The Men Who Made The Movies: William Wellman

This month on Turner Classic Movies, they are hosting a 35-Film Tribute to William Wellman.

Last Wednesday, Turner presented the special The Men Who Made The Movies: William Wellman directed by movie critic Richard Schickel. My only prior exposure to Wellman was the 1931 gangster drama The Public Enemy starring James Cagney and The Ox Bow Incident in which I watched in my Western Genre class in college. After watching the documentary, it made me want to investigate all the films showing under TCM's marathon. Wellman was one tough cookie and had a reputation for being a hardass on his actors and especially his crew. Wellman's spunky attitude shown through in the interviews in the documentary, but it also portrayed him as a born storyteller, one who could recount for you an amazing hard-to-believe tale with all the right pacing and tension needed to keep you interested and surprised at the ending. If his films are anything like that; I'm in for quite a month...