THE MEN WHO MADE THE MOVIES (2002) B/W & C; 57m each episode; dir: Richard Schickel

From Now Playing: A Viewer's Guide to Turner Classic Movies (July 2002): "TCM presents a special-edition documentary series with newly restored versions of Richard Schickel's The Men Who Made the Movies, an illuminating body of work about outstanding directors that was named one of the best television programs of the year [1973] when it was originally broadcast on PBS. The unique series offers personal reminiscences and insights from the directors themselves, allowing some of the most dynamic forces in the film world to be heard in their own voices. The interviews are interwoven with lengthy, re-mastered clips featuring the best scenes from many of the directors' most unforgettable films.

"The documentaries are produced, written and directed by Richard Schickel, the influential film critic for Time magazine who also has distinguished himself as the producer, writer and director of movie-related documentaries as well as the author of 30 books including The Disney Version and D.W. Griffith: An American Life. This special edition of Schickel's series features a new narration by director Sydney Pollack and a new documentary examining the career of maverick filmmaker Samuel Fuller. Each documentary is accompanied on TCM by several full-length versions of representative examples of their work.

"Samuel Fuller (1911-1997) brought his background as a former crime reporter, pulp-fiction writer and decorated war hero to his gritty, compelling films. 'The heat of the story is what I'm interested in,' Fuller tells Schickel in their interview. Although most of Fuller's films were considered 'B' action movies at the time, he lent them such a daring and distinctive stamp that many have since become cult favorites. Shock Corridor (1963...), widely recognized as one of his best films, stars Peter Breck as a ruthless journalist who believes that the quickest way to a Pulitzer Prize is to uncover the facts behind a murder at a mental hospital. The Naked Kiss (1964...), starring Constance Towers as a strong-willed prostitute fighting hypocrisy in her struggle to go straight, is another example of Fuller's raw, tabloid-influenced style.

"Howard Hawks (1896-1977), a straightforward storyteller who eschewed showy technique, excelled in almost every film genre and was at his best directing action-filled melodramas or comedies. 'His emphasis was always on speed,' notes Schickel. Hawks' The Big Sleep (1946), based on the Raymond Chandler novel, is one of the most influential detective movies, with its convoluted plot and supercharged sexual chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Hawks set the pace for fast-talking farce with His Girl Friday (1940), a variation of the newspaper comedy The Front Page in which Hawks' inspiration was to turn star reporter Hildy Johnson into a female (Rosalind Russell), lending crackling sexual tension to her relationship to her editor (Cary Grant).

"George Cukor (1899-1983) was hailed as the movies' quintessential 'woman's director' because of his brilliant handling of female stars --- ranging from Greta Garbo and Ingrid Bergman to Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn who gave their most affecting performances under his guidance. The Women (1939), a catty comedy that became one of Cukor's greatest successes, gave him abundant opportunities to reinforce his reputation with its all-female cast headed by Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford. In another of his comedy triumphs, The Philadelphia Story (1940), Cukor helped Katharine Hepburn crystallize her screen image. 'The truth will move people,' was Cukor's simple explanation of his genius.

"Raoul Walsh (1887-1980) excelled in virile action films and emotion-charged melodramas, leading Schickel to call his body of work 'maybe the most enjoyable and certainly the least pretentious of any in American movie history.' Schickel notes that, like their director, Walsh's films were 'down-to-earth, fast-moving, full of honest sentiment and good humor, with just a touch of hokum.' Walsh's dynamic style turned Objective, Burma! (1945), a WWII adventure with Errol Flynn as a captain who leads his paratroopers on a daring raid, into one of the most rousing of all war movies. Walsh, who cut a dashing figure with his eye patch, guided James Cagney through one of his most electrifying performances as a psychotic criminal in White Heat (1949).

"King Vidor (1894-1982), renowned for his technical virtuosity and humane approach, demonstrates both qualities in Street Scene (1931...), a touching study of tenement life in Manhattan in which Vidor maintains interest in the limited setting through striking camera angles. In the boxing melodrama The Champ (1931), Vidor set the standard for the genre and drew genuine pathos from Wallace Beery as a washed-up boxer idolized by his son (Jackie Cooper). A creator of great silent films who brought his brilliance into the sound era, Vidor was described by Jazz Age novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald as 'the only American-born director with an interesting temperament and an artistic conscience.'"

Alfred Hitchcock: From the Turner Classic Movies website, www.turnerclassicmovies.com: "Originally produced by film critic Richard Schickel for a 7-part series on directors for American public television, The Men Who Made the Movies: Alfred Hitchcock (1973) concentrates on the suspense thrillers of the internationally famous director.

"Although Hitchcock's silent thrillers are hardly touched on here, we do get a thorough analysis of his filmmaking techniques and how he builds tension in such famous films as Saboteur and Frenzy. The film clips included have recently been upgraded in quality so the documentary looks much better now than when it first premiered in 1973." Narration by Cliff Robertson.

William Wellman: From the Turner Classic Movies website, www.turnerclassicmovies.com: "TCM is proud to present the premiere of the revised version of Richard Schickel's The Men Who Made the Movies: William Wellman, made in 1973 and now updated with new interview material, re-mastered footage and a new narration by director Sydney Pollack. Joining host Robert Osborne to introduce and discuss TCM's lineup of Wellman films is the filmmaker's son, actor-producer-author William Wellman, Jr."