Joseph Losey

Birthday: 14 January 1909, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

Birth Name: Joseph Walton Losey

Belonging to an important family clan in Wisconsin, Joseph Losey studied philosophy but was always interested in theater and thus worked together with Bertolt Brecht. After directing some shorts for MGM, he made his first important film, The Boy with Green Hair (1948), for RKO. While he was filming The Prowler (1951) in Italy he was summoned to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, the congressional committee charged with "rooting out" Communist "subversion" in the motion picture industry. Unwilling to subject himself to the committee's well-known intimidation tactics, Losey decided to seek exile in Great Britain. In the following years he used a pseudonym--"Joseph Walton"--for his films, which were of minor quality. He regained his prestige with the thrillers Blind Date (1959), The Criminal (1960) and Eva (1962). From that point on his films varied between top-quality work like Accident (1967) and much lower-quality projects such as Modesty Blaise (1966), which was a box-office success, and Galileo (1975), which wasn't. Show less «

The productiveness of the director-actor relationship depends on the degree to which the actor trust...Show more »

The productiveness of the director-actor relationship depends on the degree to which the actor trusts the director. Unless the actor feels he can safely risk everything he has to give without making himself ridiculous he won't try. He'll play safe until he knows the director will not let him make a fool of himself. Show less «

Film is a dog: the head is commerce, the tail is art. And only rarely does the tail wag the dog.

[on Ginger Rogers] Ginger Rogers was one of the worst, Red-baiting, terrifying reactionaries in Holl...Show more »

[on Ginger Rogers] Ginger Rogers was one of the worst, Red-baiting, terrifying reactionaries in Hollywood. Show less «

I am frequently told that my films don't make money. Since I have averaged one film a year for 30 ye...Show more »

I am frequently told that my films don't make money. Since I have averaged one film a year for 30 years--some of them expensive ones--I can only conclude that somebody is making money. Show less «

I don't think there is any business in the world which is self-styled an 'industry' - because it is ...Show more »

I don't think there is any business in the world which is self-styled an 'industry' - because it is only the producers and directors who insist on calling the film a 'business' or 'industry' - where people so cavalierly hire specialists at vast prices only to devote themselves to hampering the work of the specialist they've hired. Show less «

[1979 comment on Mia Farrow] It is difficult to gauge a star's breaking point, but Mia and I could n...Show more »

[1979 comment on Mia Farrow] It is difficult to gauge a star's breaking point, but Mia and I could not have gone on as we had begun. Fortunately, there was no need to. She is shrewd. Her instincts are perfect. Once she had the idea, she was a rewarding working partner. Show less «

Films can illustrate our existence . . . they can distress, disturb and provoke people into thinking...Show more »

Films can illustrate our existence . . . they can distress, disturb and provoke people into thinking about themselves and certain problems. But NOT give the answers. Show less «

Once it's finished and been exposed to an audience, I very seldom can sit through a film of mine aga...Show more »

Once it's finished and been exposed to an audience, I very seldom can sit through a film of mine again. Almost never. Show less «

Joseph Losey

Joseph Losey's FILMOGRAPHY

Feedback about this page?