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Richard C. Keenan - Films Of Robert Wise - 9780810858855 - V9780810858855
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Films Of Robert Wise

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Description for Films Of Robert Wise Paperback. Examines the nearly forty features that represent the Robert Wise's director's career. Starting from "Curse of the Cat People" in 1944 to "A Storm in Summer" in 2001, this book offers an appraisal of Wise's films so that the true quality of his work can be better appreciated. Num Pages: 240 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: APFB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 230 x 154 x 16. Weight in Grams: 399.
From his early days as a film editor at RKO studios, where he helped Orson Welles shape Citizen Kane, to his success as a director and producer of musical blockbusters of the 1960s, Robert Wise had a long and illustrious film career. Unlike contemporaries such as Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford or Howard Hawks, however, Wise's films lack any clearly discernible characteristics to signify his work. There are few striking camera angles or visual flourishes that might distract from the primary obligation to present the story. And like Hawks, Wise never specialized in one or two genres, but brought his directing skills to all manner of films. His work as a director resists auteur categorization, and that is a chief reason why some critics have been unduly negative in their consideration of his work. In The Films of Robert Wise, Richard Keenan examines the nearly forty features that represent the director's career—from Curse of the Cat People in 1944 to A Storm in Summer (2001), the only television production Wise ever directed. Keenan offers a reappraisal of Wise's films so that the true quality of his work can be better appreciated. Keenan argues that if there was a flaw in Robert Wise as a director, it was that he lacked the ego and temperament of the artist, which was not necessarily a flaw at all. Indeed, Wise was a conscientious craftsman who saw his work not primarily as a vehicle for his own ideas and visual style, but as an opportunity to present narrative that—quite simply—engages, informs, and entertains. It was this perspective that helped produce a number of memorable films over the years, including the gritty noir Born to Kill, the one-two punch of The Set-Up and Somebody Up There Likes Me, the sci-fi prophecy The Day the Earth Stood Still, and the gripping indictment of capital punishment, I Want to Live!—classics all. Wise also won a pair of Oscars for two of the most memorable—not to mention successful—musicals of all time: West Side Story and The Sound of Music. Drawing on more than 30 hours of interviews with Wise—as well as additional interviews with a number of his collaborators—Keenan offers a welcome reassessment of the director's work. In his analysis of each film, Keenan reveals both Wise the craftsman and the artist. In doing so, The Films of Robert Wise finally confers upon this underappreciated director the recognition he deserves.

Product Details

Format
Paperback
Publication date
2007
Publisher
Scarecrow Press United States
Number of pages
240
Condition
New
Number of Pages
240
Place of Publication
Lanham, MD, United States
ISBN
9780810858855
SKU
V9780810858855
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-15

About Richard C. Keenan
Richard Keenan is currently the chair of the department of English and Modern Languages at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.

Reviews for Films Of Robert Wise
The author is generally evenhanded in granting measured attention to each of Wise's films. We are lucky to have now a critical study of the films of Robert Wise, but even lucker that The Films of Robert Wise is so persuasive and thoughtful.
Peter Tonguette
Film International
Robert Wise (1914-2005) was an American film director and producer best known for such works as The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, and The Sand Pebbles. This book by Keenan (English and modern languages, U. of Maryland) is an appreciative discussion of the value and merit of Wise's filmic craftsmanship that discusses the 40 movies Wise produced or directed. It draws on many interviews with Wise, as well as first-hand observation of Wise's working methods on the set of Star Trek: the Movie. One of those interviews is include in an appendix, together with a bibliography and a filmography.
Reference and Research Book News, November 2007
This book was many years in the making, and involves over thirty hours of interviews and countless correspondence with Wise and others associated with these productions.
Film Quarterly

Goodreads reviews for Films Of Robert Wise