Wyler. He only has three films in the TSPDT top consensus 1000. I’ve got that many in the top 500 and a whopping 8 in the top 100 of their respective decade (which since I do not have a top 1000 yet is about as close as I can get to approximating). Wyler’s strength is his depth because I’ve never thought of including one of his films in my top 100 or even top 200 (in fact his first film does not show up until #436). So, it may seem odd that he’s on this list at #88 but there is a ton of depth here and Wyler is really married to mise-en-scene. He made a few early films with director of photography Gregg Toland (5 actually) who did famous deep focus work with Welles of course. Even after that his films like Detective Story have a wonderful deep focus and then of course Ben-Hur is known for the staging and framing of the entire film including the legendary chariot race scene (in which the editing is incredible) which is, of course, magnificently directed. Since the 1970’s his reputation has diminished. Many critics find his films overproduced, impersonal, and simple Hollywood prestige pictures (many, it seems like most, of his films were nominated for best picture, and a ton of his actors and actresses won or were nominated for Oscars). However, I feel like his 30+ year marriage to mise-en-scene is enough to give him more than caretaker status to a lot of great films—even if he’s not a style-plus director.
Best film: Detective Story. It is Kirk Douglas’ second best performance behind Paths of Glory (Douglas and Lancaster where like the Clooney and Pitt pair back in the two and somehow history seems to overlook these two exceptional actors) and the crisp black and white deep focus is really something to behold.
total archiveable films: 19
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 3 (Detective Story, Ben-Hur, The Best Years of Our Lives)
top 100 films of the decade: 8 (Dodsworth, Wuthering Heights, Jezebel, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Little Foxes, The Letter, Detective Story, Ben-Hur)
most overrated: At #206 on the TSPDT consensus list the choice, sadly, has to be The Best Years of Our Lives It’s probably best known now as the film that incorrectly beat out it’s a wonderful life for best picture. It’s an exceptional film but I have it at #442.
most underrated: I hate not to pick a new movie here but it has to be Detective Story. I have it at #436 and the TSPDT consensus doesn’t have it in the top 1000.
gem I want to spotlight: The Little Foxes. Starring Bette Davis and shot by Toland. Gorgeous black and white deep focus action is on display on many depth layers and the Aaron Sorkin-like biting dialogue is on fire while Davis does great work per usual in this era.
stylistic innovations/traits: Wyler is dedicated to an aesthetic: mise-en-scene. Wyler is married to it– and because it comes out in various ways (deep focus black and white with Toland, on his own with deep focus in late 40’s and early 50’s, Ultra Panavision 70mm with Ben-Hurt). I believe many may read this and incorrectly overpraise Toland for his part in the Wyler filmography. They only made 5 films together (Wyler has 19 in the archives overall) and Toland also worked on other films without great masters like Welles, Ford and (I’d argue) Wyler—they’re like The Bishop’s Wife- fine but not special. I’d argue there’s as much difference between Kane and The Little Foxes as there is from The Little Foxes and The Bishop’s Wife. So,I think it goes beyond being a product of Toland’s work as his DP or a collaboration of efforts in Ben-Hur. If you combine that stylistic visual consistency with the performances and the filmography I think you have a great Hollywood auteur worthy of examination, study and praise.
top 10
- Detective Story
- Ben-Hur
- The Best Years of Our Lives
- The Little Foxes
- The Letter
- Dodsworth
- Wuthering Heights
- Jezebel
- Roman Holiday
- Funny Girl
By year and grades
| 1936- Dodsworth | HR |
| 1936- These Three | HR |
| 1937- Dead End | R |
| 1938- Jezebel | R/HR |
| 1939- Wuthering Heights | HR |
| 1940- The Letter | HR |
| 1940- The Westerner | R |
| 1941- The Little Foxes | HR/MS |
| 1942- Mrs. Miniver | R |
| 1946- The Best Years of Our Lives | MS |
| 1949- The Heiress | |
| 1951- Detective Story | MS |
| 1953- Roman Holiday | HR |
| 1955- Desperate Hours | R |
| 1958- The Big Country | R |
| 1959- Ben-Hur | MS |
| 1965- The Collector | R |
| 1966- How to Steal a Million | R |
| 1968- Funny Girl | HR |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
The Best Years of Our Lives is absolutely a masterpiece and it’s unfortunate that it’s fallen out of favour. I also love The Little Foxes and The Letter.
