Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures
by Joe Jordan
Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures is a carefully researched, meticulously written labor of love for the titular director. Author Joe Jordan reviews all forty of Wise’s films, giving each film a chapter with a detailed synopsis, photos, passages of dialogue that best illustrate the tone, and an interview with someone who was involved in the production. Some of the interviews are fascinating, like Earl Holliman sharing Wise’s on-set behavior from Destination Gobi; some are with stuntmen or child actors who didn’t have much interaction with the director himself. Either way, everyone interviewed shares interesting trivia about working with their fellow actors and making the film itself.
Having seen over half of his films, I was probably the perfect audience to enjoy this book. I learned that he started out his career as a film editor, and when he turned his focus to directing, he included that knowledge for more efficient productions. Since he always kept his editor’s eye, he knew exactly which shots he wanted to cut together while sitting in his director’s chair. Anyone who remembers how he directed “Do-Re-Mi” in The Sound of Music can probably guess he started as an editor.
This is not a traditional dish-the-dirt film industry book, nor is it an actual biography. This is a thoughtful analysis of forty films, spanning from 1944-1989. If you’re not an old movie buff, you’re going to be completely lost as actors, composers, costume designers, and studio heads are rattled off as common place vernacular. I’ve seen more old movies than new ones, and I appreciated the inclusion of character actors like Walter Slezack and Elisha Cook Jr., and the credit given to James Edwards, a pioneer predating Sidney Poitier but remembered by few today.
While everyone is quick to praise an actor’s versatility, we often gloss over a director’s accomplishments and even forget which movies he’s helmed. Robert Wise directed musicals, quiet dramas, horror films, war films, science fictions, westerns, boxing pictures, and romantic comedies. Scan the list of his forty films, and if you recognize the titles but didn’t realize they belonged to him, pick up Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures to learn more.
Having seen over half of his films, I was probably the perfect audience to enjoy this book. I learned that he started out his career as a film editor, and when he turned his focus to directing, he included that knowledge for more efficient productions. Since he always kept his editor’s eye, he knew exactly which shots he wanted to cut together while sitting in his director’s chair. Anyone who remembers how he directed “Do-Re-Mi” in The Sound of Music can probably guess he started as an editor.
This is not a traditional dish-the-dirt film industry book, nor is it an actual biography. This is a thoughtful analysis of forty films, spanning from 1944-1989. If you’re not an old movie buff, you’re going to be completely lost as actors, composers, costume designers, and studio heads are rattled off as common place vernacular. I’ve seen more old movies than new ones, and I appreciated the inclusion of character actors like Walter Slezack and Elisha Cook Jr., and the credit given to James Edwards, a pioneer predating Sidney Poitier but remembered by few today.
While everyone is quick to praise an actor’s versatility, we often gloss over a director’s accomplishments and even forget which movies he’s helmed. Robert Wise directed musicals, quiet dramas, horror films, war films, science fictions, westerns, boxing pictures, and romantic comedies. Scan the list of his forty films, and if you recognize the titles but didn’t realize they belonged to him, pick up Robert Wise: The Motion Pictures to learn more.