Robert Wise

Robert Wise just died. He'd been around and done so much a lot of people were probably surprised he was still alive.

Wise was one of Hollywood's top directors. His films both won awards and attracted the public. His biggest was The Sound Of Music (1965)--he won two Oscars, as director and producer, and it's the third-biggest grossing film adjusted for inflation, with a domestic take in today's dollars of $911 million. Another huge hit (adjusted gross $358 million) and winner of 10 Oscars was West Side Story (1961), which he co-directed with (actually took over from) Jerome Robbins.

I can't say I'm a big fan of Wise. Neither of the musicals above do much for me--at best they're respectful adaptations that I don't relish watching again. But he's got a lengthy filmography, and made several films that are worth checking out.

Wise started at RKO, where he worked sound on such classic films as Top Hat and The Informer. He eventually became an editor and did some of his most important work before he directed a single film. He edited Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941), generally considered the greatest film of all. He also edited Welles' second film, The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), though in this case, his edit was for the studio bosses and against the wishes of Welles. Some movie-lovers have never forgiven him.

His first directing job was for producer Val Lewton--The Curse Of The Cat People (1944). It's a spooky film that still holds up. He worked regularly and five years later directed one of the best boxing films ever--the brutal, real-time The Set-Up (1949). Robert Ryan plays an over-the-hill slugger trying to prove he's still got it in a rigged sport. Not as famous as many films Wise made later, it's probably his best work.

In 1951, Wise directed The Day The Earth Stood Still, one of the most beloved and influential sf films of the era. Its story of aliens on Earth, ending with a plea for peace (or else), is still compelling.

Another gritty Wise film is Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Starring Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan (again), it's a late film noir--a caper film with a racism angle. It also features great New York location shooting.

Wise also worked on a lot of other well-respected and/or hit films--Executive Suite, Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Haunting, The Sand Pebbles, The Andromeda Strain (which I loved as a kid) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but I have to admit, most of them don't do much for me.

Still, Wise had a lengthy, honorable career, and as long as there are film-lovers who seek out cool Hollywood films, he'll be remembered.