Making Movies

About the book

Why does a director choose a particular script? What must they do in order to keep actors fresh and truthful through take after take of a single scene? How do you stage a shootout--involving more than one hundred extras and three colliding taxis--in the heart of New York's diamond district? What does it take to keep the studio honchos happy? From the first rehearsal to the final screening, Making Movies is a master's take, delivered with clarity, candor, and a wealth of anecdote. For in this book, Sidney Lumet, one of our most consistently acclaimed directors, gives us both a professional memoir and a definitive guide to the art, craft, and business of the motion picture. Drawing on forty years of experience on movies that range from Long Day's Journey into Night to Network and The Verdict--and with such stars as Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, and Al Pacino--Lumet explains how painstaking labor and inspired split-second decisions can result in two hours of screen magic.

Reviews

Film would be a better place if every director were required to share with other romancers of film his process. It is a gift to us all that it is Sidney Lumet, one of American s greatest filmmakers, who is sharing his point-of-view. Stephen Spielberg Invaluable. . . . I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book. Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review   Remarkable . . . . as dignified as the movies [Lumet] has made and yet deeply felt and very moving. . . . Anyone who truly loves movies ought to read what he has to say about them. . . . Delightfully engrossing. Los Angeles Times The film bible from a master. It tells in meticulous detail the step-by-step process of making a movie. You feel you re on the set. A must. Quincy Jones Full of energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. . . . It s all engrossing because [Lumet] speaks so fervently and opinionatedly about matters on which he has earned the right to opinions. The New Republic

Quotes

"Film would be a better place if every director were required to share with other romancers of film his process. It is a gift to us all that it is Sidney Lumet, one of American's greatest filmmakers, who is sharing his point-of-view." --Stephen Spielberg "Invaluable. . . . I am sometimes asked if there is one book a filmgoer could read to learn more about how movies are made and what to look for while watching them. This is the book." --Roger Ebert, The New York Times Book Review "Remarkable . . . . as dignified as the movies [Lumet] has made and yet deeply felt and very moving. . . . Anyone who truly loves movies ought to read what he has to say about them. . . . Delightfully engrossing." --Los Angeles Times "The film bible from a master. It tells in meticulous detail the step-by-step process of making a movie. You feel you're on the set. A must." --Quincy Jones "Full of energy, enthusiasm and wisdom. . . . It's all engrossing because [Lumet] speaks so fervently and opinionatedly about matters on which he has earned the right to opinions." --The New Republic

Sidney Lumet Biography

Sidney Arthur Lumet ( loo-MET; June 25, 1924 – April 9, 2011) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated five times for the Academy Award: four for Best Director for 12 Angry Men (1957), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Network (1976), and The Verdict (1982) and one for Best Adapted Screenplay for Prince of the City (1981). He did not win an individual Academy Award, but did receive an Academy Honorary Award, and 14 of his films were nominated for Oscars.According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood, Lumet was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the modern era, directing more than one movie a year on average since his directorial debut in 1957. Turner Classic Movies notes his "strong direction of actors," "vigorous storytelling" and the "social realism" in his best work. Film critic Roger Ebert described him as "one of the finest craftsmen and warmest humanitarians among all film directors." Lumet was also known as an "actor's director," having worked with the best of them during his career, probably more than "any other director." Sean Connery, who acted in five of his films, considered him one of his favorite directors, and one who had that "vision thing."A member of the inaugural class at New York's Actors Studio, Lumet began his directorial career in Off-Broadway productions, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie, 12 Angry Men (1957), was a courtroom drama centered on a tense jury deliberation. Lumet subsequently divided his energies among political and social drama films, as well as adaptations of literary plays and novels, big stylish stories, New York-based black comedies, and realistic crime dramas, including Serpico and Prince of the City. As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he was also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies.In 2005, Lumet received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his "brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture." Two years later he concluded his career with the acclaimed drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). A few months after Lumet's death in April 2011, a retrospective celebration of his work was held at New York's Lincoln Center with numerous speakers and film stars. In 2015, Nancy Buirski directed By Sidney Lumet, a documentary about his career, which aired as part of PBS's American Masters series in January 2017 .

Biography

Early years

Lumet was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan. He studied theater acting at the Professional Children's School of New York and Columbia University.Lumet's parents, Baruch and Eugenia (née Wermus) Lumet, were veterans of the Yiddish theatre, and were Polish-Jewish emigrants to the United States. His father, an actor, director, producer and writer, was born in Warsaw. Lumet's mother, who was a dancer, died whe ... Read full biography