ROBERT WISE IS DEAD

Robert Wise, a great director and the guy who directed Sound of Music and West Side Story among a ton of others is dead. He was 91. A monster talent, he won his first Oscar for film editing on Citizen Kane and he edited another Orson Wells movie called The Magnificent Ambersons. He directed every kind of movie you can imagine. His credits include: The Body Snatcher, Run Silent Run Deep, Two Flags West, Tribute to a Bad Man, and my favorite of favorites, Curse of the Cat People. He may be best remembered inside the Hollywood elite for what transpired on the editing of Orson Wells' Ambersons, a movie Wells accused Wise of ruining....

After wrapping production on Ambersons in early 1942, Welles traveled to Brazil to work on a film promoting Pan-American relations on behalf of the State Department. Around the same time, RKO screened Ambersons before test audiences, who panned it.

At the request of the panicked studio, which was already losing money on the over-budget Ambersons, Wise reluctantly agreed to cut out 40 minutes of Welles' 132-minute original and reshoot some scenes, including the ending. An infuriated Welles futilely sought to have his cut restored and later remarked: "Ambersons was a much better picture than Kane--if they' just left it as it was."

Sensitive to charges he mutilated a masterpiece, Wise allowed that Welles' original version was better as a "work of art," but said the changes were necessary to keep the audience in their seats because in the days after World War II, no one wanted to see a dark tale about death and dying. The studio had even considered shelving the film altogether.

He will always be remembered for Sound of Music. Always. And that opening shot, the shot of all shots, is pure art and pure Robert Wise. RIP Mr. Wise and thanx for the memories......