'Wild Bill Wellman' by William Wellman Jr.

Wild Bill Wellman, William Wellman Jr. (3.0)

I met Bill Wellman Jr. at the SLO film festival. He was introducing two of his father’s movies (‘Public Enemy’ and ‘Westward the Women’’) that were screening at the festival and I was assigned to be his concierge, someone who helps the ‘talent’ navigate their way in SLO and at the festival. Bill was also selling his book, a history of his father’s life – from birth to death. Wild Bill was a prolific Hollywood director from the 20’s till the 60’s. His movie, ‘Wing’s’, a silent film about pilots in WWI, won the first Academy Award for best picture. His other famous films were ‘A Star is Born’ (the original one in 1937), ‘Beau Geste’ (1939), ‘The Ox-Bow Incident’ (1943) and ‘Buffalo Bill’ (1944). This book highlights the large and varied life that Mr. Wellman led. It is filled with the characters of old films – both silent and ‘talkies’. While Wild Bill’s life is fascinating, he is not a particularly likable character. I was really put-off by how much he fought his way through life. While I realize it was a different era – every opposition was literally met with fist-to-cuffs. The man never learned how to finesse a situation. It also came across as a bit disingenuous that he was married 5 times – but was a real ‘family man’. He did seem to settle down once meeting his last wife (with whom he had his many children) and his first wife died tragically in WWI. The other 3 came across as diversions. The personal connection made this book interesting for me to read, but I would only recommend it if you are a real movie buff of the 1930’s and 40’s.