Comments

“The Best of Us”, Part 1 — 9 Comments

  1. The following comment from Grand Old Movies was inadvertently deleted:

    "I've never understood the Auteur Pantheon, and the 'tiers' into which its devising critics slotted directors. If a picture's good, it's good; does it matter if the director is Pantheon or Non-Pan? It seems an unusually rigid way of looking at movies (and also seeing greatness in films that really don't have it). And why deny Wyler Pantheon status just because of one film that doesn't fit into what's considered trendy? Thanks for reprinting your great series on Wyler's career; it gives wonderful insights into his work."

    Thank you, GOM, for the comment, and apologies for accidentally discarding it!

  2. First, let me say that I like Ben-Hur a lot. Second, I agree that Wyler deserves to be regarded as one of the best directors ever. Look forward to reading Part II.

  3. Thanks, all! More to come. Ken A., I hope you're checking out all the posts on the blogathon; a lot of good ground covered there, about movies I hope you'll catch up with one of these days.

    R.D., interesting point that Wyler never really worked in film noir; hadn't thought about it, but you're right. Still, his work on pictures like Dead End, Detective Story and The Desperate Hours suggest that he'd have acquitted himself well in that genre too, if he'd had a mind to.