Mitchell Leisen Biography

Fast Facts

• Served in the U․S․ military during World War I as a drill officer
• Worked at an architecture firm in Chicago before moving to Hollywood, where he was first hired to design gowns for Gloria Swanson in 1919's "Male and Female․"
• After his initial success as a costume designer on films like "Forbidden Fruit" and "The Thief of Bagdad," he went to work for director Cecil B․ DeMille as a set designer and art director
• Quote: "Nobody's all good, or all bad, not in my movies at least․ There's a little bad in the best of us, and a little good in the worst of us․"
• Although his films were often disregarded as mere camp, his combining of genres, frequent reversal of gender roles, and use of masquerade and impersonation define him as one of the first Post-Modern filmmakers
• Best known as a costume designer and director who had great success with the films "Midnight" and "Hold Back the Dawn․"
• In addition to his film work, he also worked as an interior decorator and fashion designer, and also staged nightclub acts
• Several of his films subverted Hollywood's traditional idea of "masculinity," including "Frenchman's Creek," which featured a cross-dressing heroine, and "Golden Earrings," whose hero was dressed in an androgynous gypsy style