John Korty

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Recent Press
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John Korty, the father of Marin movies looks back
"FOR AN ACADEMY Award-winning director who inspired George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola to join him in creating "Hollywood North" in the Bay Area, John Korty deserves to be a lot better known than he is.

But fame has never been high on his list. He doesn't have a wall in his West Marin office with photos of himself with all the movie stars he's worked with. Unlike some other successful directors, he doesn't display his awards in a special case for everyone to see. He'd rather use them as bookends.

As he says, "I've always been too self-conscious for that stuff."

Maybe that's why, in his 50-year career, he's never had a major retrospective. That changes this month, when the Rafael Film Center celebrates his extraordinary body of work starting Nov. 10 with the premiere of the just-completed "John Allair Digs In!," a musical portrait of Marin's original rock 'n' roller. …" - Paul Liberatore
Full article in the Marin Independent Journal
After 50 years in film, John Korty is still true
"…Despite the unwavering plea from Hollywood to abide by its rules and conventions, Korty has not relented. And although his directorial career has been nothing short of prolific, he has not let his age interfere with his vision, either.

“I have no intention of retiring,” he said. “In fact, my ace in the hole is if I end up in a wheelchair, it will be great for animation! I can sit there in that wheelchair and make animated films until I drop dead. In the best of all worlds, my ambition is to make my very best film the year before I die. It would be great to go out with the knowledge that you have finally made the ultimate film.”
- Ryan Jacobs
Full article in the Pt. Reyes Light

Movies for Television
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The Autobiography
of Miss Jane Pittman
"...possibly the finest movie ever made for American television." - Pauline Kael

Deadly Business
"A real sleeper...One of the season's niftiest dramas tightly written by Al Ramus expertly directed by John Korty and energized by first-rate performances. A good old-fashioned, no-nonsense movie, intriguing and suspenseful from start to finish."
Los Angeles Times

Getting Out
"pitch perfect in its depictions of people on the despised rim of society....wallopingly good performances by Rebecca DeMornay and Ellen Burstyn. The film is directed by John Korty.... a good many notches above the average television movie."
New York Times

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Deadly Matrimony
"Director John Korty's TV movies are always exceptional...a gripping tale of good against evil in which evil seems to hold all the cards. Korty pulls the knot very tight, generating industrial - strength suspense without resorting to cheap scare tactics."
Washington Post

"Made by TV's most consistently impressive feature director—John Korty—Deadly Matrimony is tough and real throughout....(it) has the bad luck to be about the zillionth true crime story of the current TV season, but it also happens to be the very best."
San Jose Mercury

Redwood Curtain
"The finest work of all, though, is probably that of director John Korty....Korty is the best dramatic director regularly working in television. He directs like B.B. King play blues guitar. There are no pyrotechnics or fast flurries of notes aimed at impressing audiences by overwhelming them. With Korty, everything is understated, honed and distilled. The technique is almost invisible."
Baltimore Sun

First Reviews of The Crazy-Quilt

"Top Ten of 1966!"
" 'Crazy Quilt' is the sleeper of the year." "… it is Mr. Korty's cinematic terminology-narration, sparse dialogue, a beautiful score, and his superb photography - that triumph." "A rarity on any age and experience level!"
Judith Crist,
N. Y. WORLD JOURNAL TRIBUNE

"Director John Korty makes his debut exploring the very meaning of life and love … with wit and high good humor.. . Hilarious!" "A happy achievement!"
THE NEW YORK TIMES

"CRAZY QUILT is great. It's fey, fresh, funny, genuine, touching … a delight. It's the movie we've all  been waiting for. The whole seminar loved it to a man.
Elodie Osborn, 1965 Flaherty Film Seminar

'Executed with complete professionalism, 'The Crazy Quilt' is also fresh, heady and invigorating, a sort of modern American 'Jules and Jim.' "
NEWSWEEK

 "This is a marvelously well made little film, remarkable for its simplicity and cool humor." "This is the neatest picture of its kind since 'David and Lisa'  …"
THE WASHINGTON POST 

"U. S. cinema has seldom produced a picture as sophisticated in style as 'Crazy Quilt.' Director Korty speaks an ultra-modern language of film with a fluency that refuses flamboyance; every part of his art is resolved in the whole of this work." "A deliberately minor masterpiece."
TIME MAGAZINE