Irene Mayer Selznick, daughter of studio mogul Louis B. Mayer and wife of independent Hollywood producer David O. Selznick, once described film director William Wellman (1896-1975) as a ‘shoot-up-the-town fellow, trying to be a great big masculine I-don’t-know-what.” True, he could be tough-talking and uncompromising. Still, she adored his vision and persuaded her husband to produce “A Star Is Born” (1937), which turned out to be one of Wellman’s as well as one of Selznick’s cinematic landmarks, earning Wellman a screenwriting Oscar. Or, as American movie critic Manny Farber (1917-2008) once put it, Wellman was one of ‘the true masters of the male action film,’ and stated that ‘in any Bill Wellman operation, there at least for four directors—a sentimentalist, deep thinker, hooey vaudevillian and an expedient short-cut artist.’

A decade earlier already, Mr. Wellman had directed “Wings” (1927), the all-time screen classic and first Academy Award winner as Best Picture, launching his career as a leading film director which almost spanned four decades and which included countless memorable films in various genres, such as “The Public Enemy” (1931), “A Star Is Born” (1937), “Beau Geste” (1939), “The Story of G.I. Joe” (1945), “Battleground” (1949), “The High and the Mighty” (1954), and his own favorite “Good-bye, My Lady” (1956). Two years later, though, when Warner Bros. insisted on having a happy ending on his highly personal project “Lafayette Escadrille,” about Americans flying for France during World War I, he decided to retire from the movie business at age 62.

The former World War I fighter pilot and decorated war hero—a recipient of the Croix de Guerre with two Gold Palm Leaves and five United States citations—was so disappointed about what happened to “Lafayette Escadrille” which he was so passionate about, that he reportedly once said to studio head Jack L. Warner, ‘I know this is your studio, but if I ever catch you in a men’s room or alone somewhere, I’m gonna put you in the hospital for six weeks.” That was Wellman too.

“Wings,” made by Paramount, was set in World War I and starred Clara Bow, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, and Richard Arlen, focusing on two fighter pilots during the War who were in love with the same woman. It launched Mr. Wellman’s career and became his landmark film, but didn’t limit his potential in any way in the years to come: he worked for practically every major studio, with each new contract he found more freedom—and even in the 1930s—he was able to free-lance and bring in his own projects as his stature grew.

Along the way, Mr. Wellman was instrumental in casting young, fresh and new talent over the years, such as Gary Cooper, Jean Harlow, James Cagney, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Clark Gable, John Wayne, James Stewart, Donald O’Connor, Evelyn Keyes, Joan Leslie, Susan Hayward, Sidney Poitier, Clint Eastwood and Barbara Stanwyck (from 1931 until 1943, they made five films together).

Yet, how could it be possible that this four-time Academy Award nominee and recipient of the DGA’s 1973 Lifetime Achievement Award had been overlooked by critics and film historians for so many years after he passed away in 1975? Let’s ask his son William Wellman, Jr. (b. 1937), the guardian of his father’s tremendous film legacy, who made the documentary “Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick” (1995), and then authored two highly acclaimed books “The Man and His Wings: William A. Wellman and the Making of the First Best Picture” (2006) and “Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel” (2015)—many years after Mr. Wellman himself published his own autobiography “A Short Time for Insanity” (1974).

During this 2007 interview with him in a West Hollywood restaurant, Mr. Wellman was in the early stages of writing “Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel.” For those who want to keep updated about his personal appearances, book signings, etc., you can check his website here.

Mr. Wellman, what could be the reason why your father been so overlooked for such a long time?

Well, after my father retired from directing in 1959, he had never had a film retrospective in his lifetime until I produced one for him in 1973, two years before he died. We showed around forty-five of his films in a commercial theatre, which hadn’t been done before. In those days, people only did film retrospectives in a museum. His autobiography was published at the same time, I also got him on television talk shows, and at Chasen’s, his favorite restaurant, there was a huge gathering. James Cagney came out, Bette Davis was there, Ida Lupino, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers,… We had a big party there. A short time later, I went over with him to London; the National Film Theatre did a retrospective of his work. But that’s really the point: he retired in the late 1950s, and he never had a film retrospective and there were no honors being given out. So then I decided to start and show films of his at film festivals and it took me twenty-five years to get a documentary made about his life which was completed in 1995 [“Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick”]. Since then, I have shown films like “Wings” in several countries, and other films at film festivals in Europe too.

You had previously written a book about “Wings,” and you’re now working on a complete biography as well. So we’ll be getting the full picture pretty soon?

The thing that I appreciate about the first book the most are my father’s letters. I love those. His mother saved all kinds of things throughout her lifetime—letters, newspaper articles, and memorabilia of all kinds—and now I can use that for my new book as well. I had eighty-two of his letters, and I used about a dozen of them in the first book. So there are not as many details in my first book as maybe there should have been, but there are a lot more of those in my second book, which is also much more in-depth. I didn’t know that much about my father’s life when he was growing up until I got this box of memorabilia from a relative, so then I could really start to piece together his years all through high school. All at once, I had a lot more information.

How much appreciated was your father in the 1930s and 1940s as a filmmaker?

Oh, at that time, he was a very important director. I think many historians misunderstand my father because a lot of them think, ‘Well, he was just a contract studio director; he directed whatever story they gave him. And then he made it.’ So they downgraded him. Now, he was a contract studio director, but he loved that. He made twenty-one films between 1930 and 1934. Well, if you weren’t a contract director, you would never have that opportunity. At Warner’s, “The Public Enemy” [1931] was one of his favorite projects. Or, let’s put it this way: the writers came to him because nobody was moving on the project, while my father loved it. He then took it to Darryl F. Zanuck, who produced many movies that Warner Brothers was making at that time—he also was my father’s producer—and my father talked him into making that picture. So my father was able to bring some projects in. But most important is that he made thirty-eight movies under contract as a contract director and another thirty-eight as a free-lance director, so I think historians missed the boat on that. If you look at the work he did after 1934, when he stopped being a contract studio director, pictures like “Call of the Wild” [1935], “A Star Is Born” [1937], “Nothing Sacred” [1937], “Beau Geste” [1939], “Roxie Hart” [1942], “The Story of G.I. Joe” [1945], “Battleground” [1949] and so many others, I think those are his best work. And those are pictures that he chose for the most part. Okay, in order to do “The Ox-Bow Incident” [1943], he had to do two pictures for Darryl F. Zanuck at 20th Century Fox, “Thunder Birds: Soldiers of the Air” [1942] and “Buffalo Bill” [1944]. My father would not have chosen those, so he made a few concessions along the way. But pretty much, he was able to make the films that he wanted to make.

