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Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel
The extraordinary life—the first—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.
Among his iconic the pioneering World War I epic Wings (winner of the first Academy Award for best picture), Public Enemy (the toughest gangster picture of them all), Nothing Sacred, the original A Star Is Born, Beggars of Life, The Call of the Wild, The Ox-Bow Incident, Battleground, The High and the Might y...
David O. Selznick called him “one of the motion pictures’ greatest craftsmen.”
Robert Redford described him as “feisty, independent, self-taught, and self-made. He stood his ground and fought his battles for artistic integrity, never wavering, always clear in his film sense.”
Wellman directed Hollywood’s biggest stars for three decades, including Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, and Clint Eastwood. It was said he directed “like a general trying to break out of a beachhead.” He made pictures with such noted producers as Darryl F. Zanuck, Nunnally Johnson, Jesse Lasky, and David O. Selznick.
Here is a revealing, boisterous portrait of the handsome, tough-talking, hard-drinking, uncompromising maverick (he called himself a “crazy bastard”)—juvenile delinquent; professional ice-hockey player as a kid; World War I flying ace at twenty-one in the Lafayette Flying Corps (the Lafayette Escadrille), crashing more than six planes (“We only had four instruments, none of which worked. And no parachutes . . . Greatest goddamn acrobatics you ever saw in your life”)—whose own life story was more adventurous and more unpredictable than anything in the movies. Wellman was a wing-walking stunt pilot in barnstorming air shows, recipient of the Croix de Guerre with two Gold Palm Leaves and five United States citations; a bad actor but good studio messenger at Goldwyn Pictures who worked his way up from assistant cutter; married to five women, among them Marjorie Crawford, aviatrix and polo player; silent picture star Helene Chadwick; and Dorothy Coonan, Busby Berkeley dancer, actress, and mother of his seven children.
Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of Louis B. Mayer, called Wellman “a terror, a shoot-up-the-town fellow, trying to be a great big masculine I-don’t-know-what. David had a real weakness for him. I didn’t share it.” Yet she believed enough in Wellman’s vision and cowritten script about Hollywood to persuade her husband to produce A Star Is Born , which Wellman directed.
After he took over directing Tarzan Escapes at MGM, Wellman went to Louis B. Mayer and asked to make another Tarzan picture on his own.
“What are you talking about? It’s beneath your dignity,” said Mayer.
“To hell with that,” said Wellman, “I haven’t got any dignity.”
Now William Wellman, Jr., drawing on his father’s unpublished letters, diaries, and unfinished memoir, gives us the first full portrait of the man—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.
Among his iconic the pioneering World War I epic Wings (winner of the first Academy Award for best picture), Public Enemy (the toughest gangster picture of them all), Nothing Sacred, the original A Star Is Born, Beggars of Life, The Call of the Wild, The Ox-Bow Incident, Battleground, The High and the Might y...
David O. Selznick called him “one of the motion pictures’ greatest craftsmen.”
Robert Redford described him as “feisty, independent, self-taught, and self-made. He stood his ground and fought his battles for artistic integrity, never wavering, always clear in his film sense.”
Wellman directed Hollywood’s biggest stars for three decades, including Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, and Clint Eastwood. It was said he directed “like a general trying to break out of a beachhead.” He made pictures with such noted producers as Darryl F. Zanuck, Nunnally Johnson, Jesse Lasky, and David O. Selznick.
Here is a revealing, boisterous portrait of the handsome, tough-talking, hard-drinking, uncompromising maverick (he called himself a “crazy bastard”)—juvenile delinquent; professional ice-hockey player as a kid; World War I flying ace at twenty-one in the Lafayette Flying Corps (the Lafayette Escadrille), crashing more than six planes (“We only had four instruments, none of which worked. And no parachutes . . . Greatest goddamn acrobatics you ever saw in your life”)—whose own life story was more adventurous and more unpredictable than anything in the movies. Wellman was a wing-walking stunt pilot in barnstorming air shows, recipient of the Croix de Guerre with two Gold Palm Leaves and five United States citations; a bad actor but good studio messenger at Goldwyn Pictures who worked his way up from assistant cutter; married to five women, among them Marjorie Crawford, aviatrix and polo player; silent picture star Helene Chadwick; and Dorothy Coonan, Busby Berkeley dancer, actress, and mother of his seven children.
Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of Louis B. Mayer, called Wellman “a terror, a shoot-up-the-town fellow, trying to be a great big masculine I-don’t-know-what. David had a real weakness for him. I didn’t share it.” Yet she believed enough in Wellman’s vision and cowritten script about Hollywood to persuade her husband to produce A Star Is Born , which Wellman directed.
After he took over directing Tarzan Escapes at MGM, Wellman went to Louis B. Mayer and asked to make another Tarzan picture on his own.
“What are you talking about? It’s beneath your dignity,” said Mayer.
“To hell with that,” said Wellman, “I haven’t got any dignity.”
Now William Wellman, Jr., drawing on his father’s unpublished letters, diaries, and unfinished memoir, gives us the first full portrait of the man—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.
656 pages, Hardcover
First published March 10, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 3, 2015
Ever since first seeing The Public Enemy, I've been a fairly obsessive fan of director William A Wellman's films. (I've seen 53 and counting.) So I was excited to hear that a biography of him was coming out. The book is beautifully produced and full of lovely photos, making it a pleasure to own.
However, I found it a somewhat disappointing read in some aspects. It has the opposite problem to some other bios of film greats I've read, where you get the feeling that the author doesn't really like his/her subject. Here, the biographer is Wellman's son, Bill Junior, so he is very close to his subject and tends not to include much criticism of his beloved dad. To be fair, one big advantage is that Wellman Jr was often with his dad on set, even starring in some of his films, so he is able to tell many stories first-hand.
Much of the time, Wellman's life is seen uncritically, from his own viewpoint. That works well during the early section about his service in France during the First World War, as a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps, where large chunks of his letters home are quoted and his personality comes across vividly - though it's hard to believe "Wild Bill" was ever quite as good and teetotal as he claimed to his mother.
Later on, though, the book relies heavily on Wellman's memoirs written in later life, or the tales he told his family, and I suspect there might be quite a few tall stories thrown in. Some episodes sound uncannily like the kind of thing that happens in his films - for instance, the whole tale about the young director being broke, taking a job as a "grocer's boy" and stealing tins from his employer to feed his dog!
Some important aspects of his life, such as the break-ups of three marriages, are passed over too quickly. By contrast, a lot of space is spent on long digressions, such as potted biographies of well-known actors who most readers of a book like this will probably know about already. I'd rather find out more about those actors' relationships with Wellman.
There are some very interesting accounts of filming on location and casting for some of Wellman's movies, such as the Western Across the Wide Missouri where the whole family travelled with him. However, it would have been nice to have a bit more focus on how some of the greatest films were made, and fewer anecdotes about Wellman threatening to punch people. Also, the author includes the whole plot of most of the films discussed, so with any you haven't seen it's a good idea to watch out for spoilers.
However, I found it a somewhat disappointing read in some aspects. It has the opposite problem to some other bios of film greats I've read, where you get the feeling that the author doesn't really like his/her subject. Here, the biographer is Wellman's son, Bill Junior, so he is very close to his subject and tends not to include much criticism of his beloved dad. To be fair, one big advantage is that Wellman Jr was often with his dad on set, even starring in some of his films, so he is able to tell many stories first-hand.
Much of the time, Wellman's life is seen uncritically, from his own viewpoint. That works well during the early section about his service in France during the First World War, as a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps, where large chunks of his letters home are quoted and his personality comes across vividly - though it's hard to believe "Wild Bill" was ever quite as good and teetotal as he claimed to his mother.
Later on, though, the book relies heavily on Wellman's memoirs written in later life, or the tales he told his family, and I suspect there might be quite a few tall stories thrown in. Some episodes sound uncannily like the kind of thing that happens in his films - for instance, the whole tale about the young director being broke, taking a job as a "grocer's boy" and stealing tins from his employer to feed his dog!
Some important aspects of his life, such as the break-ups of three marriages, are passed over too quickly. By contrast, a lot of space is spent on long digressions, such as potted biographies of well-known actors who most readers of a book like this will probably know about already. I'd rather find out more about those actors' relationships with Wellman.
There are some very interesting accounts of filming on location and casting for some of Wellman's movies, such as the Western Across the Wide Missouri where the whole family travelled with him. However, it would have been nice to have a bit more focus on how some of the greatest films were made, and fewer anecdotes about Wellman threatening to punch people. Also, the author includes the whole plot of most of the films discussed, so with any you haven't seen it's a good idea to watch out for spoilers.
