Editing William Wyler (section)

====Wyler and the Second World War====

In 1941, Wyler directed ''[[Mrs. Miniver]]'', based on the 1940 novel; it was the story of a middle-class English family adjusting to the war in Europe and the bombing [[The Blitz|blitz]] in London.<ref name=Hay>Hay, Peter. ''MGM: When the Lion Roars'', Turner Publications (1991) {{ISBN|978-1-878685-04-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nighthawknews.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/greer-garson-william-wyler-mrs-miniver.jpg|title=Image |website=nighthawknews.files.wordpress.com|access-date=March 27, 2018}}</ref> It starred [[Greer Garson]] and [[Walter Pidgeon]]. Pidgeon originally had doubts about taking on the role, until fellow actor [[Paul Lukas]] told him, "You will find working with Wyler to be the most delightful experience you ever had, and that's the way it turned out." Pidgeon recalled: "One thing that would have been a terrific regret in my life is if I had succeeded in getting out of doing ''Mrs. Miniver''"<ref name=Troyan/>{{rp|335}} He received his first Oscar nomination for his role, while his co-star, [[Greer Garson]], won her first and only Academy Award for her performance.

The film idea was controversial because it was intended to cause the United States to be less isolationist. It was thought that by seeing the suffering of British citizens depicted in fiction story, Americans might be made more willing to aid Britain during their war effort.<ref name=Hay/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXXHxxSZZ8A| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/QXXHxxSZZ8A| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=Mrs. Miniver Official Trailer No. 1 - Reginald Owen Movie (1942) HD|last=Movieclips Trailer Vault|date=October 5, 2012|access-date=March 27, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The film succeeded in its propagandistic aims, eliciting sympathy for the British people by showing Britain during its darkest days of the war.<ref name=Troyan>Troyan, Michael. ''A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson'', Univ. Press of Kentucky (1999)</ref>{{rp|145}} Years later, having been in the war himself, Wyler said that the film "only scratched the surface of war... It was incomplete."<ref name=Troyan/>{{rp|228}}

[[U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom]] [[Joseph Kennedy]] told the studios to stop making pro-British and anti-German films, because he believed that British defeat was imminent.<ref name=Wapshott>Wapshott, Nicholas. ''The Sphinx: Franklin Roosevelt, the Isolationists, and the Road to World War II'', W.W. Norton & Co. (2015) p. 234, {{ISBN|978-0393088885}}.</ref> But MGM producer [[Eddie Mannix]] disagreed, saying that "someone should salute England. And even if we lose $100,000, that'll be okay."<ref name=Eyman>Eyman, Scott. ''Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'', Simon & Schuster (2005)</ref>{{rp|344}} ''Mrs. Miniver'' went on to win six Academy Awards, becoming the top box office hit of 1942. It was Wyler's first Academy Award for Best Director.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://c8.alamy.com/comp/F6HNJF/1942-film-title-mrs-miniver-director-william-wyler-studio-mgm-pictured-F6HNJF.jpg|title=Candid photo of Wyler, Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon taking a break|website=alamy.com|access-date=March 27, 2018}}</ref>

{{quote box||align=left|width=25em|bgcolor =lightCyan |quote=Dear Mad Willy. I saw ''Mrs. Miniver'' last night. It is absolutely wonderful. You repeatedly amaze me with the demonstrations of your talent and I ask you to believe that it is with genuine pleasure that I salute this latest and greatest example of your work.|source= —producer [[David Selznick]]<ref name=Herman/>{{rp|235}}}}

[[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|President Roosevelt]] and British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] both loved the film, said historian Emily Yellin, and Roosevelt wanted prints rushed to theaters nationwide. The [[Voice of America]] radio network broadcast the minister's speech from the film, magazines reprinted it, and it was copied onto leaflets and dropped over [[German-occupied Europe|German-occupied countries]]. Churchill sent MGM chief [[Louis B. Mayer]] a telegram claiming that "''Mrs. Miniver'' is propaganda worth 100 battleships."<ref>Yellin, Emily. ''Our Mother's War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II'', Simon & Schuster (2004), p. 100.</ref> [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote in his ''New York Times'' review that ''Mrs. Miniver'' was the finest film yet made about the war, "and a most exalting tribute to the British."<ref>Troyan, Michael. ''A Rose for Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson'', Univ. of Kentucky Press (1999), e-book. ASIN: B00A6IOY1W.</ref>

