William Wyler (71 page)

Mrs. Miniver (Greer Garson) ministers to an injured Nazi pilot (Helmut Dantine) in
Mrs. Miniver
(1942).

The crew of the
Memphis Belle
, with their fighter plane in the background, were the subject of Wyler's acclaimed 1944 documentary.

Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), a decorated fighter pilot, is dwarfed by all the junked planes he surveys in
The Best Years of Our Lives
(1946).

Morris Townsend (Montgomery Clift) courts Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland) at a dance in
The Heiress
(1949).

In one of Wyler's many elegant dinner scenes, Morris tries to convince Catherine's father (Ralph Richardson) that he will make a “suitable son-in-law.”

Fascistic police detective James McLeod (Kirk Douglas) confronts an armed criminal (Joseph Wiseman) in Wyler's HUAC parable,
Detective Story
(1951).

Carrie (Jennifer Jones) attempts to return money to Hurstwood (Laurence Olivier) in
Carrie
(1952).

Another Wyler staircase shot built on multiple planes of action: this one features Mary Murphy, Martha Scott, and Humphrey Bogart in the foreground, with Fredric March at the top of the stairs, in
The Desperate Hours
(1955).

Josh Birdwell (Anthony Perkins) decides to go against his Quaker principles and defy his mother (Dorothy McGuire) by fighting in the Civil War in
Friendly Persuasion
(1956). His father (Gary Cooper) is pushed to the side of the frame.

Uncredited screenwriter Gore Vidal sought to inject a homoerotic element in the relationship between Messala (Stephen Boyd) and Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) in
Ben-Hur
.

Wyler's camera emphasizes the grandeur and scope of the chariot race scene from
Ben-Hur
(1959).

A composition in depth evokes the creepy isolation of a victim (Samantha Eggar) and her victimizer (Terence Stamp) in a cave-like room in
The Collector
(1965).

A white southern policeman (Anthony Zerbe) beats his African American mistress (Lola Falana) in Wyler's uncompromising study of racism,
The Liberation of L. B. Jones
(1970).