William Wyler News

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the lineup for the 15th edition of Film Comment magazine's essential, eclectic festival, taking place February 20 - March 5, 2015.

THE HEIRESS, Ruth and Augustus Goetz's 1947 adaptation of Henry James' WASHINGTON SQUARE and currently occupying the Lohrey Stage at Theatre Memphis, has had a long and steady run on stages throughout the world - and why not? Tightly corseted, polite to a fault, and observing proprieties, this intelligently written script captures the essence of the James source material without the convoluted, complex sentences that, alas, repel many readers. As tautly drawn as the material on one of the samplers for which its heroine is noted, when one of the characters punctuates the prevailing politeness with a barbed or telling line of dialogue, it's as if a sharp and jagged blade suddenly ripped through the fabric of the needlework itself. All this play needs for a successful run is a handsome set, period costumes - and four or five gifted players.

Classic Broadway to Hollywood adaptation THE CHILDREN'S HOUR is now available for the first time on Blu-ray.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees, announced today the Board's decision to honor Steve Martin with the 43rd AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film.

Astoria, New York, June 18, 2014—Museum of the Moving Image announces its major film series and exhibitions for the summer. Highlights include a new exhibition and accompanying film series exploring the work of the legendary animation director Chuck Jones(opening July 19), films by Gustav Deutsch (July 25–27), See It Big! Hollywood Melodrama (August 2–31), films by Hong Kong producer, director, and actor Patrick Lung Kong, with Lung Kong and Tsui Hark in person (August 15–24), and a complete retrospective of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien (beginning September 12). Additional programs and exhibitions will be announced as they are confirmed. See below for schedule and descriptions.

Happy Birthday, Laurence Olivier! Born in 1907, Olivier remains one of the most revered actors of the 20th century. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from the title role in Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil. Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III.

New-York Historical Society has announced its June 2014 public programs, lectures, films and concerts. Details below!

The Reel 13 April schedule opens on April 5 with The Big Country, William Wyler's tale of two feuding ranching families in the American West, for which Burl Ives won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In addition to a showstopping performance of a legendary duet from iconic musical theatre masterpiece WEST SIDE STORY given by Broadway headliners Raul Esparza and Lin-Manuel Miranda at the recent star-studded MISCAST 2014 gala, Esparza also treated attendees to a spirited rendition of iconic FUNNY GIRL film showstopper 'My Man' and a new clip of the performance is now available to view.

“But few of them would enter the war as these directors did, with the sense that, in impending middle age, they had found themselves with a new world to conquer, a task that would test their abilities to help win the hearts and minds of the American people under the hardest imaginable circumstances, with the greatest possible stakes.” Mark Harris.

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has added an exciting roster of screen legends and beloved titles to the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival,

The 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival will honor legendary actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Jerry Lewis with a multi-tiered celebration of his remarkable career.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chair of the American Film Institute's Board of Trustees, announced today the Board's decision to honor Jane Fonda with the 42nd AFI Life Achievement Award

Produced by British radio documentarian Jon Tolansky, the program is narrated by Grammy award-winning artist and champion of American music, Michael Feinstein.

Happy Birthday, Laurence Olivier! Born in 1907, Olivier remains one of the most revered actors of the 20th century. He was the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Great Britain and its main stage is named in his honour. Olivier's career as a stage and film actor spanned more than six decades and included a wide variety of roles, from the title role in Shakespeare's Othello and Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night to the sadistic Nazi dentist Christian Szell in Marathon Man and the kindly but determined Nazi-hunter in The Boys from Brazil. Olivier played more than 120 stage roles: Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo, Hamlet, Othello, Uncle Vanya, and Archie Rice in The Entertainer. He appeared in nearly sixty films, including William Wyler's Wuthering Heights, Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca, Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War, and A Bridge Too Far, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth, John Schlesinger's Marathon Man, Daniel Petrie's The Betsy, Desmond Davis' Clash of the Titans, and his own Henry V, Hamlet, and Richard III.

The New-York Historical Society is proud to announce a partnership with Bank of America to bring free cultural programming to the Upper West Side on Friday nights in the spring of 2013.

The new Broadway revival of The Heiress will play its final performance, having recouped its $3 million capitalization, tonight, February 9, at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre. The Heiress will have played 27 previews and 117 regular performances. BroadwayWorld takes you back through The Heiress' opening on Broadway below!

The producers of the new Broadway revival of THE HEIRESS have just announced that the production will recoup its $3 million capitalization during the final week of performances. The final performance is on Saturday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m. (note the new early curtain time) at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W. 48th St. NYC). THE HEIRESS will have played 27 previews and 117 regular performances.

The producers of the new Broadway revival of THE HEIRESS have announced that the production will now play its final performance on Saturday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. (note the new early curtain time). The previously scheduled Sunday, February 10 closing performance has been cancelled to enable Jessica Chastain, who plays the title character, to attend the BAFTA Awards (the British equivalent to the Academy Awards) where she is nominated for Best Actress on Sunday, February 10th in London. Ms. Chastain is nominated for an Academy Award and has already received Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards for her performance in the film Zero Dark Thirty. THE HEIRESS is currently playing at Broadway's Walter Kerr Theatre (219 W. 48th St. NYC).

According to Screenrant.com, MGM plans to remake the classic film BEN-HUR. The studio is reportedly get in on the latest Hollywood trend of rebooting Biblical epics by producing a new adaptation of the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace.