Sidney Lumet: A Life Hardcover – 10 Dec. 2019

This is an excellent biography that provides a multi-dimensional portrait of an passionate human being. To what is already known about Sidney Lumet as a director, Maura Spiegel does a wonderful job of presenting the man in his full complexity -- energetic, brilliant, warm, charming.Lumet’s early years are covered in detail, drawing upon Lumet’s unpublished memoirs and the memoir of his father, Baruch Lumet. I was pleased to learn about Sidney Lumet’s his early years in the Yiddish theater and in 1930s Broadway productions like The Eternal Road. As well, there is much about Lumet’s four marriages and family life, based on Ms. Spiegel’s extensive interviews.The book touches on virtually all of Lumet’s movies, including his greatest successes from the 1950s (12 Angry Men), the ‘60s (Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Hill), Lumet’s peak years in the ‘70s (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Network), and the ‘80s (Prince of the City, The Verdict), as well as covering lesser known movies that did not fare well commercially (Bye-Bye Braverman, Garbo Talks, Q&A, Guilty as Sin, and more.)For the cinephile, there are wonderful insights about working with actors, about lighting and composition (e.g., taking inspiration from Caravaggio), and a delightful encounter with Akira Kurosawa (pp.291-292.) Above all, what comes through is the warmth and charm of the man, apparent throughout his life, but perhaps best captured in a series of wonderful quotes by the cast and crew of 100 Centre Street (pp.341-342).In sum, a valuable and most welcome book, and highly recommended.

Looks like a good read, book is a gift for Christmas, be warned though, this is an American publication, the paper used is dreadful, guaranted to go yellow very quickly, not many photos inside

Uno de los mejores libros de cine de los últimos tiempos.

From his humble beginnings as a child actor on New York’s Lower East Side, Lumet developed extraordinary enthusiasm for enacted material and a strong work ethic. Every aspect of making a film is discussed here. I particularly enjoyed it when the broader strokes of choosing a script, financing, and casting zoomed in on directorial choices and refinements — blocking, line interpretations, the subtlest gestures and facial expressions. Between individual projects, the story opens up to Lumet's multiple marriages to fascinating partners, parenting, and socializing with world’s great artists and actors. Most endearing is the unassuming genius in the middle of it all. A grand biography, beautifully written.

Sidney Lumet A Life arrived fast and clean and in tact! Can't wait to read it! Great service, Thanks again!

She captured the essence of his greatness

GOES WILL WITH HIS AUTO BIO.