Veteran Hollywood craftsman Robert Wise directed 39 films from 1944 to 1989, establishing a reputation for proficiency in such a wide variety of genres as to cause some critics to say there is no Wise style. At the beginning of his career, he worked with equal facility in horror ("The Curse of the Cat People" 1944), film noir ("Born to Kill" 1947), Westerns ("Blood on the Moon" 1948), sports ("The Set-Up" 1949) and sci-fi ("The Day the Earth Stood Still" 1951), probably making his best films early on, before big budgets raised the stakes and made him a more cautious filmmaker. Still, you can't
After dropping out of college moved to Southern California, where his brother worked as an accountant at RKO Pictures
1933
Hired by RKO as general editing gofer; promoted to apprentice sound editor after nine months; then music editor (i.e., "The Gay Divorcee" 1934 and "Top Hat" 1935)
1937
Moved up to assistant picture editor, working under William Hamilton
1939
First three films as co-editor (with Hamilton); "Fifth Avenue Girl", "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"
