John Huston

For other people named John Huston, see John Huston Houghston. His father was an actor, initially in vaudeville,
(disambiguation).
and later in lms. His mother initially worked as a sports
editor for various publications but gave it up after HusJohn Marcellus Huston (August 5, 1906 August 28, ton was born. Similarly, his father gave up his stage acting career for steady employment as a civil engineer, al1987) was an American lm director, screenwriter and
actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 fea- though he returned to stage acting within a few years. He
would later become highly successful on both Broadway
ture lms he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon (1941), The Treasure of and then in motion pictures. He had Scottish, Scots-Irish,
the Sierra Madre (1948), Key Largo (1948), The Asphalt English and Welsh ancestry.
Jungle (1950), The African Queen (1951), Moulin Rouge
(1952), The Mists (1961), and The Man Who Would Be
King (1975). During his 46-year career, Huston received
15 Oscar nominations, won twice, and directed both his
father, Walter Huston, and daughter, Anjelica Huston, to
Oscar wins in dierent lms.

Hustons parents divorced in 1913, when he was 6, and

as a result much of his childhood was spent living in
boarding schools. During summer vacations, he traveled
with each of his parents separately with his father on
vaudeville tours, and with his mother to racetracks or
other sports events. The young Huston beneted greatly
from seeing his father act on stage, as he was later drawn
to the world of acting.[4] Some critics, such as Lawrence
Grobel, surmise that his relationship with his mother may
have been the cause of his ve marriages, and why few
of his relationships lasted. Grobel wrote, When I interviewed some of the women who had loved him, they
inevitably referred to his mother as the key to unlocking
Hustons psyche.[5] According to actress Olivia de Havilland, she [his mother] was the central character. I always
felt that John was ridden by witches. He seemed pursued
by something destructive. If it wasn't his mother, it was
his idea of his mother.[5]

Huston was known to direct with the vision of an artist,

having studied and worked as a ne art painter in Paris in
his early years. He continued to explore the visual aspects
of his lms throughout his career: sketching each scene
on paper beforehand, then carefully framing his characters during the shooting. While most directors rely on
post-production editing to shape their nal work, Huston
instead created his lms while they were being shot, making them both more economical and cerebral, with little
editing needed.
Most of Hustons lms were adaptations of important
novels, often depicting a heroic quest, as in Moby Dick,
or The Red Badge of Courage. In many lms, dierent groups of people, while struggling toward a common
goal, would become doomed, forming destructive alliances, giving the lms a dramatic and visual tension.
Many of his lms involved themes such as religion, meaning, truth, freedom, psychology, colonialism and war.

As a child he was often ill and was treated for an enlarged heart and kidney ailments. He recovered after an
extended bedridden stay in Arizona, and moved with his
mother to Los Angeles, where he went to Lincoln Heights
High School. He dropped out of high school after two
years to become a professional boxer, and by age 15 was
already a top-ranking amateur lightweight boxer in California. He ended his brief boxing career after suering
a broken nose.[4] He also plunged himself into a multitude of interests, including abstract painting, ballet, English and French literature, opera, and horseback riding.
Living in Los Angeles he became infatuated with the
new lm industry and motion pictures, but as a spectator
only. To Huston, "Charlie Chaplin was a god.[6]

Before becoming a Hollywood lmmaker, he had been an

amateur boxer, reporter, short-story writer, portrait artist
in Paris, a cavalry rider in Mexico, and a documentary
lmmaker during World War II. Huston has been referred
to as a titan, a rebel, and a renaissance man in the
Hollywood lm industry. Author Ian Freer describes him
as cinemas Ernest Hemingway"a lmmaker who was
never afraid to tackle tough issues head on.[2]

He moved back to New York to live with his father, who

was then acting in o-Broadway productions, and John
had a few small roles.[7] He remembers, while watching
his father rehearse, being fascinated with the mechanics
of acting:

Early life

John Huston was born on August 5, 1906, in Nevada,

Missouri. He was the only child of Rhea[3] (ne Gore)
and Canadian-born Walter Huston, originally Walter

What I learned there, during those weeks of rehearsal, would serve me for the rest of my life.[6]
1

After a short period acting on stage, and having undergone surgery, he traveled on his own to Mexico. During
his two years there, among his other adventures, he got
a position riding as an honorary member of the Mexican
cavalry. He returned to Los Angeles and married a girlfriend from high school, Dorothy Harvey. Their marriage
only lasted a year.

