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Directed By Willam Weyler DOCUMENTARY
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00:08William Wyler's career was one of the greatest success stories in motion pictures, almost
00:1350 years of distinguished filmmaking. He made 37 feature films and the movie industry honored
00:18him more than any director in its history. Three Academy Awards, 12 nominations for
00:23directing, and another three for producing. Wyler was interviewed for this film in July of 1981.
00:30He died three days later. This is a portrait of the man and his work. It's wonderful in having a
00:37director that has a very strong presence. You know, I wanted to please him. I wanted him to like it.
00:44I wanted him to like me. Actors love to work with Willie, and I think that probably one of the
00:51reasons is because he directed more Academy Award-winning performances than I think almost
00:55any other director. I owed all that. I owed so much thinking in my life since to Wyler.
01:02So much thinking. He had a wonderful taste, a splendid judgment. If Willie Wyler told me to
01:10jump in the Hudson River, I would. I would have done anything he asked me. He was the classiest
01:14picture maker, I think, that ever lived. It's a mystery. It's an utter mystery to me.
01:19Where Willie got it? Willie Wyler was born in 1902 in Alsace-Lorraine in a town called Malou's.
01:28When he was 18, his father tried to interest him in the family business, a clothing store. But his
01:34mother took him to meet Carl Lemley, her famous cousin who had gone to America and founded Universal Studios.
01:40And Uncle Carl, as he was called, changed Willie's life forever.
01:44As we were talking, he said, how would you like to come to America? I was thunderstruck because
01:51in those days it was like making a trip to the moon. He said, I'll give you a job and
01:57from then
01:58on you're on your own. He deducted five dollars a week from my salary to pay for the boat trip.
02:04Well,
02:05that's how I came to America. I had no idea of going into the moving picture business.
02:10After a year in the New York office, he told Uncle Carl that he wanted to go to Hollywood.
02:15In the early 1920s, Hollywood was a boomtown full of excitement, gambling, and romance.
02:21Willie, with his boundless energy, fit right in.
02:24By this time, I was interested in the making of films. When I asked to become a director,
02:29I told Carl Lemley about it, and he called in the supervisor of Westerns and said,
02:33this boy wants to become a director. And the supervisor of Westerns said, well,
02:37it's fine, but he's not ready yet. First, I had to get promoted from fourth assistant to third
02:42assistant to second assistant to first assistant. Finally, they gave me a tour of Westerns,
02:47and it turned out all right. You see, in those days, it was like a school
02:53making little Westerns because they all demanded action. And the basis of motion pictures is really
03:00action. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, you shot the picture. Sometimes a few shots be left over for
03:07Thursday, but then Friday, you'd get a new script. Saturday, you cast it. Then Monday, you start
03:12shooting. The budget was $2,000 for the whole picture. The stories were all very elementary.
03:19There was a villain and a leading man and a girl. No sex, nothing like that. Couldn't even kiss the
03:25girl until the last shot in the picture. Then you could kiss the girl. During the next three years,
03:31Wyler directed 27 two-real and five-real Westerns. He learned his craft, and it was an easy jump to
03:38feature films. In his early 30s, after a 12-year apprenticeship, Willie won his spurs, directing
03:44America's greatest living actor, John Barrymore, in Counselor at Law. Morning, Senator. Yeah, fine.
03:51Thanks. Thanks very much. That's the way with those murder cases, a lot of publicity and no money.
03:56Yes, yes, I did. As I explained to you, a decrease of two cents a pound will put my clients
04:00out of
04:01business. Don't get so excited, Senator. There's nothing illegal about lobbying, you know, if they're
04:05worried, if they'll lock up half the people in Washington. No, I'm not trying to block the entire
04:09bill. I'm merely acting in the interest of my clients as you're acting in the interest of the
04:12people of Montana. Come in, Mr. Russo now. Listen, Senator, why don't you hop in a midnight sleeper and
04:17have lunch with you tomorrow? 12.30 at the Lawyer's Club. Fine. And give my regards to that
04:20charming daughter he was. Make a transcript to her. That's right around a cradle where time
04:23I'm at. Morning, Mr. Russo. Oh, Rexy, you better cut out my stuff about my murder cases, you know.
04:26And get me Mr. Vanderboken on the phone right away. Have a chocolate cream. Uh-oh, I might
04:29have a diet, but if you get a cigarette. Sure, there they are. Help yourself. Thanks.
04:32There's a salmon on the phone. Excuse me a minute. Sure. Hello, darling.
04:35The great profile had a reputation for being difficult, so the film's success enhanced Weiler's
04:40reputation. His reward was directing Universal's ethereal new star, Margaret
04:44Sullivan in The Good Fairy. She was an important star at Universal when I was a very young director.
04:51She had a special gift for being very attractive. They clashed fiercely on the set, but made up
04:56privately at night. As soon as the picture was finished, they married. But it was not a happy
05:02match. Within two years, they divorced. In 1935, Weiler met an independent producer who had his own
05:10studio and a reputation for toughness and quality. Samuel Goldwyn offered Weiler a seven-year contract.
05:16I jumped at the opportunity because I'd just come from Universal making sort of second-class pictures,
05:22and Goldwyn was making first-class pictures. And I was told he wanted to make The Children's Hour.
05:27The Children's Hour was a controversial play with whisperings of lesbianism.
05:32In those days, censorship was very strict, and that's where I met Lillian Hellman. She wrote a very
05:37fine script, and she is the one who explained to me that the theme of the picture is not lesbianism.
05:44It's not about lesbianism. It's about a lie. And I happened to pick what I thought was a very
05:51strong lie. There are many other kinds of lies. Well, it was late at night, and Miss Dobie's room is
05:56right next to ours. Mary. Do you know what you're saying? I had to change the title and never mention
06:10Children's Hour, because that was all part of the censorship requirements of the day. The picture
06:16we made was more a conventional triangle. And one night, you were in Miss Dobie's room late. Why did
06:21you think it was wrong for me to be in Miss Dobie's room? Because, because it was at night, and
06:27I was
06:28leaning down by the keyhole, and I saw things, and I got scared, and then you left, and, and... Ask
06:33her again how she
06:34could see us. I was leaning down by the keyhole. There's no keyhole on my door. What? That was the
06:42beginning of the
06:43Goldwyn Weiler relationship. Of course, he was the most important producer in my career. They say one day
06:51it's a Weiler touch, next day it's a Goldwyn touch. You end up not knowing whose touch it was. I
06:57had a scene
06:58where Joel McRae was in an outfit of a bee hunter. Anyway, I got stung by a bee. Next day,
07:04the publicity
07:05department added that Goldwyn was stung by a bee. I didn't care, only I wish he had been true.
