Love him or hate him, Michael Winner has known practically everyone in the British and American film industries, making him perhaps a learned jester of the business. In five decades as a technician, writer, director, and producer, Winner has learned a great deal about how films are made and why your sales pitch is often more important than what's being sold. And after directing such figures as Burt Lancaster, Charles Bronson, Marlon Brando, and Oliver Reed, the London native has plenty of juicy stories to tell.
In a second life as restaurant critic and media personality, Winner has committed his memories to paper. 'Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts' recaps his movie career that began as an entertainment columnist and branched into more than 30 films under his leadership. 'Winner Takes All,' published in Britain by Robson Books and available to the United States in limited quantities, is a sardonic, often caustic autobiography that leads us through Winner's years on British and American film sets.
Winner is remembered in the film industry as an abrasive personality, but one with a clearly-defined system of filmmaking. His reputation was built mainly on harnessing the egos of names like Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Faye Dunaway, while completing projects in as few takes as possible. Winner directed well-known actors multiple times and continuously drew technicians back to the studio. Although never the recipient of a major film award and often hammered by critics, several of Winner's films have grossed millions of dollars and emblazoned themselves on the cultural spectrum.
Born to Jewish property owners of Russian and Polish origin, Winner lived through a fairly comfortable childhood, excluding the London Blitz. He graduated with a degree in law and economics from Cambridge and entered the film business as a technician, writer, and assistant director for the BBC and smaller production outfits. Eventually, Winner became known worldwide for his action films, including 'Death Wish,' 'Scorpio,' and 'The Mechanic.'
'Winner Takes All' is an excellent chronicle of the British and U.S. film industries from 1950 to 1990, the 1960s and 70s of which M.W. hit his creative stride. The strongest aspect of Winner's book are his encounters with movie personalities, whom he remembers in striking detail. Of particular fondness were his times with Marlon Brando, Orson Welles, and Oliver Reed, the latter of whom appeared in six of his films. The book also sheds a great deal of light on the film business and how slippery matters can get. More often than not, it was Winner's ability to talk through a situation that brought needed results.
'Winner Takes All' is a book that combines self-promotion with self-blame in typically Winner fashion. He shows humility and admits to the mistakes he's made in his life, but also jumps on opportunities to build up his esteem. There are times when Winner admits to being an imperfect British subject, such as when he avoided military conscription by pretending to be homosexual. He also admits to being a rotten lover, having carried on numerous affairs while in 'committed' relationships.
Most of this is very readable and presented humorously, even if we get to know more about Winner then we'd like. We cringe when he sums up each film with nothing but positive reviews from the media. To make matters worse, Winner caps off the book with quotes by him and about him, few of which criticize him in earnest and last for nearly forty pages. Simultaneously funny and annoying, it seems an autobiography that only the brash Winner could write.
Indeed, Winner's writing style is akin to his direction - taut but effective. His writing is spirited and nearly always grammatically sound. The narrative does wander at times when a particular person (especially Jill Ireland and Marlon Brando) is mentioned, as if Winner was afraid he may forget the history or there may not be room for discussion later on. But this happens only in rare instances and Winner knows enough to pull back and return to the original topic. The book is in strict chronological order, which helps us to follow Winner's personal growth (or occasional lack thereof).
Not all of Winner's book is humorous, as sections are devoted to his love affair with Jill Ireland, with whom he remained friends until her tragic death in 1990, and the gambling addiction of his mother that liquidated her estate and brought the filing of sham lawsuits against Winner over a six-year period. Winner has also become greatly involved in charitable causes since the mid-1980s; he describes his struggle to create the Police Memorial Trust and build the National Police Memorial in honor of fallen British officers. This tone is not often equated with Winner and stands out in a very funny piece of writing.
It is no mystery that fans of Michael Winner will embrace this book and those who abhor him will look for something else. For those sitting on the fence, 'Winner Takes All' is, at the very least, an entertaining read that sends us back to the last great decades of English-speaking cinema, when names likes Lancaster, Welles, and Brando were still around to impress us. Winner's self-promotional side is grating as usual, but it's not a Michael Winner that we haven't seen or heard before.