Early career as writer

During his stay in Mexico, he wrote a play called Frankie

and Johnny, based on the ballad of the same title. After selling it easily, he decided that writing would be a viable career, and he focused on it. His self-esteem was enhanced when H. L. Mencken, editor of the popular magazine, American Mercury, bought two of his stories, Fool
and Figures of Fighting Men. During subsequent years
his stories and feature articles were published in Esquire,
Theatre Arts, and The New York Times. He also worked
for a period on the New York Graphic. In 1931, when he
was 25, he moved back to Los Angeles with his hopes
aimed at writing for the blossoming lm industry, where
the silent lm industry had given way to talkies, and
writers were in demand.[7] In addition, his father had earlier moved there where he was already successful in a
number of lms.
He received a script editing contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions, but after six months of receiving no assignments, quit to work for Universal Studios, where his
father was by then a star. At Universal, he got a job in
the script department, and began by writing dialogue for
a number of lms in 1932, including Murders in the Rue
Morgue, A House Divided, and Law and Order. The last
two also starred his father, Walter Huston. In addition,
House Divided was directed by William Wyler, who gave
Huston his rst real inside view of the lmmaking process during all stages of production. Wyler and Huston
would also later become close friends and collaborators
on a number of leading lms.[7]
Huston gained a reputation as a lusty, hard-drinking libertine during his rst years as a writer in Hollywood.[4]
Huston describes those years as a series of misadventures and disappointments, however. His brief career
as a Hollywood writer ended suddenly after a car he was
driving struck and killed a young female pedestrian. He
was absolved of blame by a coroners jury, but the incident left him traumatized nonetheless, and he moved to
London and Paris, living as a drifter.[4]

SCREENWRITER AND DIRECTOR

Juarez, Dr. Ehrlichs Magic Bullet and Sergeant York

(1941).[4] He was nominated for an Academy Award
for his writing both Ehrlich and Sergeant York. Huston
writes that Sergeant York, which was directed by Howard
Hawks, has gone down as one of Howards best pictures, and Gary Cooper had a triumph playing the young
mountaineer.[8]:77
Huston was becoming a recognized and respected screenwriter. He was able to persuade Warners to give him a
chance to direct, under the condition that his next script
also became a hit. Huston writes:
They indulged me rather. They liked my
work as a writer and they wanted to keep me
on. If I wanted to direct, why, they'd give me a
shot at it, and if it didn't come o all that well,
they wouldn't be too disappointed as it was to
be a very small picture.[6]
The next script he was given to work on was High Sierra
(1941), to be directed by Raoul Walsh. The lm became
the hit Huston wanted. It also made Humphrey Bogart
a star with his rst major role, as a gunman on the run.
Warners kept their end of the bargain, and gave Huston
his choice of subject.[6]

3 Screenwriter and director

3.1

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

For his rst directing assignment, Huston chose Dashiell

Hammett's detective thriller, The Maltese Falcon, a lm
which had already failed at the box oce in two earlier versions by Warners. However, studio head Jack
L. Warner approved of Hustons treatment of Hammetts
1930 novel, as he stood by his word to let Huston choose
his rst subject.[6]
Huston kept the screenplay close to the novel, keeping
much of Hammetts dialogue, and directing it in an uncluttered style, much like the books narrative. He also
did the unusual preparation for this, his rst directing job,
by sketching out each shot beforehand, including camera positions, lighting, and compositional scale, for such
things as closeups.[7]
He especially beneted by selecting a superior cast, giving
Humphrey Bogart the lead role. Bogart was happy to take
the role, as he liked working with Huston. In addition, the
supporting cast included other noted actors: Mary Astor,
Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet (his rst lm role), and
his own father, Walter Huston. The lm, however, was
given only a small B-movie budget, and received minimal
publicity by Warners, as they had low expectations.[6] The
entire lm was made in eight weeks for only $300,000.[4]

By 1937, after ve years, the 31-year-old Huston returned to Hollywood intent on being a serious writer.
He also married Lesley Black. His rst job was as
scriptwriter with Warner Brothers Studio, with his personal longterm goal of directing his own scripts. For
the next four years, he co-wrote scripts for major Upon receiving immediate enthusiastic response by the
lms such as Jezebel, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse, public and critics, Warners was surprised. Critics hailed

3.3

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

the lm as a classic, and up until the present day

it is claimed by many to be the best detective melodrama ever made.[6] Herald Tribune critic Howard
Barnes called it a triumph.[6] Huston again received an
Academy Award nomination for the screenplay. After
this lm, Huston would from then on direct all of his
screenplays, except for one, Three Strangers (1946).[7]
In 1942, he directed two more hits, In This Our Life
(1942), starring Bette Davis, and Across the Pacic, another thriller starring Humphrey Bogart.