How groundbreaking was “Battleground,” because it was totally different compared to most of the other World War II films made in the 1940s?

There’s a great story on that because Dore Schary, who was running MGM when “Battleground” was made, had come over from RKO. He had been trying to make “Battleground” for a few years, but so many World War II movies had been made in the 1940s that the studios thought they had made enough and that the public didn’t want any more of them. But he wouldn’t give up. And when he came over to MGM, he wanted to make “Battleground” and talked about it to my father, because he thought my father had made the best war movie called “The Story of G.I. Joe” [1945], and so he wanted him to direct “Battleground.” Then my father decided to do it. In Hollywood, they made jokes about making another war film; they called it Schary’s follies. But it turned out to be a terrific war film, with many Academy Award nominations—it was expected to win the Oscar for Best Picture. But my father was a maverick, a rebel; he didn’t have many friends in high places, so he wasn’t going to get the accolades that he really deserved. He had too many enemies, but I think “Battleground” should have won: it was so successful and such a wonderful film, also considering how much better it was compared to every other war film made in the 1940s by every studio. But anyway—that’s what happened.

Why do you think he had so many enemies here in Hollywood?

Well, he had so many fights with so many of the moguls that ran Hollywood: they wanted him because he could make any kind of film, always on schedule, on budget, but he also was a wild hair, you know. Even though he had acquired the reputation of ‘tough to control,’ his ability to make all kinds of films on schedule and within budget made him very appealing to other studios and producers, especially if they left him alone. He was only friendly with two people who ran studios in all those years, and they were David O. Selznick and Dory Schary for a period of time. Otherwise, he never socialized with anyone of them.

How would you describe his approach towards filmmaking?

My father never cared about self-gratification; he loved making movies and the process of making movies. He was a person with high energy, great enthusiasm, and not much patience. He would do two takes—one for protection. He believed in the spontaneity of the moment; he didn’t believe that if you kept doing it over and over, it would be better. He thought it would be worse. And he didn’t have the patience, for instance, to sit in the editing room for weeks and weeks. Frank Capra was a very good friend of my father, he lived in our neighborhood, and they used to kid each other. One time, Frank Capra spent a year developing a story, writing the script, shooting the film, editing, post-production, and finally, it got released in a year’s time. My father had made three films in the meantime. My father once said he was tired of every film he ever made, and then he couldn’t wait to get to the next picture. So there were certain things that he developed, like editing in the camera. If you look at his movies, you’ll always find shots where all of the action, or at least most of the action, takes place in one camera position. Take the hanging scene in “The Ox-Bow Incident,” if you watch that scene again, the camera is in one position when the order is given to hit the horses and have them run off. The men are hanged, the posse get on their horses, they ride out, and the preacher is on his knees, sitting on the grass. One shot, that’s it, that’s all there is—one camera position. My father liked to do that, a great deal of action in one shot. The reason he developed that technique was that, when he was a contract studio director, often he wasn’t able to stay on a picture through post-production, he wasn’t there for the editing—or very little of it—and he didn’t want the editor to change his vision of how the scene should go. So the editor could only edit what my father gave him, and there was no way to edit a scene in some different manner. He rarely used close-ups; they were like explanation points to him. To be used very rarely. He did like master shots because then the story was not disrupted. You know, you get this one shot, and everything happens in that scene. In real important scenes, he would shoot his men in unusual ways, like having a fight, and all you could see was their feet. Things like that. In “The Ox-Bow Incident,” the reading of the letter, you don’t see Henry Fonda’s eyes; you only see his mouth. He liked to do those things, and you’ll see those in all of his movies. There’s always rain; there’s always a dog… That was my father’s style and humor. He was interjecting humor into his stories; even in some dramatic places, there’d be some kind of bizarre humor.

How did he collaborate with his actors?

He would rehearse a scene, and then, when he thought it was right, he’d shoot it. No long rehearsals over and over again. In my documentary, Richard Widmark said, ‘Your father could see the whole movie in his mind before he started on the first day.’ He knew exactly how the movie was going to look. One of the treasures that I have are all of my father’s shooting scripts with his personal notes, going back to the early 1930s. So I can see where he changed a scene, like, for instance, the famous scene in “The Public Enemy” [1931] where James Cagney pushed the grapefruit in Mae Clarke’s face. Okay, now everyone has tried to take credit for that. Darryl F. Zanuck said it was his idea, but if you look in my father’s shooting script, the writers wrote that the James Cagney character was supposed to pick up the grapefruit and throw it at Mae Clarke. That’s what they wrote. With his pencil, my father wrote: ‘Have Cagney pick up the grapefruit and shove it into Mae Clarke’s face.’ He changed it to that point, but they didn’t tell her. She didn’t know it was coming. She thought it would be thrown at her because she was going by the script. So with those things, I can see where my father made changes which I think are very interesting. I think people will like that when they see it in my next book. I wrote the first book in ten months because I had all the source material, but the second book takes me much longer. Before he died, he told me, ‘I lived the life of a hundred men.’ Once you start researching, you realize he did… He had five wives, for instance. His whole life was such an adventure. First, he was a juvenile delinquent kicked out of high school, then a fighter pilot in the first World War, and then he became a messenger boy in Hollywood who moved up to become an actor, assistant editor, editor, assistant director, and director.

Is that the secret why he became such a good director: working his way up the studio ladder and going through all the various stages in the film industry?

I think so. My documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1996, and Robert Redford—we were pals when we were kids, we were on the same baseball teams and went to the same grammar school—we had dinner at Sundance. He said that directors like my father, or Howard Hawks, John Ford, Raoul Walsh, Victor Fleming—those directors—brought their life experiences to the screen. Nowadays, a filmmaker learns his trades in film schools and books. And I think that’s very true: my father had all these life experiences that he could bring to the screen, from working his way up in the business. Back then, in my father’s time, there were no film schools, so he learned everything firsthand. He was an assistant director on many pictures before he became a director. So by the time he got to be a director, he knew his business. The thing that I appreciate so much about my father’s work is that you can take his films apart, genre by genre, and he will always have films that will be up there with anybody’s films—whoever you think is the best. Whether you’re talking about Westerns, or war films, comedies, drama—whatever type of film you want to talk about—he’s got at least one film up there. Look at two war films like “The Story of G.I. Joe” and “Battleground”: that’s as good as anybody has done. Westerns? All of his Westerns were off-beat Westerns, like “Yellow Sky” [1948] or “Westward the Women” [1951]. They were not traditional Westerns. “Buffalo Bill” [1944] was, but that was not a film he wanted to make. I think that after all the Westerns he directed in his early career, he only appreciated the unusual story of the Western. If you look at his comedies, you got “Nothing Sacred” [1937] or “Roxie Hart” [1942]; adventure films like “Beau Geste” [1939]; aviation films—my God—“Wings” [1927], “Island in the Sky” [1953], “The High and the Mighty” [1954]. Or kid pictures, did you ever see “The Happy Years” [1950]? I love that one! “Good-bye, My Lady” [1956] was one of my father’s favorite films; it’s about an old man [Walter Brennan], a boy [Brandon De Wilde] and a dog living in the country, just a little coming-of-age movie. It’s also one of Sidney Poitier’s first films—a wonderful little film.