February 15, 2015
If you want an unbiased account of William Wellman's career, you'll have to look elsewhere. Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel is Wellman's son's tribute to his father. Wellman Jr. used his father's reminiscences, his letters and diaries, and published autobiography and an unpublished sequel. Wellman Jr. also interviewed many of the actors and crews that Wellman worked with over his forty year Hollywood career.
Despite the admiring tone throughout, it is a pretty good story. Young street tough joins the Foreign Legion to become a pilot during World War I, has adventures, sustains injuries, marries a French woman and loses her months later to a German bomb, returns home to unemployment. But having met actor Douglas Fairbanks before the war when Fairbanks was playing a local Boston theater, Wellman takes him up on his offer to look him up if he ever comes to Hollywood. Fairbanks gets Wellman a couple of acting jobs, but Wellman gets bored and wangles an assistant director job.
It's almost unbelievable, but it was early days in Hollywood and that sort of thing happened. Wellman slogged away making westerns and comedies, then when the World War I movie Wings was being planned, Wellman's name came up. There was skepticism because this was going to be a major production, not a double feature filler. Wellman's war experience was the clincher though, and he pulled it off and Wings was awarded the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1927. Beau Geste, The Ox-Bow Incident, and dozens of others followed.
The bulk of the 500 page book is Wellman's film career which consisted of at least as many fist fights as movies. Wellman had a temper and lost a lot of jobs due to his tendency to talk tough and follow up with fists. Wellman Jr. writes of these frequent fights without judgment, often with a hint of admiration. As for Wellman's second, third, and fourth wives, they get short shrift in the book, with Wellman's pet dogs getting more ink than the women, or "dames" as Wellman would have said.
Fun look at early Hollywood, including the transition from silent to talkies as well as lots of tales of Hollywood hijinx.
Despite the admiring tone throughout, it is a pretty good story. Young street tough joins the Foreign Legion to become a pilot during World War I, has adventures, sustains injuries, marries a French woman and loses her months later to a German bomb, returns home to unemployment. But having met actor Douglas Fairbanks before the war when Fairbanks was playing a local Boston theater, Wellman takes him up on his offer to look him up if he ever comes to Hollywood. Fairbanks gets Wellman a couple of acting jobs, but Wellman gets bored and wangles an assistant director job.
It's almost unbelievable, but it was early days in Hollywood and that sort of thing happened. Wellman slogged away making westerns and comedies, then when the World War I movie Wings was being planned, Wellman's name came up. There was skepticism because this was going to be a major production, not a double feature filler. Wellman's war experience was the clincher though, and he pulled it off and Wings was awarded the first Academy Award for Best Picture in 1927. Beau Geste, The Ox-Bow Incident, and dozens of others followed.
The bulk of the 500 page book is Wellman's film career which consisted of at least as many fist fights as movies. Wellman had a temper and lost a lot of jobs due to his tendency to talk tough and follow up with fists. Wellman Jr. writes of these frequent fights without judgment, often with a hint of admiration. As for Wellman's second, third, and fourth wives, they get short shrift in the book, with Wellman's pet dogs getting more ink than the women, or "dames" as Wellman would have said.
Fun look at early Hollywood, including the transition from silent to talkies as well as lots of tales of Hollywood hijinx.
August 23, 2020
One of the most versatile directors Hollywood ever produced.
You wouldn't have gotten that impression had you limited your viewing of his action films to Wings, Beau Geste, Across the Wide Missouri, The Story of G.I. Joe and Public Enemy.
But he also directed:
A Star is Born - Nothing Sacred - Night Nurse - Roxie Hart - Midnight Mary - Stingaree &
The Light that Failed
Surprised?
What I really appreciate about his films is that he really seemed to like women. The female characters in most of his films are strong, well-drawn, and likeable.
His versatility as a director and lack of misogyny were both emphasized in his son's book.
You wouldn't have gotten that impression had you limited your viewing of his action films to Wings, Beau Geste, Across the Wide Missouri, The Story of G.I. Joe and Public Enemy.
But he also directed:
A Star is Born - Nothing Sacred - Night Nurse - Roxie Hart - Midnight Mary - Stingaree &
The Light that Failed
Surprised?