3.2

Army years during World War II

The Battle of San Pietro (1944)

In 1942 he was activated by the U.S. Army to make lms

for the Army Signal Corps. While in uniform with the
rank of captain, he directed and produced three lms
that some critics rank as among the nest made about
World War II: Report from the Aleutians (1943), about
soldiers preparing for combat; The Battle of San Pietro
(1945), the story (censored by the Army) of a failure by
Americas intelligence agencies which resulted in many
deaths, and Let There Be Light (1946), about psychologically damaged veterans, also censored for 35 years, until
1981.[4] He rose to the rank of major and received the
Legion of Merit award for courageous work under battle
conditions.[4] Nonetheless, all of his lms made for the
Army were controversial, and either not released, censored, or banned outright, as they were considered demoralizing to soldiers and the public.[7] Years later, after
moving to Ireland, his daughter, actress Anjelica Huston,
recalled that the main movies we watched were the war
documentaries.[9]:10

3.3

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

His next picture, which he wrote, directed, and briey

appeared in as an American, asked to help out a fellow
American, down on his luck, was The Treasure of the
Sierra Madre (1948). It would become one of the lms
which established his reputation as a leading lmmaker.
The lm, also starring Humphrey Bogart, was the story
of three drifters who band together to prospect for gold.
Huston also gave a supporting role to his father, Walter
Huston.
Warners studio was initially uncertain what to make of
the lm. They had allowed Huston to lm on location
in Mexico, which was a radical move for a studio at
the time. They also knew that Huston was gaining a reputation as one of the wild men of Hollywood. In any
case, studio boss Jack L. Warner initially detested it.
But whatever doubts Warners had were soon removed, as
the lm achieved widespread public and critical acclaim.
Hollywood writer James Agee called it one of the most
beautiful and visually alive movies I have ever seen.[6]
Time magazine described it as one of the best things Hollywood has done since it learned to talk.[6] Huston won
Oscars for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay;
his father won for Best Supporting Actor. It also won
other awards in the U.S. and overseas. Film Comment
magazine devoted four pages to the lm in its MayJune
1980 edition, with author Richard T. Jameson oering
his impressions:
This lm has impressed itself on the heart
and mind and soul of anyone who has seen it,
to the extent that lmmakers of great originality and distinctiveness like Robert Altman and
Sam Peckinpah can be said to have remade it
again and again ... without compromising its
uniqueness.[6]
Also in 1948 he directed his next lm, Key Largo, again
with Humphrey Bogart starring. It was the story about a
disillusioned returning veteran clashing with gangsters on
a remote Florida key. It co-starred Lauren Bacall, Claire
Trevor, and Edward G. Robinson. The lm was an adaptation of the stage play by Maxwell Anderson, and the
lm itself seemed overly stage-bound for many viewers.
However, the outstanding performances by all the actors saved the lm, and Claire Trevor won an Oscar for
best supporting actress.[6] Huston was annoyed that the
studio cut several scenes from the nal release without
his agreement. That, along with some earlier disputes,
angered Huston enough that he left the studio when his
contract expired.[6]

Huston did an uncredited rewrite of Anthony Veiller's

screenplay for The Stranger (1946), a lm he was to
have directed. When Huston became unavailable Orson 3.4 The Asphalt Jungle (1950)
Welles was oered the opportunity to direct. He had been
cast the in role of a high-ranking Nazi fugitive who man- In 1950 he wrote and directed The Asphalt Jungle, a
ages to settle in New England under an assumed name.[10] lm which broke new ground by depicting criminals

SCREENWRITER AND DIRECTOR

as somewhat sympathetic characters, simply doing their

professional work, an occupation like any other,[7]
or what Huston calls a left-handed form of human
endeavor.[8]:177 Huston achieved that eect by giving
deep attention to the plot, involving a large jewelry
theft, by examining the minute, step by step details and
diculties each of the characters had of carrying it out.
In doing so, some critics felt that Huston had achieved an
almost documentary style.[7]
Film critic Andrew Sarris considered it to be Hustons
best lm, and the lm that made Marilyn Monroe a recognized actress. Sarris also notes the similar themes in
many of Hustons lms, as exemplied by this one: His
protagonists almost invariably fail at what they set out to
do.[11] This theme was also similar to the story in Trea- Trailer from The African Queen
sure of the Sierra Madre, where greed became the cause
of the groups undoing.
story based on C. S. Forester's popular novel. It starred
It starred Sterling Hayden and Hustons personal friend, Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn in a combiSam Jae. It also became the rst serious role for Marilyn nation of romance, comedy and adventure. Barson calls
Monroe, according to Huston: it was, of course, where it one of the most popular Hollywood movies of all
Marilyn Monroe got her start.[8]:177 The lm succeeded time.[13] The lms producer, Sam Spiegel, urged Husat the box oce and Huston was again nominated for an ton to change the ending to allow the protagonists to surOscar for best screenplay and best director, along with vive, instead of dying. Huston agreed, and the ending was
winning the Screen Directors Guild Award.[6] It would rewritten. It became Hustons most successful lm nansubsequently become a model for many similar movies cially, and it remains one of his nest works.[7] Huston
was nominated for two Academy Awardsbest director
by other lmmakers.
and best screenplay. Bogart, however, won an Oscar for
best actor, his rst time winning.

