A Talent For Trouble: The Life Of Hollywood's Most Acclaimed Director, William Wyler - Softcover

Herman, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 030680798X ISBN 13: 9780306807985

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 1997

Synopsis

The films of William Wyler (1902–1981) include some of the most memorable and honored motion pictures of all time; Jezebel, The Letter, The Little Foxes, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Heiress, Detective Story, Roman Holiday, Ben-Hur, Funny Girl, and more than two dozen others. His great ability to conceal his directorial presence in order to better serve his material, coupled with the variety of genres in which he excelled, have earned his films 127 Academy Award nominations, winning Wyler three best-director Oscars. Based on his previously undiscovered papers, and hundreds of interviews, this perceptive, spellbinding biography reveals both the director and the private man in startling close-ups as he lived his turbulent life at a bit more than twenty-four frames per second.

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Review:

William Wyler is not as well known as Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, or John Ford, but he deserves a place among the superstar directors of classic Hollywood. His style was magnificently fluid; while his films are masterpieces of cinematic artistry, they are also filled with beautiful elements that make his characters and situations utterly real. Among other classics, he directed "Dead End," "Wuthering Heights," "The Little Foxes," "Mrs. Miniver," "The Best Years of Our Lives," "The Heiress," "Roman Holiday," "Ben-Hur," and "Funny Girl." Jan Herman's biography is a lively account of Wyler's life and career that pays special attention to the director's early experiences in Europe, his relationship to the Hollywood mogul Carl Laemmle, his combative partnership with Samuel Goldwyn, his friendships with John Huston and Lillian Hellman, his marriage to Margaret Tallichet, his harrowing experiences making propaganda films during World War II, and his long, immensely successful professional career.

About the Author:

A resident of New York City, Jan Herman is an award-winning journalist and coauthor of Cut Up or Shut Up.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 030680798X
• ISBN 13: 9780306807985
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 544