The 20 best of Robert Wise
The twenty best film efforts of Robert Wise.
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- DirectorRobert WiseStarsHarry BelafonteRobert RyanGloria GrahameIn need of quick money, a fallen former cop recruits a hard-bitten ex-con and a debt-ridden nightclub singer to pull off a bank job. But as the animosity between them boils over, the entire plan threatens to implode.Robert Wise frames this stylish, taunt noir with precision. He also shows a wonderful sense of pace, due to his time spent as an editor before becoming a director. The script is one of the best of the 1950's and the acting is also top-notch. Wise also served as producer and helped to steer it toward its darker direction.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie AndrewsChristopher PlummerEleanor ParkerA young novice is sent by her convent in 1930s Austria to become a governess to the seven children of a widowed naval officer.The pinnacle of Robert Wise's career. He won Best Director and Best Picture at the 1966 Oscars. Though not necessarily his best job, it was easily his most celebrated and remembered.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSusan HaywardSimon OaklandVirginia VincentA prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.Wise is nominated for his first Oscar and Golden Globe, though he lost to Vincente Minnelli in both.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJulie HarrisClaire BloomRichard JohnsonHill House has stood for about 90 years and appears haunted: its inhabitants have always met strange, tragic ends. Now Dr. John Markway has assembled a team of people who he thinks will prove whether or not the house is haunted.Wise directs this horror classic. He also was a producer for the film.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsClark GableBurt LancasterJack WardenA U.S. sub commander, obsessed with sinking a certain Japanese ship, butts heads with his first officer and crew.One of the best submarine movies ever. Wise highlights the claustrophobic feel of the film.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRobert MitchumBarbara Bel GeddesRobert PrestonUnemployed cowhand Jim Garry is hired by his dishonest friend Tate Riling as muscle in a dispute between homesteaders and cattleman John Lufton.Wise makes his first big feature, and handles the Western milieu very well. Mitchum is terrific as the moody, heavy-lidded rider. The fight scene between Mitchum and his rival, Robert Preston, is one of the greats, and apparently was Wise's idea. Wise wanted a realistic fight, where both combatants were exhausted afterwards.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRobert RyanAudrey TotterGeorge TobiasExpecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.Wise shows he is able to move from one genre to another. His previous film was the brooding Western, and here he dives into the noir genre. Wise was proving, while not one of the French-driven auteur mode, a capable and stylish director.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsPaul NewmanPier AngeliEverett SloaneBoxer Rocky Graziano's biopic, based on his autobiography, from childhood to his World Middleweight Championship title win at age 28 in 1947.Wise was nominated by the Directors Guild of America for best direction for this boxing picture.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSteve McQueenRichard AttenboroughRichard CrennaIn 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.Wise was now a full-blown Oscar chaser, filming bigger stories than he ever did before. This film is over three hours long, and suffers because of its length. As a former editor, Wise normally exhibited a great sense of pace, which this film lacked. Yet, still Wise delivers a beautiful film with a superb performance from McQueen. It was also produced by Wise and for his own production company.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJames OlsonArthur HillDavid WayneTop scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.After directing big musicals "Star!, "The Sound of Music", and "West Side Story", Wise goes back to his roots as a genre director with this science-fiction tale. Wise shows his knack for pacing and tension, and delivers a really good film. Wise was also a producer on the film.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsJoseph CottenLinda DarnellJeff ChandlerForced by circumstances,Confederate POWs and Union soldiers join forces against Indians but old animosities resurface during their fragile alliance.A solid entry in the serious-Western genre. Wise's direction is a cut above the usual, while the acting is up and down. The story is overly complicated, yet delivers wonderful scenes and Wise displays a fine eye for the outdoors.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsWilliam HoldenBarbara StanwyckJune AllysonWhen the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice presidents vie to see who will replace him.Wise directs his biggest film to date. With an amazing cast and a script by Ernest Lehman, Wise just had to stay out of the way. Still, the film is slightly underwhelming.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BasehartValentina CorteseWilliam LundiganConcentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder after she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.Wise directs for Twentieth Century Fox. Wise does a good job keeping the story taut, proving again that he was much better suited directing darker storylines, such as in "The Set-Up" and "Blood on the Moon", rather than stories such as "Three Secrets". Wise also worked as an uncredited writer on the story.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Robert Wise took an unbelievable leap, from editing minor RKO films and assisting on some great ones, to editing quite possibly the greatest film of all-time. Of course, this was Welles' film, and he most definitely was part of all editing decisions. Yet, Wise's contributions cannot be overlooked. No doubt his experience was a great help to the first time director.
- DirectorOrson WellesFred FleckRobert WiseStarsTim HoltJoseph CottenDolores CostelloThe spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.After the great success of "Citizen Kane", Wise stayed with Welles to edit the director's next masterpiece. Again, the film is a study in editing. However, Wise has been vilified as the man who was handed the movie, after Welles had left town to director a documentary. Wise reshot some scenes and cut others shorten the film. Overall, the movie is still a masterpiece.
- DirectorJerome RobbinsRobert WiseStarsNatalie WoodGeorge ChakirisRichard BeymerTwo youngsters from rival New York City gangs fall in love, but tensions between their respective friends build toward tragedy.Wise was brought as a veteran director to help choreographer Jerome Robbins, who was the nominal director. However, Robbins was not able to control himself when directing the dance sequences and was replaced. Wise also served as an uncredited producer.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiHenry DaniellA ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.Wise directs this cult classic featuring Karloff as the titled body snatcher.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsClaire TrevorLawrence TierneyWalter SlezakA calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with the hotheaded murderer romancing her foster sister.Wise directs this stylish noir film from RKO.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRobert MitchumShirley MacLaineEdmon RyanRobert Wise directs Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine in this spicy and poignant love story about a free-spirited Greenwich Village girl who hooks up with a brooding Nebraska lawyer. In HD.This unconvincing drama was directed and co-produced by Wise.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsRichard BurtonJames MasonRobert NewtonRichard Burton plays a Scottish Army officer put in charge of a disparate band of ANZAC troops on the perimeter of Tobruk with the German Army doing their best to dislodge them.A competent but forgettable war drama.
- DirectorH.C. PotterStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersEdna May OliverThe story of the dancing team who taught the world to two-step.