The World and Its Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger Paperback – March 3, 2009

Nothing in depth, covered old ground without much new insight. Predictable , could have included more background on the movie industry in the 40's thru the 60's, also glossed over events and character traits and why.

Otto Preminger's larger than life personality makes this book far less dry and academic than Fujiwara's previous book about Jacques Tourneur. Here the author and noted film critic is able to draw on a huge amount of input from actors and other collaborators in Preminger films, presenting fascinatingly full accounts of the evolution of , and the problems posed by, each film endeavor---rather than just analyzing film sequences.Preminger's famously self-assured and sometimes overbearing nature is shown by Fujiwara to often be both the greatest strength and weakness of his movies. Actors and crew either admired his generosity and willfulness, or loathed and feared him because of his vicious tantrums on sets. Nevertheless, Preminger had a great appetite for life, and behind his Teutonic temperament there lay an acute understanding and sympathy for the human condition. His films, as Fujiwara explains, had a push and pull between his excellent use of movement on the surface, and the detached intellectual examination of human psychology at the core.Preminger was ahead of his time in tackling difficult subjects, like rape, homosexuality, and the politics of the Middle East. He was forward-looking, and his eagerness to engage in intellectual themes while still being entertaining, put him in tune with the late 50's and early 60's. The modernistic logos designed for the films by Saul Bass were emblematic of the films, and added to their freshness, much as the memorable signature graphics helped make the early Bond movies into such icons of the period..Fujiwara gives the same amount of examination to each movie, whether it is a classic like "Laura", or "Anatomy of a Murder", or an underappreciated work like "Bonjour Tristesse", or "Carmen Jones". The result is that the book conveys a great appreciation for the range and depth of Preminger's work.This is a very enjoyable book which frankly portrays Preminger as innovator, tyrant, and bon vivant. There is little to criticize---although Fujiwara once again, as he did in the Tourneur book, ends with short, tossed-off afterword that adds nothing to the book at all.

In all honesty, I haven't had a chance to read this book as of yet, but as I like Otto Premingers movies, and he was the one who gave Dorothy Dandriges a chance in Carmen Jones, I admire him for that. Considering the times and the racism of american, not giving people of African descent a chance to act in the so called classical vein, he was a pioneer in giving talent a chance in this land of hypocriscy.

By far the best study of Otto Preminger's work published so far in english. Highly recommended for serious students of the cinema.