Walter Wanger
Encyclopedia
Walter Wanger was an American
film producer
. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures
in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent. Wanger served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945.
Wanger was born Walter Feuchtwanger in San Francisco, California
, and pronounced "Wanger" to rhyme with "danger". He served with the United States Army
during World War I
. He attended Dartmouth College
in New Hampshire.
In 1929 he was a producer on The Cocoanuts
, directed by Robert Florey
and Joseph Santley
, starring the Marx Brothers
in their first talkie. His many productions include The Sheik
(1921), Tarnished Lady
(1931), Gabriel Over the White House
(1933), Queen Christina
(1933), The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
(1936), History Is Made At Night
(1937), Stagecoach (1939), Foreign Correspondent
(1940), Scarlet Street
(1945), Joan of Arc
(1948), The Reckless Moment
(1949), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), I Want to Live!
(1958), and Cleopatra
(1963).
Wanger married silent film
actress Justine Johnstone
in 1919. They divorced in 1938 and in 1940 he married Joan Bennett
with whom he remained married until their divorce in 1965. They had two daughters, Stephanie (born 1943) and Shelley Antonia (born 1948), and Wanger adopted Bennett's daughter, Diana, by her marriage to Gene Markey
. In 1950, Bennett signed with MCA
agent Jennings Lang
. In 1951, Wanger shot and wounded Lang after accusing him of having an affair with Bennett. Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler
, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense and Wanger served a four-month sentence at the Castaic Honor Farm two hours' drive north of Los Angeles. The experience profoundly affected him and in 1954 he made the prison film Riot in Cell Block 11
.
Wanger was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1946 for his service as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
. He refused another honorary Oscar in 1949 for Joan of Arc, out of anger over the fact that the film, which he felt was one of his best, had not been nominated for Best Picture.
His 1958 production of I Want to Live! starred Susan Hayward
in an anti-capital punishment
film that is one of the most highly regarded films on the subject. Hayward won her only Oscar for her role in the film.
In May 1966, Wanger received the Commendation of the Order of Merit, Italy's third-highest honor, from Consul General Alvaro v. Bettrani, "for your friendship and cooperation with the Italian government in all phases of the motion picture industry."
Walter Wanger died of a heart attack
, aged 74, in New York City
. He was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Colma, California
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. An intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas, Wanger's career began at Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in the 1920s and led him to work at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent. Wanger served as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945.
Wanger was born Walter Feuchtwanger in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, and pronounced "Wanger" to rhyme with "danger". He served with the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He attended Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
in New Hampshire.
In 1929 he was a producer on The Cocoanuts
The Cocoanuts
The Cocoanuts is the first feature-length Marx Brothers film, produced by Paramount Pictures. The musical comedy stars the four Marx Brothers, Oscar Shaw, Mary Eaton, and Margaret Dumont. Produced by Walter Wanger and the first sound movie to credit more than one director , and was adapted to the...
, directed by Robert Florey
Robert Florey
Robert Florey was a French screenwriter, director of short films, and actor who moved to Hollywood in 1921. In 1950, Florey was made a knight in the French Légion d'honneur....
and Joseph Santley
Joseph Santley
Joseph Santley was an American actor, singer, dancer, writer, director, and producer of musical theatrical plays and motion pictures....
, starring the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
in their first talkie. His many productions include The Sheik
The Sheik (film)
The Sheik is a 1921 silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky, directed by George Melford and starring Rudolph Valentino, Agnes Ayres, and Adolphe Menjou...
(1921), Tarnished Lady
Tarnished Lady
Tarnished Lady is a 1931 American drama film directed by George Cukor. The screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart is based on his short story "A Story of a New York Lady."-Plot:...
(1931), Gabriel Over the White House
Gabriel Over the White House
Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American Pre-Code film variously described as a "bizarre political fantasy" or a "comedy drama" that "is surprisingly socialist in tone " and which "posits a favorable view of fascism."The film stars Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, C. Henry Gordon,...
(1933), Queen Christina
Queen Christina (film)
Queen Christina is a Pre-Code Hollywood feature film loosely based on the life of 17th century Queen Christina of Sweden, produced in 1933, directed by Rouben Mamoulian, starring Swedish-born actress Greta Garbo, John Gilbert, Ian Keith and Lewis Stone. It was billed as Garbo's return to cinema...
(1933), The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine (1936 film)
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is a 1936 romance film based on the novel of the same name. It was directed by Henry Hathaway. It was the second full length feature film to be shot in three-strip Technicolor and the first in color to be shot outdoors, with the approval of the Technicolor Corporation...
(1936), History Is Made At Night
History Is Made at Night (1937 film)
History Is Made at Night is a 1937 romantic drama with elements of comedy and spectacle.It deals with a love triangle among a possessive shipping magnate, his beautiful wife, and a French headwaiter, with a spectacular ocean liner as a backdrop....
