Known for Directing
Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director. He won Academy Awards as Best Director for The Sound of Music (1965) and West Side Story (1961) as well as nominations as Best Film Editing for Citizen Kane (1941) and Best Picture for The Sand Pebbles (1966). Among his other films are Born to Kill; Destination Gobi; The Hindenburg; Star Trek: The Motion Picture; The Day the Earth Stood Still; Run Silent, Run Deep; The Andromeda Strain; The Set-Up; The Haunting; and The Body Snatcher. Wise's working period spanned the 1930s to the 1990s. Often contrasted with contemporary "auteur" directors such as Stanley Kubrick who tended to bring a distinctive directorial "look" to a particular genre, Wise is famously viewed to have allowed his (sometimes studio assigned) story to dictate style. Later critics such as Martin Scorsese would go on to expand that characterization, insisting that despite Wise's notorious workaday concentration on stylistic perfection within the confines of genre and budget, his choice of subject matter and approach still functioned to identify Wise as an artist and not merely an artisan. Through whatever means, Wise's approach would bring him critical success as a director in many different traditional film genres: from horror to noir to Western to war films to science fiction, to musical and drama, with many repeat hits within each genre. Wise's tendency towards professionalism led to a degree of preparedness which, though nominally motivated by studio budget constraints, nevertheless advanced the moviemaking art, with many Academy Award-winning films the result. Robert Wise received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1998. Description above from the Wikipedia article Robert Wise, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
September 10, 1914
Died
September 14, 2005 (age 91)
Birthplace
Winchester, Indiana, USA
Filmography
99 films, 5 shows


A Storm in Summer
2000 · 1h 34m
country: United States
Set in 1969, Abel Shaddick, a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in his upstate New York town of Fairview, particularly against his slacker nephew Stanley who lives behind the shop. Without telling his uncle, Stanley agrees to put up a needy city kid for the summer as part of a charity program run by rich debutante Gloria. Abel immediately vetoes the plan, but it is too late. The kid, young Herman Washington, is already on his way...


Rooftops
1989 · 1h 38m
country: United States
T, as most of his friends, lives in a self-constructed 'house', built on top of an old building in the city. Their one passion is 'combat'. Combat is a dance/streetfight during which the contestants try to push each other out of the arena, while not allowed to actually touch each other. When drugdealers move into the neighbourhood and kill T's best friend he embarks on a mission to eradicate the drug-presence in the neigbourhood. His friends are reluctant to help though, knowing what happened to T's friend when he crossed them.


Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979 · 2h 11m
country: United States
When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.


Audrey Rose
1977 · 1h 53m
country: United States
A man is convinced that 11-year old girl, Ivy, is the reincarnation of his own daughter Audrey Rose, who died in a fiery car accident, along with his wife, two minutes before Ivy was born.


The Hindenburg
1975 · 2h 5m
country: United States
Colonel Franz Ritter, a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.


Two People
1973 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Evan Bonner is a deserter from the Vietnam war; he is on his way back to America to give himself up when he meets Deirdre McCluskey, a beautiful if petulant model. The two make an unlikely couple, but once in France the magic of Paris works its charm and these two vulnerable people finally find each other.


The Andromeda Strain
1971 · 2h 11m
country: United States
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scrambles to a secure laboratory and tries first to isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form, unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.


Star!
1968 · 2h 56m
country: United States
Gertrude Lawrence rises to stage stardom at the cost of happiness.


The Sand Pebbles
1966 · 3h 16m
country: United States
Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat USS San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and cynical nature soon clash with the 'rice-bowl' system which runs the ship and the uneasy symbiosis between Chinese and foreigner on the river. Hostility towards the gunboat's presence reaches a climax when the boat must crash through a river-boom and rescue missionaries upriver at China Light Mission.


The Sound of Music
1965 · 2h 54m
country: United States
In the years before World War II, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children and brings a new love of life and music into the home.


The Haunting
1963 · 1h 52m
country: United Kingdom
Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…


Two for the Seesaw
1962 · 1h 59m
country: United States
After leaving his wife, lawyer Jerry Ryan moves from Omaha, Nebraska to New York City to start a new life. While studying for the New York Bar Examination and working to finalize his divorce, Ryan meets dancer Gittel Mosca, and the two begin a cautious courtship. However, Ryan feels that he must come to terms with his failed marriage and overcome his lingering attachment to his ex-wife before he can redefine himself and embrace his budding romance.


West Side Story
1961 · 2h 33m
country: United States
In Manhattan’s Upper West Side, rival gangs of Polish-Americans and newly arrived Puerto Ricans clash for control of the neighborhood, even as two young members from opposite sides fall dangerously in love.


Odds Against Tomorrow
1959 · 1h 36m
country: United States
An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.


