Rocks that Move

If you check out most directors at IMDB.com, you will find a list of "trade marks" and other tendencies of that director. Hitchcock had his closeups of people's hair, mistaken identity themes, and odd camera angles. Scorsese has his psychopathic characters, long tracking shots, and his extensive use of white lighting. Spielberg has his World War II references, irresponsible fathers, and often uses the device of discovery in his plots. At IMDB, however, William Wyler has no trade marks listed. The thing that is amazing about the films of William Wyler is how diverse and dissimilar they are. Epic action films, simple romantic comedies, war films, westerns, societal commentaries, musicals, film noir... no genre was safe from the hands of William Wyler.

Ironically, Wyler has been criticized for this. His lack of an obvious style or a specific contribution to filmmaking is seen to be a problem, possibly because few people can remember what films he did as a result. It is easy to guess that an old suspense film may be a Hitchcock film or a movie about space aliens may have the hand of Spielberg upon it or a gangster film may be inspired by Martin Scorsese. What can you watch and guess was a Wyler film if you did not already know it was directed by him? His greatness is in his diversity of style and skill, and yet somehow the fact that you can't really nail down what a "Wyler film" should be is seen as a bad thing. I find this to be very strange. To me that is the glory of William Wyler: his diversity and variety. But there is one consistent theme...

America. America is William Wyler's big theme. I think the ultimate example is 1940's "The Westerner," Gary Cooper has been trying stay on the good side of the infamous Judge Roy Bean, played by one of my all-time favorite character actors, Walter Brennan. To do this, he has pretended that he personally knows Lily Langtry, a famous actor that Brennan is in obsessed with. Cooper even goes so far as to give Brennan a lock of her hair (of course, it is really not her hair), his most prized possession. This seals their friendship. Brennan's character stabs Cooper in the back, however, going back on his covenant to allow the homesteaders to live peacefully on their land. Meanwhile, Langtry has come to town to perform at the local theater. Brennan buys up all the tickets for the performance so it will only be him and Lily in the theater. He dresses up in his finest suit: his Confederate officer's uniform, complete with decorations and sword. He makes his men wait outside to guard his performance, and enters the theater. Brennan is alone. He chooses his seat carefully, front row, and sits. He looks uncomfortable. It is quiet. He squirms around a little, but is not satisfied. Then he moves the seat to the center aisle. Now he is happy. He waits. The music begins. The curtain rises. Lily Lantry is not there. It is Gary Cooper. The showdown begins. Good versus evil. North versus south. Rancher versus settler. This is the ultimate American view of the old west, as well as its role in the world at large. And who else is better to portray the American dream than Gary Cooper?

Wyler also takes a look at important issues in American society in many of his films. "Best Years of Our Lives" examines the many obstacles faced by American soldiers coming home from the war. It is one of America's relevant and most under appreciated films, dealing with an issue we face in our country this very day. "The Children's Hour," though one of Wyler's weaker films, deals with the issues of homosexuality and intolerance in our society, at a time when few directors would have dared to even address the issue at all. "Dodsworth" addresses how wealth can corrupt us and how difficult it is to balance American capitalism and success with American humility and virtue. "Friendly Persuasion" contends with conscientious objection in the face of war by Quakers, one of America's founding cultural groups. Should we fight or should we not fight? The question has been asked many times, and the answer always depends.

The "America" theme plays out in many of Wyler's films, even ones that take place abroad. Consider 1953's "Roman Holiday." It takes place in Rome, but who are the main characters? A princess, yes, but also an American journalist. Hepburn's foreign princess is sad and trapped by her royalist existence. Who can possible save her? The all-American Gregory Peck, of course. Peck is fun, adventurous, romantic, and in the end he is even honest and sophisticated. The princess goes back to her old life in the end, but it is with the sting of regret. Everyone in the audience wants Peck and Hepburn to be together, and surely Wyler did not do this by accident. America is the best, but we should humbly respect the decisions of those around us. "Mrs. Miniver," of course, examines World War II from the eyes of the Brits, but what is this film's purpose? It is to draw Americans into the war to fight tyranny and to protect their embattled brothers.

William Wyler's biggest blockbuster, of course, is "Ben-Hur." Perhaps it is dated and overdone, but who can ever forget the famous chariot race scene? It is perhaps the greatest action scene in film history. No computer effects here, baby! The horses were trained for months. Real stunt men risked their lived to create a remarkable scene of great excitement and suspense. It blows your mind, even today. Seems like a far cry from the United States, but American history and ideals drip from the film like hot wax. America has always been compared to classical Rome, whether or not it is an accurate comparison is debated, but the idea lives in our capital city and the speeches and writings of thousands of politicians, journalists, and professors for over two hundred years. And despite our diversity and separation of state and religion, there is no denying the impact of Christianity on our history and culture. It is easy to forget that this is indirectly one of the greatest examples from the Bible-drama genre of the 1950s and 60s. The genre of this film, as well as the imagery and action, are all-American, just like William Wyler.

William Wyler was born in Alsace in 1902 and did not move to the United States until 1920. Still, his legacy is that of an American director. Wyler's work reflects the diverse reality and ideals of this nation, good and bad, right and wrong. American films reflect America, in all its diverse modes and themes and representations. These films illustrate this fact in more ways than can be captured here. You will just have to watch the films. William Wyler does have a trade mark. There IS a Wyler mold, a Wyler type, a Wyler kind of theme that carries throughout all of his films. That theme is "America."

This post is a part of Goatdog.com's Blog-a-Thon on the film director, William Wyler. To see the other wonderful posts on this equally wonderful director, check out this link below... provided the damned thing works.

http://goatdog.com/blog/archives/the_william_wyler_blogathon.html