Trivia

Could be intensely absorbed, to the point of distraction. Once was hurt falling out of a moving car because he wanted to write down an idea. He was driving at the time.

His adopted son, John Meredyth Lucas, said he spoke five languages, all of them badly. His thick Hungarian accent often made it difficult for cast and crew to understand him when he spoke English. During the filming of Casablanca (1942), for instance, he asked a set dresser for a "poodle", and when the dresser brought him a small poodle dog, Curtiz exploded at the man--he had meant that he wanted a "poodle" of water. On the set of The Cabin in the Cotton (1932), Curtiz made a speech to the actors on how he wanted them to act like "woodpeckers" when the script described them as "peckerwoods". David Niven used one of Curtiz' best-known slip-ups as the title of his memoir: "Bring On the Empty Horses". NOTE: A number of Curtiz' other misstatements were mistakenly attributed to producer Samuel Goldwyn, who was also famous for verbal slips.

His father, brother and sisters died in Auschwitz. Only his mother came to the US, thanks to Jack L. Warner, who helped him.

Credited with discovering Doris Day, whom he heard sing at a Hollywood party. At the time he was about to direct Romance on the High Seas (1948) and was seeking a singer/actress to replace Betty Hutton, who had become pregnant and had to back out of the film.

Jodie Foster used to own a home that Curtiz built in 1934. The house was originally a guest house on the large estate that he owned. It is copied from small quaint Cotswold cottages found in the midlands in England. In 1995 she put the home up for sale for $1.1 million.

Directed ten different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Paul Muni, John Garfield, James Cagney, Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Eve Arden and William Powell. Cagney and Crawford won Oscars for their performances in two of Curtiz' movies.

Despite his great wealth, he did not live in luxury. At the time of his death, he lived in a small apartment at 14155 Magnolia Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, CA.

While filming The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), Curtiz used a stunt device on horses called the "Running W" that, despite being infamous for the number of horses it had killed, was used regularly in the 1930s to trip horses galloping at high speeds, Curtiz presided over the killing of approximately 25 horses while shooting just a single shot during the massacre scenes. His seeming indifference to the killings created a rift between he and Errol Flynn, a horseman, who was appalled and outraged at the death toll and Curtiz' indifference to it. Flynn actually physically attacked Curtiz and went public with the accounts of the animals' killings. This helped lead to a reform in animal cruelty on Hollywood sets and, although Curtiz and Flynn would make more movies together, they never spoke to each other again except when necessary on set.

His two most fruitful collaborations with stars were with Errol Flynn (they did 12 films together) and Humphrey Bogart (they did eight films together). He and Flynn couldn't stand each other.

After directing Elvis Presley in King Creole (1958) Curtiz was set to direct Presley's first post-Army film, G.I. Blues (1960) but for unknown reasons the film was eventually directed by Norman Taurog. Hal B. Wallis produced both.

He has directed five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Casablanca (1942) and Mildred Pierce (1945).

Was assigned to direct Adventures of Don Juan (1948) in 1947, but he and star Errol Flynn had a falling-out and Vincent Sherman wound up directing the picture.

Along with Ernst Lubitsch, Jack Conway, Victor Fleming, John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock, Sam Wood, Francis Ford Coppola, Herbert Ross and Steven Soderbergh, he is one of ten directors to have more than one film nominated for Best Picture in the same year. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) (which he co-directed William Keighley) and Four Daughters (1938) were both so nominated at the 11th Academy Awards in 1939.

Although he and Errol Flynn made 12 films together, they despised each other and fought constantly whenever they worked together. Ironically, he was briefly married to Flynn's first wife Lili Damita.

Fought in the Hungarian army during World War I.

He has directed seven films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Captain Blood (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936) (uncredited), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Four Daughters (1938), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Casablanca (1942) and Mildred Pierce (1945). Casablanca won in the category.

He had one son, John Meredyth Lucas, whom he adopted in 1929 when the boy was ten years old.

When he worked on the set, he never had lunch, explaining that disturbed the pace of work.

After Nunnally Johnson bowed out, 20th Century-Fox started negotiations with Curtiz to direct the Elvis Presley film Flaming Star (1960), but the job was later given to Don Siegel. Curtiz had previously directed Presley in King Creole (1958) and was originally set to direct him again in G.I. Blues (1960).

In 1946 Curtiz was invited by Frank Capra, George Stevens and William Wyler to join them in Liberty Pictures, which would have given him autonomy. Jack L. Warner granted him semi-independence with his own unit within Warners. After making lukewarm features--Flamingo Road (1949), two mediocre Doris Day musicals and The Unsuspected (1947)--he gave it up and rejoined Warners full time.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA., in the Whispering Pines section.

His last film was The Comancheros (1961) starring John Wayne. Already seriously ill with cancer, Curtiz was often in no condition to endure the activities involved in directing a film. Wayne filled in for him and directed much of the picture himself, but refused to take credit for it. NOTE: Wayne also did the same thing on Big Jake (1971), when director George Sherman's poor health made it difficult for him to withstand the rigors of making an action picture in the wilds of Mexico. Again, Wayne refused to take credit for it.

Older brother of assistant director David Curtiz.

At one point he was attached to direct Serenade (1956), which wound up being directed by Anthony Mann.

When he arrived in America a band was playing and bunting was flying and crowds were about and he could't understand what all the fuss was about thinking that it was for him but it was the 5th of July.

He was recruited by Jack Warner on a trip to Europe in 1925.

He started as a sweets seller in a Budapest theatre then started acting in films before he was 20.

In 1912 he directed and starred in what was Hungary's first film and by 1925 had made over 60 films in Hungary, Sweden, Germany, France and Austria.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 172-181. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.

Older brother of Gabriel Curtiz.