Distribution: Paramount
119 minutes
The Desperate Hours (1955)
Paramount
Producer: William Wyler
Director: William Wyler
Associate director: Robert Wyler
Screenplay: Joseph Hayes, based on his novel and play
Photography: Lee Garmes
Editor: Robert Swink
Art direction: Hal Pereira and Joseph MacMillan Johnson
Costumes: Edith Head
Music: Gail Kubik
Second unit director: John Waters
Assistant director: C. C. Coleman Jr.
Sound: Hugo Grenzbach and Winston Leverett
Cast: Humphrey Bogart (Glenn Griffin), Fredric March (Dan Hilliard), Arthur Kennedy (Jesse Bard), Martha Scott (Eleanor Hilliard), Dewey Martin (Hal Griffin), Gig Young (Chuck), Mary Murphy (Cindy Hilliard), Richard Eyer (Ralphie Hilliard), Robert Middleton (Sam Kobish), Alan Reed (Detective), Bert Freed (Winston), Ray Collins (Masters), Whit Bissell (Carson), Ray Teal (Fredericks), Michael Moore (Detective), Don Haggerty (Detective), Ric Roman (Sal), Pat Flaherty (Dutch), Beverly Garland (Miss Swift), Louis Lettieri (Bucky Walling), Ann Doran (Mrs. Walling), Walter Baldwin (Patterson)
Distribution: Paramount
112 minutes
Friendly Persuasion (1956)
Allied Artists
Producer: William Wyler
Director: William Wyler
Associate producer: Robert Wyler
Screenplay: Jessamyn West, Michael Wilson, and Robert Wyler (uncredited), based on the collected stories The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
Photography: Ellsworth Fredericks
Editors: Robert Swink, Edward A. Biery, and Robert A. Belcher
Art direction: Edward S. Haworth
Costume design: Dorothy Jeakins
Muisc: composed and conducted by Dmitri Tiomkin
Songs: “Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love),” sung by Pat Boone; “Mocking Bird in a Willow Tree”; “Marry Me, Marry Me”; “Coax Me a Little”; and “Indiana Holiday,” lyrics by Paul Francis Webster, music by Dmitri Tiomkin
Technical adviser: Jessamyn West
Assistant to the producer: Stuart Millar
Assistant director: Austen Jewell
Cast: Gary Cooper (Jess Birdwell), Dorothy McGuire (Eliza Birdwell), Marjorie Main (Widow Hudspeth), Anthony Perkins (Josh Birdwell), Richard Eyer (Little Jess), Robert Middleton (Sam Jordan), Phyllis Love (Mattie Birdwell), Mark Richman (Gard Jordan), Walter Catlett (Professor Quigley), Joel Fluellen (Enoch), Richard Hale (Purdy), Theodore Newton (Major Harvey), John Smith (Caleb), Samantha (Goose), Mary Carr (Quaker Woman), Edna Skinner, Frances Farwell, and Marjorie Durant (Hudspeth Daughers), Russell Simpson, Charles Halton, and Everett Glass (Elders), Richard Garland (Bushwacker), Jean Inness (Mrs. Purdy), Nelson Leigh (Minister), Helen Kleeb (Old Woman), John Craven (Leader), Frank Jenks (Shell Game Man), Diane Jergens (Elizabeth), Ralph Sanford (Businessman), Donald Kerr (Manager)
Distribution: United Artists
119 minutes
The Letter (1956; television)
NBC, Producer's Showcase
Producer: William Wyler
Director: William Wyler
Television director: Kirk Browning
Based on the play by Somerset Maugham
Cast: Siobhan McKenna (Leslie Crosbie), John Mills (Robert Crosbie), Michael Rennie (Howard Joyce), Anna May Wong (Mrs. Hammond)
The Big Country (1958)
Anthony–World Wide Production
Producers: William Wyler and Gregory Peck
Director: William Wyler
Associate producer: Robert Wyler
Screenplay: James R. Webb, Sy Bartlett, and Robert Wilder
Adaptation: Jessamyn West and Robert Wyler, based on the novel The Big Country by Donald Hamilton
Photography: Franz F. Planer
Supervising editor: Robert Swink
Editors: Robert Belcher and John Faure
Art direction: Frank Hotaling
Music: Jerome Moross
Music editor: Lloyd Young
Second unit directors: John Waters and Robert Swink
Director of photography, second unit: Wallace Chewning
Assistant director: Ivan Volkman
Second assistant director: Ray Gosnell
Assistant to William Wyler: Clarence Marks
Title design: Saul Bass