I Want to Live!
1958 · 2h
country: United States
Brazen perpetual offender Barbara Graham tries to go straight but she finds herself implicated in a murder and sent to death row.


Run Silent, Run Deep
1958 · 1h 33m
country: United States
The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.


Until They Sail
1957 · 1h 34m
country: United States
Four sisters in New Zealand fall for soldiers en route to the Pacific theater in WWII.


This Could Be the Night
1957 · 1h 43m
country: United States
To earn extra money, a prim schoolteacher takes a second job as secretary to the uncouth owner of a boisterous nightclub.


Somebody Up There Likes Me
1956 · 1h 53m
country: United States
The story of boxer Rocky Graziano's rise from juvenile delinquent to world champ.


Tribute to a Bad Man
1956 · 1h 35m
country: United States
Jeremy Rodock is a tough horse rancher who strings up rustlers as soon as looks at them. Fresh out of Pennsylvania, Steve Miller finds it hard to get used to Rodock’s ways, although he takes an immediate shine to his Greek girl Jocasta.


Helen of Troy
1956 · 2h 1m
country: United States
Prince Paris of Troy, shipwrecked on a mission to the king of Sparta, meets and falls for Queen Helen before he knows who she is. Rudely received by the royal Greeks, he must flee...but fate and their mutual passions lead him to take Helen along. This gives the Greeks just the excuse they need for much-desired war.


Executive Suite
1954 · 1h 44m
country: United States
When the head of a large manufacturing firm dies suddenly from a stroke, his vice-presidents vie to see who will replace him.


So Big
1953 · 1h 41m
country: United States
A girl of wealth comes to a Dutch community outside Chicago as a schoolteacher, and while there falls in love with a poor but big-hearted farmer.


The Desert Rats
1953 · 1h 28m
country: United States
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important port city. A ramshackle group of Australian reinforcements sent to combat the Germans is put under the command of British Captain MacRoberts. The unruly Aussies immediately clash with MacRoberts, a gruff, strict disciplinarian, however this unorthodox team must band together to protect Tobruk from the German forces.


Destination Gobi
1953 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A group of US Navy weathermen taking measurements in the Gobi desert in World War II are forced to seek the help of Mongol nomads to regain their ship while under attack from the Japanese.


Something for the Birds
1952 · 1h 21m
country: United States
A conservationist fights to save the habitat of the California condor and to do it she works her way into the affections of a representative of the oil company that wants the land for their own purposes.


The Captive City
1952 · 1h 31m
country: United States
A small-town newspaper editor defies threats to expose the mob.


The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951 · 1h 32m
country: United States
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.


The House on Telegraph Hill
1951 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.


Three Secrets
1950 · 1h 38m
country: United States
A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a devastating plane crash in the mountains of California. When the newspapers reveal the boy was adopted and that the crash occurred on his birthday, three women begin to ponder if it's the son each gave up for adoption. As the three await news of his rescue at a mountain cabin, they recall incidents from five years earlier and why they were forced to give up their son.


Two Flags West
1950 · 1h 32m
country: United States
A group of confedarate prisoners is sent to a unionist fort in the west to help the local garrison to fight the indians.


The Set-Up
1949 · 1h 13m
country: United States
Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.


Blood on the Moon
1948 · 1h 28m
country: United States
Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.


Mystery in Mexico
1948 · 1h 6m
country: United States
Insurance detective Steve Hastings is sent by his company to investigate the disappearance of a fellow agent. His first lead is the agent's fetching sister, Victoria, whom he trails to Mexico City. After charming his way into her confidence, Steve helps Vicki unravel the mystery.


Born to Kill
1947 · 1h 32m
country: United States
A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.


Criminal Court
1946 · 1h 3m
country: United States
A lawyer who is planning to run for District Attorney accidentally kills a gangster who owns the nightclub where the attorney's girlfriend is a singer. Although he manages to cover up his involvement in the crime, his girlfriend discovers the body and is subsequently charged with the murder.


A Game of Death
1945 · 1h 12m
country: United States
A shipwrecked Don Rainsford washes up on a homicidal big-game hunter's Caribbean island where the madman hunts human prey for his personal island habitat.


The Body Snatcher
1945 · 1h 18m
country: United States
Edinburgh, 1831. Among those who undertake the illegal trade of grave robbery is Gray, ostensibly a cab driver. Formerly a medical student convicted of grave robbery, Gray holds a grudge against Dr. MacFarlane who had escaped detection and punishment.


Mademoiselle Fifi
1944 · 1h 9m
country: United States
In occupied France during the Franco-Prussian War, a young French laundress shares a coach ride with several of her condescending social superiors. But when a Prussian officer holds the coach over, social standings are leveled and integrity and spirit are put to the test.


The Curse of the Cat People
1944 · 1h 10m
country: United States
Amy, the young, friendless daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed, befriends her father's late first wife and an aging, reclusive actress.