How do you explain that so very often, actors or actresses were nominated for Academy Awards when they appeared in your father’s films?

I think, for the most part, he was an actor’s director. But there were certain actors that he really liked and other ones that he didn’t. A director who’s the perfect actor’s director treats everybody the same, you know. My father had his favorites, some he treated well, some he didn’t. But he got the performances in all his movies. William Wellman movies were known for having fine performances, men and women. He had so much enthusiasm; I am so grateful that I got to work in his last two films as an actor. To see that enthusiasm, that, of course, I knew that he had, but to see it on the set, how excited he was to make a movie. He just loved it, you know, the camera, the shot… It was sad that he quit the movie business after “Lafayette Escadrille” [1959]. He was so disappointed in that movie while he wanted that movie to be his best one. It was all about the guys he knew that he flew with in the first World War—I played him in that movie. That character did a lot of things that my father did. The woman in that film, her character is called Renée [played by French actress Etchika Choureau] and my father—nobody knew this until 1973—that my father’s first wife was a French girl named Renée. She was killed in the first World War, and in the film, that character was based on her. He made her a prostitute, which in real life she wasn’t. But when reading all the letters that my father wrote home from France, I find all the experiences that were put in that movie. They happened! Now, my father wanted James Dean to play the lead, he had talked to Dean’s agent, and James Dean was supposed to have a meeting with him, and then he died. Then my father wanted Paul Newman, a new contract player at the studio, but Jack L. Warner wouldn’t let my father use Paul Newman because Newman was mad at Warner Brothers for making him do “The Silver Chalice” [1954]. Warner wanted to put him on suspension. So my father couldn’t use him, and he was talked into using Tab Hunter. Now you have to keep in mind that Tab Hunter was the Tom Cruise of the 1950s, but he wasn’t right for it. When my father realized it was a mistake, he was already shooting. Tab Hunter wasn’t right for the character as it should have been. It’s not that Tab Hunter gave a bad performance, I think he gave a good performance, but he wasn’t what my father had expected. When the studio saw the film, they wanted a happy ending to keep the fans of Tab Hunter pleased. They took out a lot of stuff and basically ruined the picture, and when it came out, it was a failure. So then my father said, ‘I want out of this business.’

Was he bitter, after the long and successful career he had, to leave like this? Or was it merely a matter of timing, since for several directors of his generation, like Frank Capra, John Ford, and so many others, they all retired in a very short period of time?

He was unhappy, very disappointed. But by then, he had many physical problems as well; he had very bad arthritis, and also, he felt it was a good time. The studio system was falling apart, and he liked that support system behind him even though he fought with the studio heads. How wonderful it was to be able to make a film, and everything was there for you. You didn’t have to worry about negotiating with an agent for an actor, you got a list of them. Who do you want? You want James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart? The most wonderful actors and actresses were all there; they were all under contract. Everything was there, the entire factory. In the 1930s, Warner Brothers had a department that wrote titles only. They didn’t write stories; they just wrote titles. So if you were looking for a title, or you didn’t like the title, they got you a list of titles. Everything was there for you, so it was wonderful, and my father also used all of that. And when my father retired, the studios fell apart, the moguls went away or were already gone, the studios were run by businessmen who knew nothing about film. Even though my father fought with those moguls—they were like tyrants—he respected them; they knew film, and they made great pictures.

Do you think he got the most out of his career?

I think he did. Turner Classic Movies have thirty-five of my father’s films; they play them all the time. Now there’s a DVD collection out of my father’s films, called “Forbidden Hollywood, Volume 3,” with six of the movies he made in the early 1930s [“Other Men’s Women,” “The Purchase Price,” “Frisco Jenny,” “Midnight Mary,” “Heroes for Sale,” “Wild Boys of the Road”], along with my documentary. Richard Schickel once did a documentary called “The Men Who Made the Movies,” he kind of re-did it; I gave him some pictures, and now he has made individual documentaries about those filmmakers. This collection includes the one he made about my father. My documentary is about the people who worked with my father, talking about him, the icons like Robert Mitchum, Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, Richard Widmark, Nancy Davis Reagan and Jane Wyman, while on Schickel’s documentary, it’s my father talking about his career. So they go together nicely. Now, he’s more known than in the 1970s or the 1980s, so that’s a good thing. When I read articles in the newspaper about the great directors, my father’s name is among them. For many years, they didn’t mention him. Now they talk about Hawks and Ford, and Capra and Wellman; that didn’t happen before. So the people who care about the old films and who write about them, they can see his films now. They appreciate what he’s been able to do. So I feel very good about this, also about the fact that I will have two books out about him.

How do you look back to your childhood, growing up in Hollywood?

I had a wonderful childhood. If I wasn’t at school, my father was always taking me on his sets and locations. I loved it; it was magic, you know. I once counted, we had thirty-five celebrities in our neighborhood, and I’m talking about two blocks north, east, south, and west, that’s about it. Gary Cooper, Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda and his family, Deanna Durbin, The Andrew Sisters, Lana Turner, Jennifer Jones, Red Skelton, Peter Lawford, William Boyd, Nelson Eddy, … Only when I got older, I realized that my neighborhood was unique. So for me, and going on the sets with my father, I always thought it was the most wonderful thing you could imagine. The first time I was on the set was “Nothing Sacred” [1937]. I was about six months. Of course, I don’t remember anything about that, but there’s a picture of Carole Lombard holding me in her arms. My first remembrance is “The Ox-Bow Incident” [1943], I was five years old, and I got a lot of pictures from that. I remember going to the studio with my father, driving up to the sound stage, because they had shot the entire movie on a sound stage. So as a five-year-old kid, walking indoors and seeing things that are normally outdoors—rocks, dirt, and trees—it was unbelievable. I remember following this little stream; it all looked so real, the rocks looked so real, but when you looked at the other side of them, you saw they were fake. But they could make everything real. On other sets, “Yellow Sky” [1948] and “Across the Wide Missouri” [1951], I was there the whole time, and my father took the whole family with him, wife, and seven kids. He loved to fish, and he told the production manager, ‘When you hire the crew, make sure they like to fish. Hire the ones who like to fish because that’s what we’ll be doing every day. At five o’clock, we stop shooting, we’re going to fish till the end of the day.’ I fished with Clark Gable three or four times, just the two of us. One day, he asked me, ‘I know where this special lake is. You want to go with me?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ So we walked and hiked to this small, little lake, and we went fishing there. It was all so wonderful. On Sundays, they played baseball, Clark Gable played left field. How wonderful could life be!