3.5

The Red Badge of Courage (1951)

After completing The Asphalt Jungle, Hustons next lm,

The Red Badge of Courage (1951), was of a completely
dierent subject: war and its eect on soldiers. While in
the army during World War II, he became interested in
Stephen Crane's classic American Civil War novel of the
same title. For the starring role, Huston chose World War
II hero Audie Murphy to play the young Union soldier
who deserts his company out of fear, but later returns to
ght alongside them. MGM, however, saw the message
of the movie as too antiwar. Without Hustons input, they
cut down the running time of the lm from eighty-eight
minutes to sixty-nine, added narration, and deleted what
Huston felt was a crucial scene.[7]
The movie did poorly at the box oce. Huston suggests
that it was possibly because it brought war very close
to home.[12] Huston recalls that at the preview showing,
before the lm was halfway through, damn near a third
of the audience got up and walked out of the theater.[12]
Despite the butchering and weak public response, lm
historian Michael Barson describes the movie as a minor
masterpiece.[13]

3.7 HUAC period

In 1952 Huston moved to Ireland as a result of his disgust at the witch-hunt and the moral rot he felt was
created by House Committee on Un-American Activities
(HUAC), which had aected many of his friends in the
movie industry. Huston had, with friends including director William Wyler and screenwriter Philip Dunne, established the Committee for the First Amendment, as
a response to the ongoing government investigations into
communists within the lm industry. The HUAC was
calling numerous lmmakers, screenwriters, and actors
to testify about any past aliations.[13]

3.8

Moby Dick (1956)

Huston took producing, writing, and directing credits for

his next two lms: Moulin Rouge (1953); and Beat the
Devil (1953). Moby Dick (1956), however, was written by Ray Bradbury, although Huston had his name
added to the screenplay credit after the completion of the
project. Although Huston had personally hired Bradbury
to adapt Herman Melville's novel into a screenplay, Brad3.6 The African Queen (1951)
bury and Huston did not get along during pre-production,
and Bradbury later dramatized their relationship in the
Before the Asphalt Jungle opened in theaters, Huston was short story Banshee"; Peter O'Toole would later play the
already in Africa shooting The African Queen (1951), a role based on John Huston when Banshee was adapted

3.11

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

into an episode of Ray Bradbury Theater.[14]

Huston had been planning to lm Herman Melville's
Moby Dick for the previous ten years, and originally saw
it as an excellent part for his father, Walter Huston. However, his father died in 1950, and he chose Gregory Peck
to play the starring role of Captain Ahab. The movie
was lmed over a three-year period on location in Ireland, where Huston was then living. The shing village of
New Bedford, Massachusetts was recreated along the waterfront; the sailing ship in the lm was fully constructed
to be seaworthy; and three 100-foot whales were built out
of steel, wood, and plastic. However, the lm failed at the
box oce, with some critics, like David Robinson, suggesting that the movie lacked the mysticism of the book
and thereby loses its signicance.[6]

3.9

5
neuroses. I was in the army and made the picture Let There Be Light. That experience
started my interest in psychotherapy, and to
this day Freud looms as the single huge gure
in that eld.[12]

3.11

The Night of the Iguana (1964)

For his next lm, Huston once again traveled down to

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He adapted the stage play by
Tennessee Williams. The lm stars Richard Burton and
Ava Gardner, and was nominated for several Academy
Awards. Production attracted much attention, due to Burton bringing his wife Elizabeth Taylor to Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico. Huston liked the town where lming took place
so much that he bought a house there.

The Mists (1961)

Of his next ve lms, only The Mists (1961), found critical approval.[2] However, critics have noted the retrospective atmosphere of doom which now hangs over the
lm. Clark Gable, the star, died of a heart attack a few
days after the lming was completed; Marilyn Monroe
never did another lm and died a year later; and costars
Montgomery Clift and Thelma Ritter also died over the
next few years. During the lming itself, Monroe was
often on drugs of various kinds, which led to her arriving late on the set and often forgetting her lines. Monroes problems also led to the breakup of her marriage to
the lms scriptwriter, Arthur Miller, virtually on set.[6]
Huston later commented about this period in her career:
Marilyn was on her way out. Not only of the picture, but
of life.[12]

3.10

Freud: the Secret Passion (1962)

He followed The Mists with Freud: The Secret Passion,

a lm quite dierent from most of his others. Besides
directing, he also narrates portions of the story. Film
historian Stuart M. Kaminsky notes that Huston presents
Sigmund Freud, played by Montgomery Clift, as a kind
of savior and messiah, with an almost Biblical detachment. As the lm begins, Huston describes Freud as a
kind of hero or God on a quest for mankind":[15]
This is the story of Freuds descent into a
region as black as hell, mans unconscious, and
how he let in the light.