I don’t think the best years of our lives is a masterpiece(it’s incredible though). I think having it as a MS makes more sense. Drake gets this one spot on.
@Leighton– well it has a very good reputation still. I think it’s ranked #209 on the TSPDT consensus right now.
Kind of disappointed to see Wyler so low on the list especially when I see Hawks at 29. I don’t see that much separating them and I would personally give slight edge to Wyler. Hawks has two best films among them in Rio Bravo and The Big Sleep but overall I would choose Wyler’s filmography over Hawks’. I would give edge to Wyler style wise too, even though neither of them has particularly unique style.
My ranking of Wyler is a little bit different though:
1. The Little Foxes
2. The Best Years of Our Lives
3. The Big Country
4. Wuthering Heights
5. The Heiress
6. Detective Story
7. Ben-Hur
8. Roman Holiday
9. Funny Girl
10. Jezebel
@Chief Keef. Thanks for sharing. I’m open to the idea that these two should be closer together than I have them here. You don’t think much of Bringing Up Baby apparently?
For what it’s worth the TSPDT list has Wyler outside the top 100 directors and Hawks at #21. But I tend to agree with you partly- they should be closer
Just to be clear, I don’t think Wyler should be 29 or higher, I think that Hawks is overrated so I would have both of them somewhere in the middle between 29 and 88. And yes, you guessed it right, I don’t think much of Bringing Up Baby.
I think TSPDT list is very good in general, but I often wonder is it a consensus list really? I would have a lot of questions about it, for example how do they combine a list from 1973 and a list from 2012? Or how do they combine a list of 1000 entries with a list of 400 entries? (I highly doubt every single list is top 1000)
This results in a lot more older films on the list simply because they were eligible on every ballot. Sheer number of movies since let’s say 1990s is not proportional to representation on the list. Also films that are established in top 100-200-300 can hardly drop because they will appear more frequently due to being on all top 300, top 700 and top 1000 lists unlike some film in 900-1000 range which can only appear on a top 1000 list.
I’m really struggling with Hawks having 13 films in top 1000 or Renoir having 11. That’s crazy to me and I feel like it’s a product of things I said above.
The more recent films are on the 21st century list. TSPDT takes a look at over 11,000 lists and even individual top 10s of directors and critics (like sight and sound does for example). There is a detailed analysis/explanation on their page of how they choose their movies. It is by far the best movie list there is.
@Chief Keef – I think there’s certainly some validity to your observations here. Bill at TSPDT does a great job overall though with what’s available and being transparent. But there some inherent issues. For everything in the last 30-40 years I look at where it’s ranked within its year for my “overrated” vs. “underrated” section. A film that is #4 for 1995 may be #17 for 1955 and I don’t think 1955 is just better than 1995 by that margin, etc (This is just an example).
I do think it’s the best available — and- as long as we know some of the inherent flaws and shortcomings you can still work with it. Also, I don’t have an issue with waiting on newer films (I put a 10 year wait list myself on the top 500 films).
This, of course, doesn’t have a real bearing on the ranking of Wyler and Hawks though. They were contemporaries. You have give me some nice food for though on Hawks. Even this year I’ve studied some other auteurs I think I will move past him when I re-rack this for the next update. Thank you.
It is not necessarilly just waiting for new films from last 10 years . There’s about 170 films from 1960s and about 140 films from 1950s compared to about 120 films from 1990s and about 90 films from 2000s. When we take into account number of films produced during that time all around the world, it is not proportional and I think it’s clearly because a list from 1970 can include a film from 1960 and can’t include a film from 1990, whereas a list from 2010 will have both. This clearly favors older films and I just think we should have that in mind. The list is still very good, if not the best out there. I think we are mostly on the same page, I like your reasoning for focusing on a ranking in a specific year.
