Wyler, William

Wyler, William

(born July 1, 1902, Mulhouse, France—died July 27, 1981, Beverly Hills, Calif., U.S.) French-born U.S. film director. After studies in France and Switzerland, he immigrated to New York in 1920. Working for Universal Pictures, he became a director of low-budget westerns, but he established a serious reputation with Counsellor-at-Law (1933) and went on to direct successes such as Dodsworth (1936), Wuthering Heights (1939), and The Little Foxes (1941). His films are noted for their clear narrative style and sensitive handling of human relationships. He won Academy Awards for Mrs. Miniver (1942) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and he later directed popular movies such as Roman Holiday (1953), Ben-Hur (1959, Academy Award), and Funny Girl (1968).

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Wyler, William (1902–81) director; born in Mulhouse, Germany (now France). Of Swiss parentage, he studied business in Switzerland, then the violin in Paris; there he met Carl Laemmle, head of Universal Pictures, who invited him to New York in 1922 to write publicity. Moving to Hollywood in 1923, he made his directorial debut in 1925 and went on to a long and distinguished career, climaxing with such Academy Award-winning films as Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Ben Hur (1959). During World War II he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and made two documentaries, Memphis Belle (1944) and Thunderball (1945). Noted for his total control—he was called "90-Take Wyler" because of his insistence on reshooting until he got each scene perfect—he was honored for the craftsmanship and high style of his pictures.

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Wyler, William 

Born July 1, 1902, in Mulhouse, in German Alsace. American film director.

Wyler studied at the Higher School of Commerce in Lausanne and at the Paris Conservatory. In 1921 he began working in Hollywood, where he directed his first films in the late 1920’s. From the mid-1930’s to early 1940’s, Wyler was one of the leading representatives of the trend toward social drama manifested in American cinema at that time. His films of the period, Dead End (1937, based on the play by S. Kingsley) and The Little Foxes (1941, based on the play by L. Hellman), as well as later ones, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, based on a novel by M. Kantor) and The Liberation of L. B. Jones (1970, based on the novel by J. H. Ford), are distinguished by their acute presentation of social problems. During World War II, Wyler saw action while serving in the US Army Air Force; he also made documentary war films.

A master filmmaker, Wyler combines strict classical form with tense inner drama, while making the actor the main spokesman of the author’s ideas. These traits are best seen in his finest films, Wuthering Heights (1939, based on the novel by E. Brontè) and Carrie (1952, based on T. Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie). Wyler’s talents are also evident in his amusing film comedies Roman Holiday (1953), How to Steal a Million (1966), and Funny Girl (1968).

REFERENCE

Kolodiazhnaia, V. Uil’iam Uailer. Moscow, 1975.

IA. A. BEREZNITSKII