ADAMA FILMS / ZEITGEIST FILMS

arts&life

film

Lillian and Harold
Michelson in L.A. in 1947

ADAMA FILMS / ZEITGEIST FILMS

The Greatest
Hollywood
Love
Story
You’ve Never Heard Of

SUZANNE CHESSLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

E

ven the most avid film
buffs may never have
heard the names Lillian
and Harold Michelson. But they
are considered Hollywood royal-
ty to many of the most acclaimed
filmmakers.
Alfred Hitchcock, Steven
Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola
and Mel Brooks are among
those who revered Lillian for

TOP: In NYC in 1984.
ABOVE: Harold was
responsible for one of the
most iconic scenes in movie
history: the “leg” view in
The Graduate.

30

August 3 • 2017

her research skills that brought
authenticity to motion pictures
and Harold’s storyboard skills
that conceptualized camera
angles and scenes to be built,
manipulated and shot.

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Individually and together, the
couple had a hand in the success
of some of the greatest movies of
the 20th century, including The
Ten Commandments, Fiddler on
the Roof, The Graduate, The Birds,
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf ?
and Rosemary’s Baby.
“Harold and Lillian enhanced
the quality of movies,” says pro-
ducer Stuart Cornfeld. “They
were the secret weapons that
nobody talked about but every-
one was trying to get.”
“Harold’s innate sense of cin-
ema was incredible,” adds direc-
tor Daniel Raim. “The way he
could bring a scene to life, both
verbally and on paper ….”
Raim decided it was time to
bring the couple to the atten-
tion of the public — and does so
powerfully with his documentary
Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood
Love Story. “Love” is the key
word — the deeply engaging and
moving film emphasizes their
decades-long romance and fam-
ily as well as celebrating these
talents that have helped shape
the films that are beloved to so
many.

Lillian Michelson, 89, and
retired, becomes the focal point
of the film, being shown Aug.
11-13 at the Detroit Film Theatre.
This presentation has special
meaning for Raim: Detroit was
the birthplace of his dad, writer
Martin Raim, and his aunt, con-
cert pianist Cynthia Raim.
“I like that the movie shows
my [late] husband’s talent and
publicizes what people do
without getting credit,” explains
Lillian, who has been speaking
at screening sessions near her
California apartment.
“It’s so [surprising] that the
questions and answers have
turned me into Ann Landers.
The questions asked by people
standing in line to shake my
hand are about their families
because the movie shows me
overcoming obstacles in my life.
I try to answer each one, and
some of them are so sad.”
Lillian, referring to the late
newspaper columnist who
helped find solutions for
troubled readers, openly talks
about being an orphan, raising
an autistic son and looking after

her husband experiencing a
severe injury and late-life illness.
Through it all, even through her
own health issues, she retained
her adventurous, ebullient
personality while inspiring opti-
mism in others.
“I’m aiming for my 100th birth-
day; why not?” she tells people
while encouraging them to forge
ahead.
Raim got to know about
the couple as a student at the
American Film Institute (AFI),
where Harold taught a class. He
wanted to have their presence
in the film as well as anecdotes
from the famous people employ-
ing them, including Brooks,
Coppola and Danny DeVito, a
producer of this documentary.
“In the 1990s, I had two
career-spanning interviews
with Harold that I filmed and
kept in my archives,” says Raim,
born in Israel and now living
in California. “The challenge
of keeping him present in the
film involved incorporating his
poems and letters to Lillian.
“Harold was an interview
subject in my first documentary.