George Cukor in 1973. Photograph by Allan Warren.
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George Cukor had always experimented within his relatively broad lane, often finding nuanced ways to explore women’s lives, including their sex lives, under the constraints of the Production Code. But after winning the best Director Oscar for Best Picture-winner My Fair Lady in 1964, Cukor’s career slowed down considerably, and as the 60s turned into the 70s and both gender roles and the movies went through massive changes, Cukor was still making the same kinds of things he would have made at the peak of the studio system, regarding which he adopted an extremely defensive stance. Then, suddenly, in 1981, with Rich and Famous, Cukor caught up with the sexual revolution – a decade too late.
Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset in Rich and Famous, 1981, MGM
SHOW NOTES:
Sources:
George Cukor: Interviews edited by Robert Emmet Long
George Cukor: A Double Life by Patrick McGilligan
On Cukor by Gavin Lambert and Robert Trachtenberg
Who the Devil Made It: Conversations with Legendary Film Directors by Peter Bogdanovich
“Justine”, Philip Strick, Sight and Sound, Autumn 1969
“Two Old Men’s Movies”, Stephen Farber, Film Quarterly Vol 26, No 4, Summer 1973
“CUKOR”, Andrew Sarris, Film Comment Vol 14 No 2, March-April 1978
“Cukor’s ‘Rich and Famous’”, Vincent Canby, New York Times, October 9, 1981
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Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, 1964, Warner Bros.
Music:
The music used in this episode, with the exception of the intro, was sourced from royalty-free music libraries and licensed music collections. The intro includes a clip from the film Casablanca.
Excerpts from the following songs were used throughout the episode:
Nursery - ZigZag Heart
Whale Watcher - Smooth Waters
Bitters - Our Only Lark
Reflections - Frank and Poet
Muffuletta - Net and the Cradle
Nursery - Lick Stick
Vermouth - Chai Belltini
Confectionery - Calisson
Confectionery - Tarte Tatin
Eltham House - Heath
Fornax - Four Cluster
Architect - Kirkus
Magenta - Coquelicot
Oslo - Engine
Migration - Heather
Simple Machines - Krok
Chris Zabriskie - I Need to Start Writing Things Down
This episode was written, narrated, edited and produced by Karina Longworth.
Our editor this season is Evan Viola.
Research, production, and social media assistant: Brendan Whalen.
Logo design: Teddy Blanks.
Cukor with Jacqueline Bisset on the set of Rich and Famous, 1981, MGM