New autobiography offers History according to Mirisch

May 05, 2008 For those in Manhattan or beyond on the sunny-weather hunt for a good book, you'd do yourself a favor to check out Walter Mirisch's new autobiography, "I Thought We Were Making Movies, Not History" (great title, Walter!) from the University of Wisconsin Press. Mirisch -- a prolific producer, former Academy president, Hollywood mover and shaker and, above all else, a gentleman -- emphasizes that when he and his brothers Harold and Marvin were bringing to the screen such now-revered films as "In the Heat of the Night," "Some Like It Hot," "West Side Story," "Friendly Persuasion," "The Pink Panther," "The Great Escape," "The Apartment," "Fiddler on the Roof" and others, they had no idea they were creating product that now seems destined for a Sphinx-like lifespan. The Broadway premiere Wednesday of Carol Churchill's 1982 play "Top Girls" at the Biltmore, under the auspices of the Manhattan Theatre Club and directed by James Macdonald.

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