Director Robert Wise-An Appreciation

The passing of legendary film director Robert Wise last week marks the end of Hollywood’s golden age. Virtually all of the great directors who made their mark before 1950 are now gone. A few veterans like Stanley Donen (On the Town) remain, but with the passing of Wise, Hollywood has lost a true giant of movie history. From his horror classic, The Body Snatchers (1945), to the dream team boardroom of Executive Suite (1954), to a graphic depiction of capital punishment in I Want To Live (1958), to a politically charged indictment of war in The Sand Pebbles (1966), Wise has traversed the cinematic landscape with stunning achievement and success. His was that rare combination of critical acclaim, award recognition, and box office triumph. For years, his 1965 musical, The Sound of Music, was one of the most successful films of all time.

I met Robert Wise at the University of Maryland in College Park when I was still involved in the film program at the student union some 25 years ago. A guy named Mike and I picked up Wise and his wife from the airport and drove them to a hotel room near the campus. He had white hair, glasses, and spoke with a soft tone. En route, I had a chance to talk to him about his movies, and he was very open to answering questions and discussing his stellar career. It was amusing how his wife kept asking us to drive her to Monticello during their stay because she wanted to take a side trip to visit that historic landmark. We never did go but she was persistent and stubborn. When we arrived at their hotel and got them settled, I asked for Wise’s autograph and he obliged. I felt like such a groupie but I had to ask.

I was a fan of his films growing up having been raised on staples like The Sound of Music and West Side Story. I didn’t realize that I had already seen many of his other films and was impressed by what a versatile director he was by delving into a wide array of film genres. For example, his science fiction films like The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain are now considered classics. It is astonishing how his career spanned a half century of film and that he had worked with some of the top talents in Hollywood whether it be Orson Welles on Citizen Kane (where Wise was a film editor), Val Lewton the king of B movie horror, Clark Gable in Run Silent Run Deep, George C Scott in The Hindenberg, or Steve McQueen in The Sand Pebbles. He won four Oscars as producer and director of West Side Story and The Sound of Music.

Whatever Wise did, he did well. Although he did not do any pure comedies, he had in all his films a gritty realism and authenticity which only served to enhance his subject matter. As a result, his films stand the test of time and seem relevant and watchable even today while other contemporaries seem very dated and phony. A good example of his attention to detail is the chase at the end of The Day the Earth Stood Still as the military read off actual street names in Washington D.C. Would anyone else have known the difference or even cared? Wise did, and his penchant for accuracy has paid handsomely over the years. I told him that I was thoroughly impressed by the meticulous sets in The Andromeda Strain, and he was flattered saying how he strove for great realism because it would enhance the credibility and believability of the movie. Watch the climactic countdown in the quarantine unit and see if any other film comes close to matching the intensity of suspense. The film holds up well to this day. He even told me how he was rushed to meet an impossible deadline for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and while the film was decent enough, it seemed bloated and overlong. Wise said that he did not have time to trim the film down to a good pace and running time. He has since been able to rectify that shortcoming with the recent DVD release of his director’s cut.

Wise spoke to a crowd of students and general public at the student union theater, and many of his films were shown that week. My friend Murray and I drove him to the airport to catch a flight back to the west coast. Its funny how every time I would see an interview of him since then, he seemed exactly the same way he had been on campus-a distinguished, classy veteran of film who loved to talk celluloid and was receptive to the students. I was fortunate to have known a great director and good guy.