Robert Mulligan Biography
Robert Mulligan was born in New York in 1925 and after the Second World War he worked for a short time at the "New York Times" while studying journalism and literature at Fordham University. In 1950 he was hired at CBS and then successfully directed numerous films and television series.
In 1957 he made his debut as a film director with Fear strikes out, a film that follows the adventures of a baseball player and investigates the psychological pressures typical of the sporting environment, starring Anthony Perkins and Karl Malden.
Between 1960 and 1961 he also directed The rat race and The great impostor, both with Tony Curtis, and Come September, with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida: all comedies from not particularly original cut.
In 1962 he directed To kill a mockingbird, based on the novel by H. Lee and set in Alabama, an intense film that confirmed his sensitivity as a narrator.
In the '60s and '70s he directed five other films with discontinuous results including Love with the proper stranger, Inside Daisy Clover and Up the down staircase.
In the 1980s he returned to analyzing sentimental nuances and psychological events with Kiss me goodbye (There is... a ghost between us two), based on the novel by J. Amado Dona Flor e seus dois maridos, and Clara's heart (The great Clara's heart), a melodramatic comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg.
In 1991 he directed The man in the Moon, a film that analyzes adolescent aspirations and the difficulties linked to growth from a female point of view.
Mulligan has not always achieved happy results, sometimes risking bordering on pathetic or moralistic tones. However, he was able to probe the world of childhood and adolescence with extreme sensitivity, obtaining excellent performances from actors, often rewarded for their performances under his direction.
