Sidney J. Furie

Book excerpt: The 57-year career of Toronto-born film director Sidney J. Furie laughs in the face of monotony, surely ranking among the most fascinating in the history of the industry. Emigrating to London after blazing a trail as a pioneer in his home country of Canada, the young Furie built his reputation early as a visual daredevil, an enfant terrible, and a bankable name, only to be cruelly (and flippantly) dismissed in later years as a 'wizened old hack' and a journeyman on a losing streak. What these later detractors often fail to remember, however, is that Furie provided key creative signatures for films like the art-house espionage drama 'The Ipcress File' (1965), the award-winning box-office smash 'Lady Sings the Blues' (1972), the influential Vietnam War drama/satire 'The Boys in Company C' (1978), the stylish horror film 'The Entity' (1982), and other classics.