What I really appreciate about his films is that he really seemed to like women. The female characters in most of his films are strong, well-drawn, and likeable.
His versatility as a director and lack of misogyny were both emphasized in his son's book.
June 7, 2015
If anyone doesn't know who Wild Bill Wellman does, I can only tell them: You should. He was Hollywood's original maverick director, who refused to bow not only to producers of his films, but to the studios themselves. He did things his way, and he did them with passion, determination, vision, integrity, honesty, independence, style; and, if I chose to continue on, I could probably come up with a few more words to describe Bill Wellman.
To tell the truth, I fell in love with his movies the first time I saw Night Nurse with Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, and a very un-mustachioed Clark Gable as the heavy of the piece. It was, in my opinion, a great movie, and made me want to learn more about the man behind the camera.
And learn I did. This is a hefty book (656 pages) but well worth the read. We learn about Bill's parents, his birth, his abiding love for his mother Celia, his rampant and uncontrollable childhood and youth (through no fault of his mother's, I might add), his determination to become a flyer, even as it took him to Europe and becoming a part of the elite Lafayette Escadrille. Highly decorated, jaded in war, devastated in love, Bill returned home tired - but never broken. He was determined to make something of himself, and that something brought him to a fateful meeting with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. that would change his life forever.
Once in Hollywood he turned his talents to acting, but decided early on that he wanted to become a director. Given a chance to show what he could do, he gave us one of the most famous films in moviedom, and the recipient of the first Academy Award for Best Picture: Wings.
While his troubles in Hollywood with the studio heads - and actors - continued for years, Bill stayed true to himself and created a wealth of movies that will stand the test of time. They are some of the best classics around: The aforementioned Night Nurse, Safe in Hell, Midnight Mary, Nothing Sacred, The Light That Failed, Beau Geste; and along with Wings, two masterpieces without a doubt: A Star is Born, and The Public Enemy with James Cagney, who, by the way, was given the role of a lifetime by Bill Wellman himself.
But please know that this book is not merely a filmology of Mr. Wellman's work. It is also the story of his life: Five marriages, seven children, his relationship with them and his family; his relationships with actors, crew, and the studios he worked for.
I could probably go on and on about all the wonderful things regarding this book, but I would rather leave you with the request to read it yourself, and a quote from Miss Barbara Stanwyck herself, who once told someone something regarding Bill: "I love that man." Well, Miss Stanwyck, so do I. Highly recommended.
I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review but this in no way influenced my decision.
To tell the truth, I fell in love with his movies the first time I saw Night Nurse with Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, and a very un-mustachioed Clark Gable as the heavy of the piece. It was, in my opinion, a great movie, and made me want to learn more about the man behind the camera.
And learn I did. This is a hefty book (656 pages) but well worth the read. We learn about Bill's parents, his birth, his abiding love for his mother Celia, his rampant and uncontrollable childhood and youth (through no fault of his mother's, I might add), his determination to become a flyer, even as it took him to Europe and becoming a part of the elite Lafayette Escadrille. Highly decorated, jaded in war, devastated in love, Bill returned home tired - but never broken. He was determined to make something of himself, and that something brought him to a fateful meeting with Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. that would change his life forever.
Once in Hollywood he turned his talents to acting, but decided early on that he wanted to become a director. Given a chance to show what he could do, he gave us one of the most famous films in moviedom, and the recipient of the first Academy Award for Best Picture: Wings.
While his troubles in Hollywood with the studio heads - and actors - continued for years, Bill stayed true to himself and created a wealth of movies that will stand the test of time. They are some of the best classics around: The aforementioned Night Nurse, Safe in Hell, Midnight Mary, Nothing Sacred, The Light That Failed, Beau Geste; and along with Wings, two masterpieces without a doubt: A Star is Born, and The Public Enemy with James Cagney, who, by the way, was given the role of a lifetime by Bill Wellman himself.
But please know that this book is not merely a filmology of Mr. Wellman's work. It is also the story of his life: Five marriages, seven children, his relationship with them and his family; his relationships with actors, crew, and the studios he worked for.
I could probably go on and on about all the wonderful things regarding this book, but I would rather leave you with the request to read it yourself, and a quote from Miss Barbara Stanwyck herself, who once told someone something regarding Bill: "I love that man." Well, Miss Stanwyck, so do I. Highly recommended.
