Director: William Wyler
William Wyler directed for four decades and holds a record no one has approached: more of his actors won Academy Awards than any other director’s. The method behind it was brutal repetition, dozens of takes without notes, which earned him the nickname Ninety-Take Wyler and the resentment of several stars.
Working with cinematographer Gregg Toland he pushed deep focus staging, keeping foreground and background sharp so a scene could play in one shot with several actions competing. The Best Years of Our Lives is built almost entirely on it.
He won Best Director three times, for Mrs Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives and Ben-Hur, and made Roman Holiday, The Little Foxes and The Heiress in between.
