Robert Aldrich
October 23 to November 30, 2026
Robert Aldrich (1918–1983) directed international hits such as Vera Cruz (1954), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and The Longest Yard (1974). His masterpieces like the apocalyptic film noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and the bleak revisionist Western Ulzana's Raid (1972) redefined entire genres. With incomparable consistency, Aldrich succeeded in incorporating his critical, personal worldview into mainstream cinema. Yet, although he was already celebrated as one of the great auteur directors in Hollywood at the beginning of his career and has since influenced generations of filmmakers, his works have remained more famous than the man himself.
The reason may lie in his rebellious attitude that shaped the content of his films just as much the turbulent course of his career, which was full of ups and downs. Aldrich never allowed himself to be intimidated. As a cousin to the Rockefellers he came from a prominent, conservative clan from which he broke away in order to make films. Aldrich worked his way up as assistant director to Jean Renoir and Charles Chaplin, among others, and sympathized with colleagues who were persecuted as communists during the McCarthy era.
After embarking on his directorial career in 1953, Aldrich's penchant for controversial topics and his confrontational manner occasionally made him a persona non grata in Hollywood. In the 1960s, he celebrated a triumphant comeback and was finally able to strike out on his own by buying his own studio – only to throw it all away again with uncompromising films. Yet right until the end, he continued to sneak subversive messages into the dream factory, all the while securing groundbreaking contracts as president of Hollywood’s Directors Guild of America. (Christoph Huber)
The Retrospective, a collaboration between the Austrian Film Museum and the Viennale, shows the oeuvre of one of America's greatest directors almost in its entirety in rare film copies.
Robert Aldrich (1918–1983) directed international hits such as Vera Cruz (1954), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), The Dirty Dozen (1967), and The Longest Yard (1974). His masterpieces like the apocalyptic film noir Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and the bleak revisionist Western Ulzana's Raid (1972) redefined entire genres. With incomparable consistency, Aldrich succeeded in incorporating his critical, personal worldview into mainstream cinema. Yet, although he was already celebrated as one of the great auteur directors in Hollywood at the beginning of his career and has since influenced generations of filmmakers, his works have remained more famous than the man himself.
The reason may lie in his rebellious attitude that shaped the content of his films just as much the turbulent course of his career, which was full of ups and downs. Aldrich never allowed himself to be intimidated. As a cousin to the Rockefellers he came from a prominent, conservative clan from which he broke away in order to make films. Aldrich worked his way up as assistant director to Jean Renoir and Charles Chaplin, among others, and sympathized with colleagues who were persecuted as communists during the McCarthy era.
After embarking on his directorial career in 1953, Aldrich's penchant for controversial topics and his confrontational manner occasionally made him a persona non grata in Hollywood. In the 1960s, he celebrated a triumphant comeback and was finally able to strike out on his own by buying his own studio – only to throw it all away again with uncompromising films. Yet right until the end, he continued to sneak subversive messages into the dream factory, all the while securing groundbreaking contracts as president of Hollywood’s Directors Guild of America. (Christoph Huber)
The Retrospective, a collaboration between the Austrian Film Museum and the Viennale, shows the oeuvre of one of America's greatest directors almost in its entirety in rare film copies.
Related materials
Link Viennale