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by Paul Kerr (Author)
Hollywood Independentdissects the Mirisch Company, one of the most successful employers of the package-unit system of film production, producing classic films like The Apartment (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Great Escape (1963) and The Thomas Crown Affair(1968) as irresistible talent packages. Whilst they helped make the names of a new generation of stars including Steve McQueen and Shirley MacLaine, as well as banking on the reputations of established auteurs like Billy Wilder, they were also pioneers in dealing with controversial new themes with films about race (In the Heat of the Night), gender (Some Like it Hot) and sexuality (The Children's Hour), devising new ways of working with film franchises (The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther and In the Heat of the Night spun off 7 Mirisch sequels between them) and cinematic cycles, investing in adaptations of bestsellers and Broadway hits, exploiting frozen funds abroad and exploring so-called runaway productions. The Mirisch Company bridges the gap between the end of the studio system by about 1960 and the emergence of a new cinema in the mid-1970s, dominated by the Movie Brats.
Author Biography
Paul Kerr teaches TV Production at Middlesex University, UK, but spent almost 25 years as a television producer, making dozens of programmes for the BBC and Channel Four, including the award-winning cinema series Moving Pictures (BBC2 1990-96). Among his many documentaries are programmes about the making of two Mirisch classics, The Magnificent Seven and Some Like it Hot. His previous publications include The Hollywood Film Industry, (1986) and MTM: Quality Television (BFI, 1984).
