This is an engaging history of how Val Lewton climbed from pulp writer to David O Selznik's right hand man to B-movie maestro. Not the aggressively ambitious type of guy, talented Lewton appears to have been quite satisfied as a B-producer and his films, claims Bansak, are an interesting bridge between "horror" and noir. Who doesn't like a guy who puts on a mauve, paisley "dog puke" tie just to insult people in pretentious company meetings? "Anyone who looks at this tie and doesn't realize I am insulting him is a fool anyway" Lewton confided to a colleague. Interesting barometer.
If you prefer to know how the studio system functioned and could care less about salacious personal details, then this is your biography. Bansak beautifully circles down from the big picture (how Orson Welles nearly bankrupted RKO and necessitated someone like Lewton who could cook up cheaper, but popular films) to a walk-through and analysis of each movie associated with Lewton. I was surprised to learn that Lewton's B's were relatively generously financed (compared to "poverty row" B's from Producers Releasing Corp and others). Bansak provides the context behind the creation of each movie, and explains how Lewton fits in with other contemporaries. When I first watched Lewton's flicks, I never associated them with others in the "horror" genre (like the Dracula franchise) but would have called them "historical thrillers"; in any case they are gorgeous and worth study.
This is a great read for film nerds who scour for titles like I do. Get out your notebook & start jotting.
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