William Wyler Movies
The son of a prosperous Swiss dry goods merchant, William Wyler was studying the violin in Paris when he met Universal Pictures executive Carl Laemmle, a distant cousin of his mother, in 1922. Another version of this fateful meeting claims that Wyler made the acquaintance of one of Laemmle's many European relatives; whatever the case, the 20-year-old Wyler was invited to America to work in Universal's publicity department, writing publicity for the studio's foreign releases. He worked his way up to assistant director at Universal, finally graduating to director for the two-reel Western Crook Buster (1925). This was followed by several feature-length sagebrushers, then by his first non-Western effort, Has Anybody Here Seen Kelly? (1927). Universal's slapdash production methods and abbreviated schedules convinced Wyler that if he ever graduated to A-pictures, he would take his own sweet time making them. As a result, Wyler would earn a reputation as one of the slowest and most meticulous directors in the business, shooting extensive retakes on even the simplest scenes. Wyler's painstaking methods and his autocratic on-set behavior exasperated and infuriated many, but he was the favorite director of the equally demanding producer Sam Goldwyn. The long Goldwyn/Wyler association began with the 1936 film These Three, a heavily rewritten adaptation of Lillian Hellman's controversial play The Children's Hour. Another of Wyler's yea-sayers was Bette Davis, who, despite her frequent high decibel arguments with the director, turned out some of her finest performances in such Wyler projects as Jezebel (1938), The Letter (1940), and The Little Foxes (1941) (the fact that Davis and Wyler were occasional offscreen lovers might also have had something to do with their successful professional collaborations). Commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII, Wyler helmed two classic documentary films, The Memphis Belle (1943) and Thunderbolt (1944); his courage while filming under the most life-threatening of situations earned Wyler an Air Medal and a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. After the war, Wyler helped found the Committee for the First Amendment, a group of Hollywood liberals united to battle the witch-hunting excesses of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Wyler produced as well as directed most of his postwar projects, which included The Heiress (1949), Detective Story (1951), Roman Holiday (1953), The Desperate Hours (1955), and Friendly Persuasion (1956). He also directed The Children's Hour (1961), a remake of his own These Three (1936), which retained the lesbianism angle that the earlier film was forced to do without. Wyler won three Best Director Academy Awards, all for films which were honored with Best Picture Oscars: Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Ben-Hur (1959) (he'd been one of many production assistants on the 1926 silent version of the last named film). Married twice, Wyler's first wife was film star Margaret Sullavan; his second was actress Margaret Tallichet, who gave up her screen career upon becoming Mrs. Wyler. William Wyler's final film was 1970's The Liberation of L.B. Jones; despite failing health, Wyler was primed to start work on 40 Carats (1973), but was advised by his physician not to do so -- possibly the only instance that someone other than Willy Wyler had the last word on a movie decision! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Lillian Hellman from Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play, Dead End concerns itself with several denizens of New York's East River district. Here the elite and the slum-dwellers rub shoulders due to the close proximity of the riverfront tenements with the East Side luxury hotels. Slum girl Drina Gordon (Sylvia Sidney) tries to prevent her younger brother Tommy (Billy Halop) from wasting his life as a member of the local street gang. Tommy and the other kids idolize Baby Face Martin (Humphrey Bogart), a onetime East- sider who has hit the "big time" as a notorious gangster. Dodging the cops, Martin makes a sentimental journey to the neighborhood to visit his mother (Marjorie Main) and his old girlfriend Francie (Clare Trevor). But Martin's mother coldly tells him to get lost, while Francie reveals herself to be a consumptive prostitute. Despite his depressed state, Martin is still admired by the local kids; this displeases sign painter Dave Connell (Joel McCrea), who hopes to escape the slums via his romance with wealthy Kay Burton (Wendy Barrie). Attempting to kidnap a rich boy who'd earlier been beaten up by the street kids, Martin is prevented from making the snatch by Dave, who shoots Martin down. Receiving a large reward, Dave decides to give the money to Drina so that she can afford a lawyer to defend her brother Tommy, who has wrongfully been accused of masterminding the beating of the rich kid. His outlook on life altered by this unselfish act, Dave gives up his mercenary romance with Kay Burton, choosing instead the poverty-stricken Drina. The film introduces the Dead End Kids--Billy Halop, Leo Gorcey, Gabe Dell, Huntz Hall, Bernard Punsley and Bobby Jordan--all of whom were veterans of the Broadway version of Dead End and would be metamorphosed into the East Side Kids and The Bowery Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, (more)
