By Liudmyla NOVYKOVA
Edward Dmytryk, noted ethnic Ukrainian film director, passed away on the
night of July 1-2. Den' conveyed the sad news and now The Day
carries a story about the great filmmaker.
Edward Dmytryk cuts a noticeable figure among Hollywood's Ukrainian-born
filmmakers, perhaps the most spectacular one. During his professional career
he made 57 motion pictures. Although the creative peak came in the 1940s-1950s,
two dozen of his productions are included in the most prestigious Western
movie industry reference sources. Some of the authors attempting his life
story turn out to rely on polarized views. The crux of the matter is their
approach to events that took place in North America in the 1940s, particularly
those centered on the HUAC and related Hollywood developments.
Edward Dmytryk was born September 4, 1908, into a Ukrainian emigrant's
family residing in Grand Forks, a small Canadian town. When he was 2 his
parents decided to visit Ukraine. In 1910-11, they lived in Buriakivka,
a village near Ternopil. This experience left Edward with vague yet extremely
warm memories. Back in Canada, the family made plans to resettle in Ukraine,
but then World War I broke out and made them change their plans. The Dmytryks
finally settled in the United States.
In 1923, Edward Dmytryk became an errand boy with Paramount Pictures.
Later, he got a job at RKO, marking a qualitatively new creative stage
in his life. Within five years at RKO he produced ten pictures, half of
which went down in Hollywood history. It was while at RKO that he staged
the psychological drama Hitler's Children tracing the formation
of National Socialist values among German youth. By this time Edward Dmytryk
had clearly formulated his concept as a film director: commercial success.
One must put together a good shooting and casting crew, he said, and let
the people work as best they can. In addition, he always thought it important
to have a solid story. He worked for the audience in the first place. He
wanted to keep his viewers in suspense. He said that every picture he made
was meant for the common folk, rather than for the elite, although he hoped
that his productions did not offend the intellectual taste.
He made a brilliant thriller for RKO, based on Raymond Chandler's best-selling
novel, Murder, My Sweet, (also entitled Farewell, My Lovely)
and Crossfire, the first US production exposing anti-Semitism, winning
several Academy Award nominations. Fruitful as his cooperation with RKO
proved to be, the company did not hesitate to turn traitor as he fell prey
to the HUAC in 1947 as one of the "Hollywood Ten" film-industry people
swept under the witch hunt tidal wave at the time. He joined the Communist
Party in 1945, but had withdrawn by the time of HUAC hearings and refused
to testify against his colleagues. He received six years of imprisonment
and was fired from the RKO, along with the rest of the "ten," without severance
pay.
Uppermost on Dmytryk's mind was having an opportunity to work. In 1951,
he returned from Great Britain to the United States and testified before
the HUAC, mentioning 26 names. After that he was again able to make films,
but some, like Elia Kazan who twice received an Oscar for best director,
would never forgive him.
It is hard to pass judgment on someone's doings dating back half a century.
Perhaps he had to pay an exorbitant price for being able to make another
several dozen films, yet this does not lower the value of his productions
in any way. Unlike Kazan, Dmytryk was never awarded for his contribution
to the world filmmaking process, but one of his productions, Broken
Lance, won an Academy Award for the best script. In subsequent years,
Edward Dmytryk made a number of pictures now considered Hollywood classics
like Crossfire, Raintree Country, The Caine Mutiny, The Carpetbaggers,
and of course The Young Lions.
When the organizing committee of Kyiv's Molodist International Film
Festival first conceived the idea of a Dmytryk retrospective the director
was interested, although he did not frankly believe that the project would
work. The man had long dreamed of visiting Ukraine but had to postpone
a visit to the land of his forefathers, believing that it would create
further unwelcome complications in Hollywood. Work on the retrospective
project began in 1996 and lasted two years. Edward Dmytryk wrote that,
being 89, his age dictated its conditions. Perhaps it was the saddest letter
he ever wrote. After his spinal surgery, almost two years ago, he was given
to occasional heart attacks that steadily ruined his fragile health, yet
he had hoped that his condition would improve. Regrettably, it did not.
He identified the picture he felt would be good enough for the project.
The organizing committee complied and the retrospective show ended up consisting
of seven Dmytryk films. In 1998, Molodist ran The Young Lions, The Caine
Mutiny, Murder, My Sweet, Crossfire, Broken Lance, Raintree Country, and
The Hill. The US Ambassador received an award conferred on Edward Dmytryk
for his contribution to world filmmaking, an excellent icon. The man was
stunned to receive it. In his letter to the organizing committee he wrote,
"Yesterday was the saddest and happiest day of my life. I was sad because
I had missed what should have been the most important event in my life;
I was happy because you had given me an award even though I could not attend.
Please accept my heartfelt gratitude. My wife Jean sends her best regards."







