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Robert Wise |
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Director / Editor / Producer |
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1914 - 2005 |
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Born September 10,
Winchester, Indiana, USA |
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Key
Production Country: USA |
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Key Genres:
Drama, Film Noir, Crime, Crime Drama, Thriller, Science Fiction |
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Key
Collaborators: Albert
S. D'Agostino (Production Designer), Nelson Gidding (Screenwriter),
Ernest Lehman (Screenwriter), Walter E. Keller (Production
Designer), Boris Leven (Production Designer), Val Lewton
(Producer/Screenwriter), William H.
Reynolds
(Editor), J.R. Whittredge (Editor), Roy Webb (Composer), Cedric Gibbons (Production
Designer) |
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Highly
Recommended: Born
to Kill (1947)#, The Set-Up (1949)#, Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)# |
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Recommended: The
Curse of the Cat People (1944) [co-directed by Gunther von Fritsch],
The Body Snatcher (1945), Blood on the Moon (1948), Three Secrets
(1950), The Day the Earth
Stood Still (1951)*, The House on Telegraph Hill (1951), The Captive City
(1952)#, Executive Suite (1954), Tribute to a Bad
Man (1956), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), I Want to Live! (1958),
The Haunting (1963)*, The Sound of Music (1965)* |
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Worth a Look: The
Sand Pebbles (1966), The Andromeda Strain (1971) |
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Approach with Caution:
Mademoiselle Fifi (1944), Criminal Court (1946), So Big (1953), West
Side Story (1961)* [co-directed by Jerome Robbins], Star Trek: The
Motion Picture (1979) |
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Duds: The
Hindenburg (1975) |
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* Listed in TSPDT's
1,000 Greatest Films
section; #
Listed in TSPDT's
250 Quintessential Noir Films
section. |
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Links: [
Amazon
] [
IMDB ] [
All-Movie
Guide ] [
Film Reference ]
[
Bright
Lights Film Journal Interview ] [
Conversation
with Robert Wise ] [
DGA
Article ] [
Reel
Classics' Pages ] [
Classic
Movies' Page ] [
Film Journal
Article Written by Robert Wise ] |
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Books: [
Robert
Wise on His Films: From Editing Room to Director's Chair ] [
Robert
Wise: A Bio-Bibliography ] |
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"After
directing a number of routine B pictures in the late 40s, Wise
made what many consider the best boxing drama ever filmed,
The Set-Up (1949), a mercilessly candid portrait of the
seedy world of the professional ring...Wise followed this in the
50s with such high quality films as The Day the Earth Stood
Still, Executive Suite, Somebody Up There Likes Me,
I Want to Live and, Odds Against Tomorrow." -
(The
MacMillan International Film Encyclopedia, 1994) |
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"While he never
found a personal cinematic style or displayed a taste for any
special theme or genre, Robert Wise made a number of films that
may be described as superior entertainment. He was in fact a
solid, conscientious craftsman and a fluent story-teller
mercifully free of grandiose pretensions...Wise's finest work
reveals that technical proficiency, and sensitivity to
performance, pace and setting may result in highly watchable,
even memorable cinema." -
Geoff
Andrew (The Film Handbook, 1989) |
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"Although
Robert Wise's most celebrated film was The Sound of Music
(1965), shot in splendid Todd-AO and De Luxe Color, his forte
was gritty, small-budget, black-and-white realistic dramas.
Robert Wise became one of Hollywood's leading directors by
moving from genre to genre, from style to style, in a
workmanlike manner. Although he did so without imposing any
discernible personal stamp on his films, he directed some of the
finest boxing dramas, sci-fi movies, and horror films." -
Ronald Bergan (Film - Eyewitness Companions, 2006)
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"A much maligned director who has a good pictorial sense and the
ability to integrate a hint of realism and an interest in social
issues into all types of projects." -
William R. Meyer (The Film Buff's Catalog, 1978) |
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"I
think one of the major things a director has to do is to know
his subject matter, the subject matter of his script, know the
truth and the reality of it. That's very important." -
Robert Wise |
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Please
note that the rating given for this director (see top-right) is based
only on the films we have seen (listed above). Films by this director
that we haven't seen include A Game of Death (1946), Mystery in Mexico
(1948), Two Flags West (1950), Something for the Birds (1952), The
Desert Rats (1953), Destination Gobi (1953), Helen of Troy (1955), This
Could Be the Night (1957), Until They Sail (1957), Run Silent, Run Deep
(1958), Two for the Seesaw (1962), Star! (1968), Two People (1973),
Audrey Rose (1977), and Rooftops (1989). |
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