West Hollywood, California
April 14, 2009

“Battleground” (1949, trailer)

FILMS

THE WALL INVISIBLE (1918) DIR Bernard J. Durning ASST DIR William A. Wellman [uncredited] CAST Wanda Hawley, Shirley Mason, Matt Moore, Frank O’Connor, Thomas Tomamoto

THE UNWRITTEN CODE (1919) DIR Bernard J. Durning ASST DIR William A. Wellman [uncredited] SCR Bernard J. Durning (story by L.W. McChesney) CAST Shirley Mason, Ormi Hawley, Matt Moore, Frank O’Connor, Thomas Tomamoto, F. Wada, Mr. Oskima

THE KNICKERBOCKER BUCKEROO (1919) DIR Albert Parker PROD Douglas Fairbanks SCR Elton Banks [Douglas Fairbanks], Joseph Henabery, Theodore Reed, Frank Condon CAM Glen MacWilliams, Hugh McClung ED William Shea CAST Douglas Fairbanks, Marjorie Daw, William A. Wellman, Frank Campeau, Edythe Chapman, Abert MacQuarrie, Theodore Reed

EVANGELINE (1919) DIR – PROD – SCR Raoul Walsh CAM Devereaux Jennings CAST Miriam Cooper, Alan Roscoe, Spottiswoode Aitken, James A. Marcus, Paul Wiegel, William A. Wellman

THE TWINS OF SUFFERING CREEK (1920) DIR Scott R. Dunlap, William A. Wellman [uncredited] SCR Jules G. Furthman CAM Clyde de Vinna CAST William Russell, Louise Lovely, E. Alwyn Warren, William Ryno, Henry Hebert, Joe Ray

THE MAN WHO WON (1923) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Ewart Adamson (novel by Ridgwell Cullum) CAM Joseph H. August CAST Dustin Farnum, Jacqueline Gadsdon, Lloyd Whitlock, Ralph Cloninger, Mary Warren, Giilbert Holmes, Harvey Clark

SECOND HAND LOVE (1923) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Charles Kenyon (story by Shannon Fife) CAM Don Short CAST Buck Jones, Ruth Dwyer, Charles Coleman, Harvey Clark, Frank Weed, James Quinn

BIG DAN (1923) DIR William A. Wellman CAM Joseph H. August CAST Buck Jones, Marian Nixon, Ben Hendricks Jr., Trilby Clark, Jacqueline Gadsdon, Lydia Yeamans Titus

CUPID’S FIREMAN (1923) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Eugene B. Lewis (story ‘Andy M’Gee’s Chorus Girl’ by Richard Harding Davis) CAM Joseph H. August CAST Buck Jones, Marian Nixon, Brooks Benedict, Eileen O’Malley, Lucy Beaumont, Al Fremont

NOT A DRUM WAS HEARD (1924) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Doty Hobart (story by Ben Ames Williams) CAM Joseph H. August ED Harry Marker CAST Buck Jones, Betty Bouton, Frank Campeau, Rhody Hathaway, Al Fremont

THE VAGABOND TRAIL (1924) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Doty Hobart (novel ‘Donnegan’ by George Owen Baxter) CAM Joseph H. August CAST Buck Jones, Marian Nixon, Charles Coleman, Lee Shumway, Virginia Warwick, Harry Lonsdale

THE CIRCUS BOY (1924) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Doty Hobart (story by Louis Sherwin) CAM Joseph Brotherton CAST Buck Jones, Marian Nixon, Jack McDonald, Ray Hallor, Marguerite Clayton

WHEN HUSBANDS FLIRT (1925) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Harry Cohn SCR Dorothy Arzner, Paul Gangelin (story by Dorothy Arzner, Paul Gangelin) CAM Sam Landers CAST Dorothy Revier, Forrest Stanley, Tom Ricketts, Ethel Wales, Maude Wayne

THE BOOB (1925) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Kenneth B. Clarke (story by George Scarborough, Annette Westbay CAM William H. Daniels ED Ben Lewis CAST Gertrude Olmstead, George K. Arthur, Joan Crawford, Charles Murray, Tom D’Algy

YOU NEVER KNOW WOMEN (1926) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Benjamin Glazer (story by Ernest Vajda) CAM Victor Milner CAST Florence Vidor, Lowell Sherman, Clive Brook, El Brendel, Roy Stewart, Joe Bonomo, Irma Kornelai, Eugene Pallette

THE CAT’S PAJAMAS (1926) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Louis D. Lighton, Hope Loring (story by Ernest Vajda) CAM Victor Milner CAST Betty Bronson, Ricardo Cortez, Arlette Marchal, Theodore Roberts, Gordon Griffith

WINGS (1927) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Lucien Hubbard SCR Louis D. Lighton, Hope Loring (story John Monk Saunders) CAM Harry Perry MUS J.S. Zamecnik ED E. Lloyd Sheldon CAST Clara Bow, Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, Richard Arlen, Jobyna Ralston, El Brendel, Richard Tucker, Gary Cooper, Gunboat Smith, Hedda Hopper, William A. Wellman

THE LEGION OF THE CONDEMNED (1928) DIR William A. Wellman PROD William A. Wellman, Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor SCR John Monk Saunders, Jean de Limur CAM Henry W. Gerrard ED Carl Pierson, Alyson Shaffer CAST Gary Cooper, Fay Wray, Barry Norton, Lane Chandler, Francis McDonald, Voya George

LADIES OF THE MOB (1928) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR John Farrow, Oliver H.P. Garrett (story by Ernest Booth) CAM Henry W. Gerrard ED Edgar Adams, E. Lloyd Sheldon, Alyson Shaffer CAST Clara Bow, Richard Arlen, Helen Lynch, Mary Alden, Carl Gerard, Bodil Rosing

