James Mangold — freshly minted Best Director Oscar-nominee — occupies a fascinating space in the Hollywood firmament. A contemporary of auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, David Fincher, Paul Thomas Anderson, and fellow CalArts alum Tim Burton, Mangold has carved his own niche which can best be described as “elevated journeyman.” Mangold moves deftly between genres, delivering films whose strongest connective tissue lies within the effectiveness of his filmmaking, and just how good he is at telling stories in a visual language.
Mangold directed a 24-year-old Angelina Jolie to a scene stealing performance (and Best Supporting Actress Academy Award win) in 1999’s Girl Interrupted. He did the same for Reese Witherspoon in 2005’s Walk The Line. His 2017 entry into the X-Men cinematic universe — the stealth Western Logan — is often cited as a pinnacle of the superhero genre. And his 2024 Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown overcame a litany of advance skepticism to emerge as a box office hit — and nab eight Oscar nominations in the process. It was also critically acclaimed and met with a notable degree of approval from Dylan’s famously opinionated fanbase.
More: Director James Mangold + costumer Arianne Phillips on their big designs for ‘A Complete Unknown’
For his Treat, Mangold recommends the “glorious and beautiful” 1957 film Sweet Smell of Success; a movie that he believes that everyone should seek out, but especially writers, directors, and actors. He also offers a glimpse into his mentorship with the film’s director Alexander McKendrick.
This segment has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Hi, this is Jim Mangold, and this is The Treat: [the 1957 film] Sweet Smell of Success, written by Clifford Odette and Ernest Lehman, directed by my old mentor Alexander McKendrick, starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis — and many others — with music by Chico Hamilton and Elmer Bernstein.
It is a swinging film. It has taught me so much about writing, about storytelling, about characterization… about how you don't need anyone in your movie to be good, to make them compelling. You can [just] make a movie about desire, need, avarice, greed, longing…
I was 17 [at first viewing] because I’d just gotten to CalArts up in Valencia, and Sandy McKendrick — the director — was there in residence. It was shown in the first week as kind of representative of his work. I saw that movie, and I was like: “I gotta work with that guy.” He only worked with master's students, and I was fresh out of high school, but I clawed and I scratched until I ended up becoming his teaching assistant for several years. He was a really great friend and a huge and important teacher in my life.
It is also just beautiful black and white locations in New York City in the late 50s — [shot by cinematographer] James Wong Howe — it is a glorious and beautiful film. I can't advocate it enough if you're a writer, if you're a director, or an actor. It's also, in my opinion, Tony Curtis’ best movie because he's playing someone [that’s] probably close to something going on for him inside… Burt Lancaster, as well, is just demonically powerful in the movie. And that's it, that's my Treat.
