Chris Fujiwara

Smart as Hitchcock, incisive as Wilder, and independently minded as Cassavetes, Otto Preminger remained largely peerless during his career. He was one of the first Hollywood auteurs to challenge censorship rules and explore his own vision—one populated with honest studies of drug addiction, sexual deviance, and corrupt politics. As an establishment director, he introduced an anti-cinema subversion that inspired the Cahiers du Cinema crew. Unfortunately, many will only remember him for his role as Mr. Freeze in the original Batman TV show. Film historian Chris Fujiwara’s exceptional biography aims to change that with an analysis that achieves the seemingly impossible: It actually manages to inspire the reader to take another look at Exodus.