3.12

The Bible: In the Beginning (1966)

Producer Dino De Laurentis traveled to Ireland to ask

Huston to direct The Bible: In the Beginning. Although
De Laurentis had ambitions for a broader story, he realized that the subject could not be adequately covered and
limited the story to the rst half of the Book of Genesis. Huston enjoyed directing the lm, as it gave him a
chance to indulge his love of animals. Besides directing
he also played the role of Noah and the voice of God. The
lm did poorly at the box oce, however, and at a cost
of 18 million dollars, it was the most expensive movie
in his career.[6] Huston likes describing details about the
lming:
Every morning before beginning work, I
visited the animals. One of the elephants,
Candy, loved to be scratched on the belly behind her foreleg. I'd scratch her and she would
lean farther and farther toward me until there
was some danger of her toppling over on me.
One time I started to walk away from her, and
she reached out and took my wrist with her
trunk and pulled me back to her side. It was
a command: Don't stop!" I used it in the picture. Noah scratches the elephants belly and
walks away, and the elephant pulls him back to
her time after time.[8]:317

3.13

Fat City (1972)

After several lms that were not well received, Huston returned to critical acclaim with Fat City. Based on Leonard
Huston explains how he became interested in psychother- Gardner's 1969 novel of the same name, it was about an
apy, the subject of the lm:
aging, washed-up alcoholic boxer in Stockton, California trying to get his name back on the map, while havI rst got into that through an experience in
ing a new relationship with a world weary alcoholic, and
a hospital during the war, where I made a docan amateur boxer trying to nd success in boxing. The
lm was nominated for several awards upon its release.
umentary about patients suering from battle

MOVIE THEMES

It starred Stacy Keach, a young Je Bridges, and Susan 4 As an actor

Tyrrell, in which she was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress. Roger Ebert stated Toward the end of his career he also began to act in
Fat City as one of Hustons best lms, giving it four out various lms. In 1963, director Otto Preminger asked
of four stars, his highest rating.[16]
if he would portray a Boston prelate in The Cardinal,
and, writes author Philip Kemp, he virtually stole the
picture.[6] He was nominated for an Academy Award
for Best Supporting Actor for his role. He had a lit3.14 The Man Who Would Be King (1975) tle participation (as did many others) in 1967s Casino
Royale as actor and director. He acted in Roman PolanPerhaps Hustons most highly regarded lm of the 1970s, ski's Chinatown (1974) as the lms central corrupt busiThe Man Who Would Be King was both a critical and com- nessman, and as Teddy Roosevelts secretary of state John
mercial success. Huston had been planning to make this Hay in The Wind and the Lion. Huston enjoyed acting
lm since the 50s, originally with his friends Humphrey and denied that he took it all that seriously. Its a cinch,
Bogart and Clark Gable. Eventually the lead roles went to he once said, and they pay you damn near as much as
Sean Connery and Michael Caine. The movie was lmed you make directing.[6]
on location in North Africa. The lm was praised for its
use of old fashioned escapism and entertainment. Steven Huston said he did not regard himself very highly as an
Spielberg has cited the lm as one of his inspirations for actor, saying he was only proud of his performance in
Chinatown, although he had also greatly enjoyed acting
his lm Raiders of the Lost Ark.
in Winter Kills.[17] He also played the Lawgiver in Battle
for the Planet of the Apes.
Huston is also famous to a generation of fans of J. R. R.
Tolkien's Middle-earth stories as the voice of the wizard
Gandalf in the Rankin/Bass animated adaptations of The
After lming The Man Who Would Be King, Huston took Hobbit (1977) and The Return of the King (1980).
his longest break between directing lms. He returned
with the obeat and somewhat controversial lm based on
the novel Wise Blood. Here, Huston showed his skills as a
storyteller and boldness when it came to dicult subjects 5 Movie themes
such as religion.
Hustons lms were insightful about human nature and
human predicaments. They also sometimes included
scenes or brief dialogue passages that were remarkably
3.16 Under the Volcano (1984)
prescient concerning environmental issues that came to
public awareness in the future, in the period starting about
Hustons last lm set in Mexico stars Albert Finney as 1970; examples include The Mists and The Night of the
an alcoholic ambassador during the beginnings of World Iguana (1964). Huston spent long evenings carousing in
War II. The lm gained a strong critical reception, most the Nevada casinos after lming, surrounded by reporters
notably for Finneys portrayal of a desperate and de- and beautiful women, gambling, drinking, and smoking
pressed alcoholic. The lm was also a success on the in- cigars.
dependent circuit.
According to Kaminsky, Hustons stories were often

3.15

3.17

Wise Blood (1979)

The Dead (1987)

John Hustons nal lm is an adaptation of the classic

short story by James Joyce. This may have been one of
Hustons most personal lms, due to his citizenship in Ireland and his passion for classic literature. Huston directed
most of the lm from a wheelchair, as he needed an oxygen tank to breathe during the last few months of his life.
The lm was nominated for two Academy Awards, and
was praised by critics. Roger Ebert eventually placed it
in his Great Movies list; a section of movies he claims to
be some of the best ever made. Huston died nearly four
months before the lms release date.