In this highly acclaimed adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel, Walter Huston plays Sam Dodsworth, a good-hearted, middle-aged man who runs an auto manufacturing firm. His wife Fran (Ruth Chatterton) is obsessed with the notion that she's growing old, and she eventually persuades Sam to sell his interest in the company and take her to Europe. He agrees for the sake of their marriage, but before long Fran has begun to think of herself as a cosmopolitan sophisticate and thinks of Sam as dull and unadventurous. Craving excitement, Fran begins spending her time with other men and eventually informs Sam that she's leaving him for a minor member of royalty. While in Italy, Sam runs into Edith Cortright (Mary Astor), an attractive widow whom he first met while sailing to Europe. Edith seems to understand Sam in a way his wife does not, and they fall in love. However, Sam impulsively breaks off their relationship, only to discover in her absence just how deeply he cares for her. Dodsworth was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Walter Huston), and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Ouspenskaya), though only art director Richard Day walked away with an Oscar. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Ruth Chatterton, (more)
Set in the woodlands of Wisconsin, Come and Get It stars Edward Arnold as a logger-turned-lumber tycoon. In his rise to the top, Arnold loses out on a chance for lasting happiness by spurning earthy dance hall girl (Frances Farmer), who marries his best pal (Walter Brennan) on the rebound. Marrying for position rather than love, Arnold becomes a society leader in Milwaukee. His son (Joel McCrea) falls in love with the daughter of Arnold's first love (Frances Farmer plays both mother and daughter). Himself smitten by the daughter, Arnold battles with his son over the girl's affection, only to be shocked back into his senses when the girl reprimands his son, "Don't hit him! He's an old man!" Based on a novel by Edna Ferber, Come & Get It carries two directorial credits: William Wyler was dismissed early on by producer Sam Goldwyn, and when Howard Hawks took over, it was on the proviso that Wyler be given co-directing billing. For his performance as Edward Arnold's Scandinavian cohort, Walter Brennan won the first-ever "best supporting actor" Oscar. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Arnold, Joel McCrea, (more)
- 1936
Lillian Hellman's 1934 Broadway play The Children's Hour was such a hot potato that film producer Samuel Goldwyn was denied Production Code permission to use the play's original title. The reason was the story's lesbian theme, a factor that also blocked The Children's Hour from winning a Pulitzer Prize. In the original story, lifelong friends Martha Dobie and Karen Wright manage an exclusive girl's boarding school. Spoiled rotten student Mary Tilford, angered at being disciplined, fabricates a story that casts a questionable light on the women's friendship. In attempting to defend themselves against the accusations of the little girl's wealthy and powerful aunt, Martha and Karen lose everything in court. By the time the girl has admitted her lie and the aunt has come to apologize, it is too late. After confessing that she has harbored "unnatural" feelings towards Martha, Karen commits suicide. In adapting her play to the screen, Lillian Hellman expertly weeded out all hints of lesbianism, and also eliminated Karen's self-inflicted death ("suicide as a plot solution" was another Production Code no-no). In the revised version, Mary Tilford (played with unbridled venom by Bonita Granville) spreads a rumor that Martha (Miriam Hopkins) has been carrying on an illicit affair with doctor Joseph Cardin (Joel McCrea), the boyfriend of Karen (Merle Oberon). The end result is essentially the same -- the school is destroyed, along with Martha and Karen's reputation -- but Karen manages to survive to fade-out time. In defending the evisceration of her play, Hellman defended herself by noting that her original point was not to force a lesbian subtext down the throats of the audience, but to show how a vicious lie -- any vicious lie -- can have disastrous consequences. While it makes a good story, it is probably not true that, when informed that the leading characters in The Children's Hour were lesbians, producer Goldwyn replied, "Who cares? We'll make them Americans." These Three was refilmed in 1961 by its director William Wyler, under its original title The Children's Hour, with Hellman's original text -- lesbianism and all -- intact; ironically, the censor-ridden earlier film is the far superior version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Miriam Hopkins, Merle Oberon, (more)
- 1935
Francis Lederer stars as the prince of a mythical European kingdom. To mingle with the "common folk" while on a visit to New York, he takes a job as a hotel doorman. In this capacity he meets Frances Dee, a small-town secretary who has likewise come to Manhattan to put a little variety in her life. Gay Deception is an enjoyable trifle put expertly through its paces by William Wyler, a director just on the verge of bigger assignments. It was one of the last Fox Studios films to be released before Fox's merger with Twentieth Century Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Francis Lederer, Frances Dee, (more)
