Poetics of Motion
The propulsive energy of William Wellman's pre-Code films
by Nick Pinkerton
posted Feb 15, 2012
COMMENTS (1)
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Dorothy Coonan, Edwin Phillips, and Frankie Darro in Wild Boys of the Road, directed by William Wellman
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Poetics of Motion
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KEYWORDS
William Wellman | studio system | Hollywood | Retrospective | film criticism | silent film | James Cagney | The Great DepressionTHE AUTHOR
Nick Pinkerton has written about films in The Village Voice, Reverse Shot, and Stop Smiling magazine. He is a product of Cincinnati, Ohio, and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
More articles by Nick Pinkerton
Nice piece on Wellman. I can understand why some people dismiss him. He is a tough guy to nail down. Some of his films are thrilling, others fall completely flat. It's taken me a long time to get a handle on him, and to appreciate how truly unconventional his best work is. At his best he not only captures the madness of the world we live in, he seems to revel in it. While there were other directors in the studio era who were better filmmakers, there was no one who was better at capturing the energy and chaos of life on film.
Casey posted 27.02.12