Silly Thinking
*with Jim Farris*
2012197 Curiosities served
Robert Wise 1915- 2005
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Robert Wise died Thursday at the age of 90.
A great American filmmaker, Wise started as an editor, editing "Citizen Kane" with Orson Welles and had the dubious distinction of re editing Welles might have been masterpiece "The Magnificent Ambersons" while under contract to RKO Radio Pictures.
He started as a director in 1944 with the horror classic "The Curse Of The Cat People" and the Boris Karloff masterpiece "The Body Snatcher". In 1949 he made one of the definitive American Film Noir classics "The Set Up". 20th Century Fox gave him one of his early mainstream successes with a small budget sci-fi film they wanted to make to cash in on the sci-fi craze that was packing them into theatres, mostly with cheap independent films.
"The Day The Earth Stood Still" is considered one of the classic American movies of all time today.
Robert Wise never wanted to be identified with any one genre of film, a look at the list of his films show diversity and taste.
1952: "The Desert Rats" a gritty World War II thriller with Richard Burton.
1954 "Execuitve Suite" a romantic drama with an all star cast including Joan Crawford.
1956 "Somebody Up There Likes Me" starring Paul Newman as prize fighter Rocky Marciano.
1958 "Run Silent, Run Deep" is a tense submarine war movie with Burt Lancaster, Clark Gable, and Don Rickles.
1959 "I Want To Live" the true story of death row inmate waitng to die with Susan Hayward in an Oscar winning performance.
1961 "West Side Story" the brilliant Oscar winning screen musical version of the Broadway classic.
1963 "The Haunting" For my money one of the greatest ghost stories ever made.
1965 "The Sound Of Music" Another huge Oscar winning classic musical. Adjusted for infaltion this is the second most popular film in movie history, behind "Gone With The Wind"
1966 "The Sand Pebbles" starring Steve Mcqueen. After "The Sound Of Music" 20th Century Fox begged Wise to make another film for them, he used that leverge to make this World War I story that echoes the Viet Nam war.
1970 "The Andromeda Strain" a slick sci fi (with emphasis on the Sci) thriller.
1977 "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Wise was getting older and he had William Fucking Shatner as the leading man, and a lot of studio interference.
Ricahrd Attenborugh, actor and director of "Ghandi" was in "The Sand Pebbles" and was asked what about the American character he was playing intrigued him. He gazed at the immense set he was on and said simply "I didn't think about any of that, I knew I was going to be in a Robert Wise picture."
A great loss to movie lovers everywhere, a serious filmmaker who made solid, diverse, and tasteful films that entertained audiences for over 30 years.
Robert Wise.
A great American filmmaker, Wise started as an editor, editing "Citizen Kane" with Orson Welles and had the dubious distinction of re editing Welles might have been masterpiece "The Magnificent Ambersons" while under contract to RKO Radio Pictures.
He started as a director in 1944 with the horror classic "The Curse Of The Cat People" and the Boris Karloff masterpiece "The Body Snatcher". In 1949 he made one of the definitive American Film Noir classics "The Set Up". 20th Century Fox gave him one of his early mainstream successes with a small budget sci-fi film they wanted to make to cash in on the sci-fi craze that was packing them into theatres, mostly with cheap independent films.
"The Day The Earth Stood Still" is considered one of the classic American movies of all time today.
Robert Wise never wanted to be identified with any one genre of film, a look at the list of his films show diversity and taste.
1952: "The Desert Rats" a gritty World War II thriller with Richard Burton.
1954 "Execuitve Suite" a romantic drama with an all star cast including Joan Crawford.
1956 "Somebody Up There Likes Me" starring Paul Newman as prize fighter Rocky Marciano.
1958 "Run Silent, Run Deep" is a tense submarine war movie with Burt Lancaster, Clark Gable, and Don Rickles.
1959 "I Want To Live" the true story of death row inmate waitng to die with Susan Hayward in an Oscar winning performance.
1961 "West Side Story" the brilliant Oscar winning screen musical version of the Broadway classic.
1963 "The Haunting" For my money one of the greatest ghost stories ever made.
1965 "The Sound Of Music" Another huge Oscar winning classic musical. Adjusted for infaltion this is the second most popular film in movie history, behind "Gone With The Wind"
1966 "The Sand Pebbles" starring Steve Mcqueen. After "The Sound Of Music" 20th Century Fox begged Wise to make another film for them, he used that leverge to make this World War I story that echoes the Viet Nam war.
1970 "The Andromeda Strain" a slick sci fi (with emphasis on the Sci) thriller.
1977 "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" Wise was getting older and he had William Fucking Shatner as the leading man, and a lot of studio interference.
Ricahrd Attenborugh, actor and director of "Ghandi" was in "The Sand Pebbles" and was asked what about the American character he was playing intrigued him. He gazed at the immense set he was on and said simply "I didn't think about any of that, I knew I was going to be in a Robert Wise picture."
A great loss to movie lovers everywhere, a serious filmmaker who made solid, diverse, and tasteful films that entertained audiences for over 30 years.
Robert Wise.
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