Joseph E. Levine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joseph E. Levine
Born	Joseph Edward Levine (1905-09-09)September 9, 1905 Boston, Massachusetts, US
Died	July 31, 1987(1987-07-31) (aged 81) Greenwich, Connecticut, US
Occupation	Producer, film distributor
Years active	1937–1987
Known for	Embassy Pictures
Spouse(s)	Rosalie Harriet Harrison ​ (m. 1938)​
Children	2

Joseph Edward Levine (September 9, 1905 – July 31, 1987) was an American film producer and distributor. He helped bring many movies to audiences. People said he worked on almost 500 films during his career.

Levine was famous for releasing movies like Godzilla, King of the Monsters!, Attila, and Hercules in the U.S. He changed how movies were marketed. He also started his own company, Embassy Pictures.

One of his biggest successes was The Graduate in 1967. This movie was a huge hit and made Dustin Hoffman a big star. The Graduate became one of the highest-earning films of all time. After this success, Levine sold his company to Avco but stayed in charge of the film division.

He also produced or helped fund other famous films. These include Two Women, The Lion in Winter, and The Producers. Later, he became independent again and produced A Bridge Too Far.

Joseph Levine's Early Life

Joseph Levine was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 9, 1905. He was the youngest of six children. His family had moved from Russia. Joe started working at age 14 to help his mother. He left school and never went back.

In the 1920s, he opened a dress shop with his older brothers. He also had other jobs, like running a cafe in Boston.

How Joseph Levine Started in Movies

In 1937, Joe met Rosalie Harrison, a singer. He left the restaurant business for her. They married in 1938 and moved to New Haven, Connecticut. There, Joe bought and ran a movie theater.

He became a successful film distributor. This meant he bought movies and then showed them in his own theaters. He eventually owned seven theaters, including three drive-ins. He often bought older Western movies cheaply.

One of his clever ideas was to change movie titles. For example, he bought the film Walk Into Paradise. When it didn't do well, he changed the title to Walk Into Hell. This made it a success at the box office. He also found that showing two movies with similar names together helped attract more viewers.

In the 1960s, he built two cinemas in New York City. These were the Lincoln Art Theatre and the Festival Theatre.

Joseph Levine's Producing Career

Starting Embassy Pictures

Joseph Levine began producing films in 1945. His first co-produced film was Gaslight Follies. This movie was a collection of old silent film clips. It featured stars like Charlie Chaplin. This film was released through Levine's own company, Embassy Pictures.

In 1956, Levine had a huge success with the Japanese film Godzilla. He bought the rights for only $12,000. But he spent $400,000 on advertising and promoting it. He renamed it Godzilla, King of the Monsters!. The movie then earned $1 million!

He did something similar with the 1954 French-Italian film Attila. He bought it for $100,000 and spent $600,000 on promotion. It earned $2 million. His biggest breakthrough came with Hercules in 1959. He spent $1.25 million promoting it. It became one of the highest-grossing films that year.

Helping Sophia Loren Win an Oscar

In the 1960s, Levine's Embassy Pictures started working with "art films," often from Europe. This was a very successful time for him.

In 1961, Levine bought the rights to Two Women. He had only seen a few minutes of the film. The movie starred Sophia Loren as a mother during World War II.

Levine focused his advertising on one powerful photo of Loren. It showed her crying with anger and sadness. He believed she would win an Academy Award. He brought Loren to the U.S. for interviews. He also placed large ads in newspapers. He made sure the movie was shown in cities where Academy Award judges lived.

His hard work paid off. Sophia Loren became the first person to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for a foreign-language film. People said he "nursed" the film to its great success.

Deals with Paramount and Later Successes

In 1963, Levine made a big deal with Paramount Pictures. He would produce films for them. Paramount would pay for the movies, and Embassy would get some of the profits. He bought the rights to several books, which became successful films like The Carpetbaggers.

Levine also tried to boost the career of actress Carroll Baker. He cast her in several films. However, their working relationship became difficult.

Levine later met director Mike Nichols. He signed Nichols to direct The Graduate (1967) before Nichols made his first feature film. The Graduate was the highest-earning film of 1967. Levine also hired a new director, Mel Brooks, to make The Producers. Levine once said he was good at "betting on unknown directors and actors."

In 1967, Levine sold Embassy to Avco for $40 million. He stayed on as the chief executive. He later called the sale a "horrible mistake which made me rich."

The Lion in Winter (1968) was Levine's favorite film. It won an Academy Award for Katharine Hepburn. After the sale, most of his films did not do as well. But Carnal Knowledge (1971) and A Touch of Class (1973) were hits. He left Avco Embassy in 1974. He then formed Joseph E. Levine Presents. He spent two and a half years making A Bridge Too Far (1977) with his son. His last film was Tattoo (1981).

Joseph Levine's Marketing Style

Levine was famous for his huge advertising campaigns. He started this with Hercules in 1959. He hired Terry Turner, an expert in promoting movies. Their campaigns were designed to attract both the public and the film industry.

For example, his film The Adventurers (1970) had a special "airborne world premiere." It was shown as the in-flight movie on a new Boeing 747 Superjet. The plane flew from New York to Los Angeles. The film's stars and reporters were on board. This was the first time a movie and a plane premiered at the same event.

Awards and Recognition

In 1964, Joseph Levine received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award. This award recognized his achievements in motion pictures.

Joseph Levine's Death

Joseph Levine passed away on July 31, 1987, in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was 81 years old. He was survived by his wife, Rosalie, his son Richard, his daughter Tricia, and two grandchildren.

Filmography

Producer credits

Executive producer credits

Joseph E. Levine presents

Images for kids

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  Levine and Cathy Ryan, widow of Cornelius Ryan, announcing the production of A Bridge Too Far in 1975

Quotes

"You can fool all of the people if the advertising is right."