Oscar Profile #42: William Wyler

From the 1930s through the mid 1960s no Hollywood director, with the exception of John Ford, was more revered than William Wyler. His reputation has suffered in subsequent years as the measure of greatness has shifted from totality of accomplishment to a unique signature style, which Wyler didn’t have. All his films were different, which sets him apart from the “autors”, those directors whose films are instantly recognizable because of their unique style.

Born July 1, 1902 in Alsace, then a province of Germany to a Swiss father and German mother, Wyler’s entrée into the film industry was courtesy of his mother’s cousin, Universal honcho Carol Laemmle. Wyler’s early films for Universal included 1929’s Hell’s Heroes, the first film version of the oft-filmed Three Godfathers; 1933’s Counselor-at-Law with John Barrymore and 1935’s The Good Fairy with then wife Margaret Sullavan.

His long and productive relationship with independent producer Samuel Goldwyn began with These Three, the first film version of Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour, which he would remake a quarter of a century later. The first 1936 version replaced the lesbian themes of the original play with a more conventional, albeit scandalous heterosexual triangle. His next film, the still powerful Dodsworth brought him the first of his still record twelve Oscar nominations for Best Director.

He had two more major successes for Goldwyn in the 1930s with 1937’s Dead End and 1939’s Wuthering Heights, for which he received his second Oscar nomination. On loan-out to Warner Bros. for three Bette Davis films, he directed her to an Oscar for 1938’s Jezebel and nominations for both 1940’s The Letter and 1941’s The Little Foxes, receiving his own third and fourth nominations for the latter two.

An interesting bit of trivia: by the time Wyler directed Henry Fonda, Davis’ co-star in 1938’s Jezebel, both had become ex-husbands of Margaret Sullavan who was Davis’ chief rival for the year’s Best Actress Oscar in Three Comrades. By then Wyler had already married actress Margaret Tallichet, who would become the mother of his five children and his wife until his death.

Wyler won his first of three directorial Oscars on loan-out to MGM for the 1942 smash hit, Mrs. Miniver, by which time he was already an officer in the U.S. Army Corps., where he directed The Memphis Belle: A Story of the Flying Fortress and The Fighting Lady.

After the war he directed his masterpiece for Goldwyn, 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives, about the difficulties of World War II veterans in adjusting to civilian life. The film brought him his second Oscar on his sixth nomination.

Wyler was known as “40-take Willie” because of his habit of forcing actors to film scenes over and over until he got to the emotional truth of the scene. He believed that actors lost their pre-conceived notions about acting they played their parts with greater honesty when angry with him. He evidently knew what he was talking about as actors in his films received a total of 36 nominations and 14 wins, more than double those of any other director.

His post-war films include 1949’s The Heiress (his seventh nomination); 1951’s Detective Story (his eighth); 1953’s Roman Holiday (his ninth); 1956’s Friendly Persuasion (his tenth); 1959’s Ben-Hur (his eleventh and third win) and 1965’s The Collector (his twelfth). That same year he won the Thalberg award for his life achievement as producer of many of his own films.

Rumor had it at the time that he was so fed up with Barbra Streisand’s seemingly wanting to direct herself in 1968’s Funny Girl that he vowed never to direct another movie. However, he came back two years later with his last film, the racially charged The Liberation of L.B. Jones. Although the film received decent reviews, it was not successful at a time when audiences demanded more modern approaches to cinema. Although he had wanted to make more movies, he and his wife spent the last decade of his life traveling instead.

William Wyler died July 27, 1981 at 79.

ESSENTIAL FILMS

DODSWORTH (1936)

Wyler’s classic film of the dissolution of a marriage still holds up today despite changing acting styles thanks mainly to Walter Huston’s portrayal of the retired businessman whose social climbing wife Ruth Chatterton nearly ruins him. Mary Astor is also quite effective as a self assured divorcee whois everything Chatterton’s character is not. The strong supporting cast includes David Niven and Maria Ouspenska. Wyler received the first of his still record twelve Oscar nomination as Best Director, for the film which was also a Best Picture nominee. In all, the film was nominated for seven Oscars and won for Richard Day’s Art Direction.

MRS. MINIVER (1942)

Wyler made this for MGM at President Franklin Roosevelt’s request as an incentive for American audiences to support the War in Europe. Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Richard Ney, Teresa Wright, Henry Travers and Dame May Whitty beautifully represent an England that may have never been, but the film’s message comes poignantly through all those stiff upper lips. Nominated for twelve Oscars, it won six including Best Picture, Actress (Garson); Supporting Actress (Wright) and Director, Wyler’s first of three wins.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)

Wyler’s tribute to the homecoming servicemen of World War II and the women who love them was a masterpiece of its day that is still relevant today. There are unforgettable performances by Fredric March, Dana Andrews and Harold Russell as the three men who return to a world they no longer recognize and equally memorable ones by Myrna Loy, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo, Cathy O’Donnell and Gladys George among others. Nominated for eight Oscars, it won seven including Best Picture; Actor (Fredric March); Supporting Actor (Harold Russell) and Director, Wyler’s second. Russell, who lost his hands in a WWII training incident, also won an honorary award for his courageous performance.

THE HEIRESS (1949)

Somewhere Olivia de Havilland must still be complaining about the number of times 40-Take Willie made her climb those stairs at the climax of this classic film version of Henry James’ Washington Square. Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson and Miriam Hopkisn co-star. Nominated fro eight Oscars including Best Picture; Supporting Actor (Ralph Richardson) and Director (Wyler’s seventh nomination), it won four including Best Actress; Art Direction; Costume Design and Score (by Aaron Copland).

BEN-HUR (1959)

The second film version of Lew Wallace’s 19th Century novel about the early days of Christianity was ironically released the same year that Cecil B. DeMille died. Although DeMille was the premier director of biblical epics during his lifetime, none of his films, not even The Ten Commandments achieved the critical heights of Wyler’s only biblical epic. Nominated for twelve Oscars, it won eleven including Best Picture; Actor (Charlton Heston); Supporting Actor (Hugh Griffith) and Director (Wyler’s third on his eleventh nomination).