Book review - "Winner Takes All" by Michael Winner

Memoirs of the British director Michael Winner who was loathed as few directors have been in his home country. Looking back on his career you wonder why - probably too many crappy action films in the 70s many with Charles Bronson. I say crappy while admitting I haven't seen too many - the first Death Wish which he directed was very good. Winner was a lively precious person, the sort of person who would be annoying, but he was productive, very pro active and has done very well for himself. Nowadays he keeps busy from ads and his journalism.

His 70s Hollywood films seem to have lost him the strong critical reception he obtained in the 60s with his London films (none of which I've seen - this made me want to check them out). His first feature was a nudie, then he made a Billy Fury rock and roll film, then a kitchen sink drama, then some swinging London films. He was attached to the big budget epic William the Conqueror which was never made (Oliver Reed would have been terrific in the lead - Rod Taylor was attached to it for a while). 

He then made his 70s films which appear to have been variable - he finds positive crits to say about all of them but for his Big Sleep remake he has to resort to crappy radio critics. He seems touchingly keen to re-address his critical reputation, and includes a chapter of quotes about him - most of the quotes from movie stars need to be taken with a grain of salt because they are taken during production of the film on which they work with Winner (Michael Caine says some nice things from 2001 - but he does own restaurants and Winner is a restaurant critic). Nonetheless he made several films with Reed, Lancaster and Bronson, and Brando did genuinely like him so he must have something. The lucky bastard also enjoyed a six year affair with Jenny Seagrove, so...

Winner writes with a bright entertaining style and tells some wonderful stories - his mother ("mumsy") is a terrific character, and the vignettes about Marlon Brando and Burt Lancaster are wonderful, ditto OJ, Sophia Loren and the rest. He even throws in some philosophy about life and his life towards the end. I enjoyed the book very much.