07:17Weiler's uncommonly good ear for dialogue led him to some of the finest writers of his time.
07:22An adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's Doddsworth got him his first Academy Award nomination.
07:26I hadn't realized it was your birthday. No, wish I hadn't. No woman enjoys getting to be 35.
07:35When you're my age, you'll look back on 35 as a most agreeable time of life, Mrs. Doddsworth.
07:40I hope I look as young as you do when I'm your age. You're almost sure to, my dear.
07:48After Doddsworth, Weiler was on a roll and Goldwyn offered him another Broadway hit,
07:53Dead End. Lillian Hellman wrote the screenplay. Dead End was about a slum district in an upper-class
08:00neighborhood. And Willie had quite rightly littered the street with garbage and garbage cans and
08:07go and wander down the set and said, it's a disgusting-looking, filthy set. He said to Weiler,
08:12clean it up. Just clean it up. I won't have it.
08:15Goldwyn was always, how should I say, his pictures, he wanted his pictures to be clean
08:21and glamorous. All the women looking beautiful. The hair just in place. You know, so you can see the
08:30hairdresser and the makeup man and the clothes, everything, speak and span. And, well, not all
08:39pictures lend themselves to that. Between projects, Goldwyn loaned Weiler out to other studios.
08:46Willie really is responsible for the fact that I became a box office star. Jezebel was really the
08:52first one. Bring that over here, Mademoiselle. Saucy, isn't it? And vulgar. Yes, isn't it?
09:04Come on, get me out of this. Julie, what are you doing? If it fits me, I'm going to wear
09:08it to the
09:09Olympus Bowl. A red dress to the Olympus Bowl? Why, you're out of your senses.
09:13Mademoiselle, jean, finne portas une robe comme ça. D'ailleurs, c'est une robe de
09:16Sainte-Marie Vicar. Fat creature, Julie. You heard what Madame Poulard said. That infamous
09:21Vicar... Mary Vicar couldn't possibly do it justice.
09:24Child, you're out of your mind. You know you can't wear red to the Olympus Bowl.
09:27Can't I? I'm going to. This is 1852, Dumplin. 1852. Not the Dark Ages.
09:35Girls don't have to simp around in white just because they're not married. In New Orleans,
09:39they do. Julie, you'd insult every woman on the floor. Mademoiselle, your aunt,
09:43she's right. Look how beautiful this dress is. Will you kindly get me out of this? Julie,
09:48you can't be serious. Never more serious in my life. He was an amazingly inarticulate man
09:56about what he wanted. He really, when he saw it, he knew that's what he wanted. But it was very
10:03hard
10:04for him to say. He would just say, we do it again. Willie would have his cast probably run a
10:08scene
10:08three or four times. He would just sit there having coffee and donuts every morning. Then he would get
10:14up and he would say, I like this you did. I like that you did. Unless he ran into an
10:18actor who was
10:18incompetent. And then he was not very tolerant. He always said, I do not run an acting school.
10:25In the ballroom scene, she was supposed to be wearing a red dress. And this was before
10:29it was more color pictures. So I chose a black satin dress, which was shiny, but they seemed to accept
10:36it.
10:37Hello, Molly. Miss Kevnick. Hello, Dick. Stephen, Julie. Stephanie, we must pay our respects to Mrs. Emel.
10:46You'll excuse us, please.
10:56The wall scene. In the script, that said, Julie goes to the Comus Ball. And the assistant scheduled
11:03it for one day. And we were on that scene for one week and a half.
11:12Betty and I had a very good relationship. I was very happy working with her.
11:17He never, ever said whether he liked a take or not. So after about a week of this,
11:21I went up to him and I said, I just have to know if I'm pleasing you in any way.
11:27So the entire next day, after every scene, he would go marvelous, marvelous, marvelous. So after
11:36about three of these, I said, please go back to your own ways. I can't stand it. Bye, Julie.
11:49Is that all you've got to say to me? There's nothing more to say.
11:59Evidently, you've made up your mind. No, Julie. You've made up my mind.
12:12Goodbye, Julie.
12:17Goodbye, Julie.
12:31In 1938, Weiler directed some musical sequences in a Goldwyn film featuring violinist Yasha Heifetz.
12:38An amateur fiddler himself, Weiler couldn't resist switching roles with the renowned virtuoso.
12:50One day, an aspiring actress from Dallas visited the set.
12:54And we met, and after a little bit, he said, do you like to look at tennis? And I said,
13:00yes, I like to look at tennis.
13:02And we went to the tennis matches, and we went to the tennis matches every day, and we saw each
13:08other every evening.
13:09And, insanely, ten days later, we decided to get married.
13:14It's been difficult afterwards telling my children to wait carefully to get to know people well.
13:23It's been hard, but I don't know. It was just the feeling that I had.
13:29I didn't plan to give up my career after I married.
13:32I think Willie was much too smart to say that. And after my first child was born, Kathy, I did
13:38go back to work, and I began to think, well, what's so great about this?
13:43You're sitting on a dark soundstage all day long, waiting. The whole thing just sort of petered away absolutely painlessly,
13:51and I've never regretted it.
13:53I was very lucky to find her. I didn't look among the movie stars, although she was a starlet. She
14:00even made a test for Gone with the Wind. But I was lucky she didn't get the part.
14:09Wuthering Heights. The timeless love story established Laurence Olivier as a leading man in films.
14:15He made me a good film act by teaching me, in an extremely rough, insulting way, that I don't know
14:31who I thought I was, but I wasn't.
14:36Kathy.
14:39Hitler.
14:45Why did you stay so long in that house?
14:49Didn't expect to find you here.
14:53Why did you stay so long?
14:56Why? Because I was having a wonderful time. A delightful, fascinating, wonderful time. Among human beings.
15:06Go and wash your face and hands, Heathcliff. And comb your hair so that I needn't be ashamed of you
15:11in front of a guest.
15:13They were shooting one particular scene over and over again, and finally, Olivier would come to me and say,
15:20Look, Willie, for God's sake, we've been, we've done that thing 60 times.