(1937), Stagecoach (1939), Foreign Correspondent
Foreign Correspondent (film)
Foreign Correspondent is a 1940 American spy thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock which tells the story of an American reporter who tries to expose enemy spies in Britain, a series of events involving a continent-wide conspiracy that eventually leads to the events of a fictionalized World War...
(1940), Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street
Scarlet Street is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang and based on the French novel La Chienne by Georges de La Fouchardière, that previously had been dramatized on stage by André Mouëzy-Éon, and cinematically as La Chienne by director Jean Renoir.The principal actors Edward G...
(1945), Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc (1948 film)
Joan of Arc is a 1948 Technicolor film directed by Victor Fleming; starring Ingrid Bergman as the French religious icon and war heroine. It was produced by Walter Wanger. It is based on Maxwell Anderson's successful Broadway play Joan of Lorraine, which also starred Bergman, and was adapted for the...
(1948), The Reckless Moment
The Reckless Moment
The Reckless Moment is a film noir melodrama directed by Max Ophüls, produced by Walter Wanger, and released by Columbia Pictures with Burnett Guffey as cinematographer. Starring Joan Bennett and James Mason, the film is based on The Blank Wall , a novel written by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding...
(1949), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), I Want to Live!
I Want to Live!
I Want to Live! is a 1958 film noir produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Robert Wise which tells the heavily fictionalized story of a woman, Barbara Graham, convicted of murder and facing execution. It stars Susan Hayward as Graham, and also features Simon Oakland, Stafford Repp, and Theodore...
(1958), and Cleopatra
Cleopatra (1963 film)
Cleopatra is a 1963 British-American-Swiss epic drama film directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The screenplay was adapted by Sidney Buchman, Ben Hecht, Ranald MacDougall, and Mankiewicz from a book by Carlo Maria Franzero. The film starred Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Roddy...
(1963).
Wanger married silent film
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actress Justine Johnstone
Justine Johnstone
Justine Johnstone was an American stage and silent screen actress who retired to become a pathologist and expert on syphilis. She also was part of the team that developed the modern intravenous drip technique....
in 1919. They divorced in 1938 and in 1940 he married Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
with whom he remained married until their divorce in 1965. They had two daughters, Stephanie (born 1943) and Shelley Antonia (born 1948), and Wanger adopted Bennett's daughter, Diana, by her marriage to Gene Markey
Gene Markey
Eugene Willford "Gene" Markey was an American author, producer, screenwriter, and highly decorated naval officer.-Biography:...
. In 1950, Bennett signed with MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
agent Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang
Jennings Lang was an American film producer, as well as a screenwriter and actor.- Biography :...
. In 1951, Wanger shot and wounded Lang after accusing him of having an affair with Bennett. Wanger's attorney, Jerry Giesler
Jerry Giesler
Jerry Giesler was an American criminal defense lawyer.For more than half a century, Jerry Giesler was a household name across the United States. He was the first president of the Criminal Courts Bar Association in Los Angeles.-Early career:Giesler was born in Iowa...
, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense and Wanger served a four-month sentence at the Castaic Honor Farm two hours' drive north of Los Angeles. The experience profoundly affected him and in 1954 he made the prison film Riot in Cell Block 11
Riot in Cell Block 11
Riot in Cell Block 11 is a 1954 drama film starring Neville Brand and Leo Gordon. It was directed by Don Siegel, based on the screenplay by Richard Collins.-Plot:...
.
Wanger was given an Honorary Academy Award in 1946 for his service as President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
. He refused another honorary Oscar in 1949 for Joan of Arc, out of anger over the fact that the film, which he felt was one of his best, had not been nominated for Best Picture.
His 1958 production of I Want to Live! starred Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward was an American actress.After working as a fashion model in New York, Hayward travelled to Hollywood in 1937 when open auditions were held for the leading role in Gone with the Wind . Although she was not selected, she secured a film contract, and played several small supporting...
in an anti-capital punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
film that is one of the most highly regarded films on the subject. Hayward won her only Oscar for her role in the film.
In May 1966, Wanger received the Commendation of the Order of Merit, Italy's third-highest honor, from Consul General Alvaro v. Bettrani, "for your friendship and cooperation with the Italian government in all phases of the motion picture industry."
Walter Wanger died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 74, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He was interred in the Home of Peace Cemetery in Colma, California
Colma, California
Colma is a small incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, at the northern end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 1,792 at the 2010 census. The town was founded as a necropolis in 1924....
.
Further reading
- Matthew Bernstein Walter Wanger, Hollywood Independent, University Of Minnesota Press, 2000
- Thomas Schatz The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era, Simon & Schuster, 1989