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Famed Star Trek – TMP director Robert Wise dies at age 91

By Doug Mappin

Science fiction fans worldwide mourn the loss of film director Robert Wise, who died on September 14, 2005, from heart failure four days after his ninety-first birthday. Robert Wise, director of over 40 films, including the first of the ten Star Trek films, Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979). While TREK fans may best know him for helming the most successful (financially) of the Star Trek franchise (box-office was over 192 million dollars), director Robert Wise was no stranger to the genre; Wise was equally well known for directing the 1951 antiwar classic The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain in 1971.

Wise’s stature amongst the industry permitted him a great amount of latitude of choosing film projects during his 56-year career in the film industry. Few directors were as comfortable in delving into various film genres as was Wise, who directed horror genre films, war films, westerns, political themed statements, science-fiction, dramas and musicals, all with great skill. His diverse film repertoire includes some of the most loved in film history, including (in no particular order) The Sound of Music, West Side Story, The Haunting, Run Silent, Run Deep, The Hindenburg, Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Body Snatcher, The Sand Pebbles, The Devil and Daniel Webster (as film editor) and I Want to Live!

During Wise’s early career he worked with director-writer-actor Orson Welles on both Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons, serving as film editor and second director on the latter production. Wise has often acknowledged that his career as a director was due, in part, to Welles. Wise’s first official directorial assignment came when the film Curse of the Cat People had fallen behind schedule; the studio, after removing the original director, gave Wise the task of completing the film. In the end, the film was well-received and thus launched Wise’s long directorial career.

During the 1950s and 60s Robert Wise helmed a number of film projects that tackled topical and sociological issues of the time, but Wise’s big breakthrough film (money making) was West Side Story, for which he received two Oscar Awards as both director (co-directed with Jerome Robbins) and as producer.

A common theme found in many of Wise’s productions was man seeking peaceful, thoughtful solutions to a problem. Wise’s production of The Sand Pebbles examined the role the United States played when China began asserting its desire to oust British colonization in the early 20th century. The Day the Earth Stood Still illustrated the dangers of the shrill era of McCarthyism. The pacifistic tone of this film was a stark contrast to that of the time. The character Klaatu offered a voice of reason in a time of the fearful suspicion of communism. Equally important, was the fact that this sci-fi classic did not feature bug-eyed monsters (B.E.M.) or resort to fits of illogic. Furthermore, the film displayed superior production values unlike many other science fiction films of the period.

Robert Wise returned to the science fiction genre in 1971 when he directed Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain, a film that featured a cast of relatively unknown actors, and introduced him to special effects genius Douglas Trumbull (with whom he collaborated once more on Star Trek – The Motion Picture). The film’s semi-documentary style provided a voice of caution speaking out against the military’s use of germ warfare, lending an air of authenticity to the topic.

Moving forward a few odd years and a chance meeting with TREK creator Gene Roddenberry, the two both agreed they would like the chance to work together someday. This wish became prophetic, after Paramount’s several abortive attempts to bring back the franchise in the guise of a new TV program on the Paramount TV Network (pre-UPN—wait! a movie… no, a TV series! no wait a movie, then….).

Paramount finally decided to finance the big budget film (mostly in an attempt to cash in on the success of George Lucas and 20th Century Fox’s Star Wars).

Originally, Phillip Kaufman had been signed to helm the first film (in 1975), but bowed out after Paramount’s continual indecision with the project. Finally, in 1978 Wise was named, with great fanfare, to helm Star Trek – The Motion Picture. Wise came to the project in part due to his respect for Gene Roddenberry, but also because his wife was a huge fan of the television series.

Wise’s involvement with the film was instrumental in attracting actor Leonard Nimoy to the project, who had been boycotting the project due a contract dispute with Paramount (Nimoy joined the cast but two days prior to the commencement of the project). Production of the film proceeded slowly due to problems with the shooting script, and especially after it was discovered the optical house contracted to produce the film’s special effects had not produced one single usable frame of film. With but nine months to go before the film was to be released (December 7, 1979), Robert Wise brought in SPFX gurus Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Silent Running and The Andromeda Strain) and John Dykstra (Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica) to complete the film’s complex optical effects.. From that point forward the film, fraught with production problems, was in a frantic race to meet its pre-signed delivery release date.

While the film pleased many fans (such as yours truly), it dismayed yet many more feeling the film lacked the heart of the original series. Nevertheless, the film launched the successful TREK franchise on the silver screen. Shortcomings aside, none of the films afterwards may have existed without Wise’s production. Wise himself was not totally happy with the final product due to the fact he was denied the opportunity to perform the final film edit as his contract stipulated (something he rectified when given the opportunity when the film was released on DVD). In an interview contained on the DVD, Wise gave his stamp of approval for the finally “completed” film. In many ways, the newer tweaked and improved version is superior to the 1979 theatrical version.

Wise directed his last film, A Storm in Summer (2000) which was produced for Showtime when he was 85 years old. The film, starring Peter Falk, was to be nominated for three Emmys. His pictures have received 67 Academy Award nominations and 19 Oscars. He himself has been nominated seven times, winning five times.

Robert Wise, remembered by the film industry as a calm, intelligent and respected director, loved films as a youth, speaking of this on numerous occasions when interviewed. He transposed that love into a long celebrated career. Wise worked his way up the ranks from a messenger-boy at RKO Studios to apprentice film editor, to the director he eventually became. He worked with some of the biggest names in the industry and further helped the careers of many unknowns. During the 1960s through the 80s, Robert Wise volunteered his time working with new, young talent in the hopes of teaching fledgling directors and film editors.

Born in Winchester, Indiana, on September 10, 1914, Robert Wise’s gentlemanly craftsman- style of filmmaking will be sorely missed.

Robert Wise Tidbits:

Actors Robert Wise directed/worked with: Orson Welles, Paul Newman, Natalie Wood, Julie Andrews, Joseph Cotton, Agnes Moorehead, Robert Ryan, Christopher Plummer, George C. Scott, Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Russ Tamblyn, David Wayne, Peter Falk, Steve McQueen, Candace Bergen, and of course, the original TREK cast.

Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979) cost 42 million dollars to produce, making it one of the most expensive movies ever made, up to that time (although this includes the start up costs of the aborted Star Trek: Phase II television series. More realistically, the film cost around $22 million).

When The Day the Earth Stood Still was made,the U.S. War Department refused to provide any support for the film. The troops and tanks that were used in the film were provided by the State of Virginia National Guard.

Actor Paul Newman played the boxer Rocky Graziano in the film Somebody Up There Likes Me; however, James Dean was originally slated to play the role. The film was forced to recast the role after James Dean was killed in an automobile crash.

Robert Wise played himself in a cameo spot in John Landis’s 1996 film The Stupids.

Actor Michael Rennie won the role of Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still because (1) Claude Rains was unavailable and (2) the production team thought his angular features looked oddly alien.

Robert Wise has said the most difficult film he ever directed was The Sand Pebbles (1966), largely because most of the film was shot on a boat. Also faking the Yangtze River in China proved daunting (they shot the film in Hong Kong, which has no rivers, because China would not permit a film crew to enter the country.

Robert Wise was the youngest of three children.

Tribute written from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
by JO1 Doug Mappin,
U.S. Navy

Note: to view Robert Wise’s filmography, visit: