
fee, but the coffee comes painfully and
having to do with the death of my par-
embarrassingly dribbling out of his
ents and the acting out of my children.
mouth. Later, he gets into trouble while
He has made no secret of the strong
THAT'S LIFE!
their pain upon themselves.
But that
It's just total madness, there is no other
trying to talk to his girlfriend (Julie
word for it. I knew while it was going
Andrews) over the phone because his
on that eventually it would just go away,
or else it would turn into a comedy.
incomprehensible speech sounds like an
Well, it didn't go away."
neighbor's sexual activities through a
Not every mind works like that, not
Jennifer Edwards and Robert Preston inS.O.B.
(Top photo): Robert Webber and Dudley Moore in 10.
(Bottom photo): Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews in
obscene phone call. When looking at a
telescope, he inadvertently smashes him-
everyone sees a deep relation between
self in the head with the telescope and
the most tragic of events, especially in
goes falling down a huge hill. While
one's personal life, and comedy, but
these are very funny scenes, they also
Blake Edwards' mind works that way
directly parallel the deeper pain that the
repeatedly. He does not spare himself.
sexually insecure character is having -
Dreyfus' analyst, the fate of the field is not rosy in Edwards'
films.
The Man Who Loved Women is the film in his career that
deals most explicitly with psychoanalysis, but in this film the
From
left: Lysette
Anthony,
JoBeth
Williams, andVictoria Mahoney
inSWITCH.
his fears about his age, potency, and ability to attract women;
his difficulties in communicating with his girlfriend; and the
loss of control his sexual problems are inducing in him.
Edwards' focus on extreme pain extends to his least
believable characters. Inspector Clouseau has ordered his servant Cato to brutally attack him without warning at every
opportunity, thus introducing physical pain into both of their
daily lives. Inspector Dreyfus, who chopped his thumb off in
A Shot in the Dark, accidently shoots his nose off and inadvertently strangles his psychiatrist in Return ofthe Pink Panther.
One way of coping with internal pain is psychoanalysis
and Edwards has
praised its benefits.
process does not work. David Fowler (Burt Reynolds) is a
compulsive woman chaser who seeks psychoanalytic help. The
therapy fails and his problem leads to his death. Just as
Edwards does not use autobiographical material in a cheerful,
self-glorifying way, he also does not present a sunny, uncomplicated view of the therapeutic method that means so much to
him. He knows that psychoanalysis is a complicated process
with many pitfalls that does not always succeed and he does
not shy away from its darker side. The Man Who Loved Women
is one of the grimmest films in his career; it also contains one
of his funniest sequences as Fowler, involved in a dangerous
and hilarious affair with a married woman (Kim Basinger),
engages in precisely the activities that will lead to his death.
Blake Edwards has successfully worked in a great variety
of comic modes -
from the World War II comedy of
"I
started going quietly
mad at one point in my
life.
I was in a lot of
pain, emotional pain,
and I tried all sorts of
avenues of escape....
I
found that the pain just
got worse.
An actor
named Frank Lovejoy
saw my torment, and
said, 'Listen, why don't
you see an analyst?' and
gave me the name of
one. I found out I could
get
an
enormous
amount of relief there."
But, like the fate of
Roberto
Benigni and
Blake
Edwards
ontheset of SON
OF
THE
PINK
PANTHER.
Operation Petticoat to the slapstick and bedroom farce of The
him look ridiculous as he passes his analyst. The scene also
Pink Pantherto the sophisticated humor of Breakfast at
provides a physical parallel for the painful manner in which the
Tifany's to the dark, satiric humor of S.O.B., among others.
character is losing control of his life.
He uses humor on many levels. In Skin Deep, an agent uses
Edwards has said that creativity makes his life bearable;
brutal and biting wit to try to prod a blocked writer to write.
without it he could not survive. Life's grimmer aspects have
The wit is less funny than nasty and aggressive. We later learn
fueled one of the longest and most productive careers in
that the agent knew he was dying at the time and that he used
Hollywood history. Perhaps paradoxically, that creativity has
the wit to cover his pain and to distance his friends from sym-
most often taken the form of comedy. Whether we have Felix
pathy for him, thus sparing them pain. In the same film, the
Farmer trying to hang himself in his bedroom because of a
writer (John Ritter) goes into uncontrollable and very funny
career failure and marital collapse, or Inspector Clouseau and
spasms as the result of a muscular treatment. In a long take,
beautifully choreographed and acted, Ritter attempts to walk
Cato wildly fighting one another with deadly weapons, we wit-
down a flight of stairs into a parking garage. His spasms
laugh until it hurts, and because it hurts.
ness much pain, and we keep laughing, hoping for more. We
knock a sheaf of papers out of a woman's hands and then make
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CAPSULE REVIEWS OF
BLAKE EDWARDS'FILMS
BYPETER
LEHMAN
AND
WILLIAM
IUHR
OPERATION PETTICOAT (1959)
history. It also marked the first of Edwards'
supply officer, Lieutenant Nick Holden
Operation Petticoat marked Edwards' entry
into the top ranks of feature production. It
fortuitous last-minute casting changes when
(Tony Curtis), cleverly "appropriates"the
needed materials and eventually brings five
female nurses on-board, thereby causing con-
was the first time he worked with a star of
Cary Grant's stature and it opened at the
prestigious Radio City Music Hall. A huge
box office success, it quickly became one of
the largest-grossing comedies in Universal's
Cary Grant stepped into the lead role after
Jeff Chandler's untimely death.
This naval comedy concerns the efforts of
Commander Matt Sherman (Grant) to repair
his damaged submarine and return it to active
duty in the days following Pearl Harbor. His
siderable embarrassment and confusion in the
all-male submarine world.
Many of the gags in the film concern
indignities to the crew's sense of their masculinity, a recurring source of
humor in Edwards' career.
These men do not take kindly to
having women aboard, to trying
to fight the enemy in a damaged
submarine and, perhaps worst of
all, to having their entire submarine painted a bright pink.
They are finally reduced to saving themselves from being sunk
by their own side by shooting
women's undergarments out of
the torpedo hatches to identify
themselves as Americans.
BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S
(1961)
Breakfast at Tffany's, based
upon the widely admired
Truman Capote novel, depicts
the lifestyle and husband-hunting adventures of the attractive
and bizarre Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn).
The film was the first demonstration of Edwards's skill with a
"sophisticated" kind of comedy dealing with a stylish demi-monde that
is more akin to works of Ernst Lubitsch than to anything Edwards had
previously done. Holly's thinly disguised career as a call girl and her
friend Paul's (George Peppard) as a "kept" man, presented in a largely
sympathetic light, stretched the limits of what Hollywood cinema
would allow at that time.
While George Axelrod wrote the script for 'Tiffany's,' Edwards is
justly proud of his original idea for its clever and uniquely choreographed party sequence, the first of many major party sequences in his
films. One incident from this one, showing Edwards' typical emphasis
on heavy drinking and disoriented behavior at parties, has Holly inadvertently setting a woman's hat on fire with her cigarette. Before Paul,
horrified but in another part of the room, can do anything about it,
another character spills his drink, dousing the fire. Even the participants never know what has happened.
Henry Mancini won two Academy Awards for Breakfast at
Tifany's (best score and best song, "Moon River"). This collaboration
between Mancini and Edwards on 'Tiffany's,' as well as on the popular
television series Peter Gunn (1958-61), set the standard for what has
job precisely on those grounds, arguing that the material was so grim
that it needed an occasional light touch to make it more poignant.
A fine example of this touch comes in the scene in which Joe comes
home merrily drunk, picks some flowers from his apartment building's
become perhaps the most successful and longest lived major
director/composer team in Hollywood history. Edwards received a
DGA nomination for this film.
outside garden, and then walks towards the camera and abruptly bumps
into a large pane of glass. The act, which is both comic and pathetic at
the same time, shocks not only Joe but also the viewer, who is similarly
unaware of the window
DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES (1963)
Both Edwards and Jack Lemmon changed their career profiles
THE PINK PANTHER
(1964)
from mainly comic to dramatic artists with Days of Wine and Roses.
Unlike anything Edwards had done before, this social problem drama,
shot in black and white, is a harrowing study of alcoholism and garnered Edwards some of the most respectful reviews of his career. It
tells the story ofJoe Clay (Lemmon), a heavy drinking public relations
man who feels his job is degrading. He marries Kirstin Arnesen (Lee
The Pink Pantherspawned one of Hollywood's most popular series
and, in Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau, one of its most enduring
characters. That character has become so associated with the series that
it is jolting today to recall that Sellers was not even the lead actor in the
film - David Niven as Sir Charles Litton was! Furthermore, Sellers
was not the first choice for the role. Peter Ustinov dropped out just
Remick), a non-drinker, and pressures her into drinking with him.
Soon she becomes an alcoholic and their lives collapse. His slow, gru-
before production began and Sellers became another of Edwards' fortuitous last-minute casting replacements.
The film involves Clouseau's attempts to foil an international jewel
eling recovery eventually requires the horrible moral decision of rejecting her for the very addiction he fostered in her.
Edwards was a surprise choice for this film since he had primarily
directed comedies up to this point. Jack Lemmon wanted him for the
thief, "The Phantom" (secretly Sir Charles).
The thief not only eludes capture but is also having an affair with
Mme. Clouseau (Capucine). In the end, Clouseau goes to jail for the
crime he is trying to solve, and Sir Charles
had to masquerade as a man, marking the first
goes to South America with Clouseau's wife.
The 'Pink Panther' is not only the fabled
major instance in the series of transvestism, a
concept Edwards frequently plays with in his
work. In another example, Clouseau's servant, Cato (Burt Kwouk), also appears as a
jewel that Sir Charles is trying to steal but is
also associated with the virginity of its owner,
Princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale). It takes its
woman in this very funny film for which
Edwards received a WGA nomination.
place alongside other props such as a broken
icicle, a smashed violin, and an unexpectedly
uncorked champagne bottle that form a subtext commenting upon the sexual foibles of
the characters. Notably, the pink panther cartoon figure appears for the first time in the
film's credits.
10 (1979)
10, Edwards' highest grossing box-office
film to-date, turned Bo Derek into an
overnight sensation and made Dudley Moore
it, and he again goes after Sir Charles Litton,
With The Pink Panther, Edwards reintroduced slapstick comedy into quality
Hollywood production. This brand of
"The Phantom" (this time played by
humor, so popular in the silent era, had subsequently been relegated to "B" films and shorts.
The film also contains long bedroom farce
sequences, a mode to which Edwards returns
repeatedly.
iar characters and situations.
Of course, things do not work out in the
same way and, as the film revitalized the
series, it turns out that not Sir Charles but his
wife (Catherine Schell) stole the diamond to
revitalize their marriage. To get the jewel she
RETURN OF THE PINK PANTHER
(1975)
After A Shot in the Dark, neither Edwards
nor Peter Sellers had any intention of resuming the Clouseau series; in fact, in 1968 they
made The Party, a slapstick film having nothing to do with the Clouseau character. But in
the mid-1970s, when both were having career
difficulties, they teamed again to make Return
of the Pink Pantherwith resounding success.
The film not only revitalized the series, it
was also the first to present itself as part of a
series by presuming audience awareness of the
earlier films, a pattern that continues in all
subsequent Panther films. When the fabled
Pink Panther jewel is again stolen, the logical
thing to do is to again get Clouseau to recover
Christopher Plummer). The logic of this film
is that this is a new way of dealing with famil-
(who replaced George Segal at the last
minute) a comedic leading man. It tells the
story of George Webber's (Dudley Moore)
mid-life crisis which makes him leave his girlfriend (Julie Andrews) in pursuit of Jenny (Bo
Derek), a beautiful woman whom he first
glimpses on her wedding day. The film
marks an important shift in Edwards' work
from examining sexual issues in a subtextual
manner, as in the Pink Panther films, to treat-
ing them openly. After the light comedy of
the previous Pink Panther films, 10 noticeably mixes serious themes and drama with
outrageous comedy. The scene in which
George is impotent with a woman he picks
up in a bar is poignant and touching in its
examination of casual sexual encounters and
contrasts wildly with the physical comedy in a
following scene in which he is on a beach and
A
scorches his feet on the hot sand. Edwards'
comedy of pain is both physical as when
George's dental work leads him to dull the
pain with drugs and alcohol and psychological
as when he bumblingly attempts to seduce
Jenny only to find that she does not match his
vision of her. Edwards received a WGA
nomination for this film.
S.O.B. (1981)
Mary Poppins topless? S.O.B. gained instant notoriety with Julie
Andrews' topless scene and, indeed, the film is partially about remaking
movies and star images. Since his marriage to Julie Andrews, Edwards
attempted to bring out new facets of her acting and persona in such
films as Darling Lili, The Tamarind Seed and 10. He goes the furthest
in this film which tells the story of film producer Felix Farmer's
(Richard Mulligan) attempt to save a box-office disaster by turning a
"G" rated children's film starring his wife (Andrews) into a sexually
explicit adult film. The manner in which the movie-within-the-movie
turns the sexual subtext of a nursery tale into a sexually explicit story
parallels Edwards' own shift from the Pink Panther films into 10. It
has many additional autobiographical elements going back to Edwards'
bitter battles for creative control over his films in Hollywood in the
early 70s. In an astonishing scene which turns comedy into brutal
tragedy, Farmer is shot and killed as he tries to steal back his film from
a studio. This film, for which Edwards received a WGA nomination,
contains so many resemblances to contemporary Hollywood personalities that it became a popular guessing game to link the fictional characters with actual figures within the industry.
VICToR/VICTORIA (1982)
After turning Mary Poppins into a sex star in S.O.B., Edwards
turned her into a man in Victor/Victoria. Based on a 1933 German
film, Victor/Victoria tells the story of Victoria (Julie Andrews), a performer who adopts the stage act of Victor, a man playing a woman; she
becomes a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman.
In an hilariously convoluted plot, King Marchand (James Garner) falls
in love with her before learning that she is a "man." Homophobic hysteria drives him to discover "Victor's" true sexual identity at any costs.
In an elaborate scene of Edwards' trademark bedroom farce, Marchand
hides in Victor's bathroom and then has to crawl out undetected after
seeing "him" take a bath. The film explores both the power imbalances
between men and women in our culture and its fears of homosexuality.
In memorable casting choices, Alex Karras plays Squash, Marchand's
macho bodyguard who, much to Marchand's surprise, turns out to be
gay and Robert Preston plays Toddy, the gay entrepreneur who comes
up with the idea of Victoria's stage act. In a refreshing twist on many
Hollywood images of homosexuals, the gay men are secure and comfortable with their sexuality while the heterosexual King Marchand is
longtime analyst, only consisted of a brief outline of scenes followed by a few paragraphs
describing the nature of the characters.
Nearly all the dialogue and even the outcome
of some of the action was improvised on the
set. The film seamlessly blends poignant
drama (as in the haunting images of Gillian's
isolation from the family as she anguishes
over her health) and physical comedy (as in
the scene where Harvey squirms in anguish
from lice as he speaks in church). More
directly than in any of his other films, both
the comedy and the drama in That's Life! draw
on Edwards' own personal pain.
SWITCH (1991)
precariously insecure in his. With this film,
for which Edwards won a WGA award, he
entered a creative period of remaking the
films of others as well as returning to and
remaking his own previous films and television work (The Pink Panther and Peter Gunn).
THAT'S LIFE! (1986)
That's Life! opened to a chorus of virtually
unanimous critical praise. It not only continued Edwards' stunning string of films with
Julie Andrews but also reunited him with Jack
Lemmon. Like 10, it deals with a birthday
precipitating a crisis. Harvey Fairchild (Jack
Lemmon), turns 60 on the weekend that his
wife Gillian (Julie Andrews) waits for a biopsy
report on a possible malignancy. Fairchild is
so self-absorbed with his aging that he entire-
ly ignores his wife's crisis. Although Fairchild
is an architect, the creative nature of his profession and the manner in which it brings him
into conflict with the people who hire him
bears comparison with Edwards' position as a
writer/director within Hollywood. Indeed,
casting his family and friends and shooting
Nearly a decade after Victor/Victoria,
Edwards created a companion piece in Switch.
This time, he extended the premise even fur-
the film in his own home further intensifies
the autobiographical elements. The script,
co-authored with Milton Wexler, Edwards'
ther and, rather than have a woman masquerade as a man pretending to be a woman, he
placed a man inside a woman's body. Steve, a
sexist, is killed by former girlfriends and God
(who, in keeping with Edwards' exploration
of gender issues, speaks alternatingly in a male
voice, a female voice, and a combination of
both) gives him a chance to enter heaven if he
can return to earth and get one woman to
vouch for him. He agrees but, to his surprise,
is reincarnated as Amanda (Ellen Barkin).
Much like Victoria in Victor/Victoria learns
about the world of male privilege in her guise
as Victor; Steve, as a woman, experiences the
other side of the gender power imbalance as
she/he is verbally harassed by construction
workers on the street and seduced while
drunk. The seduction involves another interesting plot twist since Walter (Jimmy Smits),
Steve's best friend, is the seducer.
He impregnates Amanda and the
baby girl to whom she gives birth
redeems Steve so that he may
enter heaven. Like Micki &
Maude where the Dudley Moore
character virtually becomes a
is widely respected as a major comic talent in his Italy and throughout
Europe, he has been a comparative unknown to mainstream American
audiences. Not only is Benigni a very different comic actor than Peter
Sellers but the character of Jacques Jr. is very different from that of his
father. Whereas Clouseau was a deeply conflicted with an aggressive
and sometimes vicious side, his son is a gentle man who exudes a child-
mother, Switch touches on deeply
repressed male maternal fantasies.
Son of the Pink Panther involves the kidnapping of a princess
(Debrah Farentino) by terrorists and Clouseau Jr's inept but successful
attempts to rescue her. While the film draws upon many cherished
icons (Herbert Lom, Claudia Cardinale, Burt Kwouk) from earlier
films, it is also remarkably inventive - as in a hospital scene in which
SON OF THE PINK PANTHER (1993)
When Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom) first encounters
Inspector Clouseau's illegitimate son, Jacques Jr. (Roberto Benigni), in
Son of the Pink Panther,his eye, as in the earlier films, begins involuntarily twitching; the comparable reaction for lovers of the series and of
Edwards' work is likely to be compulsive laughter. Although Benigni
like innocence.
Clouseau Jr., thinking he is working a television remote control, unwittingly plays havoc with Dreyfus' electronic hospital bed. Edwards once
more proves he has no equal as a master of physical comedy.
F I L M 0 G R A P H Y
Son of the Pink Panther
Vincent Gardenia, Alyson Reed,
That's Life!
1993, MGM
Joel Brooks, Julianne Phillips,
1986, Columbia
Screenplay by Blake Edwards and
Chelsea Field, Peter Donat, Don
Gordon, Nina Foch.
Written by Milton Wexler & Blake
Madeline Sunshine & Steven
Sunshine; Story by Blake Edwards
(based on characters created by
Sunset
Maurice Richlin & Blake Edwards);
1988, Tri-Star
Produced by Tony Adams; Directed
Screenplay by Blake Edwards;
Story by Rod Amateau; Produced
by Blake Edwards; Photography by
Dick Bush; Production Design by
Peter Mullins; Music by Henry
Mancini; Edited by Robert
Pergament. CAST: Roberto
Benigni, Claudia Cardinale,
Herbert Lom, Debrah Farentino,
Burt Kwouk, Robert Davi, Jennifer
Edwards, Shabana Azmi
Switch
1991, Tri-Star
Written and Directed by Blake
Edwards; Produced by Tony
Adams; Photography by Dick Bush;
Production Design by Rodger
Maus; Music by Henry Mancini;
Edited by Robert Pergament. CAST:
Jimmy Smits, Ellen Barkin, JoBeth
Williams, Lorraine Bracco, Tony
Roberts
Skin Deep
1989, Twentieth
Century Fox
Written and Directed by Blake
Edwards; Produced by Tony
Adams; Photography by Isidore
Mankofsky; Production Design by
Rodger Maus; Edited by Robert
Pergament. CAST: John Ritter,
by Tony Adams; Directed by Blake
Edwards; Photography by Anthony
B. Richmond; Production Design by
Rodger Maus; Set Decoration by
Marvin March; Music by Henry
Mancini; Edited by Robert
Pergament. CAST: Bruce Willis,
James Garner, Mariel Hemingway,
Kathleen Quinlan, Jennifer Edwards,
Malcolm McDowell, Patricia
Hodge, Dermont Mulroney, M.
Emmet Walsh, Richard Bradford,
Andreas Katsulas, Joe Dallesandro.
Blind Date
1987, Tri-Star
Screenplay by Dale launer;
Produced by Tony Adams; Directed
by Blake Edwards; Photography
by Harry Stradling; Production
Designer, Rodger Maus; Set
Decorator, Carl Biddiscombe;
CAST: Kim Basinger, Bruce Willis,
John Larroquette, William Daniels,
George Coe, Mark Blum, Phil
Hartman, Stephanie Faracy,
Graham Stark, Sacerdo Tanney.
Edwards; Produced by Tony
Adams; Directed by Blake
Edwards; Photography by Anthony
Richmond; Set Decoration by Tony
Marando; Music by Henry
Mancini; Edited by Lee Rhoads.
CAST: Jack Lemmon, Julie Andrews,
Sally Kellerman, Robert Loggia,
Jennifer Edwards, Rob Knepper,
Matt Lattanzi, Chris Lemmon,
Cynthia Sikes, Dana Sparks, Emma
Walton, Felicia Farr, Theodore
Wilson.
AFine Mess
1985, Columbia
Written and Directed by Blake
Edwards; Produced by Tony
Adams; Photography by Harry
Stradling; Production Design by
Rodger Maus; Set Decoration by
Stuart A. Reiss; Music by Henry
Mancini; Edited by John F. Burnett
and Robert Pergament. CAST: Ted
Danson, Howie Mandel, Richard
Mulligan, Stuart Margolin, Paul
Sorvino, Maria Conchita Alonso,
Jennifer Edwards, Rick Ducommun,
Keye Luke, Ed Herlihy.
Micki &Maude
Curse of the Pink Panther
1984, Columbia
1983, MGM/UA
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
Screenplay by Jonathan Reynolds;
Produced by Tony Adams; Directed
Written by Blake Edwards &
by Blake Edwards; Photography by
Tony Adams; Produced and
Harry Stradling; Production Design
by Rodger Maus; Set Decoration by
Stuart A. Reiss; Music by Lee
Directed by Blake Edwards;
Photography by Dick Bush; Music
by Henry Mancini; Edited by Ralph
Holdrige; Edited by Ralph E.
E. Winters. CAST: David Niven,
Ted Wass, Robert Wagner.
Winters. CAST: Dudley Moore,
Maus; Music by Henry Mancini;
Geoffrey Edwards; Produced by
Amy Irving, Ann Reinking, Richard
Julie Andrews, James Garner, Rober
rton Leslie Ann Warren, Alex
Karras.
Academy Award
Nomination for Best Screenplay by
Blake Edwards; WGA Award for
Best Adapted Screenplay. Cesar
Award for Best Foreign Film.
S.0..
Mulligan, George Gaynes,
Wallace Shawn, John Pleshelte.
TPail of the Pink Panther
1981, Lorimar
1982, MGM/UA
Written and Directed by Blake
The Man Who Loved
Women
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
Geoffrey Edwards and Frank
Waldman & Tom Waldman
(based on a Story by Blake
1983, Columbia
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
Geoffrey Edwards and Milton
Wexler (based upon "T homme qui
aimait les femmes" by Michel
Fermaud, Suzanne Schiffman,
Francois Truffaut; Produced by Tony
Adams; Produced and Directed by
Edwards and characters created by
David H. DePatie, Friz Frelengl;
Produced by Tony Adams;
Produced and Directed by Blake
Blake Edwards; Photography by
Peter Selers, David Niven, Herbert
lom, Richard Muligan.
Haskel Wexler; Production Design
by Rodger Maus; Music by Henry
Edwards; Photography by Dick
Bush; Music by Henry Mancini;
Edited by Alan Jones.
CAST:
Production Design by Rodger Maus;
Music by Henry Mancini; Edited by
Ralph Winters. CAST: Julie
Andrews, William Holden, Marisa
Berenson, Richard Mulligan, Larry
Hagman.
WGA
Award
Nomination.
10
1979, Orion
Written and Directed by Blake
Edwards; Produced by Blake
Mancini; Edited by Ralph E.
Winters. CAST: Burt Reynolds, Julie
Andrews, Kim Basinger, Marilu
Henner-
Edwards; Produced by Blake
Edwards and Tony Adams;
Photography by Harry Stradling;
1982, MGM
Screenplay by Blake Edwards;
(based on the film, VIKTOR UND
VIKTORIA by Rheinhold Schuenzel,
Hans Hoemburg); Produced by
Tony Adams; Directed and
Produced by Blake Edwards;
Photography by Dick Bush;
Production Design by Rodger
Edwards and Tony Adams;
Photography by Frank Stanley;
Productions Design by Rodger
Maus; Music by Henry Mancini;
Edited by Ralph E. Winters.
CAST:
Dudley Moore, Julie
Andrews, Bo Derek, Robert
Webber, Dee Wallace, Sam
Jones. WGA Award Nomination.
Revenge of the Pink
The Tamarind Seed
Directed by Blake Edwards;
Pantler
1974, Jewel-Lorimar
1978, UA
Screenplay by Blake Edwards
Screenplay by Frank Waldman
based on the novel by Evelyn
Anthony); Produced by Ken Wales;
Produced by Owen Crump;
Photography by Russell Harlan,
Harold E. Wellman; Production
Design by Fernando Carrere; Music
by Henry Mancini, lyrics by Johnny
Mercer. CAST: Julie Andrews,
Rock Hudson, Jeremy Kemp, Lance
Percival, Michael Witney, Jacques
Marin, Andre Maranne.
Ron Clark and Blake Edwards;
Story by Blake Edwards; Executive
Producer Tony Adams; Produced
and Directed by Blake Edwards;
Photography Ernie Day; Production
Design by Peter Mullins; Music by
Henry Mancini; Edited by Alan
Jones. CAST: Peter Sellers, Herbert
[om, Dyan Cannon, Robert
Webber, Burt Kwouk, Paul Stewart,
Robert loggia, Graham Stark.
Directed by Blake Edwards;
Photography by Freddie Young;
Music by John Barry; Edited by
Ernest Walter.
CAST: Julie
Andrews, Omar Sharif, Anthony
Quayle.
The Carey Treatment
1968, UA
1972, MGM
Screenplay by Blake Edwards and
Tom Waldman & Frank Waldman;
Story by Blake Edwards; Produced
Written by James P. Bonner (based
on the novel "A Case of Need" by
The Pink Panther Strikes
Again
Jeffrey Hudson); Directed by Blake
Edwards; Produced by William
1976, UA
Belasco; Photography
Written by Frank Waldman & Blake
Edwards; Directed and Produced
by Blake Edwards; Production
Design by Peter Mullins; Music by
Henry Mancini; Edited by Alan
Jones. CAST: Peter Sellers, Herbert
[am, Colin Blakely.
WGA Award
for Best Original Screenplay.
by Frank
Stanley; Music by Roy Budd.
CAST: James Coburn, Jennifer
O'Neill, Skye Aubrey, Pat Hingle,
Dan O'Herlihy.
Wild Rovers
Written and Directed by Blake
Edwards and Ken
1975, UA
Photography by Philip Lathrop;
Music by Jerry Goldsmith; Edited by
John F.Burnett. CAST: William
Geoffrey Unsworth; Production
Design by Peter Mullins; Music by
Henry Mancini; Edited by Tom
Priestley. CAST: Peter Sellers,
Christopher Plummer, Catherine
Schell, Burt Kwouk. WGA Award
Nomination.
Photography by Lucien Ballard;
Production Design by Fernando
Carrere; Music by Henry Mancini;
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet,
Marge Champion, Fay McKenzie,
Gnn
1971, MGM
Return of the Pink Panther
by Blake Edwards; Photography by
and Directed by Blake Edwards;
Steve Franken, Buddy [ester.
Edwards; Produced by Blake
Written by Blake Edwards & Frank
Waldman; Produced and Directed
The Party
Wales;
1967, Paramount
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
William Peter Blatty (based on a
story and characters created by
Blake Edwards); Produced by
Owen Crump; Directed by Blake
Holden, Ryan O'Neal, Karl
Maiden.
Edwards; Photography by Philip
Darling [Ill
Mancini; Edited by Peter Zinner.
CAST: Craig Stevens, Laura
Devon, Edward Asner. Mystery
1970, Paramount
Written by Blake Edwards &
William Peter Blatty; Produced and
Lathrop; Production Design by
Fernando Carrere; Music by Henry
Writers of America, Edgar Allen
Poe Award.
What Did YoueDo InThe
War, Daddy?
1966, UA
Screenplay by William Peter Blatty
(based on a story by Blake Edwards
and Maurice Richlinl; Produced and
Directed by Blake Edwards;
Photography by Philip Lathrop;
Edwards; Photography by Chris
Edwards; Photography by Philip
Challis; Production Design by
Michael Stringer; Music by Henry
Lathrop; Music by Henry Mancini;
Lyrics by Johnny Mercer; Edited by
CAST: Jack
Patrick McCormack.
Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles
Mancini; Edited by Ralph E.
Winters.
CAST: Peter Sellers,
Elke Sommer, George Sanders.
Bickford, Jack Klugman, Alan
Hewitt, Tom Palmer, Debbie
Megowan, Maxine Stuart, Jack
Albertson, Ken Lynch.
lhe Pink Panther
1964, UA
Production Design by Fernando
Carrere; Music by Henry Mancini;
Written by Maurice Richlin & Blake
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
Edwards; Produced by Martin Jurow
Experiment inTerror
James Coburn, Dick Shawn, Sergio
Fantoni, Giovanni Ralli, Aldo Ray,
Leon Askin, Carroll O'Connor,
Harry Morgan.
& Martin Manulis; Directed by Blake
1962, Columbia
he
gmgg Rac
1965, Warner Bros.
Screenplay by Arthur Ross Ibased on
a story by Arthur Ross and Blake
Edwards); Produced by Martin
Jurow; Directed by Blake Edwards;
Edwards, Photography by Philip
Screenplay by Mildred and Gordon
Lathrop; Production Design by Peter
Mullins; Music by Henry Mancini;
Gordon from their novel "Operation
Terror"; Produced and Directed by
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
Blake Edwards; Photography by
David Niven, Peter Sellers, Robert
Wagner, Capucine, Claudia
Philip Lathrop; Music by Henry
Mancini; Edited by Patrick
Cardinale.
WGA
Award
McCormack.
CAST: Glenn Ford,
Photography by Russell Harlan;
1963, Allied Artists
Lee Remick, Ross Martin, Stefanie
Powers, Roy Poole, Ned Glass,
Patricia Huston, Gilbert Green,
Clifton James.
Production Design by Fernando
Carrere; Music by Henry Mancini;
Screenplay by Maurice Richlin and
Blake Edwards (based on a novel
The Notorious Ludlady
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
by William Goldman); Produced
by Martin Jurow; Directed by Ralph
Nelson; Photography by Philip
Lathrop; Music by Henry Mancini;
1962, Columbia
Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Natalie
Wood, Peter Folk. WGA Award
Nomination, Silver Medal Award,
Moscow Film Fesival.
AShoInThe Dark
1964, UA
Screenplay by Blake Edwards and
William Peter Blatty (based on plays
by Harry Kumitz, adapted from the
French play by Marcel Achard);
Produced and Directed by Blake
Nomination.
A su In The Rain
Screenplay by Larry Gelbart and
Blake Edwards (based on the story
"The Notorious Tenant" by Margery
Edited by Ralph E.Winters. CAST:
Sharp); Produced by Fred Kohlmar;
Jackie Gleason, Steve McQueen,
Directed by Richard Quine;
Tuesday Weld, Tony Bill, Tom
Poston, Ed Nelson, John Hubbard.
Photography by Arthur E.Arling;
Music by George Duning; Edited by
Charles Nelson. CAST: Kim
Days of WhIe &Roes
Novak, Jack Lemmon, Fred Astaire.
WGA Award Nomination.
1962,Warner Bros.
Screenplay by J.P. Miler based on
his television play; Produced by
Martin Manulis; Directed
by Blake
Breakfast at iffany's
1961, Paramount
Screenplay by George Axelrod,
based upon the book by Truman
Capote; Produced by Martin Jurow
and Richard Shepard; Directed by
Blake Edwards; Photography by
Franz F. Planer; Music by Henry
Mancini; Lyrics by Johnny Mercer;
Edited by Howard Smith.
CAST:
Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard,
Patricia Neal, Buddy Ebsen, Martin
O'Connell, Richard Sargent.
Academy Award Nominations for
Story and Screenplay.
The Perfect Furlough
1958, Universal
Written by Stanley Shapiro;
Produced by Robert Arthur, Directed.
by Blake Edwards; Photography by
Philip Lathrop; Music by Frank
High Time
1960, 20th Century
Fox
Screenplay by Tom Waldman and
Frank Waldman, based on a story
by Garson Kanin; Produced by
Charles Brackett; Directed by Blake
Edwards; Photography by Ellsworth
Fredricks; Music by Henry Mancini;
Edited by Robert Simpson. CAST:
Bing Crosby, Tuesday Weld,
Fabian, Richard Beymer.
1957, Universal
Screenplay by Blake Edwards
(based on a story by Leo Rostenl
Produced by Robert Arthur; Directed
by Blake Edwards; Photography by
Russell Metty; Music by Joseph
Gershenson; Edited by Edward
Curtiss. CAST: Tony Curtis, Martha
Skinner; Edited by Milton Carruth
CAST: Tony Curis, Janet Leigh
Hyer, Charles Bickford, Kathryn
GrantWilliams Reynolds, Henry
Daniell, Russ Morgan, Willis
This Happy Feeing
Bouchey, Iouise Lorimer, Joan
Banks, Harry Landers, Glen Kramer,
1958, Universal.
Dick Crockett.
Balsam, Mickey Rooney. DGA
Award Nomination.
Mister Cory
Screenplay by Bloke Edwards
(based on "For Love or Money",
adaptation by F. Hugh Herbert);
Produced by Ross. Hunter; Directed
RHuIad Last
1956, Columbia
Screenplay by Blake Edwards; Story
by Blake Edwards; Photography by,
Arthur E. Arling; Music by frank
Skinner; Edited by Milton Carru h.
CAST: Debbie Reynolds, John'
by Richard Quine & Blake Edwards;
Saxon, Alexis Smith, CurJurgen,
Mary Astor, Estelle Winwood; Troy.
Donahu, Hayden Rorke, Gloria
Morton; Edited by Jack W. Ogilvie.
Holden, Alex Gerry, Joe Flynn,
AlexariderCampbell, Clem Fuller.
tong.
Operation Petticoat
Produced byonieJaps Directed by
Blake Edwards; Photography by
Henry Freulich; Music by Arthur
CAST; Frankie Laine, Lucy Marlow,
Anthony Dexter, Jesse White, Dick
bring YOWr SmgO AUD
1959, Universal
1955, Columbia
Screenplay by Stanley Shapiro and
Maurice Richlin; suggested by a
story by Paul King and Joseph
Stone; Produced by Robert Arthur;
1957, Columbia
Screenplay by Bbake Edwards; Story
by Richard Quine & Blake Edwards;
ProducedbyJonie Taps; Directed by
Blake Edwards; Photography by
Directed by Blake Edwards;
Screenplay by Arhur Carter and Jed
Harris. and Blake Edwards;
Produced by Jed Harris; Directed by
Richard Quine Photography by
Charles lawton, Jr;Music by Morris
Photography by Russell Harlan;
Charles Lawton, Jr; Music by
Stooff; Edited by Al Clark. CAST
Music by David Rose. CAST: Cary
George Duning.
Frankie
Grant, Tony Curtis, Joan O'Brien,
Dina Merrill, Gene Evans, Arthur
Lemmon, Ernie Kovacs,.Mickey
Rooney, James Darren; Arthur
O'Connell. WGA Nomination.
CAST: Jack
Laine, Keefe Brasselle,
Constance Towers, Lucy Marlow,
William Leslie.
My ister Eileen
All Ashore
Panhandle
1955, Columbia
1952, Columbia
1947, Allied Artists
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
Written by John C. Champion &
Richard Quine (based on the screen-
Richard Quine; Story by Roberts
play & play by Joseph Fields and
Wells and Blake Edwards;
Jerome Chodorov and stories by
Produced by Jonie Taps; Directed
Blake Edwards; Produced by Blake
Edwards & John C. Champion;
Directed by Lesley Selander. CAST:
Ruth
McKenney) Produced by Fred
Kohlmar; Directed by Richard
Quine; Photography by Charles
Charles Lawton, Jr.; Music by Morris
Rod Cameron, Cathy Downs, Reed
Hadley, Anne Gwynne, Blake
Stoloff, George Duning. CAST:
Edwards.