about failed quests by a group of dierent people. The

group would persist in the face of poor odds, doomed at
the outset by the circumstances created by an impossible situation.[15] However, some members of the doomed
group usually survive, those who are cool and intelligent, or someone who will sacrice everything for selfunderstanding and independence. Those types of characters are exemplied by Bogart in The Maltese Falcon,
and Montgomery Clift in Freud.
Another type of quest often seen in Hustons lms involve
a pair of potential lovers trying to face a hostile world.[15]
Flint adds, however, that he bucked Hollywoods penchant for happy endings, and many of his stories ended
with love unsatised.[4]
Film historian James Goodwin adds that in virtually all of

7
his lms, there is some type of heroic quest even if it
involves questionable motives or destructive alliances. In
addition, the quest is preferable to the spiritless, amoral
routines of life.[7] As a result, his best lms, according
to Flint, have lean, fast-paced scripts and vibrant plots
and characterizations, and many of them deal ironically
with vanity, avarice and unfullled quests.[4]
However, in the opinion of critics Tony Tracy and Roddy
Flynn, "... what fundamentally fascinated Huston was not
movies per se that is, form but the human condition
... and literature oered a road map for exploring that
condition. In many of his lms, therefore, he tried to
express his interest by developing themes involving some
of the grand narratives of the twentieth century, such as
faith, meaning, truth, freedom, psychology, colonialism,
war and capitalism.[9]:3
To Jameson, all of Hustons lms are adaptations, and
he believes that through his lms there was a cohesive world-view, not only thematically but also stylistically; there is the Huston look.[6] The Huston look was
also noted by screenwriter James Agee, who adds that
this look proceeds from Hustons sense of what is natural to the eye and his delicate, simple feeling for space
relationships.[6] In any case, notes Flint, Huston took
uncommon care to preserve the writers styles and values
... and sought repeatedly to transpose the interior essence
of literature to lm with dramatic and visual tension, as
he did in Red Badge of Courage, Moby Dick, and Under
the Volcano.[4]

aiming for. Sam Spade, in The Maltese Falcon, Hustons

rst lm, ends up minus one partner and one woman he
thought he could trust. Everyone is a loser in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the gold blows back into
the dust and is lost in it. Ahab, in Moby Dick. Marlon
Brandos career Army ocer in Reections in a Golden
Eye, even Bogart and Hepburn in The African Queen
they all fall short of their plans. The African Queen does
have a happy ending, but it feels tacked-on and ridiculous,
and the Queen destroys itself in destroying the German
steamer. So this [Fat City] is a theme we nd in Hustons
work, but rarely does he t it to characters and a time and
place so well as in Fat City. Maybe thats because Huston
knows the territory: he was a professional boxer himself
for a while, and not a very good one.[19]

6 Directing techniques
George Stevens, Jr. notes that while many directors rely
on post-production editing to shape their nal work, Huston instead created his lms while they were being shot: I
don't even know the editor of my lms most of the time,
Huston said.[12] Actor Michael Caine also observed the
same technique: Most directors don't know what they
want so they shoot everything they can think of they
use the camera like a machine gun. John uses it like a
sniper.[12]
Film writer Peter Flint also agrees and points out other
benets to that style: He shot economically, eschewing the many protective shots favored by timid directors,
and edited cerebrally so that nancial backers would have
trouble trying to cut scenes. Huston shot most of his lms
on location, working intensely six days a week, and on
Sundays, played equally intense poker with the cast and
crew.[4]

Religion is also a theme that runs through many of Hustons lms. In The Night of the Iguana, Kaminsky notes
how Richard Burton, while preaching a sermon to his
congregation, seems lost, confused, his speech is gibberish, and leads his congregation to turn away from him.
In other lms, adds Kaminsky, religion is seen as part of
the fantasy world, that the actors must overcome to survive physically or emotionally. These religious zealots When asked how he envisions his lms while directing
counsel a move away from the pleasure of the world and and what his goals are, Huston replied:
human love, a world that Huston believes in, concludes
Kaminsky.[15] Such religious themes were also seen in
To me the ideal lm which I've never
The Bible, and Wise Blood, for example.
succeeded in making would be as though the
reel were behind ones eyes and you were proTo Barson, however, Huston was among the least conjecting it yourself, seeing what you wish to see.
sistent lmmakers, although he concludes that he was
This has a great deal in common with thought
one of the most interesting directors of the past sixty
processes ... Thats why I think the camera is
years.[13] Throughout his long career, many of his lms
an eye as well as a mind. Everything we do
did poorly and were criticized as a result. To a writer
with the camera has physiological and mental
in 1972 he commented, Criticism isn't a new experisignicance.
ence for me. Pictures that are now thought of as, forgive
the term, classics, weren't all that well thought of at the
time they came out.[18] After an interview a few years According to Kaminsky, much of Hustons vision probbefore he died, the reporter writes that Huston said he ably came from his early experience as a painter on the
missed the major studio era when people savored making streets of Paris. While there, he studied art and worked
at it for a year and a half. Huston continued painting as
movies, not just money.[4]
a hobby for most of his life. Kaminsky also notes that
According to Roger Ebert, on his review of Fat City, His
most of Hustons lms reected this prime interest in
fascination with underdogs and losers. The characters in
the image, the moving portrait and the use of color.[15]
Huston movies hardly ever set out to achieve what they're
Huston explored the use of stylistic framing, especially

