The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks

Film critic Richard Schickel wrote, produced, and directed this short film containing interviews from two separate sessions in 1973 with then-retired movie maker Howard Hawks, who casually reminisces on his film career starting in 1930 with the fighter-pilot melodrama "The Dawn Patrol". Not believing in being under contract to one boss, Hawks stayed independent throughout the years and managed to work in every film genre: war epics, screwball comedies, film noir, westerns. He is remarkably down-to-earth, not at all bitter at being shut out of '70s Hollywood, and open to talking about his actors (but never slipping into hearsay or gossip). Hawks comes across as a straight-shooter, a no-nonsense guy who didn't like to over-think any decision. He never laughs when conjuring up the past--to Hawks at this point, 1939 probably felt very recent. Some of the clips go on too long, and there's too much of the overrated "His Girl Friday" for my liking, but this overview of Hawks' resume is still a captivating jaunt for cinephiles.