A closer look at the most unlikely auteur
Paul Wendkos was a bit of an auteurist fetish object in the early 1960's, when his career in theatrical features reached its pinnacle. He made his mark with such genre outings as The Burglar (1957) and Face of a Fugitive (1959), as well as with the hit Gidget (1959) and his acclaimed indictment of evangelicalism Angel Baby (1961). Many of the finest critics and film writers wrote of his style admiringly, even as studio contracts regularly saddled him with empty commercial vehicles. Quentin Tarantino even credited him as the director of the faux action saga The 14 Fists of McCluskey in his Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood. What is there to Paul Wendkos when we look at him and his work today?
Daniel Kremer
Director, Writer
The Class of ‘9271%
Directed by John Ford70%
Seduced and Abandoned62%
John Candy: I Like Me78%
I Am Heath Ledger74%
Love, Antosha74%
In the Realms of the Unreal71%
Voyeur59%
The Cheshire Murders65%
As I Was Moving Ahead, Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty77%
McQueen74%
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition86%
Report61%
Night Will Fall76%
Justin Bieber's Believe69%
Gilbert67%
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds75%
Champs63%
Don't F*#% With John Wick76%
Public Speaking70%