15:23I did it standing up, I did it sitting down, I did it fast, I did it slow.
15:28How do you want me to do it? And while I just said, Better.
15:31I was overacting, appalling, and doing some extravagant gesture. And he'd say, keep stopping me from saying, Christ's sake, what
15:41do you think you're doing?
15:44You think you're at the Opera House, Manchester or something? What are you doing?
15:50Well, come down to earth, come on. I want it, I want it, so I know you mean it.
15:59Forgive me, Heathcliff. Forgive me.
16:19Heathcliff, make the world stop right here. Make everything stop and stand still and never move again.
16:25Make the Moors never change and you and I never change.
16:29The Moors and I will never change.
16:33Don't you, Cathy?
16:35I can't. I can't.
16:37No matter what I ever do or say, Heathcliff, this is me now.
16:43Standing on this hill with you, this is me forever.
16:48Here was Olivier.
16:50Goldwyn said, this actor here, if he goes on playing like that, I'm going to call off the pitch.
16:55Look at him. He's filthy. He's dirty.
16:59I said, he's playing a stable boy, you know?
17:01I can remember being waked at night by Willie thrashing around in bed, grinding his teeth.
17:07And he finally woke up and he said he was arguing with Goldwyn.
17:12So this was going on 24 hours a day.
17:16Goldwyn said, I don't like to see, look at dead people at the end of a picture.
17:19So he wanted me to shoot a scene of the two of them walking through the clouds.
17:24I said, I just won't do it.
17:26Well, he had somebody else do it.
17:28He got two doubles shot from the back.
17:31That shot is still in the picture.
17:33It's awful.
17:36We had sort of a love-hate relationship.
17:39We'd have fights.
17:40But the fights were not over money.
17:42They were over, what I just said, you know, by matters of taste.
17:46And once Goldwyn was committed, he was a generous producer.
17:50I mean, he had a great deal of pride in the pictures he produced.
17:55On another Lenato Warner Brothers,
17:57Weiler filmed Somerset Maugham's story of jealousy and revenge,
18:01establishing the mood of the entire picture in one seamless shot.
18:06The opening shot of a letter was in a rubber plantation near Singapore,
18:11and a set was built.
18:13So I devised a very complex shot,
18:17complex and also limited because we were on a soundstage
18:20and couldn't shoot in every direction.
18:23Today they'd go to Singapore and go to a real rubber plantation.
18:29Maybe it would be better.
18:30Maybe it wouldn't be as good.
18:45Maybe it's a very nice one.
18:47Maybe it wouldn't be as good as a casual person.
18:47Maybe it wouldn't be as good as a standard woman.
18:49It wouldn't be as good as some person was to go to the show.
18:54It would be as good as it would be as good as the leaders of the whole hotel team.
18:54Or is it just trouble your закры hoe?
18:57Look how big that wouldn't be.
19:04Mr. Wyler could be very rough in insisting on what he wanted.
19:12Leslie, tell me, now, this minute, do you love me?
19:21Yes, I do.
19:22There was one serious fight on the letter over the reading of a single line.
19:26Wyler wanted Davis to speak the climactic words looking her husband directly in the eyes.
19:31The actress insisted that her character would turn away.
19:34What is it?
19:35With all my heart, I still love the man I killed.
19:39It's the one time I left the stage, but I came back at the AFI awards ceremony.
19:47I remember one line of dialogue.
19:49We disagreed strongly on how it should be read.
19:53Even today, 37 years later, we still disagree on it.
19:59That was the one big, big difference of opinion.
20:02I still think I was right.
20:04I think I was right, but I'm sure Betty thinks she was right.
20:08And I wouldn't be surprised if right now I told her to come out to Warner Brothers Studio.
20:13Wish you'd seen over her way.
20:15She would come.
20:18He was as mischievous as anybody I knew, and he was full of fun, too.
20:22He was willing to do anything.
20:24That was what made him such fun.
20:26He used to take me to work on a motorcycle.
20:28He would call for me at my house, and we'd go zooming around Hollywood and zooming in and out of
20:33cars.
20:34He was a madman on his, madman on his motorcycle, madman on those downhill things he did in Europe.
20:41No, he was very much thought of a wild man that way.
20:45He would ski like mad.
20:47He just got on him and came down without any of the techniques that we are taught today in ski
20:53school.
20:54Willie loved thrills.
20:56Willie was a great man walking a narrow ledge at a dizzy height.
21:02And anything that had a touch of challenge to it, why Willie rose to.
21:07He was a very able, quick man with his body, had fine coordination.
21:18Back on the Golden Lot, Weiler and Betty Davis collaborated a third time on Lillian Hellman's tale of greed in
21:24the Old South, The Little Foxes.
21:26She plays a woman as a daughter, 19 or 20.
21:29Actually, she wasn't even 40.
21:31She was in her late 30s.
21:33So she tried to play old and nasty.
21:36As regards the playing of Regina, he just wanted her sort of done more subtly.
21:42And she wasn't a subtle woman to me at all.
21:44She was right out and out.
21:47I've always been lucky.
21:49I'll be lucky again.
22:00The other bottle.
22:01Please, upstairs, in my room, in the drawer.
22:18Annie, Annie.
22:21Upstairs, quick.
22:23Uh.
22:26Uh.
22:28Uh.
22:29Uh.
22:29Uh.
22:30Uh.
22:30Uh.
22:31Uh.
22:32Uh.
22:32Uh.
22:33Uh.
22:33Uh.
22:36zwischen.
22:48At the weight point.
22:54Uh.
22:54Uh.
22:54At the weight point.
22:55Uh.
22:56Uh.
22:58Uh.
