Reading a new Wiki entry on Otto Preminger, described as "the classic author and director par excellence, master of precision and finesse, sometimes tyrannical sometimes engaging on his sets, fervent defender of democracy and always in conflict with established conventions," I couldn't help think about Vera Caspary's experiences with him. Caspary was droppped from consulting on the adaptation of her novel Laura because she and Preminger disagreed about having the title character be the focus of the story. Preminger, Caspary complained, knew "little about women," and reduced her complex portrait of Laura to "the Hollywood version of a cute career girl." And that's leaving aside Preminger's reputation as a philanderer who slept with his leading ladies (with devastating consequences for women like Dorothy Dandridge--see the 1999 biopic).
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