I was given a copy in exchange for an honest review but this in no way influenced my decision.
August 3, 2015
Finished the bio, today, and enjoyed it very much. I realize there is a tint towards Wellman in the book, seeing as Jr. wrote it, but I still found it to be balanced, overall.
Before reading, I had seen 9 of Wellman's 83 features, and at this point I am up to 12 watched, as I also re-watched a couple I had already viewed, with another dozen or so in the pipeline. I didn't realize I had so many of his films.
Wellman is a fascinating individual and a good director. His legacy deserves to be remembered.
Saddest part of the book, concerning Wellman's childhood dog, Taffy, and Wellman's return from WWI (in his own words):
Taffy was there just waiting. My Dad had to go to the office, so Mother and I took the elevator up to the floor we were living on. Mother unlocked the door and pushed me gently into the living room. There, sound asleep before the fire, lay my dog. His head wasn't black, it was black and white. I called softly to him, "Taffy". He didn't hear, he was partially deaf. I called again louder, "Taffy!" This he heard, snapped his old head up, saw me, struggled to his feet and we both started running to each other.
Taffy tried to jump, he made it about six inches off the floor, with the heavy brace (that Wellman was wearing, due to a war injury) I tried to catch him, and some way or another he landed in my arms, with his bleary old eyes searching - for one fleeting moment he seemed to bring them into focus and he got a clear view of me, he licked my face, closed his eyes and with a long, wavering, satisfied sigh, Taffy said good-bye.
If that doesn't break your heart, I don't want to know.
Second saddest part concerns his first wife, Renee. But, I'll let you read that for yourselves.
Highly recommended.
Before reading, I had seen 9 of Wellman's 83 features, and at this point I am up to 12 watched, as I also re-watched a couple I had already viewed, with another dozen or so in the pipeline. I didn't realize I had so many of his films.
Wellman is a fascinating individual and a good director. His legacy deserves to be remembered.
Saddest part of the book, concerning Wellman's childhood dog, Taffy, and Wellman's return from WWI (in his own words):
Taffy was there just waiting. My Dad had to go to the office, so Mother and I took the elevator up to the floor we were living on. Mother unlocked the door and pushed me gently into the living room. There, sound asleep before the fire, lay my dog. His head wasn't black, it was black and white. I called softly to him, "Taffy". He didn't hear, he was partially deaf. I called again louder, "Taffy!" This he heard, snapped his old head up, saw me, struggled to his feet and we both started running to each other.
Taffy tried to jump, he made it about six inches off the floor, with the heavy brace (that Wellman was wearing, due to a war injury) I tried to catch him, and some way or another he landed in my arms, with his bleary old eyes searching - for one fleeting moment he seemed to bring them into focus and he got a clear view of me, he licked my face, closed his eyes and with a long, wavering, satisfied sigh, Taffy said good-bye.
If that doesn't break your heart, I don't want to know.
Second saddest part concerns his first wife, Renee. But, I'll let you read that for yourselves.
Highly recommended.
Read
July 7, 2016I met Bill Wellman Jr. at the SLO film festival. He was introducing two of his father’s movies (‘Public Enemy’ and ‘Westward the Women’’) that were screening at the festival and I was assigned to be his concierge, someone who helps the ‘talent’ navigate their way in SLO and at the festival. Bill was also selling his book, a history of his father’s life – from birth to death. Wild Bill was a prolific Hollywood director from the 20’s till the 60’s. His movie, ‘Wing’s’, a silent film about pilots in WWI, won the first Academy Award for best picture. His other famous films were ‘A Star is Born’ (the original one in 1937), ‘Beau Geste’ (1939), ‘The Ox-Bow Incident’ (1943) and ‘Buffalo Bill’ (1944). This book highlights the large and varied life that Mr. Wellman led. It is filled with the characters of old films – both silent and ‘talkies’. While Wild Bill’s life is fascinating, he is not a particularly likable character. I was really put-off by how much he fought his way through life. While I realize it was a different era – every opposition was literally met with fist-to-cuffs. The man never learned how to finesse a situation. It also came across as a bit disingenuous that he was married 5 times – but was a real ‘family man’. He did seem to settle down once meeting his last wife (with whom he had his many children) and his first wife died tragically in WWI. The other 3 came across as diversions. The personal connection made this book interesting for me to read, but I would only recommend it if you are a real movie buff of the 1930’s and 40’s.
