Among the great emigres that emerged in Tinseltown by the Thirties, was William Wyler. A consummate professional and perfectionist who would gain his reputation as house director for Sam Goldwyn with the impressive 1936 film These Three, which was based on Lillian Hellman's acclaimed play The Children's Hour, a cautionary tale about children and aspersion casting. Dodsworth (1936) was a screen telling of the the classic Sinclair Lewis novel. Dead End (1937), one of the finest adaptations of Wuthering Heights in 1939, The Little Foxes (1941), Mrs. Miniver (1942) that starred Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon and many more on his celluloid C.V, culminating in 1946's The Best Years of Our Lives.
Wyler famously clashed with Bette Davis who was a bit boorish herself and other contemporaneous starlets, due to his persnickety but proficient ways on-set but the director would collaborate closely with deep-focus cinematographer Gregg Toland. His particular brand of realism, in fact was championed by the French critic Andre Bazin, but his ponderous and literary style made him decidedly less fashionable come the 1960s, despite (or because of ) his third Oscar for Ben-Hur (1959), though with Barbara Streisand's vehicle musical Funny Girl (1968) his direction was fa