Margaret Sullavan graduates from a girl's orphanage to an usherette's job at a Budapest movie theatre. Bibulous millionaire Frank Morgan makes a play for Margaret, but she keeps him at arm's length by picking a name from the phone book and insists that that's the name of her husband. The man chosen at random is attorney Herbert Marshall, who can't understand why Morgan has taken a sudden interest in him. Morgan offers Marshall a huge contract in hopes that Margaret will be "exchanged", but the truth comes out to everyone's satisfaction. Adapted from a Ferenc Molnar play by Preston Sturges (who added a hilarious movie-within-a-movie in which the "stars" emote by speaking in one-syllable sentences), Good Fairy was remade as the Deanna Durbin vehicle I'll Be Yours (47). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Sullavan, Herbert Marshall, (more)
- 1934
Another of director William Wyler's "apprenticeship" films, Glamour is based on a story by Edna Ferber. The original story covered 24 hours in the life of actress Linda Fayne (Constance Cummings), who is so busy with her career that there's no time left over for her baby. This plotline was used as a small component of Doris Anderson's screenplay, wherein we discover how Linda came to be a mother in the first place. During her climb to the top of the acting profession, our heroine falls in love with aspiring songwriter Victor Banki (Paul Lukas). Having read somewhere that no actress has ever reached greatness until after she became a mother, Linda all but forces Valenti to impregnate her. Sure enough, she becomes an overnight star, whereupon she marries Victor. Later on, Linda leaves her husband in favor of handsome singer Lorenzo Valenti (Philip Reed), but her maternal instincts win out and she returns to Victor and her child. No way that all this could happen within 24 hours! Bobby Watson, foremost Adolph Hitler impersonator of the 1940s, shows up in Glamour as a gay dance director, a characterization he'd previously done in Wheeler and Woolsey's Hips Hips Hooray. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Lukas, Constance Cummings, (more)
- 1933
One wonders if William Wyler ever gave Her First Mate a second thought when he was busy directing such subsequent films as The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver,The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur. This early Wyler efforts stars Slim Summerville and ZaSu Pitts as John and Mary Horner; he's a peanut vendor on the Albany night boat, while she's trying to scrimp together enough money to buy John his own ferryboat. Along the way, the Horners get mixed up with comic bootlegger Socrates (Henry Armetta) and a pair of doltish lovebirds named Hattie (Una Merkel) and Percy (Warren Hymer). The story comes to a climax with a slapstick ferry wreck, easily the best scene in the picture. Her First Mate was based on Salt Water, a play by Dan Jarrett, Frank Craven and John Golden; among the screenwriters was H. M. "Beanie" Walker, an alumnus of the Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang two-reelers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Slim" Summerville, ZaSu Pitts, (more)
Adapted from the play by Elmer Rice, Counsellor-at-Law is the story of a successful Jewish lawyer George Simon (John Barrymore) who finds it's lonely at the top. Simon's wife (Doris Kenyon) and children look down upon him because of his humble upbringings, while his mother reprimands him for turning his back on his heritage. Simon is threatened with disbarment when a rival digs up a big wormy can of legal wrongdoing in Simon's past, but this is only the beginning of the end. When the beleaguered lawyer discovers that his wife has been unfaithful, he looks out the window of his Empire State Building office and contemplates suicide. Simon is brought to his senses by his faithful secretary (Bebe Daniels), who has loved him all along. Filled with vivid character vignettes and blessed with energetic direction by William Wyler, Counsellor-at-Law is one of the best "lawyer" films of the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Bebe Daniels, (more)
- 1932
William Wyler directed this melodramatic story about a boy who, after growing up in the shadow of his father, learns the old man wasn't all he claimed to be. Tom Brown (played, as coincidence would have it, by an actor named Tom Brown) is a boy who has been struggling to help his mother keep body and soul together ever since the death of his father during World War I. The elder Brown died in combat when Tom was a baby, but her heroism earned him a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, and in tribute to his father a local American Legion post presents Tom with a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Culver Military Academy; while Tom has his doubts about his future as a soldier, he certainly understands the value of an education and accepts. However, its not until after he's enrolled at Culver that Tom learns the truth about his father -- "Doc" Brown (H.B. Warner) fled in the midst of battle, exchanging his identification with a dead soldier, and has been living the life of a coward ever since. Will Tom be able to restore the good name of the Brown family? Andy Devine, Sidney Toler, Slim Summerville and a young Tyrone Power highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Brown, H.B. Warner, (more)