Lawton, Jr.; Music by George
Duning; CAST: Betty Garrett, Janet
Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Bob Fosse, Kurt
Kaszner, Horace MacMahon, Dick
by Richard Quine; Photography by
Mickey Rooney, Dick Haymes, Ray
McDonald, Peggy Ryan.
WhRhw laund My
York.
DNiue ACIaced Road
1954, Columbia
Screenplay by Blake Edwards
(Adaptation by Blake Edwards &
1952, Columbia
Written by Blake Edwards &
Richard Quine; Directed by Blake
Edwards.
Richard Quine); Story by James
Benson Nablo; Produced by Jonie
SCI on
Taps; Directed by Blake Edwards;
Photography by Charles Lawton, Jr.
CAST: Mickey Rooney, Kevin
Written by Blake Edwards &
McCarthy, Diane Foster
PUs
own
UwR
v
1953, Columbia
Written by Blake Edwards &
Richard Quine; Directed by Blake
Edwards. CAST: Dick Haymes,
Audrey Totter, Billy Daniels.
1952, Columbia
Richard Quine; Produced by Jonie
Taps; Directed by Richard Quine;
Photography by Ellis Carter; Music
by George Duning. CAST: Mickey
Rooney
Stmpede
1948, Allied Artists
Screenplay by Blake Edwards &
John C. Champion; Produced by
Blake Edwards & John C.
Champion.
TELEVISION
Blake Edwards career in television
began in 1954 with Four Star
Playhouse. Itwas with the creation
of the groundbreaking Peter Gunn in
1958 and Mr. Lucky in1959 that
the style that would become his
trademark gained notice. Blake
served as writer, director and producer. He also wrote and directed
the MOWs justin Case in 1988
and Rogue Cops (based on Peter
Gunn) in 1989. He cowrote My
Favorite Things in 1975 and Julie
and Dick in Covent Gardens in
1974.
RADIO
Edwards began his writing and
directing career in 1949 when he
created Richard Diamond: Private
Detective. He also contributed as a
writer to Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar
and The Lineup.
A C K NO W LE D G ME N T S
PRESTON STURGES AWARD COMMITTEE
Jeremy Kagan - Fay Kanin - Millard Kaufman - Del Reisman - Richard Schickel
FOR THE WRITERS GUILD OFAMERICA, WEST
FOR THE DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA
President, Del Reisman
President, Gene Reynolds
Vice President, Carl Gottlieb
SPECIAL PROJECTS COMMIITEE
Secretary-Treasurer, Ann Marcus
Chairman, Robert E. Wise
Noel Black, Beth Brickell, Gilbert Cates, Walter Coblenz, William Crain,
Andre de Toth, Peter R.J. Deyell, James Drake, Daisy Gerber, Victoria
Board ofDirectors
Catherine Bacos Clinch, Naomi Foner, D.C. Fontana, Martin M.
Hochberg, Lamont Johnson,Jeremy Kagan, Sheldon Leonard, Lawrence
Goldstein, Michael Halperin, Millard Kaufman, Larry Konner, Peter Lefcourt,
Robert S. Levinson, Reparata Mazzola, Daryl G. Nickens, Joan Owens, John
Riley, David W. Rintels, Michael Russnow, Don Segall, John Wells
Mirisch, Francine Parker, Gene Reynolds, Barbara Roche,
George Schaefer, Richard Schickel, David Shepard, Jack Shea,
George Sidney, Alain Silver, Christina Stevens, Chuck Workman
Executive Director, Glenn J. Gumpel
Executive Director Brian Walton
Public Relations Director CherylD. Rhoden
DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA SPECIAL PROJECTS STAFF
Public Relations Assistant Vicky Summers
National Special Projects Officer, Selise E. Eiseman
Manager Member Services, Gary Berg
Editor Oral Histories, Adele Field
Special Projects Assistant, Hilary Lesser
Special Projects Intern, Tri Fritz
Chuck Warn, Wam Communications Group
SPECIAL THANKS
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - Academy Foundation - Margaret Herrick Library - Tony Adams
Randy C. Baer
Leslie Bricusse
Selise E. Eiseman
James Gamer
Corinne Alicia - Julie Andrews
Sue Brownlees - George Carlin - Columbia/Tri-Star - Bo Derek - Blake Edwards - Jennifer Edwards
Cary Grant Estate - Audrey Hepbum Estate - Amy Irving
Jack Lemmon
Judy Luhr - Melanie Magisos - Henry Mancini - MGM, Maggie Adams - Dudley Moore - Orion - Paramount
Robert Loggia
Ann Reinking
Lorimar
Del Reisman
Arnold Rifin - John Ritter - St. Peter's College-Department of English - Gene Schwam - University ofArizona-Department of Media Arts
USC Archives - United Artists - Lesley Ann Warren - Warner Bros. - JoBeth Williams - Dick Winters
MONOGRAPH
Cheryl Rhoden
- Randi Steinberg - Vicky Summers
Written By Peter Lehman &William Luhr
Art Director, Ron Tammariello
Graphics Project Manager, Laila Haiek
Panther Art, Peter LoBianco
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