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Walter Wanger | |
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| Born | Walter Feuchtwanger (1894-07-11)July 11, 1894 |
| Died | November 18, 1968(1968-11-18) (aged 74) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Film producer |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Walter Wanger (bornWalter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production ofCleopatra, his last film, in 1963.[1] He began atParamount Pictures in the 1920s and eventually worked at virtually every major studio as either a contract producer or an independent. He also served as President of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1939 to October 1941 and from December 1941 to 1945. Strongly influenced by European films, Wanger developed a reputation as an intellectual and a socially conscious movie executive who produced provocative message movies and glittering romantic melodramas. He achieved notoriety when, in 1951, he shot and wounded the agent of his wife,Joan Bennett, because he suspected they were having an affair. He was convicted of the crime and served a four-month sentence, then returned to making movies.
After his death, his production company, Walter Wanger Productions, was sold to and absorbed byTime-Life Films, which also acquired many films produced by him and that company.
Wanger was bornWalter Feuchtwanger inSan Francisco. He was the son of Stella (Stettheimer) and Sigmund Feuchtwanger, who were fromGerman Jewish families that had emigrated to the United States in the nineteenth century.[2] Wanger was from a non-observant Jewish family, and later attendedEpiscopalian services with his wife. In order to assimilate into American society, his mother altered the family name to Wanger in 1908.[3] The Wangers were well-connected and upper middle class, something which later differentiated Wanger from the other Jewish film moguls who came from more ordinary backgrounds.
Wanger attendedDartmouth College inHanover, New Hampshire, where he was a founding member of theDartmouth Laboratory Theatre. After leaving college, Wanger became a professionaltheatrical producer inNew York City where he worked with figures such as the influential British managerHarley Granville-Barker and the Russian actressAlla Nazimova.[4]
Following theAmerican entry into World War I in 1917, Wanger served with theU.S. Army inItaly initially in theSignal Corps where he worked as a pilot onreconnaissance missions,[5] and later inpropaganda operations directed at the Italian public. It was during this period that Wanger first came into contact with filmmaking. In April 1918 Wanger was transferred to theCommittee on Public Information, and joined an effort to combat anti-war or pro-German sentiment in Allied Italy. This was partly accomplished through a series of shortpropaganda films screened in Italian cinemas promoting democracy and Allied war aims.[6]
After the Allied victory, Wanger returned to the United States in 1919 and was discharged from the army. Wanger marriedsilent film actressJustine Johnstone in 1919. He initially returned to theatre production, before a chance meeting withfilm producerJesse Lasky drew him into the world of commercial filmmaking.[7] Lasky was impressed with Wanger's ideas and his experiences in the theatre, and hired him to head a New York office vetting and acquiring books and plays for use as film stories forFamous Players–Lasky (later to becomeParamount), which was then the largest film production company in the world.[8]
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Wanger's job atParamount was to help meet the studio's large annual requirement for fresh stories. One of Wanger's major successes in his early years with the company was his identification of the British novelThe Sheik as a story with potential. In 1921, it was turned into anextremely successful film starringRudolph Valentino. The film helped establish the popularity of theOrientalist genre, which Wanger returned to a number of times during his career.[9]
By 1921, Wanger was unhappy with the terms he was receiving and left his job with Paramount. He travelled toBritain where he worked as a prominent cinema andtheatre manager until 1924. While on a visit toLondon, Paramount key founderJesse Lasky offered to appoint him as "general manager of production" on improved terms and Wanger accepted.[10]
Wanger's second spell with Paramount lasted from 1924 to 1931, during which time his annual wage rose from $150,000 to $250,000.[11] He was tasked with overseeing the work of the studio heads, which meant he had little involvement with the production of individual films. Because he was based inNew York, Wanger worked more closely with the company'sAstoria Studios inQueens. A rivalry developed between Wanger-influenced Astoria productions and those ofB.P. Schulberg who ran the Paramount productions inHollywood.[12] From the mid-1920s, the company was rapidly overtaken by the recently formedMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer as the industry's leading company and this along with heavy losses incurred on big-budget films, led to Paramount's executives decision in 1927 to eventually close the New York operation and shift all production to Hollywood. Wanger opposed this move and felt he was being squeezed out of the company.[13]
In 1926,Warner Brothers premièredDon Juan, a film with music and sound effects, and the following year releasedThe Jazz Singer with dialogue and singing scenes. Along with other big companies, Paramount initially resisted adoptingsound films and continued to exclusively makesilent ones. Wanger convinced his colleagues of the importance of sound, and personally oversaw the conversion of 1928 silent baseball filmWarming Up to sound.[14] The sound version had synchronized music and sound effects without dialogue.[15] After the film's successful release, the company switched dramatically away from silent to sound.
After being closed for a year, the Astoria Studios were re-opened in 1929 to make sound films, taking advantage of their close proximity toBroadway where many actors were recruited to appear in early Talkies. Wanger recruited large numbers of new performers includingMaurice Chevalier, theMarx Brothers,Claudette Colbert,Jeanette MacDonald,Fredric March andMiriam Hopkins and directors such asGeorge Cukor andRouben Mamoulian.[16] Wanger's New York films were often adapted from stage plays and focused on sophisticated comedies, often with European settings, while Schulberg concentrated on more populist stories in Hollywood. As the effects of theGreat Depression hit the film industry in the early 1930s, the Astoria Studios increasingly struggled to produce box office hits, and in December 1931 it was closed down again. Wanger had been informed that his contract would not be renewed, and he had already left the company.[17]
After leaving Paramount, Wanger tried unsuccessfully to set himself up as anindependent. Unable to secure financing for films, he joinedColumbia Pictures in December 1931. Wanger was recruited byHarry Cohn, the studio's co-founder, who wanted to move Columbia away from itsPoverty Row past by producing several special, large-budget productions each year to complement the bulk of the studio'slow-budget films.[18] Wanger was to take on a greater personal role in individual films than he had previously, although he always attempted to give directors and screenwriters creative freedom. In general his efforts were overshadowed by the more successful films made byFrank Capra for the studio.