23:05the main thing in the scene is not the man trying to go upstairs to get the medicine
23:10it's betty davis sitting on a couch and it's all going on behind her
23:17there was another thing about this scene that nobody knows herbert marshall who played the man
23:23has a wooden leg and cannot run up the stairs so he walks out of the scene and a double
23:30comes in
23:30and he starts going up the stairs but he's so far in the background you can't tell who he is
23:41willie was a joy willie left you alone and you know and he said things like don't bother with
23:48the shots i know about the shots just do the dialogue you don't tell me where to put the
23:53camera and i don't know that this is heaven
23:58when the opportunity came i dreamt at it because it was a propaganda film in a way for our entry
24:05into
24:06the war against hitler you were not supposed to make propaganda pictures you were supposed to make
24:10commercial pictures mrs miniver the character was plucked out of the edit off the editorial pages of
24:16the london times newspaper she was a popular character she had a little life and all the
24:22amusing things that happened and then they showed her suddenly with her quiet peaceful life
24:26completely disrupted and shattered by uh the horrors of the total blitz in mrs miniver there was a scene
24:34of a german pilot who had been shot down over england and he was discovered by mrs miniver and this
24:42boy seemed to be quite decent and frightened and so on well i got the writers together and we changed
24:49the scene to make him one of mr goering's little monsters
25:02in the course of this project i got a call from louis b mayor he'd heard about what i was
25:09doing
25:10said you know we don't hate anybody we're not in the war we i said mr mayor if i had
25:16several germans
25:17in the film i wouldn't mind having one decent young fellow but i've only got one german
25:25and if i make this picture this one german is going to be a typical little nazi son of a
25:35bitch
25:36pearl harbor happens now we're in the war i get a call from mr mayor mr mayor says i've been
25:43thinking
25:44about what you said pearl harbor came to my rescue we will come we will bomb your cities like
25:54barcelona marshal norweg waterdam waterdam we destroy in two hours and thousands killed innocent
26:06not innocent they were against us women and children
26:1230 000 in two hours
26:18and we will do the same thing here
26:24i remember coming out of mrs miniver in the rejection room and crying
26:30and he said what are you crying for and i said because it's such a piece of junk willie
26:37and you ought to be so ashamed of yourself it's such a piece of junk it's so below you
26:41hellman's opinion was not shared by the rest of the country mrs miniver was the most honored film
26:47of the year winning six oscars including one for wyler thanks so much everybody it makes me very happy
26:54to accept the award for willie i wish he could be here he's wanted an oscar for a long time
26:59and i know it would thrill him an awful lot to be here probably as much as that fight of
27:04a will
27:04and zon did thank you so much weiler was 40 years old when he enlisted in the army air corps
27:11he was wild
27:12to get involved in this and get to europe because he felt violently anti-hitler he wanted to be a
27:20part
27:20of the struggle and also because simply by nature he wasn't about to miss all that that was going on
27:27i was european and jewish and i didn't enlist as an ordinary soldier i enlisted as a filmmaker see
27:36if i could make a film that would help the war effort in some small way and that's what i
27:41did willie
27:42was a fearless man or if if he had qualms why he certainly didn't reveal them i doubt that he
27:49had
27:50this was a documentary film called the memphis bell which was the name of the b-17 the flying
27:56fortress in which i flew with its crew a staffer lurking behind that cloud or hiding up in the sun
28:04where the glare blinds you and you can't see them waiting to dive down on you fighters at six o
28:10'clock
28:10this is what a gunner sees a speck in the sky that's a fighter and then a blink that means
28:15he's firing at
28:16you 2300 rounds a minute
28:22try to get all this on film you forget that they're shooting at you at the same time
28:29we had to learn aircraft recognition so we would shoot at enemy plates and not at our own
28:34you had to be able to take over a machine gun and operate it in 65 below zero weather
28:46it's such a noisy plane i wasn't prepared uh for all that and uh i went deaf and then it
28:55turns out that
28:56he has totally lost the hearing in one ear and it is impaired in the other they shipped me home
29:02from
29:02italy on uh on on on a on a surface vessel and not not by plane but uh well it
29:14could
29:15there were a lot worse cases than mine he really wasn't sure what that would do to him whether he
29:21would be able to continue as a director if he couldn't hear i have never seen anybody in such a
29:27real state of horror in my life as that he never would direct again and of course he did direct
29:32for
29:33many years again i devised a very simple thing when i sit by the camera i have a connection with
29:39the
29:39sound man and comes to me and i hear what the microphone hears so i'm uh sometimes i hear them
29:49talking about me you know quietly when i came back i was still full of the war and although i
29:56was now
29:57out of it i wanted to do something that had something to do with my experience i was still
30:02under contract to sam goldwin i had one picture left for him to do under my contract
30:09just as mrs miniver rallied a nation going off to war the best years of our lives welcomed the
30:14nation home in all its pain and glory it was the film closest to wyler's heart and the entire country
30:20embraced it it won willie his second oscar another award for best picture under his direction and it was
30:27big box office hey there's butch's place butchers who's that gosh butch has got himself a neon sign
30:39have you ever been to butch's place no a butch angle that runs it he's my upper swell guy one
30:44of
30:44the family don't think he's respectful because he sounds slick very often we do pictures we don't know
30:50our subject well enough uh and in this case i i knew my subject i had i learned it the
31:01hard way
31:02and uh and somehow when you have when you get personally involved in the story something gets
31:10on the screen that makes it uh human and real and you can't put your finger at what it is
31:17but it's the
31:18director's personal involvement say how about the three of us going back to butch's place we'll have
31:23a couple of drinks and then we can go home you're home now kid
31:33well so long so long homer
31:37if you're coming to you i'll have more Frontier we'll have more space and let's get everything
31:46all right
31:46all right
31:47all right
31:47all right
31:49all right
31:50all right
31:52all right
31:53all right
31:55all right
31:58all right
32:05all right
32:17This is the only thing I've ever seen
32:19where the picture started
32:20and three minutes later
32:23I was dissolved in tears
32:24and I cried for two hours plus
32:28after that
32:29and that was the opening sequence
32:31in Best Years of Our Lives
32:33the moment that that guy
32:34without his arms
32:36was standing there
32:37with the back of the camera
32:37and the parents came out
32:38I was gone
32:40and I'm not the pushover
32:42believe me
32:45I laugh at Hamlet
32:46Harold Russell
32:48who played the man
32:49who lost his hands
32:50he never went overseas
32:52he lost him in training
32:53he preferred to have somebody
32:54who was not an actor
32:55but had really lost his hands
32:57and here was an opportunity
32:59he used this boy
33:00and he was very good
33:01the picture told
33:03on several levels
33:05what was going on
33:06it was universal
33:08in its significance
33:18where's mom?
33:23who was that at the door
33:24Peggy?
33:28Peggy?
33:30Rob, who was...
