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Nicholas Ray was viewed as a typically unsettled artistic figure - perceptively creative yet restless and unrestrainable. Quick tempered, financially extravagant, leaning to bold sexual proclivities and, in his later years, dependent on the brief respite of drugs and alcohol, Ray seemed to continually advance his enigmatic reputation. Like Federico Fellini, he essentially taught himself filmmaking and hence his oeuvre is encrusted with a deep personal layer of expression. Ray invested his film language with a constant pragmatic examination of alternate lifestyles which violently conflicted with the surrounding world. His unromantic vision defines the legacy of a poet who was frequently constrained by a bludgeoning production system - his survival in it was yet another of his fascinating curiosities. He leaves us with a paradoxical work of instabilities, often embracing self-destructive or confused protagonists who are forced to cope in a subtly maligned modern environment. |
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Suggested Reading (click cover or title for more info)
I Was Interrupted: Nicholas Ray on Making Movies |
Director - Feature filmography and Review links: Wet Dreams (1975), 55 Days at Peking (1963), King of Kings (1961), The Savage Innocents (1959), Party Girl (1958), Wind Across the Everglades (1958), Bitter Victory (1957), The True Story of Jesse James (1957) , Bigger Than Life (1956), Hot Blood (1956), Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Run for Cover (1955), Johnny Guitar (1954), Androcles and the Lion (1952) (uncredited), The Lusty Men (1952), Macao (1952) (uncredited), On Dangerous Ground (1952), Flying Leathernecks (1951), Born to Be Bad (1950), In a Lonely Place (1950), A Woman's Secret (1949), Knock on Any Door (1949), They Live by Night (1948) |
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