BEGGARS OF LIFE (1928) DIR William A. Wellman EXEC PROD Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor SCR Benjamin Glazer (story by Jim Tully) CAM Henry W. Gerrard ED Alyson Shaffer CAST Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen, Blue Washington, Kewpie Morgan, Andy Clark, Mike Donlin

CHINATOWN NIGHTS (1929) DIR William A. Wellman ASSOC PROD David O. Selznick SCR Ben Grauman Kohn, William B. Jutte, Oliver H.P. Garrett (story ‘Tong War’ by Samuel Ornitz) CAM Henry W. Gerrard MUS Karl Hajos, Max Bergunker, Gerard Carbonara ED Alyson Shaffer CAST Wallace Beery, Florence Vidor, Warner Oland, John McHugh, Jack Oakie

THE MAN I LOVE (1929) DIR William A. Wellman ASSOC PROD David O. Selznick SCR Percy Heath (story by Herman J. Mankiewicz) CAM Henry W. Gerrard ED Alyson Shaffer CAST Richard Arlen, Mary Brian, Olga Baclanova, Harry Green, Jack Oakie, Pat O’Malley

WOMAN TRAP (1929) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Louise Long, Bartlett Cormak (play ‘Brothers’ by Edwin J. Burke) CAM Henry W. Gerrard MUS Karl Hajos ED Alyson Shaffer CAST Hal Skelly, Chester Morris, Evelyn Brent, William B. Davidson, Effie Ellsler, Guy Oliver, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Virginia Bruce

DANGEROUS PARADISE (1930) DIR William A. Wellman EXEC PROD Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor SCR Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt (novel ‘Victory’ by Joseph Conrad) CAM Archie Stout CAST Nancy Carroll, Richard Arlen, Warner Oland, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Frances McDonald, George Kotsonaros, Dorothea Wolbert

YOUNG EAGLES (1930) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt (stories ‘The One Who Was Clever, Sky-High’ by Elliott White Springs) CAM Archie Stout ED Alyson Shaffer CAST Charles ‘Buddy’ Rogers, Jean Arthur, Paul Lukas, Stuart Erwin, Virginia Bruce, Gordon De Main, James Finlayson

MAYBE IT’S LOVE (1930) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Darryl F. Zanuck (story by Mark Canfield; play ‘The College Widow’ by George Ade) CAM Robert Kurrie ED Edward M. McDermott CAST Joan Bennett, Joe E. Brown, James Hall, Laura Lee, Sumner Getchell, George Irving, George Bickel

OTHER MEN’S WOMEN (1931) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Maude Fulton (also screen adaptation) CAM Barney McGill ED Edward M. McDermott CAST Grant Withers, Mary Astor, Regis Toomey, James Cagney, Fred Kohler, J. Farrell MacDonald, Joan Blondell

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Kubec Glasmon, John Bright (screen adaptation by Harvey F. Thew) CAM Devereaux Jennings ED Edward M. McDermott CAST James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods, Joan Blondell, Donald Cook, Leslie Fenton, Mae Clarke, Frank Coghlan Jr.

NIGHT NURSE (1931) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Oliver H.P. Garrett (novel by Dora Macy [Grace Perkins]) CAM Barney McGill ED Edward M. McDermott CAST Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell, Clark Gable, Blanche Friderici, Charlotte Merriam, Charles Winninger, Edward J. Nugent

THE STAR WITNESS (1931) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Lucien Hubbard (story by Bud Barsky) CAM James Van Trees ED Harold McLernon CAST Walter Huston, Frances Starr, Grant Mitchell, Sally Blane, Ralph Ince, Edward J. Nugent, Dickie Moore, Nat Pendleton, William A. Wellman

SAFE IN HELL (1931) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Joseph Jackson, Maude Fulton (play by Houston Branch) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Owen Marks CAST Dorothy Mackaill, Donald Cook, Ralf Harolde, John Wray, Ivan F. Simpson, Victor Varconi

THE HATCHET MAN (1932) DIR William A. Wellman SCR J. Grubb Alexander (play ‘The Honourable Mr. Wong’ by Achmed Abdullah, David Belasco) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Owen Marks CAST Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Dudley Digges, Leslie Fenton, Edmund Breese, Tully Marshall, J. Carrol Naish

SO BIG! (1932) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Jack L. Warner SCR J. Grubb Alexander, Robert Lord (novel ‘So Big’ by Edna Ferber) CAM Sidney Hickox ED William Holmes CAST Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Dickie Moore, Bette Davis, Mae Madison, Hardie Albright, Alan Hale, Florence Lawrence, Anne Shirley

LOVE IS A RACKET (1932) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Courtney Terrett (novel by Rian James) CAM Sidney Hickox ED William Holmes CAST Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Ann Dvorak, Frances Dee, Lee Tracy, Lyle Talbot, Warren Hymer, André Luguet

THE PURCHASE PRICE (1932) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Robert Lord (story ‘The Mud Lark’ by Arthur Stringer) CAM Sidney Hickox ED William Holmes CAST Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, Lyle Talbot, Hardie Albright, David Landau, Murray Kinnell, Leila Bennett, Mae Busch, Anne Shirley

THE CONQUERORS (1932) DIR William A. Wellman PROD David O. Selznick SCR Robert Lord (story by Howard Estabrook) CAM Edward Cronjager ED William Hamilton CAST Richard Dix, An Harding, Edna May Oliver, Guy Kibbee, Julie Haydon, Donald Cook, Walter Walker, Jason Robards Sr.

FRISCO JENNY (1932) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Robert Lord, Wilson Mizner (story by Gerald Beaumont, Lillie Hayward, John Francis Larkin) CAM Sidney Hickox ED James B. Morley CAST Ruth Chatterton, Louis Calhern, Helen Jerome Eddy, Donald Cook, James Murray, Hallam Cooley, Pat O’Malley, Gertrude Astor, William A. Wellman

CENTRAL AIRPORT (1933) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Hal B. Wallis SCR Rian James, James Seymour (story ‘Hawk’s Mate’ by Jack Moffitt) CAM Sidney Hickcox MUS Howard Jackson, Bernhard Kaun ED James B. Morley CAST Richard Barthelmess, Sally Eilers, Tom Brown, Grant Mitchell, James Murray, Claire McDowell, Willard Robertson, John Wayne

LILLY TURNER (1933) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola (play by George Abbott, Phillip Dunning) CAM James Van Trees ED James Gibbon CAST Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Robert Barrat, Ruth Donnelly, Mae Busch, Mayo Methot

HEROES FOR SALE (1933) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Hal B. Wallis SCR Robert Lord, Wilson Mizner CAM James Van Trees MUS Bernhard Kaun ED Howard Bretherton CAST Loretta Young, Richard Barthelmess, Aline MacMohan, Gordon Westcott, Berton Churchill, Grant Mitchell, Ward Bond

MIDNIGHT MARY (1933) DIR William A. Wellman ASSOC PROD Lucien Hubbard SCR Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola (story by Anita Loos) CAM James Van Trees MUS William Axt ED William S. Gray CAST Loretta Young, Franchot Tone, Ricardo Cortez, Andy Devine, Una Merkel, Frank Conroy, Warren Hymer

WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD (1933) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Robert Presnell Sr. SCR Earl Baldwin (story ‘Desperate Youth’ by Daniel Ahearn [Daniel Ahern]) CAM Arthur L. Todd MUS Bernhard Kaun ED Thomas Pratt CAST Frankie Darro, Rochelle Hudson, Edwin Phillips, Dorothy Coonan, Arthur Hohl, Ann Hovey, Grant Mitchell, Ward Bond, Alan Hale Jr.

