Introduction: Wild Bill Wellman -- The rebel -- The recruit -- The pilot -- The war hero -- The Hollywood ladder -- The directors' board -- Road to a classic -- Battlefield wings -- Consequences and achievements -- Pranks and misdemeanors -- I ain't so tough -- The neon violin -- Looking for trouble -- Passions and prizes -- The golden year -- The road to Ox-bow -- Picture patchwork -- Battleground sends a message -- Goodbye MGM, hello John Wayne -- The final straw -- The flame is flickering.
Summary:
The extraordinary life{u2014}the first{u2014}of the legendary, undercelebrated Hollywood director known in his day as "Wild Bill" (and he was!) Wellman, whose eighty-two movies (six of them uncredited), many of them iconic; many of them sharp, cold, brutal; others poetic, moving; all of them a lesson in close-up art, ranged from adventure and gangster pictures to comedies, aviation, romances, westerns, and searing social dramas. Now William Wellman, Jr., drawing on his father's unpublished letters, diaries, and unfinished memoir, gives us the first full portrait of the man{u2014}boy, flyer, husband, father, director, artist. Here is a portrait of a profoundly American spirit and visionary, a man's man who was able to put into cinematic storytelling the most subtle and fulsome of feeling, a man feared, respected, and loved.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.