Between 1942 and 1945, Wyler volunteered to serve as a [[Major (rank)|major]] in the [[United States Army Air Forces]] and directed a pair of documentaries: ''[[The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress]]'' (1944), about a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|Boeing B-17]] and its U.S. Army Air Force crew;<ref>{{Cite web |title=- YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8tqacRXK4 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.youtube.com}}</ref> and ''[[Thunderbolt!]]'' (1947), highlighting a [[Republic P-47 Thunderbolt|P-47 fighter]]-[[Bomber|bomber squadron]] in the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]]. Wyler filmed ''The Memphis Belle'' at great personal risk, flying over enemy territory on actual bombing missions in 1943; on one flight, Wyler lost consciousness from lack of oxygen. Wyler's associate, cinematographer Harold J. Tannenbaum, a [[First lieutenant (United States)|First Lieutenant]], was shot down and perished during the filming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.plane-crazy.net/movies/18.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529065226/http://www.plane-crazy.net/movies/18.htm|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 29, 2015|title=The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress|website=www.plane-crazy.net|access-date=March 27, 2018}}</ref> Director [[Steven Spielberg]] describes Wyler's filming of ''Memphis Belle'' in the 2017 Netflix series, [[Five Came Back (TV series)|''Five Came Back'']].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kenigsberg |first=Ben |date=2017-03-30 |title=Review: 'Five Came Back,' and Inspired the Likes of Spielberg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/movies/five-came-back-review.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Before being assigned to the Air Force, Wyler was  hired to direct the documentary ''[[The Negro Soldier]]'' on [[African-Americans in the United States military before desegregation|African-Americans in the United States Armed Forces]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Negro Soldier|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/27691-THE-NEGRO-SOLDIER?cxt=filmography|access-date=2021-11-21|website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>

Working on ''Thunderbolt!'' Wyler was exposed to such loud noise that he passed out. When he awoke, he found he was deaf in one ear.<ref name=Madsen/> Partial hearing with the aid of a hearing aid eventually came back years later.<ref>David William Wyler</ref> Wyler returned from the War a [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=2016-03-10 |title=WYLER IS DEAD AT 79 - DIRECTOR HAD WON 3 ACADEMY AWARDS - NYTimes.com |work=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/29/obituaries/wyler-is-dead-at-79-director-had-won-3-academy-awards.html |access-date=2024-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310112442/http://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/29/obituaries/wyler-is-dead-at-79-director-had-won-3-academy-awards.html |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet }}</ref> and a disabled veteran.<ref name=Harris>Harris, Mark. ''Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War''. New York: Penguin Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1594204302}}</ref>

Returning from the War and unsure whether he could work again, Wyler turned to a subject that he knew well<ref name=Harris/> and directed a film which captured the mood of the nation as it turned to peace after the war, ''[[The Best Years of Our Lives]]'' (1946).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzSrpRS4ros| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/NzSrpRS4ros| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=The Best Years of Our Lives Trailer 1946|last=Video Detective|date=June 9, 2014|access-date=March 27, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> This story of the homecoming of three veterans from [[World War II]] dramatized the problems of returning veterans in their adjustment back to civilian life. Arguably his most personal film, ''Best Years'' drew on Wyler's own experience returning home to his family after three years at the front. ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' won the [[Academy Award for Best Director]] (Wyler's second) and [[Academy Award for Best Picture]], as well as six other Academy Awards including one Academy Honorary Award.

In 1949, Wyler directed ''[[The Heiress]]'', which earned [[Olivia de Havilland]] her second Oscar and garnered additional Oscars for [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]], [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]], and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Music]]. The film is considered by some to be a highlight in her career, "that could strike envy even in the most versatile and successful actress," according to one critic.<ref>[http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/olivia-de-havilland/ "Olivia de Havilland"], ''Los Angeles Times''</ref><ref>[http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/0bfcc94a64a54fce86fb532cf410f2a6/william-wyler-olivia-de-havilland-the-heiress-1949-bpa26h.jpg Photo of William Wyler directing Olivia de Havilland in a scene from ''The Heiress'']</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20161018205752/http://celebrityimages.org/images/0000014/0000014_12.jpeg Photo of William Wyler]}} directing [[Montgomery Clift]] and [[Olivia de Havilland]] in ''The Heiress''</ref>

De Havilland had seen the play in New York and felt she could play the lead perfectly. She then called Wyler to convince him to have Paramount buy the film rights. He flew to New York to see the play and moved by the story,persuaded the studio to buy it. Along with de Havilland, he managed to get [[Montgomery Clift]] and [[Ralph Richardson]] to co-star.<ref name=Miller/>{{rp|265}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltjOydHAO0M| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/ltjOydHAO0M| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=The Heiress - Trailer|last=Hirji444|date=October 16, 2008|access-date=March 27, 2018|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Olivia de Havilland Wins Best Actress: 1950 Oscars | date=September 27, 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXO6JVLv-V4 |access-date=2024-02-03 |language=en}}</ref>