HAROLD AND LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY

Movie fans know the work of Harold and Lillian Michelson, even if they don’t recognize the names. Working largely uncredited in the Hollywood system, storyboard artist Harold and film researcher Lillian left an indelible mark on classics by Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski and many more. Through an engaging mix of love letters, film clips and candid conversations with Harold and Lillian, Danny DeVito, Mel Brooks, Francis Ford Coppola and others, this deeply engaging documentary from Academy Award®-nominated director Daniel Raim offers both a moving portrait of a marriage and a celebration of the unknown talents that help shape the films we love. 

Featuring

HAROLD MICHELSON – storyboard artist, production designer

LILLIAN MICHELSON – film researcher

GENE ALLEN – production designer

JAMES D. BISSELL – production designer

MEL BROOKS – actor, director

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA – writer, director

STUART CORNFELD – producer

RICK CARTER – production designer

DANNY DEVITO – actor, director

GABRIEL HARDMAN – storyboard artist

BILL KROHN – journalist, film critic

PATRICK MATE – animator

ANAHID NAZARIAN – producer

NORM NEWBERRY – art director

RICHARD SYLBERT – production designer

TOM WALSH – production designer

MARC WANAMAKER – archivist, historian

Written and Directed by

DANIEL RAIM

Produced and Edited by

DANIEL RAIM JENNIFER RAIM

Original Storyboards of Harold and Lillian by

PATRICK MATE

Cinematography by

BATTISTE FENWICK DANIEL RAIM

Music by

DAVE LEBOLT

Executive Producer

DANNY DEVITO

A ZEITGEIST FILMS & KINO LORBER RELEASE

"EXTRAORDINARY....Raim expertly balances reportage of their artistic accomplishments with a powerfully moving and richly complex portrait of a marriage. In keeping with the modesty of his subjects, Raim’s approach is straightforward and unassuming, but the simplicity is deceptive – it takes a lot of filmmaking skill to create something as pure and profound as Raim has here, and to operate on so many levels so effectively. Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story taught me more that I didn’t know about the movies I love than any other documentary I’ve ever seen; that it also taught me more about the challenges and rewards of sustaining a marriage than any film before it, fiction or non-fiction, is some kind of small miracle."

– Jim Hemphill, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

“CAPTIVATING... The delightful duo at the center of Raim’s film are storyboard artist Harold Michelson and researcher Lillian Michelson, whose 60-year marriage began in 1947 and ended with Harold’s death at age 87. Subtitled “A Hollywood Love Story,” the doc chronicles not just their mutual adoration and respect, but also Hollywood’s love for them, and the joy they derived from their work. Their personal story is no less fascinating than their experiences working on hundreds of movies, together and separately.”

– Sheri Linden, LOS ANGELES TIMES

“One of the very best documentaries ever made about movies...I have rarely seen any movie, fact or fiction, that was quite so suffused with love—movie love and human love—as this one.”

– David Noh, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

“Casts light on two respected but relatively unknown people, who made major contributions to film and managed to have a normal life — and in Hollywood, of all places. It’s nice to know such things are possible.”

– Mick LaSalle, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

I’m not exaggerating when I say this is the best documentary I’ve ever had the privilege to watch. It has so much heart, I learned so much and it really put me through the emotional ringer. By the end, I was both delighted to learn about Harold and Lillian, angry that I hadn’t heard of them before, and in tears that Harold isn’t with us anymore, plus determined to tell everyone who would listen that they need to watch this documentary ASAP. 

– Raquel Stecher, NETFLIX DVD BLOG

“Truly charming...A terrifically moving human story!”

– Glenn Kenny, VANITY FAIR

“You don’t have to be a movie buff to fall in love with the story of Harold and Lillian Michelson. Their sixty-year marriage—with more than its share of ups and downs—would be compelling enough... Be warned: you may tear up, as I did, toward the end of this affectionate tribute.”

– Leonard Maltin, LEONARDMALTIN.COM

“CRITICS' PICK! Charming... Like flipping through misplaced leaves in a photo book, the documentary maintains a free-flowing tone as it uncovers the work that went into creating some of the indelible scenes in Hollywood history.”

– Monica Castillo, THE NEW YORK TIMES

“For an hour and a half, this charming little movie, with its chatty talking heads and its sweet-natured subjects, offers a glimpse into the lives of two fascinating people whom I had never heard of, and who shared an unlikely life filled with achievements and setbacks, wonder and pain.”

– Bilge Ebiri, THE VILLAGE VOICE

“The film’s real ace in the hole, however, proves to be Lillian, an endlessly quotable interview subject whose pixyish presence can’t mask the sense that she knows exactly where all of the industry bodies are buried.”

– Andrew Wright, THE STRANGER

“Beautiful... The stories Lillian tells are a treasure-trove of personal and professional anecdotes, doubling as a side history of Hollywood itself. But Harold and Lillian is most affecting as a tribute to their marriage... In a business where individual success waxes and wanes, and each new production is a job that will eventually be lost, the Michelsons rode out its crazy vicissitudes with something approaching harmony and grace. Theirs is a model few will ever get to follow.”

– Scott Tobias, NPR.ORG

“An awesome film... funny, heartbreaking, and packed with delicious film lore.”

– Ken Kwapis, director of THE OFFICE

“Daniel Raim's outstanding documentary quickly becomes one of the best I have seen in years...Not only a great window into the past of cinema looking ahead but such a touching and beautiful story on the love of cinema and the love that cinema can have on two amazing people. Tears of joy at the end of this film, and highly recommended even if you have the slightest interest in just how important things behind the scenes can be.”

– Jason Whyte, EFILMCRITIC