Jewison was a versatile director. These films show his range
The oeuvre of director Norman Jewison, who died Saturday at age 97, can’t be simply categorized. His versatility was rarely matched by any of his peers. He made epic musicals such as “Fiddler on the Roof,” heart-stirring romantic comedies including “Moonstruck” and tense social thrillers including “In the Heat of the Night.” Over his decades in Hollywood, he directed everything from the Cold War comedy “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” (1966) to the sexy heist feature “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968) to the based- on-a-true- story drama “The Hurricane” (1999).
While the divergent tones could imply that Jewison was something of a journeyman, instead he brought a humanity to every story he touched, treating each one, regardless of subject matter, with the grace it deserved.
Here are some films of his available to stream, no matter your mood.
“Send Me No Flowers” (1964):
Early in his career, when Jewison was under contract with Universal, he made the last of the three Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies, “Send Me No Flowers.” In a divergence from the pair’s earlier collaborations, this one finds them not as warring city dwellers but as a married suburban couple who undergo a crisis when the husband, George Kimball (Hudson), a hypochondriac, begins to think he’s going to die. Without telling his wife, Judy Kimball (Day), George goes about trying to make sure she is set for when he dies, including finding her a new man to marry when he’s gone. Naturally, misunderstandings ensue. It’s a classically zany rom- com from the era, but the film also shows Day and Hudson at their most vulnerable as they untangle all these complications. It’s a sign of what was to come from Jewison, who always found the emotional core of his characters and allowed actors to do some of their best work. (Rent or buy on most major platforms.)
“In the Heat of the Night” (1967):
From the very first moment of “In the Heat of the Night,” a close-up of a fly crawling across a calendar, there’s an unsettling air to Jewison’s film about a Black police officer, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier). He first is wrongfully accused of a murder in small-town Sparta, Miss., and then is
tasked with solving the crime. Poitier’s forceful delivery of the line “They call me Mister Tibbs” — a declaration of his personhood in the face of racist dehumanization — is perhaps what’s best remembered from this Oscar winner for Best Picture. But it’s a towering film in every respect, a document of the insidiousness at the heart of places like Sparta and in American culture in general. Jewison’s careful framing of Poitier makes sure he’s the most dominant person in every scene, even as the shadows of this nasty place encroach on him. (Stream on Prime Video.)
“Fiddler on the Roof” (1971): Norman Jewison, despite his last name, was not Jewish. It was a common
misunderstanding throughout his youth, and he was bullied by classmates nonetheless. Jewison, however, would go on to make one of the classic Jewish films with the adaptation of the Broadway musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” which tells the story of Tevye the milkman and his family, as a pogrom approaches their village of Anatevka. Jewison brought a painterly quality to the landscapes of the movie, once telling The New York Times that he “tried work in the colors of Chagall,” referencing artist Marc Chagall. Anatevka is rendered in earthy tones — a sunset has never looked more vivid than the one behind the film’s protagonist. When Tevye speaks to the camera, the breaking of
the fourth wall feels like a warm invitation rather than a cheesy cinematic convention. In choosing Israeli actor Chaim Topol to play Tevye over Zero Mostel, who had played the role on Broadway, Jewison eschewed star power in favor of an actor who he felt would make the audience travel back in time. (Stream on Freevee, or rent or buy on most major platforms.)
“Jesus Christ Superstar” (1973):
Jewison followed up “Fiddler” with another interpretation of a stage
production — but one that could not have been more different. In taking on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Jewison leaned into the psychedelic rock opera vibes of the material. Whereas with “Fiddler” Jewison went for truth, with “Superstar” he leaned into the inherent absurdity of a groovy song cycle about the Passion. His “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which was filmed in Israel, seems to take place less in our universe than in an alternate one. Just take the “King Herod’s Song” number performed by Josh Mostel (son of Zero Mostel) and a chorus of bikini-clad dancers in body paint who look as if they were dropped in from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in.” The compositions are wildly creative with a hallucinogenic touch. (Rent or buy on most major platforms.)
“Moonstruck” ( 1987): “Moonstruck” is perhaps Jewison’s best loved film, and for good reason. It’s hard to find a movie more exquisite than this romantic comedy directed from a screenplay by John Patrick Shanley. “Moonstruck” is the kind of movie that sweeps you off your feet from the moment you hear Dean Martin singing “That’s Amore” over shots of the New York skyline. At the center of the film is the romance between a widow, Loretta Castorini (Cher), and a tormented baker, Ronny Cammareri ( Nicolas Cage), who happens to be the brother of her fiance (a bumbling Danny Aiello). But “Moonstruck” is also a generational tale about the ways in which love waxes and wanes. Jewison treats Shanley’s story with the grandeur it deserves, lingering on the very sensation of being infatuated. If anything, “Moonstruck” is proof of how much Jewison’s camera loved actors, capturing the grandiosity of Cage, the wry wisdom of Olympia Dukakis as Loretta’s mother and the emotional splendor of Cher. Dukakis and Cher both won Oscars for their performances. (Stream on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Pluto TV or buy or rent on most major platforms.)
“Only You” (1994): Marisa Tomei did not like her performance in “Only You.” “I’m so bad in that,” she told the Times in 1997. Don’t take her word for it. “Only You” may not be among Jewison’s best-loved films critically, but it’s a delight all the same. Tomei plays a teacher on the verge of marriage who heads to Italy in search of a man named “Damon Bradley,” who she believes is her soul mate based on two fortunes she received in her youth. She thinks she finds him in charming Robert Downey Jr., who pretends he’s Damon for at least a little bit. There’s an element of ridiculousness to “Only You,” but Jewison’s touch for earnestness makes it believable. In many ways, the movie feels like a companion piece to “Moonstruck,” with romantics and cynics in conversation. (Rent or buy on most major platforms.)