COLLEGE COACH (1933) DIR William A. Wellman SCR Niven Busch, Manuel Seff (story by Niven Busch, Manuel Seff) CAM Arthur L. Todd MUS Bernhard Kaun ED Thomas Pratt CAST Dick Powell, Ann Dvorak, Pat O’Brien, Arthur Byron, Lyle Talbot, Hugh Herbert, Ward Bond, John Wayne

FEMALE (1933) DIR Michael Curtiz, William Dieterle, William A. Wellman [uncredited] PROD Robert Presnell Sr. SCR Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola (story by Donald Henderson Clarke) CAM Sidney Hickox ED Jack Killifer CAST Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Lois Wilson, Johnny Mack Brown, Ruth Donnelly, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Phillip Reed

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE (1934) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Leonard Praskins, Elmer Harris (story by J. Robert Bren) CAM James Van Trees MUS Alfred Newman ED Hanson T. Fritch CAST Spencer Tracy, Jack Oakie, Constance Cummings, Arline Judge, Judith Wood, Morgan Conway, Paul Harvey, Joe Sawyer

VIVA VILLA! (1934) DIR Jack Conway, Howard Hawks [uncredited], William A. Wellman [uncredited] PROD David O. Selznick SCR Ben Hecht (book by Edgecumb Pinchon, O.B. Stade) CAM Charles G. Clarke, James Wong Howe MUS Herbert Stothart ED Robert J. Kern CAST Wallace Beery, Fay Wray, Leo Carrillo, Donald Cook, Stuart Erwin, Joseph Schildkraut, Katherine DeMille, Mischa Auer

STINGAREE (1934) DIR William A. Wellman EXEC PROD Pandro S. Berman ASSOC PROD David Lewis SCR Becky Gardiner (adaptation by Lynn Riggs, Leonard Spigelgass; series of stories by E.W. Hornung) CAM James Van Trees MUS Max Steiner ED James B. Morley CAST Irene Dunne, Richard Dix, Mary Boland, Conway Tearle, Andy Devine, Henry Stephenson, George Barraud, Una O’Connor, Reginald Owen

THE PRESIDENT VANISHES (1934) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Walter Wanger SCR Carey Wilson, Cedric Worth (novel by Rex Stout) CAM Barney McGill MUS Edward B. Powell, Hugo Reisenfeld, Clifford Vaughan ED Hanson T. Fritch CAST Edward Arnold, Arthur Byron, Paul Kelly, Peggy Conklin, Andy Devine, Janet Beecher, Osgood Perkins, Sidney Blackmer

THE CALL OF THE WILD (1935) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Gene Fowler, Leonard Praskins (story by Jack London) CAM Charles Rosher MUS Alfred Newman ED Hanson T. Fritch CAST Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Reginald Owen, Frank Conroy, Katherine DeMille, Sidney Toler

THE ROBIN HOOD OF EL DORADO (1936) DIR William A. Wellman PROD John W. Considine Jr. SCR William A. Wellman, Melvin Levy, Joseph Calleia (book by Walter Noble Burns) CAM Chester A. Lyons MUS Herbert Stothart ED Robert J. Kern CAST Warner Baxter, Ann Loring, Bruce Cabot, Margo, J. Carrol Naish, Soledad Jiménez, Carlos De Valdez

SMALL TOWN GIRL (1936) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Hunt Stromberg SCR Frances Goodrich, Edith Fitzgerald, Albert Hackett, John Lee Mahin (novel by Ben Ames Williams) CAM Charles Rosher, Oliver T. Marsh MUS Herbert Stothart, Edward Ward ED Blanche Sewell CAST Janet Gaynor, Robert Taylor, Binnie Barnes, Andy Devine, Lewis Stone, James Stewart, Isabel Jewell, Charley Grapewin, Agnes Ayres

TARZAN ESCAPES (1936) DIR Richard Thorpe, William A. Wellman [uncredited], John Farrow [uncredited], James C. McKay [uncredited], George B. Seitz [uncredited] ASSOC PROD Sam Zimbalist SCR Cyril Hume (characters created by Edgar Rice Burroughs) CAM Leonard Smith ED W. Donn Hayes, Frank Lawrence CAST Johnny Weissmuller, Maureen O’Sullivan, John Buckler, Benita Hume, William Henry, Herbert Mundin, E.E. Clive

A STAR IS BORN (1937) DIR William A. Wellman, Jack Conway [uncredited] PROD David O. Selznick SCR Dorothy Parker, Alan Campbell, Robert Carson (story by William A. Wellman, Robert Carson) CAM W. Howard Greene MUS Max Steiner ED James E. Newcom CAST Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, Owen Moore, Peggy Wood, Carole Landis

THE LAST GANGSTER (1937) DIR Edward Ludwig PROD Lou L. Ostrow SCR John Lee Mahin (story by William A. Wellman, Robert Carson) CAM William H. Daniels MUS Edward Ward ED Ben Lewis CAST Edward G. Robinson, James Stewart, Rose Stradner, Lionel Stander, Douglas Scott, John Carradine, Sidney Blackmer, Grant Mitchell

NOTHING SACRED (1937) DIR William A. Wellman PROD David O. Selznick SCR Ben Hecht (story by James H. Street) CAM W. Howard Greene MUS Oscar Levant ED James E. Newcom CAST Carole Lombard, Fredric March, Charles Winninger, Walter Connolly, Sig Ruman, Frank Fay, Margaret Hamilton, Billy Barty, Hedda Hopper, Hattie McDaniel

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER (1938) DIR Norman Taurog, William A. Wellman [uncredited], George Cukor [uncredited], H.C. Potter [uncredited] PROD David O. Selznick SCR John V.A. Weaver (novel by Mark Twain) CAM James Wong Howe MUS Max Steiner ED Margaret Clancey CAST Tommy Kelly, Ann Gillis, Mae Robson, Cora Sue Collins, Walter Brennan, Victor Jory, Margaret Hamilton, Donald Meek, Spring Byington

MEN WITH WINGS (1938) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR Robert Carson CAM W. Howard Greene MUS W. Franke Harling, Gerard Carbonara ED Thomas Scott CAST Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Louise Campbell, Andy Devine, Lynne Overman, Porter Hall, Walter Abel, Donald O’Connor, Dennis Morgan, Mary Brodel, Evelyn Keyes, Joan Leslie

BEAU GESTE (1939) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR Robert Carson (novel by Percival Christopher Wren) CAM Archie Stout, Theodor Sparkuhl MUS Alfred Newman ED Thomas Scott CAST Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford, Donald O’Connor

THE LIGHT THAT FAILED (1939) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR Robert Carson (novel by Rudyard Kipling) CAM Theodor Sparkuhl MUS Victor Young ED Thomas Scott CAST Ronald Colman, Walter Huston, Muriel Angelus, Ida Lupino, Dudley Digges, Ernest Cossart

REACHING FOR THE SUN (1941) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR W.L. River (novel ‘F.O.B. Detroit’ by Wessel Smitter) CAM William C. Mellor MUS Victor Young ED Thomas Scott CAST Joel McCrea, Ellen Drew, Eddie Bracken, Albert Dekker, Billy Gilbert, George Chandler, Bodil Rosing, Regis Toomey

ROXIE HART (1942) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Nunnally Johnson SCR Nunnally Johnson (play ‘Chicago’ by Maurine Dallas Watkins) CAM Leon Shamroy MUS Alfred Newman ED James B. Clark CAST Ginger Rogers, Adolphe Menjou, George Montgomery, Lynne Overman, Nigel Bruce, Phil Silvers, Sara Allgood, Spring Byington, Jeff Corey

THE GREAT MAN’S LADY (1942) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR W.L. River (short story by Viña Delmar; original story by Adela Rogers St. Johns, Seena Owen) CAM William C. Mellor MUS Victor Young ED Thomas Scott CAST Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Brian Donlevy, K.T. Stevens, Thurston Hall, Lloyd Corrigan, Etta McDaniel, Frank M. Thomas, Anna Q. Nilsson

THUNDER BIRDS: SOLDIERS OF THE AIR (1942) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Lamar Trotti EXEC PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Lamar Trotti (original story by Melville Crossman [Darryl F. Zanuck]) CAM Ernest Palmer MUS David Buttolph ED Walter Thompson CAST Gene Tierney, Preston Foster, John Sutton, Jack Holt, Dame May Whitty, George Barbier, Richard Haydn, Reginald Denny, Peter Lawford

LADY OF BURLESQUE (1943) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Hunt Stromberg SCR James Gunn (novel ‘The G-String Murders’ by Gypsy Rose Lee) CAM Robert De Grasse MUS Arthur Lange CAST Barbara Stanwyck, Michael O’Shea, J. Edward Bromberg, Iris Adrian, Gloria Dickson, Victoria Faust, Stephanie Bachelor, Charles Dingle

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Lamar Trotti SCR Lamar Trotti (novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark) CAM Arthur C. Miller MUS Cyril J. Mockridge ED Allen McNeil CAST Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan, Jane Darwell, Harry Davenport, Margaret Hamilton

BUFFALO BILL (1944) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Harry Sherman EXEC PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Aeneas MacKenzie, Cecile Kramer, Clements Ripley (story by Frank Winch) CAM Leon Shamroy MUS David Buttolph ED James B. Clark CAST Joel McCrea, Maureen O’Hara, Linda Darnell, Thomas Mitchell, Edgar Buchanan, Anthony Quinn, Moroni Olsen, Sidney Blackmer, Mae Marsh

THIS MAN’S NAVY (1945) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Samuel Marx SCR Bordon Chase (also story) CAM Sidney Wagner MUS Nathaniel Shilkret ED Irvine Warburton CAST Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, James Gleason, Jan Clayton, Selenea Royle, Noah Beery Sr., Henry O’Neill, Steve Brodie, Blake Edwards, William Wellman Jr.

THE STORY OF G.I. JOE (1945) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Lester Cowan SCR Leopold Atlas, Guy Endore, Philip Stevenson (books ‘Brave Men’ and ‘Here Is Your War’ by Ernie Pyle) CAM Russell Metty MUS Louis Applebaum, Ann Ronell ED Albrecht Joseph CAST Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Freddie Steele, Wally Cassell, Bob Hope

GALLANT JOURNEY (1946) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR William A. Wellman, Byron Morgan CAM Elmer Dyer, Burnett Guffey, George B. Meehan Jr. MUS Marlin Skiles ED Al Clark CAST Glenn Ford, Janet Blair, Charles Ruggles, Henry Travers, Jimmy Lloyd, Charles Kemper, Arthur Shields, William Wellman Jr.

MAGIC TOWN (1947) DIR William A. Wellman PROD William A. Wellman, Robert Riskin SCR Robert Riskin (story by Robert Riskin, Joseph Krumgold) CAM Joseph F. Biroc MUS Roy Webb ED Sherman Todd, Richard G. Wray CAST James Stewart, Jane Wyman, Kent Smith, Ned Sparks, Wallace Ford, Regis Toomey, Ann Doran, Donals Meek

THE IRON CURTAIN (1948) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Sol C. Siegel SCR Milton Krims (story by Igor Gouzenko) CAM Charles G. Drake ED Louis Loeffler CAST Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, June Havoc, Berry Kroeger, Edna Best, Stefan Schnabel, Nicholas Joy, Eduard Franz

YELLOW SKY (1948) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Lamar Trotti SCR Lamar Trotti (story by W.R. Burnett) CAM Joseph MacDonald MUS Alfred Newman ED Harmon Jones CAST Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, Robert Arthur, John Russell, Harry Morgan, James Barton

BATTLEGROUND (1949) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Dore Schary SCR Robert Pirosh (also story) CAM Paul Vogel MUS Lennie Hayton ED John D. Dunning CAST Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Marshall Thompson, Jerome Courtland, James Whitmore, Richard Jaeckel, James Arness, Tommy Kelly

THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR… (1950) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Dore Schary SCR Charles Schnee (story by George Sumner Albee) CAM William C. Mellor MUS David Raksin ED John D. Dunning CAST James Whitmore, Nancy Reagan, Gary Gray, Lillian Bronson, Art Smith, Tom D’Andrea, Jeff Corey

THE HAPPY YEARS (1950) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Carey Wilson SCR Harry Ruskin (stories ‘The Lawrenceville School Stories’ by Owen Johnson) CAM Paul Vogel MUS Leigh Harline ED John D. Dunning CAST Dean Stockwell, Darryl Hickman, Scotty Beckett, Leon Ames, Margalo Gillmore, Leo G. Carroll, Donn Gift, Dwayne Hickman, Robert Wagner

ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI (1951) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Robert Sisk SCR Talbot Jennings (story by Talbot Jennings, Frank Cavett; book ‘Across the Wide Missouri’ by Bernard DeVoto) CAM William C. Mellor MUS David Raksin ED John D. Dunning CAST Clark Gable, Ricardo Montalban, John Hodiak, Adolphe Menjou, J. Carrol Naish, Jack Holt, Alan Napier, Richard Anderson, Howard Keel, James Whitmore

IT’S A BIG COUNTRY: AN AMERICAN ANTHOLOGY (1951) DIR Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, William A. Wellman PROD Robert Sisk SCR William Ludwig, Helen Deutsch, Ray Chordes, Isobel Lennart, Allen Rivkin, Dorothy Kingsley, Dore Schary, George Wells (story by Dore Schary, Edgar Brooke, Claudia Cranston, Lucille Schlossberg, Joseph Petracca) CAM John Alton, Ray June, William C. Mellor, Joseph Ruttenberg ED Ben Lewis, Frederick Y. Smith CAST Ethel Barrymore, Gary Cooper, Nancy Reagan, Van Johnson, Gene Kelly, Janet Leigh, Marjorie Main, Fredric March, George Murphy, William Powell, S.Z. Sakall, Lewis Stone, James Whitmore, Keenan Wynn, Leon Ames, Jean Hersholt, Louis Calhern

WESTWARD THE WOMEN (1951) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Dore Schary SCR Charles Schnee (story by Frank Capra) CAM William C. Mellor MUS Jeff Alexander ED James E. Newcom CAST Robert Taylor, Denise Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire, Julie Bishop, Lenore Lonergan, Henry Nakamura, Marilyn Erskine

THREE GUYS NAMED MIKE (1951) DIR Charles Walters PROD Armand Deutsch SCR Sidney Sheldon (story by William A. Wellman [uncredited], Ruth Brooks Flippen) CAM Paul Vogel ED Irvine Warburton CAST Jane Wyman, Van Johnson, Howard Keel, Barry Sullivan, Phyllis Kirk, Anne Sargent, Jeff Donnell, Mae Clarke

MY MAN AND I (1952) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Stephen Ames SCR John Fante, Jack Leonard CAM William C. Mellor MUS David Buttolph ED John D. Dunning CAST Shelley Winters, Ricardo Montalban, Wendell Corey, Claire Trevor, Robert Burton, Jack Elam, Pascual Garcia Peña

ISLAND IN THE SKY (1953) DIR William A. Wellman PROD John Wayne, Robert Fellows SCR Ernest K. Gann (also novel ‘Island in the Sky’) CAM Archie Stout MUS Emil Newman ED Ralph Dawson CAST John Wayne, Lloyd Nolan, Walter Abel, James Arness, Andy Devine, Allyn Joslyn, Jimmy Lydon, Harry Carey Jr., Regis Toomey, Louis Jean Heydt, Darryl Hickman, Mike Connors, Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer, Ann Doran, Michael Wellman, Tom Wellman, William A. Wellman (narration)

THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954) DIR William A. Wellman PROD John Wayne, Robert Fellows SCR Ernest K. Gann (also novel ‘The High and the Mighty’) CAM Archie Stout MUS Dimitri Tiomkin ED Ralph Dawson CAST John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack, Jan Sterling, Phil Harris, Robert Newton, Sidney Blackmer, Julie Bishop, Karen Sharpe, Ann Doran, Michael Wellman, Regis Toomey, Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer

RING OF FEAR (1954) DIR James Edward Grant, William A. Wellman [uncredited] PROD Robert Fellows SCR Paul Fix, Philip MacDonald, James Edward Grant CAM Edwin B. DuPar MUS Emil Newman, Arthur Lange ED Fred MacDowell CAST Clyde Beatty, Pat O’Brien, Mickey Spillane, Pat O’Brien, Sean McClory, Marian Carr, John Bromfield, Pedro Gonzales Gonzales, Emmett Lynn, Jack Stang

TRACK OF THE CAT (1954) DIR William A. Wellman PROD John Wayne, Robert Fellows SCR A.I. Bezzerides (novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark) CAM William H. Clothier MUS Roy Webb ED Fred MacDowell CAST Robert Mitchum, Teresa Wright, Diana Lynn, Tab Hunter, Beulah Bondi, Philip Tonge, William Hopper, Carl ‘Alfalfa’ Switzer

BLOOD ALLEY (1955) DIR William A. Wellman, John Wayne [uncredited] PROD John Wayne SCR Albert Sidney Fleischman (also novel ‘Blood Alley’) CAM William H. Clothier MUS Roy Webb ED Fred MacDowell CAST John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Paul Fix, Joy Kim, Berry Kroeger, Mike Mazurki, Anita Ekberg

GOOD-BYE, MY LADY (1956) DIR William A. Wellman PROD John Wayne SCR Albert Sidney Fleischman (novel by James H. Street) CAM William H. Clothier MUS Laurindo Almeida, George Fields ED Fred MacDowell CAST Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Sidney Poitier, William Hopper, Louise Beavers, George Chandler

DARBY’S RANGERS (1958) DIR William A. Wellman PROD Martin Rackin SCR Guy Trosper (suggested by the book by Major James Altieri) CAM William H. Clothier MUS Max Steiner ED Owen Marks CAST James Garner, Etchika Choureau, Jack Warden, Edd Byrnes, Venetia Stevenson, Torin Thatcher, Corey Allen, Stuart Whitman, Murray Hamilton, William Wellman Jr., Andrea King, Reginald Owen

LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE (1958) DIR – PROD William A. Wellman SCR Albert Sidney Fleischman (story by William A. Wellman) CAM William H. Clothier MUS Leonard Rosenman ED Owen Marks CAST Tab Hunter, Etchika Choureau, William Wellman Jr., Jody McCrea, Dennis Devine, Marcel Dalio, David Janssen, Paul Fix, Clint Eastwood, Tom Laughlin, William A. Wellman (narration)