King Vidor

King Vidor (1894−1982), the American director, screenwriter and film producer, following his first experiences as a newsreel cameraman and a projectionist in cinemas, made his directorial debut in 1913, with his film The Grand Military Parade. The quality of his editing in the film Peg o’My Heart (1922) earned him a contract with MGM. In 1925 he made the war movie The Big Parade, the story of a man who ventures to the front and then returns dejected to his beloved. A critique success, subsequently repeated with The Crowd (1928), in which he staged the “common man”, struggling with everyday joys and dramas in life.

In the Thirties he alternated drama, with The Champ (1931) and The Citadel (1938); civil commitment cinema with Our Daily Bread (1934); and western, with Stella Dallas (1937). He was president of the Screen Directors Guild from 1936 to 1938. In the Forties he shot the hit western Duel in the Sun (1946). In 1959 he abandoned fiction cinema after directing the blockbuster Solomon and Sheba. After being nominated five times for an Oscar, he obtained a lifetime achievement one in 1979. In 1980 he directed his last film, the documentary The Metaphor.

Locarno Festival