33:50it happened when I
33:52when I returned
33:53from the war
33:55and my wife met me
33:58in New York
33:59it was at the Plaza Hotel
34:02I opened the door
34:03of the room
34:04and Willie was walking
34:06down the hall
34:06and there was this long hall
34:08and we met
34:10it was just a little unusual
34:12we had to run
34:13to each other
34:13so I thought
34:15I'd repeat that
34:16it's no great invention
34:17now but
34:18it made the scene
34:19very effective
34:20that's the enigma
34:22of Weiler
34:22he was not
34:24a particularly
34:25well-read man
34:27as a matter of fact
34:27he hated reading
34:28he was not
34:29a particularly
34:30studious man
34:31he had
34:32he had no idea
34:33about Strasberg
34:34methods
34:35about
34:36Russian
34:37theatre
34:38about
34:39no he just
34:40there was an instinct
34:41in him
34:42that
34:43told him
34:44when it was right
34:45when it felt true
34:47a genius
34:48for getting
34:50the truth
34:50out of an actor
34:51getting his
34:52very best performance
34:54a very
34:55most sophisticated
34:56thing
34:57that Willie was after
34:58there was a finesse
34:59in that guy
35:00which you would not
35:00expect if you
35:01if you
35:02if you just
35:02talked to him
35:03across the card table
35:05where you talked to him
35:06most of the time
35:07being married
35:08to a director
35:09like me
35:09I think is not easy
35:11because
35:11during the making
35:12of a picture
35:13you get so involved
35:14this very little
35:15home life
35:16it was as if
35:17Willie dove
35:18into a deep
35:18pool of water
35:19and he was about
35:2015 feet deep
35:22under there
35:23I can see him
35:24vaguely
35:25and I try to
35:26communicate with him
35:28by shouting
35:28but I don't get
35:30much response
35:31back
35:32we try to make up
35:33for it
35:34between pictures
35:35I never went
35:36from one picture
35:37to another
35:37very quickly
35:38we always take
35:39a trip somewhere
35:40to make up
35:41for lost time
35:42when Willie
35:43finished a picture
35:44he had a
35:45wonderful ability
35:46of loving
35:47not to work
35:48we traveled
35:49we vacationed
35:51and we would
35:52go to Europe
35:53on a long trip
35:54and only
35:55at the end
35:55of oh
35:56two or three months
35:57he would have
35:58the nagging feeling
35:59that he better
36:00get back to work
36:01and support
36:01his family again
36:03everything seems
36:04to have come out
36:05all right
36:05we had four children
36:06and they are
36:07all fine
36:08he had a string
36:10an unparalleled string
36:12of hits
36:13after hits
36:14after hits
36:14so sometimes
36:16you know
36:16when I started
36:17directing
36:18and people
36:19don't quite
36:20listen
36:20Wilder
36:21Wilder
36:21much to my delight
36:23they confused
36:24the two of us
36:25and he would put
36:25the arm around
36:26and he says
36:26come on now
36:27money money
36:28who cares
36:29it was a long
36:30time ago
36:31about 30 years
36:31ago
36:32that I acted
36:33for him
36:33only once
36:34in the film
36:35The Heiress
36:36the Goldwyn
36:36contract finished
36:37Wilder became
36:38his own producer
36:39all decisions
36:40were now his alone
36:41down to the
36:42smallest detail
36:43he was very
36:43uncertain
36:44about my makeup
36:45in fact
36:46James says
36:46that the doctor
36:47has a beard
36:48so we made
36:48some tests
36:49he didn't like
36:50this beard
36:51he said
36:52it's too round
36:52I think
36:53so every night
36:54we went and watched
36:56the various tests
36:57of the beard
36:58but he couldn't
36:59quite make up
36:59his mind
37:00he said
37:00it should be
37:01square
37:01I think
37:02don't you think
37:03square
37:03I said
37:04it could be
37:04it could be
37:05square
37:06or it could be
37:07no
37:08finally he said
37:09we must either
37:10have a round beard
37:11or we must
37:12have a square beard
37:13is that understood
37:14by everyone
37:15and everyone said
37:16yes I understood
37:17for the last evening
37:18he came down
37:19and he watched
37:20he said
37:20I've got it
37:21I've got it
37:21Ralph
37:21I've got it
37:22everyone
37:23Ralph's beard
37:24shall be square
37:25but round
37:26first scene
37:27we made
37:27it was a simple
37:28shot of
37:29Ralph coming in
37:30a door
37:31hanging up
37:32his hat
37:32and coat
37:33and he said
37:35to me
37:35how would you
37:35like me
37:36to do this
37:37I said
37:38well
37:38there's
37:39not many ways
37:40of doing it
37:41then he showed
37:41me about
37:42I don't know
37:44eight or eleven
37:45ways
37:45and it was like
37:46a symphony
37:47each time
37:47so effortless
37:49and each one
37:50a little bit
37:51different
37:56oh father
37:57have you waited
37:58up for me
37:59yes father
38:00I have something
38:01to tell you
38:02William says
38:03very little
38:05he's not a very
38:06eloquent man
38:07but he's amazingly
38:08imaginative man
38:10well I suppose
38:11you'll be going off
38:12with him any time
38:13now
38:15yes
38:15if he will have me
38:17why not
38:18you'll be a most
38:20entertaining companion
38:21I will try to be
38:23your gaiety
38:24and brilliance
38:24make up the difference
38:26between the ten thousand
38:27a year you will have
38:28and the thirty thousand
38:29he expects
38:30he expects nothing
38:32he does not love me
38:34for that
38:34no
38:35what else then
38:37your grace
38:37your charm
38:38your quick tongue
38:39and subtle wit
38:40he admires me
38:42Catherine
38:43I've tried for months
38:44not to be unkind
38:45but now it's time
38:46for you to realize
38:46the truth
38:47how many girls
38:49do you think
38:49he might have had
38:50in this town
38:51he finds me pleasing
38:53oh yes
38:54I'm sure he does
38:55a hundred women
38:56are prettier
38:57a thousand
38:57more clever
38:59but you have one
39:00virtue that outshines
39:01them all
39:03what
39:04what is that
