I admit to being a little surprised to hear that McGilligan picked Ray as a topic – but when you think about it, why not? He still has a strong cult and his life was fascinating. At one stage the French new wave critics ranked him with Welles and Hawks – now I doubt he’d be as highly regarded, although Rebel Without a Cause remains a classic. He was Mr Cult film for a long time: They Live By Night, On Dangerous Ground, Johnny Guitar, In a Lonely Place, Bigger Than Life.
Ray’s great gift seems to have been getting along with powerful people – straight out of college he went to work at a sort of architectural commune with Frank Lloyd Wright, he had associations with Thorton Wilder and Woody Guthrie (doing folk music on radio, which was news to me), Joe Losey, Elia Kazan (his most crucial relationship – he brought Ray to Hollywood) and John Houseman. Later on he prolonged his career by impressing James Dean, Howard Hughes, Lew Wasserman and Sam Bronston. Bisexual, he chalked up an impressive list of conquests – Natalie Wood (when she was a very adult 16 – this is hot reading), Shelley Winters, Marilyn Monroe, Edie Wasserman, Gavin Lambert.
Did any directors throw away their life and career as much as Ray? He got chance after chance, constantly setting up in new countries and studios but burning bridges. After wrecking his reputation in Hollywood studios he found refuge with independents, then with Sam Bronston, then other places in Europe – but kept stuffing it each time with drinking, drug taking, gambling.
The standard of the book is very high, like all McGilligan works - extremely well researched, empathetic, very strong in particular in leftist politics and the critical reputation of its subject.
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