Vidor, King

Vidor, King (1894-1982), American film director, born in Texas, known as a creative and pathbreaking figure in the early decades of film-making. His early film career in Hollywood involved him in various production, directing, and writing jobs, before he opened his own studio, “Vidor Village”, which was a failure. He then moved on to work for MGM. His silent films, such as The Big Parade (1925) and The Crowd (1928), as well as his early sound films, such as Street Scene (1931, from the play by Elmer Leopold Rice) and Our Daily Bread (1934), were unusual in their honest representation of social ills. Hallelujah! (1929) was the earliest Hollywood film to have an all-black cast. The Patsy (1927) was one of several comedies. Later films included The Citadel (1938), The Fountainhead (1949), and War and Peace (1956). Vidor spent much of his later years teaching in film school; he also wrote two books, an autobiography, A Tree Is a Tree (1953), and King Vidor on Film Making (1972).