Mitchell Leisen

American film director

James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American director, art director, and costume designer.

He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He directed his first film in 1933 with Cradle Song and became known for his keen sense of aesthetics in the glossy Hollywood melodramas and screwball comedies he turned out. His best known films include Alberto Casella's adaptation of Death Takes a Holiday and Murder at the Vanities, a musical mystery story (both 1934), as well as Midnight (1939) and Hold Back the Dawn (1941), both scripted by Billy Wilder. Easy Living (1937), written by Preston Sturges and starring Jean Arthur, was another hit for the director, who also directed Remember the Night (1940), the last film written by Sturges before he started directing his scripts as well. Lady in the Dark (1944), To Each His Own (1946), and No Man of Her Own (1950) were later successes. Charles Brackett's comedy The Mating Season (1951) starring Gene Tierney, Miriam Hopkins and Thelma Ritter was an updated version of Leisen's earlier screwball comedies of the 1930s, and was also his last big movie success. When his film career ended, Leisen directed episodes of such television series as Thriller, Shirley Temple's Storybook, The Twilight Zone, and The Girl from U. N. C. L. E He later became a nightclub owner.

Though married, Leisen was reported to be gay or bisexual. According to Carolyn Roos, Leisen's longtime business manager's daughter, he had a very long relationship with dancer/actor/choreographer Billy Daniel until the 1950s (Daniel died in 1962). Leisen, with Daniel and dancer/actor Mary Parker, formed Hollywood Presents Inc. as a means of promoting both Daniel and Parker off screen. Leisen died of heart disease in 1972, aged 74. His grave is located in Chapel of the Pines Crematory.

He garnered his sole Academy Award nomination in 1930 for Art Direction for Cecil B. DeMille's Dynamite. He directed Hold Back the Dawn (1941), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

YearTitleProduction Co. CastNotes1933 Cradle Song Paramount Dorothea Wieck / Evelyn Venable 1934 Bolero Paramount George Raft / Carole Lombard Co directed with Wesley Ruggles1934 Death Takes a Holiday Paramount Fredric March / Evelyn Venable Released to DVD1934 Murder at the Vanities Paramount Victor McLaglen / Jack Oakie / Carl Brisson 1934 Behold My Wife Paramount Gene Raymond / Ann Sheridan / Sylvia Sidney 1935 Four Hours to Kill! Paramount Richard Barthelmess / Ray Milland / Gertrude Michael 1935 Hands Across the Table Paramount Carole Lombard / Fred MacMurray 1936 13 Hours by Air Paramount Fred MacMurray / Joan Bennett / ZaSu Pitts 1936 The Big Broadcast of 1937 Paramount Jack Benny / George Burns / Gracie Allen / Ray Milland 1937 Swing High, Swing Low Paramount Carole Lombard / Fred MacMurray / Dorothy Lamour Released to DVD1937 Easy Living Paramount Jean Arthur / Edward Arnold / Ray Milland Released to DVD1938 The Big Broadcast of 1938 Paramount W. C. Fields / Martha Raye / Bob Hope / Dorothy Lamour Released to DVD1938 Artists and Models Abroad Paramount Jack Benny / Joan Bennett Released to DVD1939 Midnight Paramount Claudette Colbert / Don Ameche / John Barrymore / Mary Astor Released to DVD1940 Remember the Night Paramount Barbara Stanwyck / Fred MacMurray Released to DVD1940 Arise, My Love Paramount Claudette Colbert / Ray Milland 1941 I Wanted Wings Paramount Ray Milland / William Holden / Wayne Morris / Veronica Lake WON Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.1941 Hold Back the Dawn Paramount Charles Boyer / Olivia de Havilland / Paulette Goddard Nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture. Released to DVD (region 2).1942 The Lady Is Willing Paramount Marlene Dietrich / Fred MacMurray 1942 Take a Letter, Darling Paramount Rosalind Russell / Fred MacMurray 1943 No Time for Love Paramount Claudette Colbert / Fred MacMurray 1944 Lady in the Dark Paramount Ginger Rogers / Ray Milland Technicolor film1944 Frenchman's Creek Paramount Joan Fontaine / Arturo de Córdova / Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce Technicolor film1944 Practically Yours Paramount Claudette Colbert / Fred MacMurray 1945 Kitty Paramount Paulette Goddard / Ray Milland 1945 Masquerade in Mexico Paramount Dorothy Lamour / Arturo de Córdova 1946 To Each His Own Paramount Olivia de Havilland / John LundAcademy Award for Best Actress. Released to VHS.1947 Suddenly, It's Spring Paramount Paulette Goddard / Fred MacMurray 1947 Golden Earrings Paramount Marlene Dietrich / Ray Milland 1948 Dream Girl Paramount Betty Hutton / Macdonald Carey 1949 Bride of Vengeance Paramount Paulette Goddard / Macdonald Carey / John Lund 1949 Song of Surrender Paramount Claude Rains / Wanda Hendrix / Macdonald Carey 1950 No Man of Her Own Paramount Barbara Stanwyck / John Lund 1950 Captain Carey, U. S. A. Paramount Alan Ladd / Wanda Hendrix 1951 The Mating Season Paramount Gene Tierney / John Lund / Miriam Hopkins / Thelma Ritter Nominated Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Thelma Ritter1951 Darling, How Could You! Paramount Joan Fontaine / John Lund 1952 Young Man with Ideas MGM Glenn Ford 1953 Tonight We Sing 20th Century Fox David Wayne / Ezio Pinza / Roberta Peters / Tamara Toumanova Technicolor film1955 Bedevilled MGM Anne Baxter / Steve Forrest Co directed with Richard Thorpe / Eastmancolor film1958 The Girl Most Likely RKO Radio Pictures Jane Powell / Cliff Robertson Technicolor film1967 Spree Trans American Co directed with Walon Green / Documentary / Color film