Max Ophuls, who is considered one of the greatest film directors of all time, has long been seen as an "auteur"--the artist in complete control of his work. Lutz Bacher's examination of his American career gives us a unique perspective on the workings of the Hollywood system and the struggle of a visionary to function within it. He thus establishes clear connections between the production contexts of Ophuls' American films and their idiosyncratic style.

Drawing on documents in many archives and on interviews with more than sixty of Ophuls' contemporaries, Bacher traces the European...