Albert Lewin(1894-1968)

His fortunes were inextricably linked to his mentor, Irving Thalberg, a fellow intellectual. When Thalberg died suddenly in 1937, Lewin resigned from MGM on the spot and moved to Paramount, remaining there until 1941. From 1942, he worked as director, writer and producer on just six motion pictures, before a heart attack prompted his early retirement. In 1966, he published a novel, entitled The Unaltered Cat.

[on casting the leading role in Il ritratto di Dorian Gray (1945)]: One day, I received a message from Cedric Gibbons, who wanted to see me on a matter of urgency and secrecy. Gibby was the only close friend of Greta Garbo around the studio, and he had been deputed to tell me that Garbo wanted to play Dorian. Indeed, it was the only role she would come back to the screen for. Of course, I moved heaven and earth to set it up. But everyone had a fit: the censorship problem, formidable anyway, would have become insurmountable with a woman.