January 22, 2019
This honest portrait is written by Wellman's oldest son--born to him at the age of 41 and already on his fifth wife. Wellman Jr. is able to write effectively as a detached third party. The book is full of anecdotes detailing Wild Bill's life and career, including Douglas Fairbanks giving him his start as an actor, Will Rogers elevating him to a property man after Wellman had been fired as an actor, Gen. Pershing influencing Samuel Goldwyn to promote Wellman to assistant director, and Harry Cohn hiring Wellman after he had been blackballed elsewhere. Because of his World War I flying experience, Wellman got to direct "Wings," which won the first Best Picture Academy Award more than 90 years ago. Wellman's influence is still being felt. He penned the script for the oft-remade "A Star is Born," up for multiple honors at the 2019 Oscars. The book also is a good overview of Hollywood, from the silent era through the 1950s. Wellman hacked many in the movie industry off because of his pugnacious manner, yet he kept getting hired because of his genre versatility and ability to get a movie done on time and under budget. Wellman Jr. doesn't try to hide his father's flaws: his short temper, his unwillingness to compromise, his holding grudges. Ultimately, though, this is a book affectionately admiring Wild Bill for his filmmaking skills. It could have used a fact checker. There are references to Wild Bill conversing with Walt Disney and Ward Bond in time frames after they had died.
June 27, 2017
An exhaustive, all encompassing biography of the filmmaker by his son, this book is a welcome addition to the bookshelves of those, like myself, who are fascinated by Old Hollywood and the people who made the movies. Wellman was a major force in Hollywood who has , for some reason, not achieved the reputation and status of his contemporaries, such as Ford, Capra, Fleming, and Stevens. This book goes a long way toward correcting that.
The book does have its shortcomings - Wellman, jr. is not an elegant writer, and the book has some construction problems and awkward phrasings. It is not ( nor does it present itself as ) , a critical biography or study of the man and his films. The author obviously adored his father, and, while making every effort to present a complete, "warts and all" picture of his life and career, does allow some of this hero-worship to intrude. This is a minor caveat; the book is a thorough, honest ( if loving) picture of a true Hollywood original. The chapters on Wellman's WWI experiences and the making of "Wings" are particularly good, and the chapter about the family going on location with Wellman to make "Across the Wide Missouri " is absolutely wonderful.
The book does have its shortcomings - Wellman, jr. is not an elegant writer, and the book has some construction problems and awkward phrasings. It is not ( nor does it present itself as ) , a critical biography or study of the man and his films. The author obviously adored his father, and, while making every effort to present a complete, "warts and all" picture of his life and career, does allow some of this hero-worship to intrude. This is a minor caveat; the book is a thorough, honest ( if loving) picture of a true Hollywood original. The chapters on Wellman's WWI experiences and the making of "Wings" are particularly good, and the chapter about the family going on location with Wellman to make "Across the Wide Missouri " is absolutely wonderful.
July 31, 2015
Film director Wellman lived an all-encompassing life that spanned much of the 20th century, and Wellman, Jr.'s book respectfully honors him without glossing over his more difficult traits, although "Wild Bill" ended up a devoted father and family man after finally meeting the love of his life, Dorothy Coonan. Although I was familiar with many of his films, I appreciated that the book also explored his daring and bravery as a decorated WWI pilot. Well-written and edited, and surprisingly moving, particularly at the end of the book when Bill, Jr. describes how his father courageously and unflinchingly faced his cancer diagnosis.
June 10, 2019
Here's a tip. Don't read a bio written by a son/daughter of the subject. Oh, this is informative in many ways, especially in the telling of the making of the 1st Oscar winning Best Picture WINGS. But the book loves painting an extremely glowing picture of Wellman, including humorously referring to his habit of getting angry A LOT, attacking people, ego tantrums, and punching women. Author Bill Wellman Jr, also, does this really confusing thing of referring to himself in the third person and then the first person. It's long, very one sided and goes off into tangents telling you the background and history of actors in Wellman's films. Too diverting and not in a good way.
