A portrait of the literary partnership between Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro (at work on volume 5 of The Years of Lyndon Johnson) and multi-hyphenate Robert Gottlieb, the quintessential New York editor (former editor-in-chief at Knopf and The New Yorker), who counts programming for The New York City Ballet and lucite handbag collecting among his hobbies. Caro’s granular dissection of how power is wielded in 20th century America is matched by the intuitive, meticulous approach of Gottlieb, with whom he’s worked for more than 50 years.
Directed by Gottlieb’s daughter Lizzie, the film is a literati dream – as Caro tours Johnson’s roots in the Texas hill country and pecks away 24/7 on his Smith Corona Electra 210, locking horns with Gottlieb on matters big and small. A vigorous debate over Caro’s use of semicolons is a hilarious highlight.
In addition, on Friday, December 30th at the 7:45pm show, a Q&A with Director Lizzie Gottlieb and her subject, Robert Gottlieb.
‘Turn Every Page” The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb runs 114 minutes, USA Sony Pictures Classics, with support from the Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund.
Film Forum is located at 209 West Houston Street, NYC.