Nicholas Ray : the glorious failure of an American director

A look at the Forest Gump-esque career of Nicholas Ray. Frank Lloyd Wright, Leadbelly and John Houseman all figure in this life of the director of Rebel Without a Cause. Of particular interest are the later chapters that take place in Europe where Ray works in self-exile due to McCarthyist pressures and raging sex, drug and gambling addictions. The machinations his producers go through to provide financing and hide lack thereof will raise eyebrows and drop jaws.