39:05your money
39:07father
39:07you have nothing else
39:10oh
39:13what a terrible
39:15thing to say
39:16to me
39:16I don't expect you
39:18to believe that
39:19I've known you
39:20all your life
39:21and I've yet to see
39:21you learn
39:22anything
39:25with one exception
39:26my dear
39:28you embroider
39:29neatly
39:30I'm being accused
39:32I'm being accused
39:32constantly of being
39:33of having no signature
39:34you know
39:35it's a very
39:36big artistic
39:40demerit
39:40I have no signature
39:42because
39:43you cannot tell
39:45a viola film
39:46from another man's films
39:48by just looking at it
39:51to me
39:51it's more challenging
39:55and
39:56more fun too
39:57to do different
39:59types of pictures
40:02in Roman Holiday
40:04I had Gregory Peck
40:05who had agreed
40:06to do the film
40:07so
40:08there was
40:08a British director
40:10I asked him
40:11to shoot
40:12a test
40:12off
40:13Audrey Hepburn
40:14and then conspire
40:16with the
40:16cameraman
40:17and the sound man
40:18when he says
40:20cut
40:21scenes finished
40:22that they do not cut
40:23well
40:24this director
40:25did it just right
40:26she jumped out of bed
40:27she said
40:28well how was it
40:29at this moment
40:30she was at her
40:30most attractive
40:31and I said
40:32this is the girl
40:34his attitude
40:35is that only
40:36simplicity
40:37and the truth count
40:38it has to come
40:39from the inside
40:39you can't fake it
40:40that is something
40:41I learned from him
40:438.30
40:43breakfast here
40:44with the embassy staff
40:459 o'clock
40:46we leave for the
40:47Polinari Automotive Works
40:48where you'll be presented
40:49with a small car
40:50thank you
40:52which you will not accept
40:53no thank you
40:5410.35
40:55inspection of food
40:56and agriculture
40:57organization
40:58will present you
40:58with an olive tree
40:59no thank you
41:01which you will accept
41:03thank you
41:05Willie was a great
41:07famous director
41:08when I met him
41:09but I didn't really
41:09know much about directors
41:10Gregory Peck
41:11I knew about
41:12and to do a movie
41:13with him
41:14you can imagine
41:14what my first picture
41:16what that felt like
41:17you know
41:17we all knew
41:18that this was going
41:20to be an important star
41:21and we began
41:22to talk
41:23off camera
41:25about the chance
41:27that she might win
41:27an academy award
41:28in her first film
41:29every year
41:30I appreciate more
41:31that I did receive it
41:33the story itself
41:34was very thin
41:34it was an episode
41:36in the life
41:37of a princess
41:38a Cinderella story
41:40in reverse
41:40but certainly
41:42everything in it
41:43represented
41:44Willie's humor
41:45Willie's sense
41:46of romance
41:47it was
41:48weiler all the way
41:49the mouth of truth
41:51the legend is
41:52that if you're given
41:52to lying
41:53you put your hand
41:54in there
41:55it'll be bitten off
41:57oh the hard idea
42:00let's see you do it
42:27let's see you do it
42:30sure
42:54his gifts with comedy
42:58were particularly
42:59marvelous
42:59the European sensibility
43:01and also
43:04a fellow
43:05who was
43:06100% American
43:07a rare combination
43:08there was the one scene
43:10that required tears
43:11because
43:13I had to
43:14leave Greg
43:15and go back
43:15to my palace
43:16I had no idea
43:17how to come by
43:18these tears
43:19I mean I acted
43:19so little
43:21I'm going to
43:22I'm going to that
43:22corner there
43:24and turn
43:27you will stay in the car
43:28and drive away
43:31promise not
43:32to watch me
43:33go beyond the corner
43:34and the night
43:34was getting longer
43:35and longer
43:36and Willie was waiting
43:37and
43:40and out of the blue
43:41he came over
43:42to the car
43:42and gave me hell
43:43he said
43:44look we can't stay here
43:45all night
43:45if you're not going to
43:46can't you cry
43:47for God's sake
43:48I mean you know
43:49Willie had never
43:50spoken to me like that
43:51ever
43:52you know
43:52during the picture
43:53and I
43:54broke into
43:55such sobs
43:56and he shot the scene
43:58and that was it
43:58I don't know how
43:59to say goodbye
44:04I can't think of any words
44:09don't try
44:17and he said
44:18I'm sorry
44:18I'm sorry afterwards
44:19we had to get you
44:19to do it somehow
44:20in the mid-50s
44:22Weiler helped found
44:23the committee
44:23for the first amendment
44:24a group protesting
44:26McCarthyism
44:26his films
44:27emphasized his basic humanity
44:33just because
44:34Quakers are people
44:35of peace
44:36that doesn't mean
44:37that they're weak
44:38or soft
44:39the principal character
44:41in Friendly Persuasion
44:42refuses to fight
44:44according to
44:44Quaker principles
44:45he goes as far
44:47as picking up a gun
44:52taking that gun
44:53and not shooting
44:54when you're
44:55protecting your own life
44:57is a greater sign
44:58of strength
44:59than shooting it
45:00and that's the whole point
45:01go on
45:02get
45:02I'll not harm thee
45:04the trouble
45:05with Quakers
45:06is that
45:08there aren't enough
45:09of them
45:11in the big country
45:13Weiler backtracked
45:14to the westerns
45:15he had directed
45:15in his early days
45:16and came up
45:17with some new variations
45:18on the themes
45:19of honor
45:20and manliness
45:20in the old west
45:24big country
45:25it was debunking
45:26the showing off
45:27part of cowboys
45:28in western cliches
45:30you know
45:31it came in very handy
45:33that I used to spend
45:34nights
45:34trying to think
45:35of new ways
45:36of getting honor
45:36off a horse
45:41One of the
45:42key scenes
45:43in big country
45:43of course
45:44was the fight
45:44between
45:45me and Greg Peck
45:47I don't know
45:48how well
45:49Greg understood
45:50I know I didn't
45:51understand
45:51why it was
45:52that he was
45:53shooting so much
45:54of it
