Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick: The Life and Times of William A. Wellman

As a restless young man early in World War I, William A. Wellman joined the French Foreign Legion, and then became an ace American pilot with the famed Lafayette Escadrille. After being shot down and suffering grave injuries, the war hero returned to civilian life in Hollywood in the 1920s, soon becoming known as Wild Bill for his maverick perspective and two-fisted approach to directing. As the excellent documentary Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick details, Wellman's insistence on realistic filmmaking resulted in the still-breathtaking aerial choreography in his breakthrough film, 1927's Wings, the very first Best Picture Oscar winner. His other films, especially war pictures such as the Story of G.I. Joe, Beau Geste, and Battleground, display equal parts authenticity, grit, and humanity. Wellman also broke out of war-picture confines to have huge success with films such as a Star Is Born (for which he won his only Oscar, for co-writing the script), the screwball comedy Nothing Sacred, and the meditative anti lynching drama the Ox-Bow Incident. Wild Bill traces Wellman's extraordinary career, highlighted by interviews with such varied Wellman stars as Robert Mitchum, Buddy Rogers, Burgess Meredith, Clint Eastwood, and Nancy Davis Reagan. Fans of Hollywood history and film in general won't want to miss this fascinating portrait of a true iconoclast.