William Wyler filmography

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William Wyler circa 1945 William Wyler portrait.jpg
William Wyler circa 1945

William Wyler was a Swiss-German-American director and producer.

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He is regarded as one of the most distinguished and versatile filmmakers for Classical Hollywood cinema, directing films during the silent era as well as the sound era, and in both black-and-white and technicolor film.

His most notable works include the war films Mrs. Miniver (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and the biblical epic Ben-Hur (1959), all three went on to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture. He's also known for directing the drama Dodsworth (1936) with Walter Huston, the drama Jezebel (1938) with Bette Davis, the romance Wuthering Heights (1939) starring Laurence Olivier, the period drama The Little Foxes (1941) starring Bette Davis, romance drama The Heiress (1949) starring Olivia de Havilland, the romantic comedy Roman Holiday (1953) starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, the western epic The Big Country (1958) starring Peck and Charlton Heston, the heist comedy How to Steal a Million (1966) starring Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, and the musical epic Funny Girl (1968) starring Barbra Streisand.

Filmography

Silent films

YearTitleStudioGenreNotes
1925 The Crook Buster Universal Western UMS*
1926 The Gunless Bad Man UniversalWesternUMS
1926 Ridin' for Love UniversalWesternUMS
1926 The Fire Barrier UniversalWesternUMS
1926 Don't Shoot UniversalWesternUMS
1926 The Pinnacle Rider UniversalWesternUMS
1926 Martin of the Mounted UniversalWesternUMS
1926 Lazy Lightning UniversalWesternUBSS**
1926 The Stolen Ranch UniversalWesternUBSS
1927 The Two Fister UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Kelcy Gets His Man UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Tenderfoot Courage UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Silent Partner UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Blazing Days UniversalWesternUBSS
1927 Straight Shootin' UniversalWesternUBSS
1927 Galloping Justice UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Haunted Homestead UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Hard Fists UniversalWesternUBSS
1927 The Lone Star UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Ore Raiders UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Home Trail UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Gun Justice UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Phantom Outlaw UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Square Shooter UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Horse Trader UniversalWesternUMS
1927 Daze of the West UniversalWesternUMS
1927 The Border Cavalier UniversalWesternUBSS
1927 Desert Dust UniversalWestern
1928 Thunder Riders UniversalWestern
1928 Anybody Here Seen Kelly? Universal Comedy
1929 The Shakedown Universal Drama Part-Talking film
1929 The Love Trap UniversalComedyPart-Talking film
* Universal's Mustang Series. Wyler made 21 two-reeler films for this series, all with a duration of 24 minutes.
** Universal's Blue Streak Series. Wyler made 6 five-reeler films for this series, all with a duration of an hour.

Sound films

YearTitleStudioGenreNotes
1929 Hell's Heroes UniversalWestern
1930 The Storm UniversalWestern
1931 A House Divided Universal
1932 Tom Brown of Culver Universal
1933 Her First Mate Universal
1933 Counsellor at Law Universal
1934 Glamour Universal
1935 The Good Fairy Universal
1935 The Gay Deception 20th Century-Fox
1936 These Three Samuel Goldwyn / United Artists
1936 Dodsworth Samuel Goldwyn / United Artists
1936 Come and Get It Samuel Goldwyn / United ArtistsWesternReplaced Howard Hawks after 42 days
1937 Dead End Samuel Goldwyn / United Artists
1938 Jezebel Warner Bros.
1939 Wuthering Heights Samuel Goldwyn / United Artists
1940 The Westerner Samuel Goldwyn / United ArtistsWestern
1940 The Letter Warner Bros.
First National
1941 The Little Foxes Samuel Goldwyn / RKO
1942 Mrs. Miniver MGM
1946 The Best Years of Our Lives Samuel Goldwyn Co. / RKO
1949 The Heiress Paramount
1951 Detective Story Paramount
1952 Carrie Paramount
1953 Roman Holiday Paramount
1955 The Desperate Hours Paramount
1956 Friendly Persuasion Allied Artists DeLuxe Color film
1958 The Big Country Anthony Productions / United ArtistsWesternTechnicolor film
1959 Ben-Hur MGMTechnicolor film
1961 The Children's Hour Mirisch / United Artists
1965 The Collector Columbia Technicolor film
1966 How to Steal a Million 20th Century-FoxTechnicolor film
1968 Funny Girl Columbia / RastarTechnicolor film
1970 The Liberation of L.B. Jones ColumbiaTechnicolor film

References: Turner Classic Movies and Internet Movie Database [1] [2]

Documentaries

YearTitleStudioNotes
1944 The Memphis Belle First Motion Picture Unit documentary
First Technicolor film
1947 Thunderbolt! United States Air Force co-directed with John Sturges
documentary / short film

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References

  1. "William Wyler - Filmography". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  2. "William Wyler - Director". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved June 26, 2021.