Directed by William Wyler

This documentary about the career of director/producer William Wyler, appropriately, begins with the music from one of his best films, "The Big Country". It consists of footage, many interviews with stars and footage taken of Wyler only days before his death.

The reason I loved seeing this film is that for a long time I have felt that Wyler was probably the greatest American director. Although John Ford won more Oscars and Hitchcock (yes, he was British--but his best films were made in America) today gets all the recognition, Wyler was somehow able to consistently make great films. He didn't have a particular style...other than GREAT. Here, his contemporaries such as Billy Wilder, John Huston, Bette Davis, Greer Garson and Wyler's wife are all interviewed and give insights into his personality and style.

I enjoyed this film a lot but it did have one problem. Because Wyler made so many great films, the movie went too fast and one hour was simply too little. Excellent otherwise.

By the way, of all the reminiscences in the documentary, probably the most boring and pointless was the one involving Ralph Richardson walking about his beard. A lovely actor and a lovely film...but a really dull thing to include in the documentary!

Outstanding documentary of the one most successful director of all time of the Germany provenance William Wyler spanning since early twenties when his uncle invited him to work in America where soon became a secondary director at Universal gaining expertise and reaching at stardom at MGM studios, highly criticized by be a perfectionist, he got a nicknamed of 99-take Willy, however such moniker will bear fruits at Academy Awards for their grouches commanded.

It also exposes his private life as his first marriage with Margaret Sullavan that survived for two years only, follow up in four years later his final engagement with another Margaret Tallichet that went on for his death in 1981, oddly enough his final interview that was extracted this doc was made three years before his death, where we can see Wyler having difficulty to take a breath for excessive smoking, many actors/actress testified their fondness for Wyler also directors as Billy Wilder, John Huston pouring praises.

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First watch: 2024 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5.

This is a good introduction to the work of one of cinema's finest and most professional directors. Although Wyler was sometimes criticised for having no discernible style of his own (he was no auteur, and I imagine he probably though the very notion ridiculous), he was famed for his meticulous approach to film-making, and willingness to have a crack at almost anything. As he himself said, he didn't want to just make the same film over and over -- he wanted to try different genres and make as many varied movies as he could.

This documentary features interviews with Wyler himself (recorded just three days before his death -- you can't possibly get tighter timing than that!), along with his wife and many of the stars he worked with over his long decades as a Hallywood A-list director. We don't get huge insights into the man behind the camera, but we learn a bit about his personal life, his background, his enthusiastic approach to living. There are also lots of clips from his better known films.

What shines through is Wyler's dedication to his work, his insistence on getting scenes right. He was (in)famous for making his actors do a shot numerous times -- there are legends that he sometimes did 40, 50, 60 or more takes of certain scenes. Charlton Heston and Wyler question the accuracy of those claims, but other actors insist they were no exaggeration. Either way, there's no doubt he was a perfectionist -- or that those he bossed around respected and admired him regardless of how badly he treated them on set. As Gregory Peck pointed out, every actor wanted to work with Wyler, because more actors won Oscars in his films than any other director's!!! This will be of only passing interest to hardcore Wyler fans, who would love to learn more about the man, to perhaps see dailies of him at work (if any exist), to see even more of that final interview. But as a quick way of getting familiar with his work, it does the business, and does it quite well. Because he eschewed the whole auteur approach to movie-making, Wyler has been somewhat marginalised over the years -- I think critics prefer directors with a one-track vision, as that makes it easier for them to write about! But as the testimonies on display here prove -- from the likes of heavyweights like Billy Wilder, John Ford, Laurence Olivier and Bette Davis -- Wyler's name should be revered with the very best of Hollywood's directors.