Robert Wise, Oscar-winning producer and director for The Sound of Music and West Side Story, has died at age 91.
The musicals and Oscars aside, to me he’ll always be the director of The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Hindenburg, and the underrated Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Oh well, the hills still have eyes at least. Wes Craven in hanging in there.
There was also The Body Snatcher, and underrated little horror film.
Wise was noted for a lot more than that – he was an AD under Orson Welles. And he directed the underrated The Andromeda Strain, too, giving him three fairly impressive sf films.
Though he won two directing Oscars, his first nomination was for editing Citizen Kane, and his best work remains his lean B&W genre films: The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Set-Up, The Body Snatcher, Born to Kill, and the still remarkable Odds Against Tomorrow.
My god this man had a great career.
SF, musicals, horror, sports, war, editing, directing, producing.
Run Silent, Run Deep
Audrey Rose
The Day the Earth Stood Still
West Side Story
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Citizen Kane, editor
What a guy.
…But he was also the editor who followed RKO’s order to chop almost 50 minutes from The Magnificent Ambersons. :eek:
I’m glad that Wise lived long enough for him to record commentary tracks for most of his important films.
And The Haunting–best haunted house movie ever.
Well, if he hadn’t, somebody would’ve–and somebody who didn’t have any relationship with Welles or familiarity with his work.
Who knows? Now that he’s dead, they may dig up a few “mystery” reels at an estate sale…