Joseph McBride's New Book Reassesses George Cukor's Legacy

Film scholar Joseph McBride has published "George Cukor's People: Acting for a Master Director" (Columbia University Press, 518 pages), a critical survey arguing that the director of over 50 films including "Dinner at Eight," "The Philadelphia Story," "Adam's Rib," "Gaslight," and "My Fair Lady" has been underrated due to homophobia and critical bias. Cukor, who was queer, was dismissed as a "women's director" despite his skill with actors. He was famously fired from "Gone with the Wind" after Clark Gable refused to be directed by a "fairy." McBride highlights Cukor's collaborative approach: creating supportive sets, using long takes, and tailoring direction to each performer. Cukor's films won more acting Oscars than any other director's except William Wyler and Elia Kazan. The book examines recurring themes in Cukor's work, such as performance in theatricalized spaces and the nobility of dreamers, and notes his queer sensibility was subtly present, most explicitly in "Sylvia Scarlett" (1935). Cukor directed Katharine Hepburn ten times and shaped her star image, as well as the Hepburn-Tracy partnership in films like "Adam's Rib" and "Pat and Mike."