Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director

Award-winning film historian Patrick McGilligan follows his acclaimed biographies of Alfred Hitchcock and Oscar Micheaux with a revelatory look at the life of Nicholas Ray, the troubled director of <i>In a Lonely Place</i>, <i>We Can't Go Home Again</i>, and <i>Rebel Without a Cause</i>. McGilligan charts the cerebral struggles, astonishing adventures, and artistic triumphs that defined Ray's life, including his Hollywood collaborations with Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, James Cagney, and James Dean; his love affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Gloria Grahame; his partnerships with activist Abbie Hoffman, pornography starlet Marilyn Chambers, photographer Wim Wenders; and more. Celebrating, contextualizing, and examining Ray's life and work, McGilligan delivers a milestone of film history and offers a captivating look at one of classic cinema's most colorful figures.