8 PERSONAL LIFE

well-planned close-ups, in much of his directing. In

his rst lm, The Maltese Falcon, for instance, Huston
sketched out all of his scenes beforehand, like canvases
of paintings.[15] His daughter, Anjelica Huston adds that
even for his subsequent lms, he sketched storyboards
constantly. She agrees that for her father, it was a
form of study, and my father was a painter, a very good
one. She also notes that there was an extremely developed sensory quality about my father, he didn't miss a
trick.[9]:20

Awards and honors

In addition, he also directed 13 other actors in Oscarnominated performances: Sydney Greenstreet, Claire
Trevor, Sam Jae, Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Jos Ferrer, Colette Marchand, Deborah Kerr,
Grayson Hall, Susan Tyrrell, Albert Finney, Jack Nicholson and William Hickey.
In 1965, Huston received the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement from the Writers Guild of America.
In 1981 his lm Escape to Victory was nominated for the
Golden Prize at the 12th Moscow International Film Festival.[20]
A statue of Huston, sitting in his directors chair, stands
in Plaza John Huston in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[21][22]

8 Personal life

with daughter Anjelica, circa 1960

To producer George Stevens, Jr., Huston symbolized intellect, charm and physical grace within the lm industry. He adds, He was the most charismatic of the direcHuston received 15 Oscar nominations in the course of tors I knew, speaking with a soothing, melodic voice that
his career, and is the oldest person ever to be nominated was often mimicked, but was unique to him.[12]
for the Best Director Oscar when, at 79 years old, he was Huston loved the outdoors, especially sports such as huntnominated for Prizzis Honor (1985). He won two Oscars, ing while living in Ireland. He claimed that he had no
for directing and writing the screenplay for The Treasure orthodox religion.[8]:234 Among his lifes adventures beof the Sierra Madre. Huston also won a Golden Globe fore becoming a Hollywood lmmaker, he had been an
for that lm and received multiple lifetime achievement amateur boxer, reporter, short-story writer, portrait artist
awards (including one from American Film Institute in in Paris, a cavalry rider in Mexico, and a documentary
1982).
lmmaker during World War II. Besides sports and adStatue of John Huston, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

He also has the unique distinction of directing both his father Walter and his daughter Anjelica in Oscar-winning
performances (in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and
Prizzis Honor, respectively), making the Hustons the rst
family to have three generations of Academy Award winners.

venture, he enjoyed hard liquor and relationships with

women of all types one of the reasons he was married
ve times. Stevens describes him as someone who lived
life to its fullest.[12] Barson even suggests that Hustons
amboyant life as a rebel would possibly make for an
even more engaging tale than most of his movies.[13]

9
His daughter, Anjelica Huston notes that he did not like
Hollywood, and especially despised Beverly Hills ... he
thought it was just fake from the ground up. He didn't like
any of that; he was not intrigued or attracted by it. She
notes that in contrast, he liked to be in the wild places;
he liked animals as much as he liked people.[9]:20
He was married ve times:
1. Dorothy Harvey (1906-1982) This marriage
ended after a year in 1926.
2. Lesley Black It was during his marriage to
Black that he embarked on an aair with married
New York socialite Marietta FitzGerald. While her
lawyer husband was helping the war eort, the pair
were once rumoured to have made love so vigorously, they broke a friends bed.[23]

Grave of John Huston and his mother, Rhea, at Hollywood Forever

in my life. As a young man he studied at the Smith

School of Art in Los Angeles but dropped out within a
3. Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008) The Hustons adopted few months. He later studied at the Art Students League
of New York. He painted throughout his life and had
a son Pablo, from Mexico.
studios in each of his homes. He had owned a wide
4. Enrica Soma (1929-1969) They had two chil- collection of art, including a notable collection of Predren: a daughter, Anjelica Huston, and a son, Wal- Columbian art.[26]
ter Antony Tony Huston, now an attorney and faA heavy smoker, he was diagnosed with emphysema
ther of actor Jack Huston. Soma also had a daughin 1978. By the last year of his life he could not
ter, Allegra Huston, as the result of an extramaribreathe for more than twenty minutes without needing
tal aair with John Julius Norwich; Huston treated
oxygen.[27] He died on August 28, 1987 in his rented
the girl as one of his own children following Somas
home in Middletown, Rhode Island from pneumonia as
death four years later.
a complication of lung disease.[28] Huston is interred in
5. Celeste Shane In his autobiography, An Open the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood with his
Book, Huston refers to her as a crocodile, and mother.
states only that if he had his life to do over, he would
not marry a fth time.

