"American Masters" Directed by William Wyler (1986)

Director:

Aviva Slesin

TV Series:

"American Masters" (1983)

Original Air Date:

1 May 1986 (Season 2, Episode 2)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | History | Music | Romance

Plot:

A tribute to director William Wyler consisting of interviews and excerpts from his many classic films.

Plot Keywords:

Reference To Hamlet | Independent Film | Character Name In Title | Reenactment

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination

Cast

A. Scott Berg	...	Himself (narrator / interviewer)
Bette Davis	...	Herself
Samantha Eggar	...	Herself
Greer Garson	...	Herself
Lillian Hellman	...	Herself
Audrey Hepburn	...	Herself
Charlton Heston	...	Himself
John Huston	...	Himself
Laurence Olivier	...	Himself
Gregory Peck	...	Himself
Ralph Richardson	...	Himself
Terence Stamp	...	Himself
Barbra Streisand	...	Herself
Margaret Tallichet	...	Herself (as Talli Wyler)
Billy Wilder	...	Himself
William Wyler	...	Himself

Directed by
Aviva Slesin

Produced by
Catherine Tatge	....	producer
Catherine Wyler	....	producer

Cinematography by
Richard Leacock

Film Editing by
Aviva Slesin
Mark Weingarten

Production Companies

• Tatge Productions

Distributors

• Image Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Kino Video (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (USA) (VHS)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1987) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Tatge Productions

Trivia:

William Wyler died just three days after being interviewed for this documentary.

Quotes:

Billy Wilder:I'm no pushover. I laugh at Hamlet.

Movie Connections:

Features Counsellor at Law (1933)

Finally, one of Hollywood's greatest directors gets a tribute.

This documentary about the career of director/producer William Wyler, appropriately, begins with the music from one of his best films, "The Big Country". It consists of footage, many interviews with stars and footage taken of Wyler only days before his death.

The reason I loved seeing this film is that for a long time I have felt that Wyler was probably the greatest American director. Although John Ford won more Oscars and Hitchcock (yes, he was British--but his best films were made in America) today gets all the recognition, Wyler was somehow able to consistently make great films. He didn't have a particular style...other than GREAT. Here, his contemporaries such as Billy Wilder, John Huston, Bette Davis, Greer Garson and Wyler's wife are all interviewed and give insights into his personality and style.

I enjoyed this film a lot but it did have one problem. Because Wyler made so many great films, the movie went too fast and one hour was simply too little. Excellent otherwise.

By the way, of all the reminiscences in the documentary, probably the most boring and pointless was the one involving Ralph Richardson walking about his beard. A lovely actor and a lovely film...but a really dull thing to include in the documentary!