---
name: "Joseph L. Mankiewicz"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joseph-l-mankiewicz"
fi1m_id: "joseph-l-mankiewicz"
imdb_id: "nm0000581"
tmdb_id: 10601
wikidata_id: "Q51583"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "11 February 1909"
died: "5 February 1993"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "director"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-09-25T07:10:53.227369+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Joseph L. Mankiewicz

## Identity

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joseph-l-mankiewicz
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joseph-l-mankiewicz
- **IMDb ID:** nm0000581
- **TMDB ID:** 10601
- **Wikidata ID:** Q51583
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Mankiewicz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51583, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000581/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10601

Director and writer. Born 11 February 1909 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA. Died 5 February 1993.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 11 February 1909, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Died:** 5 February 1993
- **Active:** 1940–1972
- **Also known as:** Joseph Leo Mankiewicz, Joseph Mankiewicz, Joe Mankiewicz
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 9: 8 directing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Edmond O'Brien](https://film.one/person/edmond-obrien.md), [George Sanders](https://film.one/person/george-sanders.md), [Marlon Brando](https://film.one/person/marlon-brando.md), [Rex Harrison](https://film.one/person/rex-harrison.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 4 Oscars (4 won · 7 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as director, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 82 (3), 1950s 80 (4), 1960s 63 (1), 1970s 82 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 77 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Romance 4, Crime 2, History 2, Mystery 2, Comedy 1
- **Screen time:** 19 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $95m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_L._Mankiewicz, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q51583, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000581/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/10601

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*All About Eve*](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md) (90), [*Guys and Dolls*](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md) (80), [*The Barefoot Contessa*](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md) (74)
- **Tubi:** [*The Philadelphia Story*](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story.md) (84), [*Julius Caesar*](https://film.one/film/julius-caesar.md) (76)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Joseph L. Mankiewicz

> Joseph L. Mankiewicz makes talk worth watching because his characters are so eager to impress, flatter and outwit one another. We rate him highly, especially when the sharp writing leaves room for hurt.

In *All About Eve* (1950), Eve Harrington approaches Margo Channing as an admirer, and Mankiewicz finds plenty to question in that apparently harmless arrangement. How well can anyone judge someone who seems to admire them? Writing and directing, he makes the wish to belong to New York theatre’s clever company understandable, even when its members are behaving badly. We were moved by Bette Davis’s Margo because her vanity never quite hides the strain of having to remain impressive. Mankiewicz lets her be difficult without accepting that this explains every difficulty she faces.

His first film as director was *Dragonwyck* (1946), and he wrote and directed *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949) before *All About Eve*. Multiple narrators and complicated structures became recurring ways of examining performance and ambition. His later work took in *Cleopatra* (1963) and the independent two-hander *Sleuth* (1972). Two people talking gives him plenty to work with, especially when the actors can make the most of each sentence.

The writing gives those actors something precise to do. In *All About Eve*, Anne Baxter makes Eve’s attentiveness so insistent that admiration itself becomes worth watching, though her wide-eyed manner can look laboured beside Davis. Mankiewicz also gives us reasons to question the people judging Margo. The screenplay notices how readily professional confidence in a working actress becomes a fault when it inconveniences someone else. The jokes are sharper because the wish to be admired still seems reasonable.

The reservation is that his liking for talk can make the telling stiff. Some critics have found the films stagebound and the visual style anonymous; our objection in *All About Eve* is more specific, to a flashback structure that can feel over-arranged. It is a limitation worth admitting, but it scarcely cancels the care given to Margo’s working life or the pleasure of this disagreeable company. Start with *All About Eve*, particularly if an evening of people behaving badly in complete sentences sounds promising.

## Biography

Joseph L. Mankiewicz was an American screenwriter, director and producer. Born on 11 February 1909 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Columbia University in 1928. He began his career in Hollywood as a dialogue writer at Paramount Pictures before becoming a screenwriter and later a producer at MGM.

He moved to Twentieth Century-Fox in 1944, where he made his directorial debut with *Dragonwyck* (1946). Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for and directed *All About Eve* (1950). His other credits include directing and writing *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949), *Julius Caesar* (1953), *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), *Guys and Dolls* (1955), *Suddenly, Last Summer* (1959) and *Cleopatra* (1963), as well as directing *Sleuth* (1972).

Mankiewicz died on 5 February 1993 in Mount Kisco, New York.

*Sources: imdb.com, britannica.com, encyclopedia.com.*

## On Fi1m (9)

### Directed (8) — the average rests on these

- *Sleuth* (1972), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/sleuth.md)
- *Cleopatra* (1963), Fi1m 63, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/cleopatra.md)
- *Guys and Dolls* (1955), Fi1m 80, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md)
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Fi1m 74, Writer, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *Julius Caesar* (1953), Fi1m 76, Director, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/film/julius-caesar.md)
- *All About Eve* (1950), Fi1m 90, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md)
- *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949), Fi1m 79, Screenplay, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/a-letter-to-three-wives.md)
- *The Ghost and Mrs. Muir* (1947), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-ghost-and-mrs-muir.md)

### Produced (1)

- *The Philadelphia Story* (1940), Fi1m 84, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story.md)

