A mogul in-the-making. SHOWMAN follows movie merchant, distributor-promoter Joe Levine during the ballyhoo of Two Women and Sofia Loren’s Oscar-winning performance. Levine wheels and deals his way through daily life – surrounded by movie stars, fellow tycoons and yes-men.

Levine grew up in the slums of Boston where he became a small-time distributor of films. Only a few years ago he could be seen toting a can of film under his arm. New England was his territory. Today (at the time of SHOWMAN), he’s a big executive. His territory: the world.

SHOWMAN was filmed during a period when Levine was enjoying huge success handling the picture Two Women featuring Sophia Loren. The camera is with Levine as he negotiates for the release of his films and at a reunion of boyhood friends from the West End of Boston. It follows him on the way to Cannes to present the Oscar to Sophia Loren, and through his argument with David Susskind about the art of the movies.

USA, 1963
53mins.