"Wild Bill: A Hollywood Maverick" is a very good documentary about the famous film director. His son, William Wellman Jr. was the executive producer and creator of the film...and it would be interesting to see another documentary about the man from a different viewpoint...one not so close to Wellman. Fortunately, the DVD for this film ("Forbidden Hollywood Vol III") ALSO includes an earlier documentary, "The Men Who Made the Movies: William A. Wellman" by film writer/producer Richard Schickel. I have yet to see the second one. But my reason for wanting to see more is that I was surprised that "Wild Bill" really didn't say a lot about William Wellman OFF CAMERA. Sure, it talks about his time spend in WWI but what about his life after that? And, the film totally glosses over his five marriages (it mentions 4...but only briefly) and says what a great family man he was....but that seems a bit confusing.
Now my complaint is NOT to say it's a bad film...it certainly isn't. Wellman Jr.. was able to get many famous folks who knew and worked with the man to talk about it and the film does talk about many of his better films (though, it did omit some real classics as well nor talk of his few big failires). All in all, a terrific introduction to the man but not really complete enough for some film nuts...like myself. The film easily could have used another hour.
Now my complaint is NOT to say it's a bad film...it certainly isn't. Wellman Jr.. was able to get many famous folks who knew and worked with the man to talk about it and the film does talk about many of his better films (though, it did omit some real classics as well nor talk of his few big failires). All in all, a terrific introduction to the man but not really complete enough for some film nuts...like myself. The film easily could have used another hour.