George Stevens, Jr.

I went with my father to the 1952 Academy Awards in Hollywood. A Place in the Sun had just been released. And we sat next to one another at the Pantages Theater. And Joseph Mankiewicz, a great director, had won the Oscar the year before for the Lady Eve, I believe. And he came out and read the nominations. And it was John Huston for The African Queen, William Wyler for Detective Story,

I went with my father to the 1952 Academy Awards in Hollywood. A Place in the Sun had just been released. And we sat next to one another at the Pantages Theater. And Joseph Mankiewicz, a great director, had won the Oscar the year before for the Lady Eve, I believe. And he came out and read the nominations. And it was John Huston for The African Queen, William Wyler for Detective Story,

Vincent Minnelli for An American in Paris, Elia Kazan for A Streetcar Named Desire, and George Stevens for A Place in the Sun. Quite a lineup. Heck yeah. And A Place in the Sun won. But riding home that night, the Oscar was on the seat between us in the car. I think I was about 18 years old.

Vincent Minnelli for An American in Paris, Elia Kazan for A Streetcar Named Desire, and George Stevens for A Place in the Sun. Quite a lineup. Heck yeah. And A Place in the Sun won. But riding home that night, the Oscar was on the seat between us in the car. I think I was about 18 years old.

And my father looked over at me and he said, you know, this is before DVDs and streaming pictures came and went. And he said, we'll have a better idea what kind of a film this is in about 25 years. He understood that with art, what's important is what lasts. And when you talk about legacy,

And my father looked over at me and he said, you know, this is before DVDs and streaming pictures came and went. And he said, we'll have a better idea what kind of a film this is in about 25 years. He understood that with art, what's important is what lasts. And when you talk about legacy,

You know, the idea that you've not made a picture that's going to be forgotten, that you make one and you mentioned several that are being shown 70 years after he made them. So that is part of our family legacy.

You know, the idea that you've not made a picture that's going to be forgotten, that you make one and you mentioned several that are being shown 70 years after he made them. So that is part of our family legacy.

Well, you know, it's interesting. My life took a turn. I was pleased with the work I was doing on Alfred Hitchcock and working with him on the Diary of Anne Frank. But then I went to Washington, Edward R. Murrow, the great war correspondent, went to work for President Kennedy, the United States Information Agency, and he invited me to go to Washington.

Well, you know, it's interesting. My life took a turn. I was pleased with the work I was doing on Alfred Hitchcock and working with him on the Diary of Anne Frank. But then I went to Washington, Edward R. Murrow, the great war correspondent, went to work for President Kennedy, the United States Information Agency, and he invited me to go to Washington.

And it was a huge decision to leave what I was doing in Hollywood and go off on this other tangent. But being with with President Kennedy and Murrow in the New Frontier, and we made documentary films. And there I really got a sense of my own work, that it was independent of my father, and it was highly regarded. And, you know, I went on to start the American Film Institute.

And it was a huge decision to leave what I was doing in Hollywood and go off on this other tangent. But being with with President Kennedy and Murrow in the New Frontier, and we made documentary films. And there I really got a sense of my own work, that it was independent of my father, and it was highly regarded. And, you know, I went on to start the American Film Institute.

And so pretty soon I got comfortable with my own place in the creative world.

And so pretty soon I got comfortable with my own place in the creative world.

Yes. I made a film called The Five Cities of June with a director called Bruce Hershenson, which told the story of President Kennedy going to Berlin in 1963 and standing before the Berlin Wall and making his famous Ich bin ein Berliner. I am a Berliner speech before Berlin. 400,000 people at the Berlin Wall. It was a very dramatic movie, and we showed it, of course, overseas.

Yes. I made a film called The Five Cities of June with a director called Bruce Hershenson, which told the story of President Kennedy going to Berlin in 1963 and standing before the Berlin Wall and making his famous Ich bin ein Berliner. I am a Berliner speech before Berlin. 400,000 people at the Berlin Wall. It was a very dramatic movie, and we showed it, of course, overseas.

And one afternoon, I was in Edward R. Murrow's director's meeting with about 25 people and my assistant, my deputy. came in and handed me a note. And I read it, and I kind of looked at Murrow, and I got up and left the meeting and went down one flight to my office. And my assistant said, Mrs. Lincoln's on the line. She said, I'll ask her to put the president on.

And one afternoon, I was in Edward R. Murrow's director's meeting with about 25 people and my assistant, my deputy. came in and handed me a note. And I read it, and I kind of looked at Murrow, and I got up and left the meeting and went down one flight to my office. And my assistant said, Mrs. Lincoln's on the line. She said, I'll ask her to put the president on.

And it was President Kennedy calling me. And he came on the phone and he said, George, he said, I saw the five cities of June last night. He said, it's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. He said, how many countries is it being shown in? How many languages? He asked all of these Kennedy questions. And he was known that President Kennedy often wouldn't call the Secretary of State.

And it was President Kennedy calling me. And he came on the phone and he said, George, he said, I saw the five cities of June last night. He said, it's one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. He said, how many countries is it being shown in? How many languages? He asked all of these Kennedy questions. And he was known that President Kennedy often wouldn't call the Secretary of State.