Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick: The Life and Times of William A. Wellman (Kino Classics, NR)

Wellman was quite a character, and he got into Hollywood when it was possible to do so without any particular qualifications other than self-belief. 

Stop me when you spot the common thread in these films: The Man Who Won, Wings, Wild Boys of the Road, A Star is Born, Beau Geste, Lady of Burlesque, The Ox-Bow Incident, Magic Town, Westward the Women. If you’re a cinephile, the answer is obvious: all were directed by William Wellman, whose career as a director in Hollywood spanned almost 40 years, from the silent era into the television-threatened late 1950s. Among the general public, however, Wellman’s name has largely been forgotten, other than as the answer to the trivia question: who directed the first film to win an Academy Award?

The purpose of Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick: The Life and Times of William A. Wellman is to remind film fans who Wellman was and why he matters, and it sets about doing so in an absolutely straightforward manner. Alec Baldwin provides a plummy narration, a star-studded collection of talking heads (including Sidney Poitier, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, and Nancy Reagan) weigh in with anecdotes and praise, and director Todd Robinson includes plenty of clips and other archival materials to ensure that this documentary qualifies as a moving picture rather than an illustrated lecture.

Wellman was quite a character, and he got into Hollywood when it was possible to do so without any particular qualifications other than self-belief. A fighter pilot who was seriously injured in World War I, he made the acquaintance of Douglas Fairbanks by landing his plane on the lawn at a Pickfair garden party, creating such a strong impression that Fairbanks got Wellman a gig as an actor. After deciding that acting wasn’t his cup of tea, Wellman proceeded to work his way up to director with a series of behind-the-scenes jobs.

Wellman’s big breakthrough was Wings (1927), which won the first-ever Academy Award for Best Picture (shared with Sunrise, directed by F.W. Murnau, making the afore-mentioned trivia question something of a double-barreled trick), and combined some amazing flying choreography with a bromance (including a full on-the-lips kiss) so compelling that it pushed the reigning “It” girl, Clara Bow, into the background.

Wings is emblematic of Wellman’s output, concerned as it is with the manly doings of masculine men—Wellman once said that his father gave him the middle name Augustus so he’d learn how to fight—and he brought a pugnacious attitude to his career as a director as well. I don’t want to spoil the many anecdotes related in this film, so I’ll just say this—Wellman was about as far from a company yes-man as a director could be, yet was also incredibly loyal to his friends and family (once he got it right, after several failed marriages), and protective of his film crews.

Wild Bill is an absolutely conventional documentary, but also one that is very well executed—the clips and interviews are well-chosen, and the film gives you a sense of how Hollywood has changed over the years, through the story of a director with a long and varied career. Although shown in theatres in 1996, Wild Bill feels like a television documentary, so watching it at home on DVD makes perfect sense. After seeing it, you’ll probably be inspired to check out or revisit some of Wellman’s films, many of which are available on DVD or streaming, not to mention the various cable channels dedicated to movies. | Sarah Boslaugh