I think Wyler is one of those directors – you watch many classic films that you’ve heard are good or worth checking out and then at some point you discover that half of them where directed by him, haha. I haven’t watched Detective Story yet, but I found the Best Years of Our Lives (great title, sadly associated with soap operas – it sounds soapy, if I’m honest) to be a wonderful film and when one considers it within its cultural landscape, it was pretty much the perfect movie at the perfect time. I tend to be a little more indifferent towards Ben Hur, but objectively it is a very technically impressive feat. What I find really interesting is the play on light and shadow in the Letter, you included one of the shots here and it’s crazy because there are several of them in the film. And here I was, thinking that the Maltese Falcon was completely original, but after watching the Letter (one year prior to Falcon), Cat People and a few more precursors, leading up to Double Indemnity (probably the definition of the genre), it feels as if the 1940’s were gradually getting even readier for noir films. The Little Foxes was really good, probably better than Jezebel because of the two depth shots that he does so often (the one with Davis’ husband crawling up the stairs is quite impressive – and intense). However, I must point out the fact that I really like the writing in Jezebel and the Heiress (which – I think it’s also better than Jezebel), simply because of the endings in those films. In Jezebel it offers us one of the greatest acting Bette Davis moments and in the Heiress – honestly, I’ve seen no other melodrama as spine chilling as the Heiress. Olivia de Havilland ascending those stairs marked, to me, her greatest achievement as an all time actress. The lighting and mise en scene by Wyler (he carefully places her at the centre of the frame) create an instantly classic, yet dark composition. Chilling.
@Georg- great add here to the Wyler page here Georg– haha agreed- the title does sound soapy now. this here ” (he carefully places her at the centre of the frame) create an instantly classic, yet dark composition. Chilling.” is really well said!
I’m slowly going through Wyler filmography, and I thought I would share my current impressions.
I’m going chronologically (I’ve seen Heiress during my Monty Clift phase) from the Hell’s Heroes (the earliest movie of his that I could find).
A small note, I’ve skipped a couple of movies where Wyler was not the sole director (like Come and Get It for example).
1. Jezebel – HR
2. Heiress – HR
3. Wuthering Heights – HR
4. Dead End – R
5. Dodsworth – R
6. Westerner – R
7. These Three – Fringe Recommendation (Decent, but I will not argue if it’s not in the archives)
8. Counsellor at Law – FR
9. Hell’s Heroes – FR
10. Good Fairy – FR
So far, I feel that Wyler is a steady hand who knows how to craft a compelling story. But I don’t feel that his movies share thematic concerns or some signature preoccupations ( for example, Billy Wilder cynical worldview or at least some glimpses of it, can be felt in all his movies).
But I’ve noticed that all these films (except those couple of westerns) are all very aware of class divide.
Cinematically – the man loved good camera movement it’s usually not long and subtle, but it’s almost in all of his films.
@Drake – Regarding the deep focus photography, I think he started actively using after his first collaboration with Toland in These Three. After that, it became part of his arsenal ( he used it to great effect in Dodsworth shoot by Rudolph Mate).
@Mad Mike – great work- he does have some shared signature visual preoccupations, right? This is great insight on the collaboration with Toland and it becoming part of his arsenal. Thanks for sharing.
