Sydney Pollack, who died Monday of pancreatic cancer, was not an auteur director. He was, however, a brilliant storyteller, comfortable working in every genre: dramas, comedies, political thrillers, even westerns.
A former acting teacher, his major strength as a director was his extraordinary ability to bring out perfectly nuanced performances. His collaboration with Robert Redford led to some of Pollack's best films, including 1985's "Out of Africa," which won him the best director Oscar.
Pollack also had a strong track record as a producer of such films as "Iris," "The Quiet American," "Cold Mountain" and "Michael Clayton," which received a best picture Oscar nomination. (Pollack also appeared in the film as Clayton's high-powered boss.)
Here's a look at some of Pollack's more memorable work, both behind and in front of the camera.
"War Hunt" (1962): Pollack taught acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York from 1954 to 1960 -- taking two years off to serve in the Army. He got his first taste of directing in 1959, when director John Frankenheimer hired him to coach the two young stars of a production of "The Turn of the Screw." Two years later, Frankenheimer called on Pollack for the same services for the young actors in his 1961 film, "The Young Savages," starring Burt Lancaster. The following year, Pollack made his film acting debut along with Redford in this low-budget Korean War thriller. But he wouldn't pursue acting, putting that aspect of his career on the back burner to direct.
"The Slender Thread" (1965): Lancaster was so impressed with Pollack's work on "The Young Savages" that he called Universal Studios kingpin Lew Wasserman to see if he could give the young man some directing work. He did. For six months, Pollack earned $75 a week to watch and learn the craft on the sets of TV productions. Pollack made his theatrical debut with this taut suspense drama starring Sidney Poitier as a student volunteer at a medical clinical who receives a call from a suicidal woman (Anne Bancroft).
"This Property Is Condemned" (1966): Though reviews were mixed for Pollack's second film as a director, this romantic melodrama, set in the Depression-era South, is beautifully shot by the legendary James Wong Howe and features Natalie Wood in her Golden Globe-nominated performance as a young woman whose sleazy mother (Kate Reid) runs a boardinghouse for railroad workers. The movie also marks the first time Pollack directed his pal Redford, who plays a railroad efficiency expert.