After Wanger left Columbia, he worked on two successful films at Metro Goldwyn Mayer, which was the most successful Hollywood studio at the time. His best known work there isQueen Christina, a costume drama starring MGM's top female star at the time,Greta Garbo. Wanger was responsible for enlisting directorRouben Mamoulian to direct the picture and when released to theatre's in 1933,Queen Christina was a huge success, bringing a profit of over $600,000 and garnering much critical acclaim, establishing Wanger as a successful Hollywood producer. His other film at the studio wasGabriel Over the White House, which starred Walter Huston as the president of the United States who becomes a fascist maintaining world peace after a car accident. Wanger would become well known for his education over entertainment pictures that often carried social messages and while Gabriel Over the White House became a critical and commercial hit, it faded into obscurity due to Adolf Hitler's rise to power that same year.
Wanger, now established as a Hollywood producer, set himself up as an independent for a second time, more successfully. His pictures reached a commercial and critical peak from the late 30's to the mid 40s. He was able to obtain a contract star with Charles Boyer who signed to the producer in 1935 for a 5 year contract. He was made a star under Wanger with films likeShanghai and his famous performance as thief-on-the-run Pepe Le Moko inAlgiers which garnered Boyer an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a leading role. Wanger also collaborated with German director Fritz Lang on films likeScarlet Street which was a huge hit for the duo. Wanger pioneered social commentary in films and also introduced the first Technicolor film to be filmed outdoors withThe Trail of the Lonesome Pine which made Henry Fonda and Fred MacMurray stars. Wanger was also a huge help to Universal Pictures in the 1940s, introducing Technicolor to them withArabian Nights, as well as producing the aforementionedScarlet Street for them, and other hits likeEagle Squadron.
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Wanger was given anHonorary Academy Award in 1946 for his six years service as president of theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He refused another honorary Oscar in 1949 forJoan of Arc, out of anger over the fact that the film, which he felt was one of his best, had not been nominated forBest Picture.[19]
His 1958 production ofI Want to Live! starredSusan Hayward in ananti-capital punishment film that is one of the more highly regarded films on the subject. Hayward won her onlyOscar for her role in the film.[20]
In 1963, Wanger was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Picture for his production ofCleopatra.[21]
In May 1966, Wanger received theCommendation 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."[22]
Wanger married silent film actressJustine Johnstone in 1919.[23] They divorced in 1938, and in 1940, he married actressJoan Bennett whom he divorced in 1965. They had two daughters, Stephanie (born 1943) and Shelley Antonia (born 1948), and Wanger adopted Bennett's daughter, Diana (born 1928), by her marriage to John Fox.
Wanger died of a heart attack, aged 74, inNew York City. He was interred in theHome of Peace Cemetery inColma, California.[24]
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In 1951, Wanger made headlines for shooting atJennings Lang, agent of Wanger's wifeJoan Bennett.[25]Formerly the vice president of theJaffe Agency, Lang had become the head ofMCA's West Coast television operations. On the afternoon of December 13, 1951, Bennett and Lang had a meeting to talk over an upcoming television show.
Wanger, who saw the parked car of his wife, waited there until Bennett came back to her car, in company of Lang. In a fit of jealousy Wanger walked up and shot and wounded Lang. One bullet hit him in the right thigh, near the hip, and the other penetrated his groin. Lang was taken to a hospital, where he recovered. The police, who had heard the shots, came to the scene and found the gun in Bennett's car when they took Wanger into custody. Wanger was booked and fingerprinted, and underwent lengthy questioning. He was booked on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder.
"I shot him because I thought he was breaking up my home," Wanger told the chief of police of Beverly Hills. Bennett denied a romance, however. "But if Walter thinks the relationships between Mr. Lang and myself are romantic or anything but strictly business, he is wrong," she declared. She blamed the trouble on financial setbacks involving film productions Wanger was involved with, and said he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The following day Wanger, out on bond, returned to theirHolmby Hills home, collected his belongings and moved out. Bennett, however, said there would not be a divorce.
On December 14, Bennett issued a statement in which she said she hoped her husband "will not be blamed too much" for wounding her agent. Wanger's attorney,Jerry Giesler, mounted a "temporary insanity" defense. Wanger served a four-month sentence in theCounty Honor Farm atCastaic. During this time periodWalter Mirisch ofAllied Artists had Wanger's name put onKansas Pacific (1953) as a producer, although he was still in prison. This allowed Wanger to receive a producer's billing, salary and profit participation.[26] The entire experience with the criminal charges and jail sentence affected Wanger profoundly, and in 1954 he made theprison filmRiot in Cell Block 11.
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| Preceded by | President of Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences 1939–1941 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Bette Davis | President of Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences 1941–1945 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by Bob Hope 12th Academy Awards | Oscarshost 13th Academy Awards | Succeeded by |
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