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From the Playhouse to the Hollywood Screen: William Wyler's Thoughts on "The Little Foxes"
From: Columbia University
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Columbia University Oral History Research Office |
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION |
The veteran director and producer William Wyler (1902-81) used film to overcome restrictions he found on the theatrical stage. Wyler's third and last film with Bette Davis, The Little Foxes, was renowned for its use of wide-angle cinematography techniques, which were new to the film industry at the time. In this 1972 interview, conducted by Charles Higham for Columbia University's Oral History Research Office, Wyler explains how the cinematographic skill of the legendary cameraman Gregg Toland brought new challenges and intrigue to every scene they shot together. |
William Wyler describes the heart-attack scene in The Little Foxes.
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Question: How did you like working with Toland? |
William Wyler: Oh, very much. I mean, Toland, for many years he had spoiled me for other cameramen. He and I had an ideal workmanship together. First of all, he was daring. He did things, he influenced my style of direction by allowing me to--by getting a sharp focus. And he started that with me and did it later with Orson Welles. |
There was a great deal talked about that and written about it. And because he was able to do that, he influenced my style of direction in the sense that I didn't have to--I could compose scenes in a way that you didn't have to do cut, cut, cut all the time, close-up here, close-up there, you know, back and forth. |
I could get a scene with--well, you see it in The Little Foxes in several instances--four or five people together in a scene and have no close-ups, because you could see the person. You would compose them in such a way that there was some in the foreground, some in the middle ground, some in the background. And you could see the person in the background clearly, see their reactions without having to cut to a close-up. In other words, you could see action and reaction at the same time and do your own cutting by watching. |
You know, some people would look here and there, you know, and you could look around. Because when you cut to somebody's close-up, you're excluding the other characters. And that's good when you want to do that. When you want to exclude everyone and just concentrate on the one person, then that's very useful. You cut straight on the one. But if the other persons also have things to do, to react, then you're losing something that may be of interest. |
So through his use of wide-angle lenses, sharp focus, through additional light and so on, I was able to compose scenes, play long scenes together in a way that I thought was more interesting. |
A great deal was written about it at the time, about these things. Even the use of wide-angle lenses, which is being done all the time now but was a novelty. For instance, we did close-ups of Herbert Marshall when he's supposed to be sick and dying. We did it with a wide-angle lens, where the lens was this close to his face and would distort his face. In other words, deliberate distortion, which would make him look sick. |
If you knew he was sick and you saw his features distorted, you'd see the man getting a heart attack right in front of you, you know. It was very interesting. So Toland and I, because Toland always thought--you see a lot of cameramen, they just think of the lights and things and general mood, but Toland thought of what I was trying to do and he would see how he could help me achieve what I was after, or improve on dramatic effect of whatever the scene called for, you see, or how he could enhance the drama of a scene. And that is real--I mean, that is being a photographer at his best. There was great cooperation between us there. |
Q: Yes, you had an unusual touch, which was to have very bright lighting in an essentially dark, melodramatic subject. You had very bright light all the way through. |
Q: It seemed to provide--whereas so many pictures of that kind are in shadows--a wonderful contrast there. |
Wyler: Yes. He really had a great influence on me, and he was a remarkable photographer. |
Q: Herbert Marshall--that heart attack scene--did he have to get advice from a doctor, or had you seen a heart attack? It's very realistic, because I've seen someone have a heart attack, and it was uncannily correct. How was that achieved? |
Wyler: I don't remember. I think I did consult with a doctor, but it confirmed what Lillian [Hellman] told me of how a man should react, because there were certain requirements he had to have about him to have a heart attack. Obviously it was--well, it seems that's the way it was played. |
He had to have the bottle and then drop the bottle so it would crash, so it would spill, you know, break. Then he had to ask her to get the other bottle upstairs, and she wouldn't go. And then, well, there was also a great deal written about that scene, which Bette did marvelously. And the way I staged that--here was an instance where I kept her in the foreground all the time and he staggered out of his chair, but behind her, and went up the stairs, where he collapsed. |
I remember that in that scene Toland and I discussed it, and we said we've got to stay on Bette all the time and just see this thing in the background, see him going in the background, but never lose her. So he said, "Well, we can have it both sharp." |
And I thought about that for a while, and I said, no, in this case, I would like it not to be sharp. Only her sharp, so that what you see in the background would be sort of out of focus and would look like you're watching something you're not supposed to watch, but still you could follow his steps down, around her, out to the staircase and starting up the stairs. And we deliberately kept this out of focus, but still so that you could see it. |
Now, there was another problem involved with that, and that was the fact that Herbert Marshall has a wooden leg and couldn't make the stairs, you see. This is a trade secret. I had him stagger in the background, get behind her, and just for a moment when he gets to the stairs he had to go to a landing over there, and just for a moment went out of the picture. And a double came in and went up the stairs, staggered way behind, out of focus, because he couldn't make the stairs. |
Q: He couldn't climb stairs at all? |
Wyler: Well, he could only go up one at a time, you know, only with one foot. And here he had to stagger up the stairs, so that I just took him out of the picture in the background, which is slightly out of focus, and another man came in, dressed like he is, to stagger up the stairs, halfway up, and then collapsed. And at that moment, Bette screamed and ran up after him, you know, but too late. |
Q: Do you remember the face was dead white? |
Q: Did you use white makeup for her? |
Wyler: No, I think that was probably just the way she played it. She was damn good. |
Q: Did the question ever arise of your working with Bette again? Was the subject discussed? |
Wyler: No, there was no other picture that came up that she would say yes to. I never had another part for her peculiar, particular talents. |
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