Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writing

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Born — Died

1909-02-11 — 1993-02-05

Place of birth

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA

Known for

Writing

Credits

58 titles

Joseph Leo Mankiewicz (/ˈmæŋkəwɪts/ MANG-kə-wits; February 11, 1909 – February 5, 1993) was an American filmmaker. A four-time Academy Award winner, he is best known for his witty and literate dialogue and his preference for voice-over narration and narrative flashbacks. Also known as an actor's director, Mankiewicz directed several prominent actors, including Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and Elizabeth Taylor, to several of their memorable onscreen performances. Born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Mankiewicz studied at Columbia University and graduated in 1928. He moved overseas to Europe, where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and translated German intertitles i…

Known for

The Mike Douglas Show poster
5.8

The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

The Dick Cavett Show poster
6.8

The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.

The Dick Cavett Show

1968

The Oscars poster
7.1

An annual American awards ceremony honoring cinematic achievements in the film industry. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially the Academy Award of Merit, that is better known by its nickname Oscar.

The Oscars

1953

Ciné regards poster
5.0

No synopsis available yet.

Ciné regards

1978

Cleopatra poster
7.1

Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.

Cleopatra

1963

All About Eve poster
8.1

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

All About Eve

1950

Film credits

1980s · 7 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Cleopatra poster
7.1

Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.

Cleopatra

1963

Cleopatra poster
7.1

Determined to hold on to the throne, Cleopatra seduces the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. When Caesar is murdered, she redirects her attentions to his general, Marc Antony, who vows to take power—but Caesar’s successor has other plans.

Cleopatra

1963

All About Eve poster
8.1

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

All About Eve

1950

All About Eve poster
8.1

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Eve maneuvers her way into Margo's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

All About Eve

1950

The Philadelphia Story poster
7.5

When a rich woman's ex-husband and a tabloid-type reporter turn up just before her planned remarriage, she begins to learn the truth about herself.

The Philadelphia Story

1940

Guys and Dolls poster
6.6

In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a Salvation Army missionary to Havana, and unexpectedly they fall for each other. And the bet has a hidden motive ... classic song and dance ensues!

Guys and Dolls

1955

Guys and Dolls poster
6.6

In New York, a gambler is challenged to take a Salvation Army missionary to Havana, and unexpectedly they fall for each other. And the bet has a hidden motive ... classic song and dance ensues!

Guys and Dolls

1955

A Letter to Three Wives poster
7.2

A letter is addressed to three wives from their 'best friend', announcing that she's running away with one of their husbands – but she doesn't specify which one.

A Letter to Three Wives

1949

A Letter to Three Wives poster
7.2

A letter is addressed to three wives from their 'best friend', announcing that she's running away with one of their husbands – but she doesn't specify which one.

A Letter to Three Wives

1949

Woman of the Year poster
7.0

Rival reporters Sam Craig and Tess Harding fall in love and get married, only to find their relationship strained when Sam comes to resent Tess' hectic lifestyle.

Woman of the Year

1942

Julius Caesar poster
7.1

The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but both have sorely underestimated Mark Antony.

Julius Caesar

1953

Julius Caesar poster
7.1

The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but both have sorely underestimated Mark Antony.

Julius Caesar

1953

The Barefoot Contessa poster
6.8

A washed-up filmmaker gets a second chance at stardom when he discovers stunning peasant Maria Vargas dancing in a Madrid nightclub. Goaded by his producer, the director convinces Maria to screen test for, and then star in, his next big picture. But as the producer's possessive nature and the realities of stardom weigh on Maria, she seeks a genuine lover with whom she can escape.

The Barefoot Contessa

1954

The Barefoot Contessa poster
6.8

A washed-up filmmaker gets a second chance at stardom when he discovers stunning peasant Maria Vargas dancing in a Madrid nightclub. Goaded by his producer, the director convinces Maria to screen test for, and then star in, his next big picture. But as the producer's possessive nature and the realities of stardom weigh on Maria, she seeks a genuine lover with whom she can escape.

The Barefoot Contessa

1954

Suddenly, Last Summer poster
7.3

The only son of wealthy widow Violet Venable dies while on vacation with his cousin Catherine. What the girl saw was so horrible that she went insane; now Mrs. Venable wants Catherine lobotomized to cover up the truth.