Wyler ranking update:
1.The Best Years of our lives – MS
2. Little Foxes – MS
3. Jezebel – HR
4. The Letter – HR
5. Heiress – HR
6. Wuthering Heights – HR
7. Mrs. Minver – HR
8. Detective Story R/HR
9. Dead End – R
10. Dodsworth – R
11. Westerner – R
12. These Three – FR
13. Counsellor at Law – FR
14. Hell’s Heroes – FR
15. Good Fairy – FR
Final Wyler ranking:
1. The Best Years of our lives – MS
2. Little Foxes – MS
3. Jezebel – HR
4. The Letter – HR
5. Roman Holiday – HR
6. Hairess – HR
7. Carrie – HR
8. Big Country – HR
9. The Desperate Hours – HR
10. Ben-Hur – HR
11. Funny Girl -HR
12. Wuthering Heights – HR
13. How to Steal a Million – HR
14. Mrs. Minver – HR
15. Detective Story R/HR
16. The Collector – R/HR
17. Dead End – R
18. Dodsworth – R
19. Westerner – R
20. Friendly Persuasion – R
21. These Three – FR
22. Counsellor at Law – FR
23. Hell’s Heroes – FR
24. The Children’s Hour – FR
25. Good Fairy – FR
26. The Liberation of L.B. Jones – Not archived
Consistency is a name of the game here. Wyler was really solid craftsman who knew how to weave a compelling story. There ain’t any bad movies in a bunch (even The Liberation of L.B. Jones is fascinating in certain aspects) and a fair number of his movies are pretty damn good.
I’m not sure that you can call him an auteur. He has signature visual moves (tracking shots and deep focus photography) but I really don’t see much of a thematic connective tissue between his movies. But what I can say for certain is that his fine director. I cannot speak with good authority regarding his place in the list ( still haven’t seen a lot of filmographies here) but it feels about right.
@Mad Mike- Wow- I am very impressed. Thank you for putting this together. What a great addition to the page. Who is next for you?
@Drake – Thanks! Really appreciate your comment.
I’ve actually already finished Henri-Georges Clouzot filmography and almost done with Farhadi.
But due to work related issues haven’t had time to write about it.
Next I’m planing to tackle Jacques Demy and Jean-Pierre Melville. Maybe I will be able to start on Spike Lee but probably keep him till next year.
Are doing some study right now?
@Mad Mike– ugh “But due to work related issues haven’t had time to write about it”– this is me right now as well. That’s exciting about Clouzot, Farhadi and your upcoming slate. I’m doing Sam Raimi, Pedro Almodovar right now- not sure what is next. I want to do Bergman or maybe Kubrick– but also want to try something I’m less familar with like Rohmer, Mizoguchi, or Seijun Suzuki
Have you finished the study of Seijun Suziki? Just watched several films of him not long ago. Expect to read your reviews.
@Chiu- Just starting the study actually. I did Bergman (quite an undertaking)- and a few others (Reygadas) since this comment. Just finished Terence Davies and Satyajit Ray. Excited to start.
@Drake – Yeah, feel your pain.)
Oh, cool. I actually would be more interested in your opinions on Rohmer, Mizoguchi, and Seijun Suzuki because I’m a lot less familiar with them either.
So Spike movies that you added were just coincidence? I though maybe you were starting a study.)
@Mad Mike- well I had been wanting to revisit these three films (Crooklyn page coming soon) for so long I decided to combine them into a quick mini Spike Lee study.
@Drake – I see.
@Drake @Mad Mike – Seijun Suzucki😃😃😃
He is the Japanese version of Park Chan Wook
@James Trapp- I’m very intrigued. If not next, he’s coming up shortly!
What grade would you assign to The Heiress? Probably a HR?
@M*A*S*H- Yes, I left it blank because it has been so long – but if forced- that’s what I would have it as right now.
My ranking of Wyler`s films that I`ve seen:
1. The Best Years of Our Lives MP
2. Ben-Hur MS
3. The Big Country MS
4. Detective Story MS
5. The Little Foxes MS
6. The Letter HR/MS
7. Wuthering Heights HR/MS
8. Dodsworth HR
9. The Desperate Hours HR
10. The Heiress HR
11. Roman Holiday HR
12. Dead End HR
13. Funny Girl HR
14. Jezebel R/HR
15. The Westerner R
16. Mrs. Miniver R
17. Come and Get It R
10 Best Performances
1. March- The Best Years of Our Lives
2. Andrews- The Best Years of Our Lives
3. Huston- Dodsworth
4. Douglas- Detective Story
5. Davis- The Little Foxes
6. De Havilland- The Heiress
7. Hepburn- Roman Holiday
8. Davis- Jezebel
9. Heston- Ben-Hur
10. Davis- The Letter