The director Kirk Douglas compared to a Nazi: “Just unendingly cruel”
Kirk Douglas has worked with some of the most demanding and prolific directors, with the actor rising to fame after his performance with Barbara Stanwyck in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, in which the actor made a point of not returning to similar roles and became known for his fiery screen presence, later starring in Out of the Past, Three Sisters and Champion.
He is the only actor to have worked with Stanley Kubrick twice, which remains a bizarre anomaly within his filmography after later becoming known for his unique approach to casting with each project, often using the public image of an actor against them in the role to add a meta-critical edge to the story. However, despite the challenge of playing such a diverse range of characters, the actor later described that one of his worst experiences came from working with another director, even comparing him to a Nazi.
In Harm’s Way, released in 1965, follows a naval officer who is given a second chance to prove himself after being criticised for his actions at Pearl Harbour. Douglas stars alongside John Wayne and Patricia Neal, with both men working together on multiple films, including Cast a Giant Shadow and The War Wagon.
However, the experience of working together on In Harm’s Way was not a positive one, with the actor later describing the horrific environment on set when working with the director, Otto Preminger. Preminger was most known for Anatomy of a Murder, Laura and Bunny Lake is Missing, often adapting popular novels during his time in Hollywood.
But Douglas had rather scathing things to say about the director, saying, “Otto Preminger was in private and on a social level a charming man. But when he was working, he was a bully. I always thought he looked and behaved like the sadistic Nazi commandant he played in Stalag 17. He never treated me badly on the set, and he didn’t treat Wayne badly, but he was cruel to Tom Tryon. Just unendingly cruel. He would come right up to Tom and scream until he was spitting saliva.”
Tryon was no doubt treated this way because he was less well-known than Wayne and Douglas, with the actor having smaller roles in productions such as The Longest Day and Cardinal. Many directors from this era were known to have disgusting tempers and to treat their actors with disrespect and contempt, and Douglas’ description of Preminger sadly fits the reputation of many filmmakers from the time.
However, despite being one of the Hollywood darlings during his time on screen, Douglas was no saint himself, with the actor reaching controversy in his later years after reports resurfaced that he had allegedly sexually assaulted Natalie Wood when she was a teenager with her sister Lana Wood describing the attack in her 2021 memoir.
Disappointingly, there were few people in Hollywood at this time who were exempt from abusing their power, with the industry thriving on the back of those who would exploit their star power for their own personal gain.
