Film Persona

  William A. Wellman's "The Ox-Bow Incident" After director William A. Wellman read Water Van Tilburg Clark's 1940 novel " The Ox-Bow Incident ," he wanted to adapt it into a film. The story of the novel and film was relatively simple. A group of townspeople in 1885 Nevada track down men they believe to be cattle rustlers who recently murdered a rancher. Rather than bring them back for trial, the townspeople want to have them hanged immediately. After the hanging, it is discovered that the three men were actually innocent. The film depicts how far mob mentality can go. 

  William A. Wellman's "Nothing Sacred" After the major success of " A Star is Born ," producer David O. Selznick instantly rolled out another technicolor project with director William A. Wellman. Instead of a prestige drama like " A Star is Born ," Selznick opted for a screwball comedy, as they were becoming box office successes in the mid to late 1930s. In fact, it was to be the first screwball comedy filmed in technicolor. Legendary scriptwriter Ben Hecht penned the screenplay while spending two weeks on a train. The film, " Nothing Sacred ," is centered on a woman lying about an incurable illness and getting a free trip to New York City on the dime of an exploitative newspaper. Fredric March, who starred in " A Star is Born ," was brought back again to work with Selznick and Wellman. There were even intentions to bring back Janet Gaynor, as well. However, after Wellman met Carole Lombard, he convinced Selznick to cast her as the...

  William A. Wellman's "A Star is Born" Adapted several times over the last 80 years, " A Star is Born " demonstrated the fickle nature of fame, success, and industry. Written by Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, and Robert Carson, the film follows a young up-and-coming star as she rises to the heights of Hollywood stardom, while her alcoholic movie star husband begins to slide down the ladder of obscurity. Many thought the plot of the film closely resembled the careers and relationships between Barbara Stanwyck and Frank Fay. However, this has never actually been confirmed. The film was also one of the first major Hollywood technicolor films that was considered both a critical and commercial success. The film seemed to be a starting point for the kinds of films that producer David O. Selznick would be making for the next several decades. After the wild success of " A Star is Born ," David went on to produce large, epic, technicolor box office smashes lik...

  William A. Wellman's "The Public Enemy" In the 1930s, the gangster genre became a sensational piece of American entertainment that is still revered today. Its rise came with the rise of sound, just as horror films did. With studios now able to crank out sound films like a well-oiled machine, they were able to give the American public what they wanted: violence, shock, horror, musicals, and other sensational works that they were able to produce up until the Hayes Code's limitations in 1933. One such film that took advantage of this popularity was the classic gangster phenomenon " The Public Enemy ."  The reason such a film could get away with the downright ugly and vile behavior of its characters was its iteration to the audience that these characters were looked down upon and met their just end. The prologue of the film even states, "apprising the audience that the hoodlums and terrorists of the underworld must be exposed and the glamour ripped from t...

  William A. Wellman's "Wings" On May 16, 1929, the first-ever Academy Award ceremony was held in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. The ceremony honored films released from 1927 to 1928. The winner of Best Picture was " Wings ," a spectacle film about aviation battles during World War I. The director, William A. Wellman, was not invited because the studio was upset with him for going over budget and over time. However, the reason for the film's immaculate success lies solely in Wellman's direction and management of the production. His cinematic innovations and his technical prowess, especially for capturing aerial combat sequences, made " Wings " the exciting spectacle piece it was.  The plot of the film runs thin. It mainly focuses on two men competing for the same woman as they navigate aerial combat during World War I. However, it is not the plot that makes " Wings " a cinematic triumph. Rather, it is the hard work Wellman put into...