He became known in a short time for his very effective editing, which is described as "punching the audience", especially in moving scenes.
American film director. He is particularly known for his violent films and his mastery of form. He was born in Cranston, Rhode Island. After completing his basic education with his family, he refused the established job left to him by his father and went to Hollywood at the age of twenty. Shortly after, he was promoted to assistant director. He worked with master directors such as Charlie Chaplin, Lewis Milestone, Jean Renoir, and Joseph Losey. Aldrich, who also worked in television for a short time, accepted the offer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1953 and started directing.
Robert Burgess Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and assistant director. A maverick director working in a myriad of genres, he worked mainly in film noir, war movies, and dark melodramas with Gothic overtones.
Beginning in 1955, he also undertook the production of his own films. He opened his own independent studio in 1968. He has been in constant conflict with major film studios for his opposition to the Hollywood film production and distribution system.
Aldrich started directing with The Big Leaguer, which he made for MGM. He became known in a short time for his very effective editing, which is described as "punching the audience", especially in moving scenes. His successive films were criticized for their violent and passionate sex, but Whatever Happened to Baby Jane and Dirty Dozen were particularly successful commercially. After founding his own studio, Aldrich had to deal with the censorship that opposed some parts of his films, while struggling with the effective barriers of big corporations, especially in the field of distribution. Aldrich, in particular, attracted attention with his "detective" and "western" movies, which are the most appropriate genres for his cinematic attitude.
Aldrich, who has succeeded in giving the audience a superior sense of reality even though his films carry certain exaggerations, has achieved an important mastery of rhythm. It is also among the features of Hollywood cinema that it gives the subjects and themes that are traditionally dismissed with a subtle and soft attitude.
WORKS (mainly):
Big Leaguer, 1953,
Apache, 1954;
Vera Cruz, 1954;
The Big Knife, 1955,
Attack, 1957,
The Last Sunset, 1960,
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, 1962,
Husb Hush Sıveet Charlotte, 1964,
TheDirty Dozen, 1966,
The Killing of Sister George, 1968,
Too Late the Hero, 1970,
Ulzana's Raid, 1972,
The Longest Yard, 1974.