## Complete filmography (76)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *National Theatre Live: All About Eve* (2019), Writer
- *Pleins feux* (2017), Original Film Writer
- *Pleins feux* (1992), Original Film Writer
- *A Letter to Three Wives* (1985), Original Film Writer
- *That's Entertainment, Part II* (1976), Thanks
- *Sleuth* (1972), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/sleuth.md)
- *There Was a Crooked Man...* (1970), Director, Producer
- *King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis* (1970), Director
- *The Honey Pot* (1967), Director, Screenplay
- *Carol for Another Christmas* (1964), Director, Producer
- *Cleopatra* (1963), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/cleopatra.md)
- *Suddenly, Last Summer* (1959), Director
- *The Quiet American* (1958), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Guys and Dolls* (1955), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/guys-and-dolls.md)
- *The Barefoot Contessa* (1954), Director, Writer — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-barefoot-contessa.md)
- *Julius Caesar* (1953), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/julius-caesar.md)
- *5 Fingers* (1952), Director
- *People Will Talk* (1951), Director, Writer
- *All About Eve* (1950), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve.md)
- *No Way Out* (1950), Director, Writer
- *House of Strangers* (1949), Director
- *A Letter to Three Wives* (1949), Director, Screenplay — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/a-letter-to-three-wives.md)
- *The Pirate* (1948), as Additional Writing
- *Escape* (1948), Director
- *The Ghost and Mrs. Muir* (1947), Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-ghost-and-mrs-muir.md)
- *The Late George Apley* (1947), Director
- *Somewhere in the Night* (1946), Director, Screenplay
- *Dragonwyck* (1946), Director, Writer
- *The Keys of the Kingdom* (1944), Screenplay, Producer
- *Reunion in France* (1942), Producer
- *Cairo* (1942), Producer
- *Woman of the Year* (1942), Producer
- *The Feminine Touch* (1941), Producer
- *The Wild Man of Borneo* (1941), Producer
- *The Philadelphia Story* (1940), Producer — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/film/the-philadelphia-story.md)
- *Strange Cargo* (1940), Producer
- *The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn* (1939), Producer
- *A Christmas Carol* (1938), Producer
- *The Shining Hour* (1938), Producer, Screenplay
- *The Shopworn Angel* (1938), Producer
- *Three Comrades* (1938), Producer
- *Mannequin* (1938), Producer, Additional Writing
- *Double Wedding* (1937), Producer
- *The Bride Wore Red* (1937), Producer, Additional Writing, Story
- *Love on the Run* (1936), Producer
- *The Gorgeous Hussy* (1936), Producer
- *Fury* (1936), Producer
- *Three Godfathers* (1936), Producer, Writer
- *I Live My Life* (1935), Screenplay
- *Forsaking All Others* (1934), Screenplay
- *Our Daily Bread* (1934), Dialogue
- *Manhattan Melodrama* (1934), Screenplay
- *Alice in Wonderland* (1933), Screenplay
- *Too Much Harmony* (1933), Story
- *Emergency Call* (1933), Screenplay
- *Diplomaniacs* (1933), Writer, Original Story
- *If I Had a Million* (1932), Writer, Adaptation, Story
- *Night After Night* (1932), Writer
- *Million Dollar Legs* (1932), Story
- *Sky Bride* (1932), Screenplay
- *This Reckless Age* (1932), Screenplay, Story
- *Sooky* (1931), Writer, Story
- *Newly Rich* (1931), Writer
- *Skippy* (1931), Writer
- *June Moon* (1931), Screenplay, Story
- *Finn and Hattie* (1931), Writer
- *The Gang Buster* (1931), Dialogue
- *Only Saps Work* (1930), Screenplay, Adaptation
- *The Social Lion* (1930), Screenplay
- *Paramount on Parade* (1930), Screenplay
- *The Light of Western Stars* (1930), Writer
- *Slightly Scarlet* (1930), Screenplay
- *The Saturday Night Kid* (1929), Title Graphics
- *Woman Trap* (1929), as Reporter (as Joseph Mankiewicz)
- *Fast Company* (1929), Screenplay
- *The River of Romance* (1929), Screenplay

## Gallery

- ![Joseph L. Mankiewicz (2006)](https://film.one/media/person/105035/gallery-766d189bdda1.jpg) Joseph L. Mankiewicz (2006) — https://www.flickr.com/photos/laruloteca Rulo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Joseph_L._Mankiewicz%2C_Re%C4%9Disoro.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Joseph L. Mankiewicz](https://film.one/media/person/105035/gallery-02a278cbca55.jpg) Joseph L. Mankiewicz — Photographer unknown; work-for-hire on behalf of 20th Century Fox., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Joseph_L._Mankiewicz_%281950%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Publicity photo of American filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz. (1950)](https://film.one/media/person/105035/gallery-ff3a310ef478.jpg) Publicity photo of American filmmaker Joseph L. Mankiewicz. (1950) — Photographer unknown; work-for-hire on behalf of 20th Century Fox., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Joseph_L._Mankiewicz_%281950%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Movie cinema, the Stanford Theatre shows only black & white films in Palo Alto, California. (2012)](https://film.one/media/person/105035/gallery-8fac65ca6423.jpg) Movie cinema, the Stanford Theatre shows only black & white films in Palo Alto, California. (2012) — Tomwsulcer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Palo_Alto_California_cinema_only_black%26white_films.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Joseph L. Mankiewicz](https://film.one/media/person/105035/gallery-0696a0acf58b.jpg) Joseph L. Mankiewicz — Image via TMDB

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 4 won, 7 nominated

- 1973: Best Director (nominated), for *Sleuth*
- 1955: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *The Barefoot Contessa*
- 1953: Best Director (nominated), for *5 Fingers*
- 1952: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *All About Eve*
- 1951: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *All About Eve*
- 1951: Best Director (won), for *All About Eve*
- 1951: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated), for *No Way Out*
- 1950: Best Director (won), for *A Letter to Three Wives*
- 1950: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (won), for *A Letter to Three Wives*
- 1941: Best Picture (nominated), for *The Philadelphia Story*
- 1931: Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated), for *Skippy*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/joseph-l-mankiewicz