George Cukor: A Critical Study and Filmography

This work seeks to illuminate the art of George Cukor, the director of some of the most acclaimed and popular films ever to come out of Hollywood. Eight films, ranging in time from David Copperfield (1935) to Rich and Famous (1981) and in mood from the fairy-tale comedy of The Philadelphia Story to the intense melodrama of Cukor’s masterpiece, A Star is Born, are closely analysed in search for the elusive secret of Cukor’s art. The search reveals that through his long and varied body of work Cukor was preoccupied with certain themes of enduring significance that found expression through his mastery of film direction. More than a mere Hollywood craftsman or the congenial collaborator of such Hollywood luminaries as Hepburn, Grant, Tracy, and Monroe, George Cukor was a true film artist.