45:54from way up
45:55in a ridge
45:55and I thought
45:56I don't know
45:57what lens he has on
45:58but we can't
45:59be larger than
46:00ants
46:01in that frame
46:02and I thought
46:04he's just doing
46:04this to be mean
46:05he can't use
46:06this footage
46:07and of course
46:08in the final scene
46:09he uses those
46:10long shots
46:11very often
46:11to underscore
46:12again and again
46:14the futility
46:14of violence
46:18the producer
46:19of Ben-Hur
46:20came to me
46:21and said
46:23how about
46:23doing Ben-Hur
46:24I thought
46:25it would be
46:26intriguing
46:26to see if
46:27I could make
46:27a Cecil B. DeMille
46:28picture
46:29so I took
46:30on the job
46:31it was in line
46:32with my desire
46:33to make
46:33every kind
46:34of picture
46:34also I thought
46:35this picture
46:36could make
46:36lots of money
46:37you know
46:38and maybe
46:38I'll get
46:39some of it
46:40which I did
46:41there probably
46:42has never
46:43been a director
46:44who had
46:45as little
46:45respect
46:45for the idea
46:46of film
46:47as art
46:48or directing
46:49as an artist's
46:51undertaking
46:51or God knows
46:52not acting
46:57Ben-Hur was the most
46:59physically demanding
47:00film of Wyler's career
47:01just as tough
47:02was the artistic
47:03challenge
47:03of creating
47:04an epic
47:04with a cast
47:05of thousands
47:06while moving
47:07an audience
47:07on a personal
47:08level
47:08he succeeded
47:10Ben-Hur did
47:11blockbuster business
47:12and won more
47:13academy awards
47:13than any movie
47:14in history
47:15including Wyler's
47:16third Oscar
47:22at one point
47:23quite early
47:23in the shooting
47:24he called me
47:25in and he said
47:25Chuck
47:25you have to be
47:27better in this
47:27part
47:29and I said
47:29okay
47:30what
47:31what is it
47:31you have in mind
47:32he said
47:32I don't know
47:34but you're not
47:34good enough
47:35and I said
47:36well that's
47:37kind of hard
47:37to deal with
47:38Willie
47:38he said
47:39I know
47:40but I thought
47:40I should tell you
47:41he said
47:42it's awfully hard
47:43to make this
47:44fella come off
47:45plausibly
47:45and you're not
47:47doing it yet
47:48and I said
47:49you can't give me
47:50any specific
47:51advice on this
47:53he said
47:53nope
47:54he's just
47:55got to be better
47:58Charlton Heston
47:59Ben-Hur
48:07you
48:09I said
48:10no water
48:10for him
48:12the sort of
48:14subtitle
48:14of Ben-Hur
48:16is
48:16a tale
48:17of the Christ
48:17it was one
48:19of the things
48:19that really
48:19was a challenge
48:21and to portray
48:22the Christ
48:22is something
48:23that's a bit
48:24scary
48:24you know
48:25when he may be
48:26the best known
48:27man who ever
48:27lived
48:28so I
48:29staged all the
48:30scenes with him
48:31in such a way
48:33that you only
48:33saw the back
48:34of his head
48:35and you saw
48:36the way other
48:37people reacted
48:38to him
48:40you think
48:41you saw
48:42him
48:42you think
48:42you heard
48:43his voice
48:43but you
48:44didn't really
48:45all right
48:46on your feet
48:46all of you
48:47he was
48:48relentless
48:49in his
48:49determination
48:50to get
48:51the best
48:52you could
48:52give
48:52in the scene
48:53and he
48:53wouldn't quit
48:54until he
48:54was
48:55I hesitate
48:56to say
48:56satisfied
48:57but resigned
48:58to the fact
48:59that you
48:59weren't going
49:00to be any
49:00better
49:00Willie did
49:01more than
49:02five or six
49:03takes
49:03but the myth
49:05of the 40-50
49:05takes
49:06in my experience
49:07is not true
49:09I've heard
49:10Betty Davis
49:10carry on
49:11at considerable
49:12length
49:13about the 40
49:14and 50 takes
49:14and it may be so
49:16he made me do
49:1748 takes
49:18in front of
49:19250 extras
49:22and I had never
49:23in my life
49:23done more
49:24than two
49:24takes
49:24ever
49:25the most
49:26we ever
49:26did
49:27in any
49:28scene
49:28I was in
49:30was 27
49:31takes
49:31he would go
49:32on to take
49:3363
49:35saying
49:37that was
49:38lousy
49:38do it again
49:39somehow
49:40or other
49:40the number
49:4171
49:42comes out
49:43of the
49:43mists of
49:43memory
49:44I can't
49:45think that
49:46that's possible
49:46I make
49:48six eight
49:48takes
49:49and it
49:49turns out
49:49to be
49:5040
49:51but
49:52it's true
49:53that
49:54that I
49:55would
49:55make
49:56as many
49:57takes
49:58as were
49:58necessary
49:59to get
50:00the scene
50:00to get
50:01it good
50:01during
50:02each take
50:03his
50:04his
50:04requirements
50:05would get
50:06a little
50:06more severe
50:07actors
50:08would sometimes
50:09say to
50:09Willie
50:10what do
50:10you want
50:10he wouldn't
50:12tell them
50:12it was too
50:13difficult
50:14to tell
50:14it would
50:16be some
50:16value
50:17so fine
50:19that it
50:20would drown
50:21and it's
50:21in the
50:22discussion
50:22of it
50:23someone
50:24said in
50:24this book
50:25of the
50:26collector
50:27which was
50:28so different
50:28and so
50:30intense
50:31and so
50:32emotional
50:33and he
50:33kind of
50:34just
50:35came really
50:36close to me
50:36and he
50:36said
50:38I'm not
50:38making
50:39the book
50:42I said
50:43what are you
50:43making
50:44I'm making
50:45a love
50:45story
50:46yes it
50:46was a love
50:47story
50:47in actual
50:48fact
50:50I'm an
50:51art student
50:51he abducts
50:53me
50:55then it's
50:56the
50:57psychological
50:58drama
50:58of a
50:59captor
50:59and the
50:59captive
51:00the only
51:00other thing
51:01is sex
51:03it's not
51:03that at
51:04all
51:07I shall
51:07have all
51:08the proper
51:08respect
51:10then why
51:11am I
51:11here
51:17I want
51:18you to
51:18be my
51:18guest
51:20your
51:21guest
51:23I don't
51:24want to
51:24be your
51:25guest
51:28let me
51:29go
51:34I love
51:35you
51:37he wanted
51:38a kind
51:38of
51:38constant
51:39terror
51:40from her
51:41that's
51:42you know