Cast: Gregory Peck (James McKay), Jean Simmons (Julie Maragon), Carroll Baker (Patricia Terrill), Charlton Heston (Steve Leech), Burl Ives (Rufus Hannassey), Charles Bickford (Major Henry Terrill), Alfonso Bedoya (Ramon), Chuck Connors (Buck Hannassey), Chuck Hayward (Rafe), Buff Brady (Dude), Jim Burk (Cracker), Dorothy Adams (Hannassey Woman), Chuck Robertson, Bob Morgan, John McKee, and Jay Slim Talbot (Terrill Cowboys)
Distribution: United Artists
166 minutes
Ben-Hur (1959)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Producer: Sam Zimbalist
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Karl Tunberg (and Christopher Fry, S. N. Behrman, and Gore Vidal, uncredited), based on the novel by Lew Wallace
Photography: Robert L. Surtees
Additional photography: Harold E. Wellman and Pietro Portalupi
Second unit directors: Andrew Marton, Yakima Canutt, and Mario Soldati
Editors: Ralph E. Winters and John D. Dunning
Art direction: William A. Horning and Edward Carfagno
Set decoration: Hugh Hunt
Costume design: Elizabeth Haffenden
Music: Miklosz Rosa
Special effects: A. Arnold Gillespie, Lee LeBlanc, and Robert R. Hoag
Assistant directors: Gus Agosti and Alberto Cardone
Cast: Charlton Heston (Judah Ben-Hur), Jack Hawkins (Quintus Arrius), Stephen Boyd (Messala), Haya Harareet (Esther), Hugh Griffith (Sheik Ilderim), Martha Scott (Miriam), Sam Jaffe (Simonides), Cathy O'Donnell (Tirzah), Finlay Currie (Balthasar), Frank Thring (Pontius Pilate), Terence Longden (Drusus), Andre Morell (Sextus), Marina Berti (Flavia), George Relph (Tiberius), Adi Berber (Malluch), Stella Vitelleschi (Amrah), Jose Greci (Mary), Laurence Payne (Joseph), John Horsley (Spintho), Richard Coleman (Metellus), Duncan Lamont (Marius), Ralph Truman (Aide to Tiberius), Richard Hale (Gaspar), Reginald Lal Singh (Melchior), David Davies (Quaestor), Dervis Ward (Jailer), Claude Heater (The Christ), Mino Doro (Gratus), Robert Brown (Chief of Rowers)
Distribution: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
212 minutes
1960s
The Children's Hour (1961)
Mirisch–World Wide Production
Producer: William Wyler
Director: William Wyler
Associate producer: Robert Wyler
Screenplay: John Michael Hayes
Adaptation: Lillian Hellman, based on her stage play
Photography: Franz F. Planer
Editor: Robert Swink
Art direction: Fernando Carrere
Set decoration: Edward G. Boyle
Music: Alex North
Assistant directors: Robert E. Relyea and Jerome M. Siegel
Cast: Audrey Hepburn (Karen Wright), Shirley MacLaine (Martha Dobie), James Garner (Dr. Joe Cardin), Miriam Hopkins (Mrs. Lily Mortar), Fay Bainter (Mrs. Amelia Tilford), Karen Balkin (Mary Tilford), Veronica Cartwright (Rosalie), Jered Barclay (Grocery Boy)
Distribution: United Artists
107 minutes
The Collector (1965)
The Collector Company/William Wyler Production
Producers: Jud Kinberg and John Kohn
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Stanley Mann and John Kohn, based on the novel by John Fowles
Art direction: John Stoll
Editor and second unit director: Robert Swink
Music: Maurice Jarre
American staff:
Photography: Robert Surtees
Set decoration: Frank Tuttle
Music editor: Rich
ard Harris
Assistant director: Sergei Petschnikoff
Camera operator: Andrew McIntyre
Sound supervision: Charles J. Rice
Sound: Jack Solomon
Script supervisor: Isabel Blodgett
British staff:
Photography: Robert Krasker
Editor: David Hawkins
Assistant director: Roy Baird
Camera operator: John Harris
Second unit cameraman: Norman Warwick
Production manager: Philip Shipway
Cast: Terence Stamp (Freddie Clegg), Samantha Eggar (Miranda Grey), Mona Washbourne (Aunt Annie), Maurice Dallimore (The Neighbor), William Beckley (Crutchley), Gordon Barclay and David Haviland (Clerks)
Distribution: Columbia Pictires
119 minutes
How to Steal a Million (1966)
World Wide/William Wyler Production
Producer: Fred Kohlmar
