Hoosier History Live is an independently produced new media project about Indiana history, integrating podcasts, website www.HoosierHistoryLive.org, weekly enewsletter, and social media. Its original content comes initially from a live with call in weekly talk radio show hosted by author and historian Nelson Price. You can hear the show live Saturdays from noon to 1 pm ET at WICR 88.7 fm or stream the show live at the WICR HD1 app on your phone, or at our website.
January 27, 2024
Movie and TV directors who aren't household names now
Now that awards season is underway in Hollywood – Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday – our spotlight will be on movie and TV directors with Indiana connections. The filmmakers range from directors of movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood such as the holiday classic "Miracle on 34th Street" (1947) and "To Have and Have Not" (1944) to popular hits like "The Amazing Spiderman" (2012).
"Miracle on 34th Street" was directed by George Seaton (1911-1979), who was born in South Bend. Although the movie has become a Christmas classic, it was not initially released during the holiday season and was not promoted with yuletide as a focus. Nelson's guest, Dan O'Brien, a screenwriter and former TV sportscaster based in Greenwood, will explain why. In addition to being a director, George Seaton was a screenwriter and won an Oscar for his screenplay for "Miracle on 34th Street". He also won an Oscar for his screenplay for "The Country Girl" (1954) starring Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby; Seaton directed that movie as well.
Other movie directors we will spotlight include Howard Hawks (1896-1977), whose ancestors helped found Goshen, Ind., where he was born. Although Hawks primarily is remembered as a director of Westerns (several starred John Wayne, including "Red River" and "Rio Bravo"), Hawks was known for his versatility. His other hits include "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (1953) starring Marilyn Monroe as well as "To Have and Have Not" (1944) that teamed Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall for the first time.
Like Hawks, director Budd Boetticher (1916-2001) was known for directing Westerns. But he had a passionate interest in bullfighting and even trained to be a matador in Mexico. His movie "The Bullfighter and the Lady" (1951) is considered to be semi-autobiographical. That may seem to have been an unlikely interest for a Hoosier. Although Boetticher was born in Chicago, he grew up in Evansville and attended Culver Military Academy.
So what's the Indiana connection to "The Amazing Spiderman"? The movie was directed by Marc Webb, who was born in Bloomington in 1974. According to our guest Dan O'Brien, Webb also will direct "Disney's Snow White", which is expected to be released next year.
Dan O'Brien has been a previous guest on "Hoosier History Live", including a show in 2018 about movie versions of novels written by Hoosiers. During this new show about movie and TV directors, we will not be focusing on some well-known directors such as Indiana natives David Anspaugh ("Hoosiers" and "Rudy"), Robert Wise ("West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music") and Sydney Pollack ("The Way We Were") because they have been discussed on previous shows. For this show, we will be highlighting directors who are no longer household names.
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