51:42really
51:42very difficult
51:43to act
51:44so
51:44he said
51:45to me
51:45off the
51:46set
51:46I don't
51:47want you
51:47to be
51:47friends
51:48with her
51:48I don't
51:49want you
51:49to be
51:50nice
51:51to her
51:51we'll
51:52just
51:53you know
51:54this is
51:54going to
51:54look cruel
51:55but we'll
51:56get a
51:56great
51:56performance
51:57out of
51:57her
51:58there
51:58were
51:58certain
51:59tactics
51:59I'm
52:00sure
52:01that he
52:02had
52:02in
52:02mind
52:03he
52:03and
52:04I
52:04tortured
52:05her
52:06that
52:07was
52:07how
52:08we
52:08worked
52:08well
52:09he never
52:09gave
52:09me a word
52:10of
52:10praise
52:10for about
52:11two and a half
52:12months
52:12after that
52:13I got
52:13the Oscar
52:14nomination
52:14I figured
52:15that he
52:16didn't really
52:16speak English
52:17that's what
52:17I figured
52:17I thought
52:19he's from
52:19Alsace
52:20he's grown up
52:21speaking French
52:22he's
52:23he's not a man
52:24who expresses
52:26himself easily
52:26in English
52:27however
52:28if he wanted
52:29to say something
52:30I remember
52:31the character
52:32goes back
52:32to the bank
52:33where he worked
52:34before he won
52:35the fortune
52:35and just
52:37before the
52:37take
52:39you know
52:39in that
52:40moment
52:40when you're
52:41sort of
52:41open
52:41to it
52:43he just
52:44sided
52:44up to me
52:44and said
52:46the taste
52:47of the
52:48stamps
52:48that's the
52:49kind of
52:50direction
52:50that every
52:51actor
52:51needs
52:53one of the
52:54last pictures
52:55I made
52:55was funny
52:56girl
52:56I'd never
52:57made a
52:57musical
52:58now I feel
52:59like the man
52:59who's done
52:59everything
53:02I was very
53:03fortunate to
53:04have Willie
53:04as my first
53:05director
53:06he knew
53:07when it
53:07was right
53:08hello
53:09gorgeous
53:09he was
53:10wonderful
53:11because he
53:11was he
53:11was the
53:12audience
53:12I just
53:13knew he
53:13knew when
53:14it was
53:14right
53:14and he
53:15couldn't tell
53:16you how
53:16to do it
53:16differently
53:17he would
53:17just tell
53:18you to
53:19do it
53:20again
53:20of course
53:21I was
53:21fortunate
53:22I had
53:22played the
53:22role
53:23about a
53:24thousand
53:24times
53:24I didn't
53:25have to
53:26tell her
53:26how to
53:26sing a
53:27song
53:27I didn't
53:28have to
53:28tell her
53:29how to
53:29act this
53:30part
53:30because she
53:31knew it
53:31better than
53:32I
53:32I mean
53:34this girl
53:35knows her
53:36stuff
53:36it's what the
53:37director wants
53:38the audience
53:39to see
53:39what he feels
53:40about the
53:41people in the
53:42film
53:42that's what's
53:43going to come
53:43out
53:43I think Willie
53:44was proud of me
53:45Willie wanted
53:46to show me
53:46off
53:47that's why
53:47my performance
53:48came out as
53:49well as it
53:49did
53:53hold it
53:53Eddie
53:56hold it
53:57you
53:58with the
53:58skinny legs
54:01you
54:02yes
54:02you
54:03with the
54:03bloomers
54:06yeah
54:07you're
54:08fired
54:09what
54:10you call
54:11that a
54:11replacement
54:12what's the
54:12matter
54:12Eddie
54:13did you
54:13owe
54:13somebody
54:13a favor
54:14it seemed
54:15like a
54:15funny
54:15idea
54:16what's
54:16funny
54:16about it
54:17what do
54:17I say
54:17everybody
54:18back it
54:18for
54:18yeah
54:19but listen
54:20Mr. Keeney
54:20wait a minute
54:21you're making
54:21a mistake
54:21I've had a lot
54:22of experience
54:22honest
54:23I've been
54:24on the stage
54:24since I was
54:2510
54:25amateur contest
54:26dot league
54:27southern repertory
54:28professional
54:29companies
54:29last season
54:30last season
54:31I double six
54:32parts
54:32I played a
54:32daughter and
54:33her own
54:33father
54:33how do you
54:33like that
54:34a 60 year
54:34old Indian
54:35chief
54:35listen
54:36girl
54:36please
54:37you've
54:37got to
54:38face facts
54:38you don't
54:39look like
54:40the other
54:40girls
54:40you've
54:41got skinny
54:41legs
54:42you stick
54:42out
54:43and you
54:43are
54:44out
54:45I'm
54:45just
54:45trying to
54:46tell you
54:46something
54:46why don't
54:47you just
54:47give me
54:47a chance
54:49I'll
54:49he would
54:52ruin a lot
54:52of takes
54:53Willie
54:54because he
54:54would smoke
54:55and cough
54:56the smoke
54:57would come
54:58in front
54:58of the lens
54:58you know
54:59and the
55:00cough would
55:00ruin the
55:00soundtrack
55:01I made
55:02the decision
55:02to retire
55:03because I'd
55:04worked 50
55:04years
55:05and I thought
55:06that was enough
55:08and he
55:09stopped
55:09and although
55:10he had
55:10offers
55:11he never
55:12took one
55:13contrary to
55:14what people
55:14think
55:15I've not
55:15stopped
55:16making
55:16films
55:18my wife
55:19and I
55:19do a
55:20great deal
55:20of traveling
55:21in our
55:22travels
55:22I'm never
55:22without my
55:23super
55:248 millimeter
55:25movie camera
55:26complete with
55:27zoom lens
55:28slow motion
55:29single frame
55:30and all the
55:31other
55:31innovations
55:32it's a case
55:34of professional
55:35turned amateur
55:36used to sit
55:37in the car
55:39and nag him
55:41for half
55:41an hour
55:41at a time
55:42to do
55:42another movie
55:44and he
55:44finally put
55:45his hand
55:45over his
55:46one good
55:46ear
55:46and say
55:46oh please
55:48let me
55:48alone
55:49I don't
55:49intend
55:50to work
55:50anymore
55:50please
55:51be still
55:52about 2
55:53or 3
55:54years
55:54after he
55:54stopped
55:55working
55:55one morning
55:56he came
55:57down to
55:57breakfast
55:57and said
55:58I had
55:59the most
56:00awful
56:00dream
56:01last night
56:01and I
56:02said
56:03my god
56:03darling
56:04what
56:05and he
56:05said
56:06I dreamed
56:06I was
56:06directing
56:07a movie
56:07again
56:08my next
56:09picture
56:10going
56:11home
56:13home
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