Robert aldrich

Robert Burgess Aldrich (Cranston, Rhode Island, August 9, 1918 - Los Angeles, California, December 5, 1983) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.

His violent and critical filmmaking made him a symbol of postwar American cinema. Some of his most famous films are Kiss Me Deadly, Veracruz, in which he directed Burt Lancaster, Gary Cooper and Sara Montiel, The Big Knife, Sodom and Gomorrah, The Dirty Twelve and What Happened to Baby Jane?.

Biography

He was born in Cranston on August 9, 1918. His grandfather was a United States Senator and his father published a newspaper, which somehow led him to pursue a degree in Economics at the University of Virginia, which he later dropped out of. to enter the world of cinema.

He started at the RKO studios and was assistant director to Jean Renoir, Joseph Losey and Charles Chaplin. In 1950 he began directing for television and directed his first film, The Big Leaguer in 1954.

A director since 1953, he soon stood out for his portrayal of violence and his devastating criticism, until he became a symbol of post-war American cinema. He often revels in scenes of unleashed violence and fierce visual rawness. He also treats erotic themes with direct tearing ( Sodom and Gomorrah , 1963). He was fired during the filming of Beasts of the City (1957)

He has made some of the most unique films in Hollywood and much of his work is a must-view for movie lovers. Among his best remembered works are the western Vera Cruz (Veracruz) (1954) -with Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper-, the thriller Kiss me deadly (Kiss me Deadly, 1955), which was elevated by the French, the sharp vision of the world of cinema in The Big Knife (1955) and What happened to Baby Jane? (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, 1962), with a memorable acting duel between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, among whom there were a lot of tension during filming and, once the film was finished, they publicly revealed their enmity.

Aldrich imposed his personal touch on each of his films, even on those of purely commercial interest such as The Dirty Dozen (1967), an example for the subsequent war films and that allowed him to set up his own studio and finance his films for a few years.

In 1955 he won the second prize at the Venice Film Festival for The Big Knife, while in the 1956 edition of that festival, he won the Italian Critics Award for Attack. That same year, he won the best director award at the Berlin Film Festival for Autumn Leaves .

He is the nephew of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and grandson of Nelson W. Aldrich. He was the president of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) from 1975 to 1979. From his marriage to Harriet Foster, which lasted from 1941 to 1965, he had four children, who dedicated themselves to the film business: Adell, William, Alida, and Kelly. Aldrich. In 1966, after divorcing his first wife, Harriet, he married model Sybille Siegfried.

He died in 1983 of kidney failure.

Filmography

Cinema

• Caught (1949)
• Big Leaguer (1953) (director)
• World for Ransom (1954)
• Apache (1954) (director)
• Vera Cruz (1954) (director)
• The mortal kiss (Kiss Me Deadly(1955) (director, producer)
• The Big Knife (1955) (director, producer)
• Autumn leaves (Autumn Leaves(1956) (director)
• Attack (1956) (director, producer)
• The Gamma People (1956) (guionist)
• The Garment Jungle (1957) (director)
• Ten Seconds to Hell (1959) (director, screenwriter)
• The Angry Hills (1959) (director)
• The last evening (The Last Sunset(1961) (director)
• Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) (director)
• What about Baby Jane?/What happened to Baby Jane? (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?(1962) (director, producer)
• Four Texas Guys (4 for Texas(1963) (director, screenwriter, producer)
• Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) (director, producer)
• The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) (director, producer)
• The Dirty Dozen (1967) (director)
• The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968) (director, producer)
• The Killing of Sister George (1968) (director, producer)
• The Greatest Mother of Them All (1969) (director, producer)
• What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? (1969) (productor)
• Too Late the Hero (1970) (director, screenwriter, producer)
• The Grissom Gang (1971) (director, producer)
• Ulzana's Raid (1972) (director)
• Emperor of the North (1973) (director)
• The Longest Yard (1974) (director)
• Hustle (1975) (director, producer)
• Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977) (director)
• The Choirboys (1977) (director)
• The Frisco Kid (1979) (director)
• All the Marbles (1981) (director)

Television

• Schlitz Playhouse of Stars (1951) (director, 1 episode)
• China Smith (1952) (director, 2 episodes)
• The Doctor (1952) (director, 1 episode)
• Four Star Playhouse (1952) (director, 5 episodes)
• Hotel de Paree (1959) (director, 1 episode)
• Adventures in Paradise (1959) (director, 2 episodes)

Awards and distinctions

Venice International Film Festival

Berlin International Film Festival

• Italian Critics Award for Attack.
• Hochi film by The Big Knife.

And nominations like the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and several Laurel Award nominations.