9 Filmography

Four of his marriages ended in divorce. His fourth wife,

Enrica Soma, died in a car accident in 1969, while they
were married. In addition to his children with Soma, he 9.1
fathered a son, actor Danny Huston, with author Zoe Sal9.2
lis.
Among his friends were Orson Welles and Ernest Hem9.3
ingway. Humphrey Bogart was one of his best friends and
Huston delivered the eulogy at his funeral.
Huston visited Ireland in 1951 and stayed at Luggala,
County Wicklow, the home of Garech Browne, a member of the Guinness family. He visited Ireland several
times afterwards and on one of these visits he purchased
and restored a Georgian home, St Clerans, of Craughwell,
County Galway. Between 1960 and 1971 he served as
Master of Fox Hounds (MFH) of the County Galway
Hunt the famous Galway Blazers whose kennels are
at Craughwell. He renounced his U.S. citizenship and became an Irish citizen in 1964.[24][25] His daughter Anjelica attended school in Ireland at Kylemore Abbey for a
number of years. A lm school is now dedicated to him
on the NUIG campus.
Huston was an accomplished painter who wrote in his autobiography, Nothing has played a more important role

Director
Screenwriter
Actor

10 References
[1] Byrne, James Patrick (2008). Philip Coleman, Jason
Francis King, ed. Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History : a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, Volume 2. ABC-CLIO. p. 442. ISBN 9781851096145. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
[2] Freer, Ian. Moviemakers Quercus (2009) pp. 7071
[3] Rhea Gore Huston; ndagrave.com
[4] Flint, Peter. John Huston, Film Director, Writer and Actor, Dies at 81 New York Times, August 29, 1987
[5] Grobel, Lawrence. The Art of the Interview: Lessons from
a Master of the Craft, Random House (2004)

10

[6] Wakeman, John. (Ed.) World Film Directors, Vol. I,

18901945, New York, The H. W. Wilson Co. (1987)
pp. 485493

11

EXTERNAL LINKS

11 External links
John Huston at the Internet Movie Database

[7] Goodwin, James; Morsberger, Robert E. (editor) American Screenwriters, Gale Research Co. (1984) pp. 164
171

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?

[8] Huston, John. An Open Book, New York. Alfred A.

Knopf (1980)

John Huston. Find a Grave. Retrieved June 11,

2013.

[9] Tracy, Tony; Flynn, Roddy. John Huston: Essays on a

Restless Director, McFarland (2010)

John Huston papers, Margaret Herrick Library,

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

[10] The Stranger. AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American

Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
[11] Sarris, Andrew. The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 19291968 Dutton (1968) pp. 156158
[12] Stevens, George Jr.
Conversations with the Great
Moviemakers of Hollywoods Golden Age, New York. Alfred A. Knopf (2006) pp. 335=355
[13] Barson, Michael. The Illustrated Whos Who of Hollywood
Directors, Vol 1: The Sound Era Noonday Press (1995) pp.
208215
[14] Ray Bradbury: An American Icon
[15] Kaminsky, Stuart M. International Dictionary of Films
and Filmmakers: Directors 3rd ed., St. James Press (1997)
pp. 459463
[16] Fat City :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews. January 1, 1972.
[17] Long, Robert Emmet John Huston: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers) (2001) p. 178
[18] Life magazine, August 4, 1972, p. 69
[19] Ebert, Roger. Chicago Sun-Times, lm review, January 1,
1972.
[20] 12th Moscow International Film Festival (1981)". MIFF.
Retrieved January 27, 2013.
[21] Lieber et al. 2007, p. 468.
[22] Greensfelder & Read 2006, p. 6465.
[23] Running Around in High Circles. The New York Times.
[24] Veteran Film Producer Becomes Irish Citizen. Spokane
Daily Chronicle. January 3, 1964. Retrieved May 14,
2012.
[25] Its Sean Huston Now. St. Petersburg Times. January 4,
1964. Retrieved May 14, 2012.
[26] Art by Directors, Karl French, Granta 86, 2004, ISBN 0903141-69-8
[27] John Huston Is Not Well But Hes Very Much Alive
Chicago Tribune. Articles.chicagotribune.com. March
12, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
[28] Actor John Huston Warns Others About Emphysema
With PM-Obit-Huston Bjt. Apnewsarchive.com. August 29, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2013.

Literature on John Huston

11

12
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Viertel. It was photographed in Technicolor by Jack Cardi and had a music score by Allan Gray.

12.3

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