final credits - robert wise
Robert Wise started in the film business as a messenger in the RKO Studios editing department, a job the 19-year-old landed through his brother, an accountant. He soon found himself editing one of the greatest films of Hollywood's golden era, "Citizen Kane." By the time his six-decade career ended, Wise was one of most recognised directors of the latter-half of the twentieth century. Wise died September 14, 2005 at the age of 91 from heart failure.
Two of Wise's films won the Academy Award for Best Picture: 1961's "West Side Story" and 1965's "The Sound of Music." Serving as director and producer for the films, Wise was accorded four Oscars. He shared the direction Oscar for "West Side Story" with choreographer Jerome Robbins. "West Side Story" received 10 Oscars and "Sound of Music" won 5.
All told, Wise's pictures received 67 Academy Award nominations and 19 Oscars. He directed 9 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Nina Foch, Susan Hayward, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Julie Andrews, Peggy Wood, Steve McQueen, Mako and Daniel Massey. Hayward, Moreno and Chakiris won Oscars for a role in one of Wise's movies. In 1987, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role" on behalf of Paul Newman, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony.
Among Wise's other Oscar nods were direction nominations for 1958's "I Want To Live," and 1966's "The Sand Pebbles." He was also nominated for Best Film Editing on the 1941 film, "Citizen Kane." Wise was given the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1967, and also received awards and nominations from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films; the American Cinema Editors; the American Film Institute; the American Society of Cinematographers; the Art Directors Guild; the Broadcast Film Critics Association; the Directors Guild of America; the Golden Globes and the Joseph Plateau Awards. Wise's Walk of Fame star is located at 6340 Hollywood Boulevard.
Wise was born on September 10, 1914, in Winchester, Indiana. The son of a meatpacker, Wise was attending college when the economics of the Depression forced him to quit. Through his brother, Wise found himself in RKO's editing department, first as an office boy and soon as an apprentice learning sound effects and music editing, working his way up to film editing.
A head sound effects editor at the studio recognised Wise's talent, and recommeded him to Orson Welles, who was in need of an editor for "Citizen Kane." The film earned Wise his first Oscar nomination.
In an interview, Wise said that "Kane" was not difficult to edit due to the excellent cinematography by Gregg Toland. Wise said he knew the film was extraordinary from the dailies that revealed the spectacular photography and film angles of the project. Wise said, "And to think that Welles was 25, and it was his first film." Wise himself was less than a year older than Welles, and with his passing he was the last living crew member of the film.
Then came Welles' follow-up, "The Magnificent Ambersons." Now regarded as a marred classic, "Ambersons" tested poorly before audiences. While Welles was in Brazil shooting a film as part of the U.S. government's Good Neighbour Policy, RKO –- already frustrated with the overbudget and behind-schedule project -– ordered re-takes and a new cut. Both those chores fell to Wise.
When Welles returned and found out what had happened, he proclaimed his film was mutilated "by the studio gardener." Wise agreed, stating that "as a work of art" the original Welles version was better. He defended his editing as a way of saving the film from a worse fate at the hands of the studio.
Wise was recognised for his directorial skills when a film he was editing fell behind schedule. Wise was asked to take over from Gunther von Fritsch on 1944's "The Curse of the Cat People," a sequel to the Val Lewton-produced/Jacques Tourneur-directed classic "Cat People." Wise completed shooting in 10 days and the film, now a cult classic, was hailed as one of the best of the psychological thrillers that Lewton produced. The star of both "Cat People" films, Simone Simon, died February 22, 2005.
Now an established director, Wise lensed "The Body Snatcher," the 1945 horror film that paired Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. His 1949 "The Set-Up" was a gritty study of second-rate boxers that got critical notice for being filmed in "real-time." Next up was the 1951 science-fiction classic "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with its eerie Theremin soundtrack. Soon came 1958's "Run Silent, Run Deep," a Clark Gable submarine film which featured an on-board appendectomy based on an actual World War II operation reluctantly performed by Wheeler Lipes.
Wise did not shy from serious work in his choice of projects, tackling capital punishment in 1958's "I Want to Live!" and racism in his 1959 film "Odds Against Tomorrow" with Harry Belafonte and Robert Ryan. "Odds" was made without fades or dissolves, lending the work a near-documentary feel.
After "West Side Story" came one of Wise's favourites, the claustrophobic horror film "The Haunting" with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. The film's tension is driven by off-screen sound and crisp editing.
Wise followed "The Sound of Music" with a project he had nurtured for nearly a decade. Despite one of Steve McQueen's best performances, 1966's "The Sand Pebbles" failed to capture the attention of audiences. Critics cite the film's downbeat ending and the escalation of the Vietnam conflict as reasons, but the Academy recognised the work with a nod to McQueen, who received his sole Oscar nomination for his performance in the film.
Michael Crichton's best-seller "The Andromeda Strain" was the basis for Wise's 1971 box-office hit, but his disaster genre entry, 1975's "The Hindenburg" fared poorly.
When Gene Roddenberry was given the chance to bring his space-western to the big screen, he considered a long list of top film directors and picked Wise as his first choice. While "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" failed to meet critical acclaim, the 1979 film set the standard for subsequent treatments of the franchise.
Wise's last theatrical release was the 1989 film "Rooftops," and his last work was the 2000 made for TV movie "A Storm in Summer." The well-received film was based on a Rod Serling screenplay and starred Peter Falk.
For more about Robert Wise, an extensive interview can be found at the Institute of International Studies at UC Berkeley site. Crispin Garcia's extensive site devoted to "The Sand Pebbles" features Wise's views on the film. Also of interest is the interview Wise gave Bright Lights Film Journal, where he outlines his work with Orson Welles.