Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein) (September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was a Russian-born American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights (1927) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director. He also directed The Front Page (1931 – nomination), The General Died at Dawn (1936), Of Mice and Men (1939), Ocean's 11 (1960), and Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
[on Marlon Brando in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)] I thought Brando's performance as Fletcher Christian was horrible. I've only seen him act once, and that was on Broadway in "A Streetcar Named Desire"; a marvelous performance. But he was never an actor before and hasn't been one since.
2
[on Errol Flynn] His faults harmed no one but himself.
3
[on directing Marlon Brando in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)] Everything went off fine for a couple of weeks, and then suddenly we were doing a scene and Marlon spoke to the cameraman, right past me. He said, "Look, I'll tell you, when I go like this, it means roll it, and this gesture means you stop the camera. You don't stop the camera until I give you the signal". Well, I was amazed, but I didn't say anything about it.
4
[on taking over the direction of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)] I thought, "This is one way of getting rich quick--I get the salary and, at most, it couldn't take two or three months". After I'd signed the contract I found out that in the previous year all they'd had on screen was about seven minutes of film. I spent a year on it.
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Fact
1
Quote from Pat O'Brien: "John Ford, the old master, is the orderly type. Working for him is like being part of a ballet. He hardly ever moves the camera, but composes his shots like a master painter, a Rembrandt or Degas. The actor becomes part of the scene. Ford lets the action swirl past his lens. But the reality of his seamen, miners, dust-bowlers, horse soldiers, or Western heroes, when he is at his best, is a literature that the screen rarely gets. Working for him one feels a special pride. Lewis Milestone is a bouncing camera mover. For him the seeing eye is all. He stands the camera on its head, rolls it, rushes it, brings it in on the run. The actors are part of the scenery, and they must fight to survive, come alive while he catches them on the run. Neither men are static directors. They don't care for too much talk in their script, or stage business over meaningless chatter.".
2
His career was adversely affected by the "McCarthy" era in the late 1940s and early 1950s. To avoid being humiliated by the House Un-American Activities Committee--which was desperately trying to find "Communist subversion" in Hollywood films--he began making films abroad, in both Britain and Italy, but they were not successful. His last three films were Hollywood productions with large budgets, but Milestone had a bad time on all of them--Gregory Peck re-edited Pork Chop Hill (1959) (which he co-produced); Frank Sinatra and his "Rat Pack" seem to have largely ignored him on the set of Ocean's 11 (1960); and he had the worst experience of his career trying to direct Marlon Brando on Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) remake. This last was also a hugely expensive box-office failure. Milestone was then scheduled to direct PT 109 (1963), a film about President John F. Kennedy's wartime adventures, but was replaced by a minor TV director, Leslie H. Martinson. After that, Milestone seems to have given up on films, although he directed a few television series episodes, an experience he did not enjoy.
Born in Russia, Milestone emigrated to the US in 1917 in order to escape being drafted into the Russian army during World War I, but upon his arrival in the US immediately enlisted in the US Army and was sent to France, where he fought until the war's end.
Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume One, 1890-1945". Pages 770-778. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1987.
10
Replaced Carol Reed as director of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) after Reed quit because he could not cope with the massive ego of the film's star, Marlon Brando. Milestone didn't find Brando any easier to work with and in the end let him do as he pleased. When asked by the cameraman why he wasn't watching the filming, Milestone replied, "I hate to see movies in pieces, so you let him do this and when it's all finished and cut, for ten cents I can walk into the theatre and see the whole thing at once. Why should I bother to look at it now?".
11
Won the only ever Best Comedy Director Oscar (for Two Arabian Knights (1927)) at the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929.
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Pork Chop Hill
1959
Have Gun - Will Travel
1958
TV Series 2 episodes
Suspicion
1958
TV Series 1 episode
Schlitz Playhouse
1958
TV Series 2 episodes
La vedova X
1955
They Who Dare
1954
Melba
1953
Les Miserables
1952
Kangaroo
1952
Halls of Montezuma
1951
The Red Pony
1949
No Minor Vices
1948
Arch of Triumph
1948
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers
1946
A Walk in the Sun
1945
Guest in the House
1944
uncredited
The Purple Heart
1944
The North Star
1943
Edge of Darkness
1943
Our Russian Front
1942
Documentary short
Know for Sure
1941
Short uncredited
My Life with Caroline
1941
Lucky Partners
1940
Of Mice and Men
1939
The Night of Nights
1939
The Young in Heart
1938
uncredited
The General Died at Dawn
1936
Anything Goes
1936
Paris in Spring
1935
The Captain Hates the Sea
1934
Hallelujah I'm a Bum
1933
Rain
1932
uncredited
The Front Page
1931
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
New York Nights
1929
Betrayal
1929
The Racket
1928
Tempest
1928
uncredited
The Garden of Eden
1928
Two Arabian Knights
1927
The Kid Brother
1927
uncredited
Fine Manners
1926
uncredited
The New Klondike
1926
The Caveman
1926
Seven Sinners
1925
Fit to Win
1919
Positive
1918
Short
Posture
1918
Short
The Toothbrush
1918
Short
Arrest and Trial
1963-1964
TV Series 2 episodes
The Richard Boone Show
1964
TV Series 1 episode
Mutiny on the Bounty
1962
Ocean's 11
1960
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
La vedova X
1955
story adapted by
Arch of Triumph
1948
screenplay
Lucky Partners
1940
screenplay - uncredited
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
uncredited
Tempest
1928
uncredited
Seven Sinners
1925
screenplay / story
Bobbed Hair
1925
The Teaser
1925
adaptation
Dangerous Innocence
1925
The Mad Whirl
1925
Listen Lester
1924
adaptation
The Yankee Consul
1924
adaptation
Up and at 'Em
1922
story
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Ocean's 11
1960
producer
The Red Pony
1949
producer
No Minor Vices
1948
producer
A Walk in the Sun
1945
producer
Our Russian Front
1942
Documentary short producer
My Life with Caroline
1941
producer
Of Mice and Men
1939
producer
The Captain Hates the Sea
1934
producer
Rain
1932
producer - uncredited
The Front Page
1931
producer - uncredited
Betrayal
1929
producer
The Garden of Eden
1928
producer - uncredited
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
The General Died at Dawn
1936
Reporter (uncredited)
Cock of the Air
1932
Man in Doorway Smoking Pipe (uncredited)
The Front Page
1931
Bit (uncredited)
The Racket
1928
Speakeasy Doorman with Cigar (uncredited)
Editor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Scarface
1932
uncredited
Where the North Begins
1923
Editorial Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Cock of the Air
1932
additional editor - uncredited
Main Street
1923
assistant editor
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Westerner
1940
director: additional scenes - uncredited
All Quiet on the Western Front
1930
hand double: Lew Ayres - uncredited
Assistant Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Foolish Age
1921
assistant director
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Hollywood
1980
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself
Screen Snapshots, Series 14, No. 1
1934
Documentary short
Himself
Fascinating Youth
1926
Himself - Lewis Milestone
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1960
Star on the Walk of Fame
Walk of Fame
Motion Picture
On 8 February 1960. At 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
1931
Kinema Junpo Award
Kinema Junpo Awards
Best Foreign Language Film - Sound
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
1930
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Director
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
1929
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Director, Comedy Picture
Two Arabian Knights (1927)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1963
DGA Award
Directors Guild of America, USA
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
1947
Award
Cannes Film Festival
Feature films
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
1931
Oscar
Academy Awards, USA
Best Director
The Front Page (1931)
Known for movies
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) as Director
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) as Director
Ocean's 11 (1960) as Director
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) as Director
$7 Million