- 1931
"A house divided against itself cannot stand" declared Abraham Lincoln; proof that a house divided can be repaired is provided in this early talkie effort from director William Wyler. Walter Huston plays alcoholic fisherman Seth Law, who, recently widowed, signs up for a mail-order bride. Ruth Evans (Helen Chandler), Seth's wife-to-be, is instantly attracted...to Seth's ne'er-do- well son, Matt (Kent Douglass). Father and son duke it out, leaving Seth crippled. Though he now despises Ruth, Seth aligns with his son to save the girl when a sudden storm blows up. Seth is killed, but he is satisfied that Ruth is happy and that his son is not the wastrel he thought he was. Interestingly enough, the dialogue for A House Divided was penned by Walter Huston's own son, John. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Huston, Kent Douglass, (more)
- 1930
William Wyler was still primarily a western specialist when he was assigned to direct Hell's Heroes. Based on Peter B. Kyne's Three Godfathers (which was filmed officially and unofficially several times), the story deals with three frontier bandits (Charles Bickford, Raymond Hatton, and Fred Kohler Sr.) who come across a pregnant woman in the desert. The woman dies in childbirth, but not before the three fugitives have promised the unfortunate mother to locate the baby's father. Two of the three criminals are killed before they are able to keep their promise, but the surviving bandit (Bickford) restores the baby to its father. Having accomplished the only good deed in his life, the bandit dies from drinking poisoned water. Filmed in the Mojave Desert and the Panamint Valley, Hell's Heroes represented William Wyler's first "outdoors" talking picture; even after attaining the front ranks of his profession, he would return to the western genre with such "A" productions as The Westerner (41) and The Big Country (58). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Bickford, Fred Kohler, (more)
- 1930
Previously filmed in 1916 and 1922, Langdon McCormick's theatrical chestnut Men Without Skirts was pulled out of mothballs for a third time in 1930, this time rechristened The Storm. Lupe Velez stars as Nanette, the daughter of French-Canadian smuggler Jacques Farchard (Alphonse Ethier). Concerned for Nanette's safety, Jacques leaves her in the care of two of his friends (Paul Cavanaugh and William Boyd) then heads off to parts unknown, with the Canadian Mounties hot on his heels. Shot down and left for dead, Jacques is certain that his number is up, but Nanette braves a surging river and a blinding storm to rescue her father. Oddly, though both Paul Cavanaugh and William Boyd vie for the heroine's attentions, there is no romantic lead to speak of in this rugged Northwoods meller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lupe Velez, Paul Cavanagh, (more)
- 1929
Directed by William Wyler, The Love Trap centers around a chorus girl whose sudden job termination (on the day of her eviction, no less) leads her to a hasty decision -- she would attend a party and make money by whatever means necessary, however dubious those means may be. It isn't long before the young woman ends up on the receiving end of an attack, and not only finds herself thrown out of the party, but homeless, penniless, and at the mercy of a good-hearted taxi-cab driver. The cab driver lets her take up temporary residence inside one of his cars, and winds up falling in love with the singer, as she would with him. Certain that they were meant to be together, the couple rushes off to the altar; sparking no small amount of ire from the cab driver's snooty, upper crust family. Indeed, the relatives raise a mighty fuss -- his uncle goes so far as to expose the new bride of having been the host's mistress at the ill-fated party she had attended at the height of her desperation, which leads to a heated showdown between husband, mother, and uncle. The Love Trap features Laura LaPlante, Nell Hamilton, Norman Trevor, and Jocyln Lee ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neil Hamilton, Norman Trevor, (more)
- 1929
Director William Wyler made the move up to talking pictures with this blend of action and comedy. Dave Roberts (James Murray is a professional boxer who is better at losing conveniently than in knocking out is opponents. Dave's less-than-happy life on the margins begins to change when he meets and takes in an orphan, and as he learns to care for his new pal, he decides to turn the tables on the low-lifes who have been taking advantage of him. Once believed lost, The Shakedown was discovered and restored by the staff of the George Eastman House in 1998. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Kent, George Kotsonaros, (more)
- 1929
