Montreal World Film Festival

Serge Losique and Alan Ladd Jr. 

by Sandy Mandelberger, Montreal Online Dailies Editor

Friday, August 22-------Academy Award-winning producer Alan Ladd, Jr. was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Montreal Film Festival opening night ceremony last night. In addition to receiving the coveted prize from Festival Director Serge Losique, the Festival is screening four films associated with Ladd during his careers at 20th Century Fox and MGM/UA.  

Ladd will present a special screening this evening of the Mel Brooks satire Young Frankenstein, followed by a Question and Answer session with the celebrated producer. Other Ladd films to be presented this week include The Right Stuff, Chariots of Fire, and Blade Runner.

In a nearly 40 year career, Alan Ladd, Jr. served as president of  both 20th Century-Fox and MGM/UA studios, and also headed up the Ladd Company, his highly productive and successful independent motion picture production company. During his illustrious career as an independent producer and studio head his films have garnered more than 150 Academy Award nominations, 50 Academy Awards, and a number of other domestic and international accolades, including numerous Golden Globes and Palme d'Or honors and a array of other kudos.

Other films associated with Ladd include Gone Baby Gone (2007), An Unfinished Life (2005), The Phantom (1996) and the Academy Award winning Braveheart (1995). He is currently producing the historical epic A Dream of Red Mansions, the story An American photojournalist in China who falls for an idealistic revolutionary in 1949. with Kate Hudson set to star.