Suddenly, Last Summer

1959

A Christmas Carol poster
7.0

Miser Ebenezer Scrooge is awakened on Christmas Eve by spirits who reveal to him his own miserable existence, what opportunities he wasted in his youth, his current cruelties, and the dire fate that awaits him if he does not change his ways. Scrooge is faced with his own story of growing bitterness and meanness, and must decide what his own future will hold: death or redemption.

A Christmas Carol

1938

Three Comrades poster
7.2

A love story centered on the lives of three young German soldiers in the years following World War I. Their close friendship is strengthened by their shared love for the same woman who is dying of tuberculosis.

Three Comrades

1938

There Was a Crooked Man... poster
6.8

A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

There Was a Crooked Man...

1970

There Was a Crooked Man... poster
6.8

A charming but ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison, where he enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

There Was a Crooked Man...

1970

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir poster
7.5

In 1900, young widow Lucy Muir learns that her seaside cottage is haunted and forms a unique relationship with the ghost.

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

1947

Manhattan Melodrama poster
7.0

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

Manhattan Melodrama

1934

The Keys of the Kingdom poster
7.1

A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed.

The Keys of the Kingdom

1944

The Keys of the Kingdom poster
7.1

A young priest, Father Chisholm is sent to China to establish a Catholic parish among the non-Christian Chinese. While his boyhood friend, also a priest, flourishes in his calling as a priest in a more Christian area of the world, Father Chisholm struggles. He encounters hostility, isolation, disease, poverty and a variety of set backs which humble him, but make him more determined than ever to succeed.

The Keys of the Kingdom

1944

No Way Out poster
6.9

Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.

No Way Out

1950

No Way Out poster
6.9

Two hoodlum brothers are brought into hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one dies, the other accuses their Black doctor of murder.

No Way Out

1950

Sleuth poster
7.7

A man who loves games and theatre invites his wife's lover to meet, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Sleuth

1972

Forsaking All Others poster
6.0

A socialite only realises that her friend is in love with her when she falls for the wrong man.

Forsaking All Others

1934

House of Strangers poster
7.0

Ruthless Italian-American banker Gino Monetti is engaged in a number of criminal activities. Three of his four grown sons refuse to help their father stay out of prison after he's arrested for his questionable business practices. Three of them take over the business but kick their father out. Max, a lawyer, is the only son that remains loyal.

House of Strangers

1949

Dragonwyck poster
6.6

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

Dragonwyck

1946

Dragonwyck poster
6.6

A simple Connecticut farm girl is recruited by a distant relative, an aristocratic patroon, to be governess to his young daughter in his Hudson Valley mansion.

Dragonwyck

1946

Strange Cargo poster
7.0

Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure.

Strange Cargo

1940

Double Wedding poster
6.4

A bohemian free spirit helps meek Waldo win back his fiancée and falls in love with her over-controlling sister in the process.

Double Wedding

1937

The Quiet American poster
5.8

Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

The Quiet American

1958

The Quiet American poster
5.8

Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

The Quiet American

1958

The Quiet American poster
5.8

Cynical British journalist Fowler falls in love with a young Vietnamese woman but is dismayed when a naïve U.S. official also begins vying for her attention. In retaliation, Fowler informs the communists that the American is selling arms to their enemy.

The Quiet American

1958

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.1

In Victorian England, a bored young girl dreams that she has entered a fantasy world called Wonderland, populated by even more fantastic characters.

Alice in Wonderland

1933

Fury poster
7.5

Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wrongly mistaken for a wanted kidnapper and arrested.

Fury

1936

National Theatre Live: All About Eve poster
8.5

From the moment she glimpses her idol at the stage door, Eve Harrington is determined to take the reins of power away from the great actress Margo Channing. Catherine maneuvers her way into Eve's Broadway role, becomes a sensation and even causes turmoil in the lives of Margo's director boyfriend, her playwright and his wife. Only the cynical drama critic sees through Eve, admiring her audacity and perfect pattern of deceit.

National Theatre Live: All About Eve

2019

People Will Talk poster
7.1

A successful, unorthodox doctor befriends a young woman with suicidal ideations due to her pregnancy by her ex, a military reservist killed in action.

People Will Talk

1951

People Will Talk poster
7.1

A successful, unorthodox doctor befriends a young woman with suicidal ideations due to her pregnancy by her ex, a military reservist killed in action.

People Will Talk

1951