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Harry Kurnitz, based on the story “Venus Rising” by George Bradshaw
Photography: Charles Lang
Second unit director and editor: Robert Swink
Miss Hepburn's clothes: Givenchy
Makeup: Alberto de Rossi and Frederick Williamson
Music: Johnny Williams
Orchestration: James Harbert
Sound: Joseph de Bretagne and David Dockendorf
Assistant director: Paul Feyder
Unit production manager: William Kaplan
Production assistant: François Moreuil
Main title design: Cinefx, Phill Norman
Cast: Audrey Hepburn (Nichole Bonnet), Peter O'Toole (Simon Dermott), Eli Wallach (David Leland), Hugh Griffith (Charles Bonnet), Charles Boyer (De Solnay), Fernand Garvey (Grammont), Marcel Dalio (Señor Paravideo), Jacques Marin (Chief Guard), Moustache (Guard), Roger Treville (Auctioneer), Eddie Malin (Insurance Clerk), Bert Bertram (Marcel)
Distribution: Twentieth Century-Fox
127 minutes
Funny Girl (1968)
William Wyler/Ray Stark Production, presented by Columbia Pictures and Rastar Productions
Producer: Ray Stark
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Isobel Lennart, based on her musical play
Photography: Harry Stradling
Supervising editor: Robert Swink
Editors: Maury Winetrobe and William Sands
Art direction: Robert Luthardt
Set decoration: William Kiernan
Production design: Gene Callahan
Barbra Streisand's costume design: Irene Sharaff
Makeup supervision: Ben Lane
Makeup artist: Frank McCoy
Hairstyles: Vivienne Walker and Virginia Darcy
Musical numbers: directed by Herbert Ross
Music supervisor and conductor: Walter Scharf
Orchestrations: Hack Hayes, Walter Scharf, Leo Shuken, and Herbert Spencer
Vocal-dance arrangements: Betty Walberg
Music editor: Ted Sebern
Assistant directors: Jack Roe and Ray Gosnell
Sound: Charles J. Rice, Arthur Piantadosi, and Jack Solomon
Cast: Barbra Streisand (Fanny Brice), Omar Sharif (Nick Arnstein), Kay Medford (Rose Brice), Anne Francis (Georgia James), Walter Pidgeon (Florenz Ziegfeld), Lee Allen (Eddie Ryan), Mae Questel (Mrs. Strakosh), Gerald Mohr (Branca), Frank Faylen (Keeney), Mittie Lawrence (Emma), Gertrude Flynn (Mrs. O'Malley), Penny Santon (Mrs. Meeker), John Harmon (Company Manager), Thordis Brandt (Bettina Brenna), Virginia Ann Ford, Alena Johnson, Karen Lee, Mary Jane Mangler, Inga Neilsen, and Sharon Vaughn (Ziegfeld Girls)
Distribution: Columbia Pictures
151 minutes
1970s
The Liberation of L. B. Jones (1970)
William Wyler–Ronald Lubin Production
Producer: Ronald Lubin
Director: William Wyler
Screenplay: Stirling Silliphant and Jesse Hill Ford, based on the novel by Jesse Hill Ford
Photography: Robert Surtees
Supervising film editor and second unit director: Robert Swink
Editor: Carl Kress
Production designer: Kenneth A. Reid
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Sound: Jack Solomon and Arthur Piantadosi
Camera operator: William Johnson
Assistant directors: Anthony Ray, M. Frankovich Jr., and Robert M. Jones
Cast: Lee J. Cobb (Oman Hedgepath), Anthony Zerbe (Willie Joe Worth), Roscoe Lee Browne (Lord Byron Jones), Lola Falana (Emma Jones), Lee Majors (Steve Mundine), Barbara Hershey (Nella Mundine), Yaphet Kotto (Sonny Boy Mosby), Arch Johnson (Stanley Bumpas), Chill Wills (Mr. Ike), Zara Cully (Mama Lavorn), Fayard Nicholas (Benny), Lauren Jones (Erleen), Dub Taylor (Mayor), Ray Teal (Police Chief), Joseph Attles (Henry), Brenda Sykes (Jelly), Larry D. Mann (Grocer), Eve McVeagh (Miss Griggs), Sonora McKeller (Miss Ponsella), Robert Van Meter (Blind Man), Jack Grinnage (Driver), John S. Jackson (Suspect)
Distribution: Columbia Pictures
102 minutes
Notes
Introduction
1. Roger Leenhardt, “À bas Ford / vive Wyler!” L'Ecran francais 146 (April 13, 1948). Merve Fejzula, my research assistant, translated this article.
2. Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1968), 167.
3. Show, March 1970, 15.
4. Gabriel Miller, William Wyler: Interviews (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2010), 129.
5. William Wyler, “No Magic Wand,” Screenwriter 2, no. 9 (February 1947): 10.
6. Curtis Lee Hanson, “William Wyler,” Cinema 3, no. 5 (Summer 1967): 24.
7. David Bordwell, The Classical Hollywood Cinema (New York: Columbia University Press, 1985), 346.
8. William Wyler, “Escape to Reality,” Liberty 24, no. 1 (January 4, 1947), 16, reprinted in Picturegoer, March 15, 1947, 8.
9. Directed by William Wyler (Tatge Productions, 1986; New York: Kino Video, 2002), DVD.
10. Thomas Schatz, The Genius of the System (New York: Pantheon Books, 1988), 5–8, 225.
11. Hanson, “William Wyler,” 24.
12. Simon Callow, Charles Laughton: A Difficult Actor (New York: Grove Press, 1998), 290.
13. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film (New York: Knopf, 20 04), 975.
14. Wyler, “Escape to Reality,” 16.
15. New York Times, June 18, 1950.
16. Sarris, American Cinema, 167.
17. Schatz, Genius of the System, 5.
18. Miller, William Wyler: Interviews, 119.
19. A. Scott Berg, Goldwyn: A Biography (New York: Ballantine, 1990), 271.
20. Ibid., 273.
21. Quoted in ibid., 272.
22. Ibid., 309.
23. Wyler to Y. Frank Freeman, February 24, 1954, William Wyler Collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, California.
24. Jan Herman, A Talent for Trouble: The Life of Hollywood's Most Acclaimed Director, William Wyler (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1995), 13.
25. William Wyler, “Flying over Germany,” News Digest 2, no. 13 (August 15, 1943): 26.
26. André Bazin, Bazin at Work: Major Essays and Reviews from the Forties and Fifties, ed. and trans. Bert Cardullo and Alain Piette (New York: Routledge, 1997), 5.
27. Charles Higham, “William Wyler,” Action 8, no. 5 (September-October 1973): 20.
28. Sidney Kingsley, Five Prize Winning Plays (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1995), 244.
29. On December 21, 2011, the New York Times reported that nearly sixty years after the film's release, the Writers’ Guild of America West had restored Dalton Trumbo's writing credit for Roman Holiday.
30. Hanson, “William Wyler,” 34.
31. Directed by William Wyler.
32. Joseph i. Anderson and Donald Ritchie, The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983), 382.
&n
bsp; 33. Herman, A Talent for Trouble, 436.
34. Quoted in Louis Giannetti, Masters of the American Cinema (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1981), 206.
1. Discovering a Vocation and a Style
1. “William Wyler,” Film Reference, last modified 2012, http://filmreference.com/Directors-Ve-Y/Wyler-William.html.
2. Dave's boss, for instance, tells him that the people of Boonton have money but don't know how to spend it.
3. Internal reports, November 16, 1928, Wyler Collection.
4. Wyler would revisit a scene like this in Funny Girl almost forty years later.
5. Herman, A Talent for Trouble, 88.
6. Axel Madsen, William Wyler: The Authorized Biography (New York: Crowell, 1973), 68.
7. Herman, A Talent for Trouble, 91.
8. Ibid.
9. Wyler rarely resorted to such imagery, but he would do so again in Dodsworth (1936), when Arnold Iselin sets fire to a letter that Fran Dodsworth received from her husband. Iselin wants Fran to leave her husband and forget the past. Wyler's camera follows the burning letter as it wafts across the balcony.
10. Herman, A Talent for Trouble, 92.
11. Carl Laemmle Jr. to Wyler, August 29, 1931, Wyler Collection.
12. Laemmle Jr. to Wyler, September 3, 1931, Wyler Collection.
2. Coming into His Own
1. Quoted in Madsen, William Wyler, 81.
2. John Huston, An Open Book (New York: Knopf, 1980), 59.
3. Wyler to Oliver La Farge, December 16, 1932, William Wyler Papers, 1925–1975, Arts Library Special Collections, Young Research Library, UCLA.
4. Huston, An Open Book, 60.
5. Wyler to La Farge, January 30, 1933, Wyler Collection.
6. Huston, An Open Book, 60.
7. Ibid. There is a copy of Huston's script in the Wyler Collection.
8. Herman, A Talent for Trouble, 108.
9. Wyler to Carl Laemmle, December 29, 1932, Wyler Collection.
10. Madsen, William Wyler, 85.
11. Elmer Rice, Minority Report (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1963), 164.
12. Ibid., 121.
13. Elmer Rice, Seven Plays (New York: Viking Press, 1950), 269.
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