To view the films available with the “Directed by William Wyler” theme, click here.
In reflecting on the history of Hollywood filmmaking, William Wyler undoubtedly remains one of the greatest and most influential directors of his time. Twelve Academy Award nominations for Best Director (the record for most nominations of a director), winning three times for Mrs. Miniver (1946), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) and Ben-Hur (1959). He directed some of Hollywood’s finest talent, including a three-film collaboration with Bette Davis, in arguably her best work, earning her Academy Award nominations each time and a win for her performance in 1938’s Jezebel. Out of her working relationship with Wyler, Davis believed that she learned to become a better actress with him behind the camera. Her thoughts on working under Wyler’s direction were not unique; most of the actors who were fortunate enough to collaborate with him, especially those who did so multiple times, recalled the director as tough and professional, drawing the absolute best performances out of his cast. To achieve his idea of perfection, Wyler demanded multiple takes, which many of the actors, at least in the moment, felt excessive and borderline obsessive. But when the final cut was on the screen, they knew exactly why their director wanted more.
In the early 1920s, William Wyler emigrated to the United States from Europe and got his start working for his mother’s cousin, Carl Laemmle, who was then head of Universal. Wyler worked a variety of odd jobs at the studio’s New York location, eventually relocated to Los Angeles, was promoted to assistant editor and assistant director and worked on Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925), starring Ramon Novarro. Under contract to Universal, Wyler continued directing silent short films, eventually working his way to feature-length pieces, including Hell’s Heroes in 1929, the excellent A House Divided (1931) and Counsellor-at-Law in 1933, starring John Barrymore. On the set of A House Divided, Wyler met John Huston, the son of the film’s star, Walter Huston. Wyler hired the younger Huston to help contribute to the script, in what was one of his very first assignments in Hollywood. It’s out of this first collaboration that Wyler and Huston became close friends, with Huston often considering Wyler his professional mentor.
After fulfilling his obligation to Universal, Wyler began working for producer Samuel Goldwyn in a legendary partnership that lasted a decade. This partnership with Goldwyn also brought together Wyler and the great cinematographer Gregg Toland for six collaborations. Together, Wyler and Toland created visual storytelling that inspired countless movies and later generations of filmmakers. This period is often considered to be Wyler’s most prolific and more importantly, when he established himself as the greatest director in Hollywood, with the exception of his directorial peer, the great John Ford. Ford, who also experienced an incredible creative output during this same time frame, is often given the slight advantage when it comes to historical importance over Wyler by film critics and historians. Over the course of ten years, and not including uncredited and co-directed projects, Wyler made seven films for Samuel Goldwyn, in addition to a handful of projects for Warner Bros. and MGM (including Jezebel, The Letter [1940] and Mrs. Miniver). As part of their ongoing “Directed by” series, Filmstruck has made all seven Goldwyn-produced Wyler films available to stream. The titles include the following: These Three (1936); Dodsworth (1936); Dead End (1937); Wuthering Heights (1939); The Westerner (1940); The Little Foxes (1941); and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). Having all of these films available together in one place is exciting for many of us classic film lovers, as several of these films are difficult to find. And with the exception of a couple of them, these films are also out-of-print on home video.
If you look at these seven films, in addition to the rest of Wyler’s impressive work, it’s clear there isn’t one consistent theme or stylistic approach. William Wyler was constantly reinventing himself, never content to remain in one particular genre or storytelling technique. Over the years, I’ve read various criticism on Wyler’s directorial work and his apparent lack of a distinct trait or style, and how that ultimately holds him back from achieving the so-called elite “auteur” status. Well, in the immortal words of veteran journalist Dan Rather, I’m calling “bullshine.” Wyler not only created some of the greatest films of all time, but his work reached far and wide, pulling in a broad audience and giving them something that was entertaining, heartfelt and genuine, all while demonstrating his artistry as a filmmaker. And most importantly, doing so without pretension. That might not fit the rigid definitions of what constitutes an auteur, but who decided that is the sole requisite for being a great artist and director? Wyler kept his actors and audiences, as well as critics, on their toes. You can never quite pin down what makes his work so incredible. It just is. And that’s why William Wyler’s vast accomplishments remain unmatched today, almost fifty years after his final movie.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be writing about all of the Wyler-Goldwyn films available on Filmstruck, with the exception of Dodsworth, which I wrote about last year. William Wyler is one of my favorite directors, and I look forward to sharing my thoughts on these wonderful films, as well as observations on the careers of many of the actors who worked with him.
Jill Blake
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