Thunderbolt was Josef von Sternberg's first American talking picture. George Bancroft, a von Sternberg regular (despite frequents clashes between the two men), plays a death row inmate who may be on the eve of eternity, but who has still one more murder on his mind. He plans to kill the young lover (Richard Arlen) of his former girl friend (Fay Wray); fortuitously the lover is incarcerated in the same prison where Bancroft awaits the chair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Bancroft, Fay Wray, (more)
- 1929
A woman finds herself a victim of love in this drama. Her trouble begins when her husband falsely accuses her of having an affair. He divorces her and tells her that she can never see her son again. Six long years pass. Her son sees her in a park and takes her home. Her husband immediately tosses her out. It is only after a jilted boyfriend kills himself and leaves a telling note, that the truth about the situation is discovered: he had told her husband that he had been having an affair with her in the hope that she would return to him after her marriage crumbled. The ex-husband begs forgiveness, and the wife comes back. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pauline Frederick, William Courtenay, (more)
- 1928
Directed by a very young William Wyler, this fanciful Ted Wells Western from the assembly-lines at Universal reads like a Hoot Gibson reject. Wells plays Jack Duncan, a ranch hand planning to give his new, female employer Betty Barton (Charlotte Stevens), a welcoming reception she won't soon forget. Arriving from the East with her aunt (Julia Griffith), the girl is delighted to be greeted with a mock Indian attack arranged by Jack and ranch foreman Lon Seeright (William J. Dyer). Jack plans to give Betty yet another chance to experience the wild and woolly West by staging a "kidnapping" during a masked ball. Unfortunately, crooked gambler Lem Dawson (William A. Steele) gets in the way by abducting the pretty girl for real. Wyler, a distant relative of Universal's benign founder Carl Laemmle, began his long, celebrated directorial career helming B-Westerns starring contract cowboys such as Wells and Fred Humes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Wells, Gilbert "Pee Wee" Holmes, (more)
- 1927
Hard-drinking silent screen hero Art Acord starred opposite his then-wife Louise Lorraine in this Universal oater directed by a young William Wyler. The story is something about a fake army colonel (Albert J. Smith) who blackmails Acord into doing his bidding, including smearing a rancher and his pretty daughter (Louise Lorraine. Unfortunately listed among the countless missing silent films, this Acord vehicle remains the most obscure film in director William Wyler's portfolio. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Art Acord, Louise Lorraine, (more)
- 1927
Straight Shootin' is a rubber stamp Universal western vehicle for second-string cowboy hero Ted Wells. The villains kidnap a grizzled old prospector, threatening to starve him to death unless he reveals the whereabouts of his gold mine. The old man's far-from-loyal partner locates the mine on behalf of the crooks, hoping to get a piece of the action himself. Crosses and double-crosses abound until Wells shows up to settle matters. Were it not for the fact that future Oscar-winner William Wyler was the director, Straight Shootin' would be completely forgotten today. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Wells
- 1927
A very young William Wyler directed this two-reel "Northwestern" starring tight-lipped Edmund Cobb as Field, a Northwest Mounted police officer assigned to catch a gang of murderous thugs. Unbeknownst to Field, the gang is lead by one Jackson Rasker (Norbert Myles), who has befriended Dumont (Howard Davies), the father of Field's girlfriend Helene (Elsa Benham). Rasker lures Dumont into an ambush but pretends to be a victim himself. Grateful for Rasker's "help," Dumont, with his dying breath, begs Helene to marry the scoundrel. Happily, Fields is on to the gang and the villain is unmasked. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1927
German-born William Wyler began his long, eventful directorial career helming Fred Gilman Western 2-reelers at Universal. Graduating to feature Westerns, Wyler directed both Fred Humes and Ted Wells. Desert Dust was the second of three Wells Westerns for Wyler, a breezy oater about a reform-school kid who must prove his real worth in order to win the heart a state senator's lovely daughter (Lotus Thompson). Wyler considered it a move upwards when he left the Wells unit in favor of Fred Humes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ted Wells, Lotus Thompson, (more)
- 1927
William Wyler, a distant relative of Universal's founder Carl Laemmle, directed this routine western about a cowboy, "Smilin'" Sam (Fred Humes), who mistakes lovely Milly (Ena Gregory) and her brother (Churchill Ross) for a couple of outlaws. Everything is quickly sorted out, however, and Humes can search for the real villain. Director Wyler later recalled that moving from the Ted Wells unit to that of Fred Humes was considered quite a step up in prestige at Universal. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fred Humes, Ena Gregory, (more)