January 4, 2017
I did not finish this. Even when I skipped the very detailed description of the childhood I still couldn't get into the style. Which is a great shame as William Wellman made great films and deserves a better biography. It has been suggested elsewhere - and I have to concurr - that the author, Wellman's son, was to close to the book's subject
April 9, 2024
Are you looking for a rollicking, engaging, and levelheaded entry into the life of one the key purveyors of 20th century moviemaking? Seek no further than the tale of William A. Wellman. The director of classics such as "Wings", "A Star is Born", "Nothing Sacred", "The Ox-Bow Incident", "The High and the Mighty" and many others. Now, after having read several filmmaker profiles, you begin to notice a kind of repetition. You feel like you've seen them all before. It's on the shoulders of the author to portray their subject in all the exuberance, life, passion and exciting shades that have made it stand out for them. "Wild Bill Wellman" is thoroughly researched, ripe with exciting and delightful anecdotes, highlighting episodes, and production histories, as well as personal accounts and remembrances.
Previous readers have taken issue with the biased writing. Yes, the biographer is the filmmaker's son, so no doubt the writing is a colored impression of the subject, but all of the subject's personality, irredeemable or amusing, are presented lovingly, soberly and with heart and soul. My strongest criticisms are around the creative process of each film and the author's analysis of the filmmaker's work, on a film-by-film basis. It's certainly possible to simply say less, as result of less documentation on the filmmaker's methodology, or preparation and execution of the filmmaker's "filmmaking" wasn't of interest to the filmmaker to relate or even consider, and thus one can only speculate so much. And with respect to the the ouvre's analysis, this is something one would expect of a critical work of this nature. I was just really wanting more there.
The narrative is comprehensive, with ample background and family history, and highlights many filmmaker hallmarks. Overall an entertaining, approachable read, and made for an apt foray into an actual study of the director's body of work. Recommended, especially for those interested in a subject whose career spans silent, early talkies, Golden Age of Hollywood and filmmaking at the advent of television. Very enjoyable.
Previous readers have taken issue with the biased writing. Yes, the biographer is the filmmaker's son, so no doubt the writing is a colored impression of the subject, but all of the subject's personality, irredeemable or amusing, are presented lovingly, soberly and with heart and soul. My strongest criticisms are around the creative process of each film and the author's analysis of the filmmaker's work, on a film-by-film basis. It's certainly possible to simply say less, as result of less documentation on the filmmaker's methodology, or preparation and execution of the filmmaker's "filmmaking" wasn't of interest to the filmmaker to relate or even consider, and thus one can only speculate so much. And with respect to the the ouvre's analysis, this is something one would expect of a critical work of this nature. I was just really wanting more there.
The narrative is comprehensive, with ample background and family history, and highlights many filmmaker hallmarks. Overall an entertaining, approachable read, and made for an apt foray into an actual study of the director's body of work. Recommended, especially for those interested in a subject whose career spans silent, early talkies, Golden Age of Hollywood and filmmaking at the advent of television. Very enjoyable.
April 17, 2026
Let's just say that William A. Wellman Jr.'s "Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel" (2015) is the only biography I've ever read that was written by a son of its subject, which makes for a few awkwardly phrased scenes whenever the author himself appears. "Wild Bill" is also probably 20 percent too long, the prose could have used a little more polishing and Bill Jr.'s occasional hero-worshipping is hard to miss.
That said, it's still a pretty informative bio of one of Hollywood's more accomplished but underappreciated directors, a man whose career ranged from "Wings" (1927, the first Best Picture Oscar winner) to "The Public Enemy" (1931) to "A Star is Born" (1937) to "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943) to "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945) to "The High and the Mighty" (1954). And all that after he was a fighter pilot during World War I!
Wellman the author does a nice job of capturing his father's colorful life, including his five marriages and his legendary fights with producers and studio bosses. Worth a look if you're a fan of Hollywood history.
That said, it's still a pretty informative bio of one of Hollywood's more accomplished but underappreciated directors, a man whose career ranged from "Wings" (1927, the first Best Picture Oscar winner) to "The Public Enemy" (1931) to "A Star is Born" (1937) to "The Ox-Bow Incident" (1943) to "The Story of G.I. Joe" (1945) to "The High and the Mighty" (1954). And all that after he was a fighter pilot during World War I!
Wellman the author does a nice job of capturing his father's colorful life, including his five marriages and his legendary fights with producers and studio bosses. Worth a look if you're a fan of Hollywood history.
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